Through an exploration of the boundaries between social constraint and inner compulsion, Melville and Chekov reveal the restrictions forced upon one’s personal desires as they struggle to find a balance between conflicting values and social norms. Anna and Gurov in ‘The Lady with the Dog’ are restrained by the socially expected conventions in their marriages, inhibiting their ability to express their inner compulsion of desire. Chekov reveals their yearning to escape their individual lives as they cope with personal troubles by distancing themselves from marriage through a sexual relationship with each other. When away from the city of Yalta, their lives seem their own without the social constraint forced upon them; however, in the presence of others their marriage binds them, forcing them to question their affair. Through lingering silences their relationship reveals passion yet also the underlying sorrow that Anna feels for betraying her husband. During these moments of silence, they struggle in a personal battle of questioning, perplexed by the conflict between their inner compulsions and the restraints of society as they are unable to fully indulge themselves in their passion for each other. The image employed by Chekov of the “long grey fence” (Chekhov 1998, p. 371) keeping them apart alludes to this sense of restraint and personal desires as a symbol of restriction. The fence keeps Gurov from Anna, fending him from her as their love is forbidden in the eyes of society. Their freedom is held within this fence as their desire cannot fully be embellished under the guise of society’s rules. While in Melville’s ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener’, Bartleby shows the uprising of a world of preference where his inner compulsions drive him to defy all rules of social constraint. In order to live,…
©2000−2005 BookRags, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The following sections of this BookRags Premium Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare &Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources. ©1998−2002; ©2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design® and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license. The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". © 1994−2005, by Walton Beacham. The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". © 1994−2005, by Walton Beacham. All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copywritten by BookRags, Inc. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information storage retrieval systems without the written permission of the publisher.…
©2000-2007 BookRags, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The following sections of this BookRags Premium Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources. ©1998-2002; ©2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design® and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license. The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". © 1994-2005, by Walton Beacham. The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". © 1994-2005, by Walton Beacham. All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copywritten by BookRags, Inc. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information storage retrieval systems without the written permission of the publisher.…
Tolstoy has never been concerned with rules. Whether it is with the structure of the novel, revered thought on established topics, or even his own past writing, Tolstoy disregards all of them in pursuit of his elusive hero. This constant, intense search for truth fills Tolstoy’s works with the uncanny lifelike quality that has immortalized him. But it can also fill them with contradictions and frustratingly radical conclusions. Tolstoy’s attitude towards his female characters is a prime example of this simultaneous beauty and confusion. He treats them with tender care and breaths such life into them that readers can’t help but fall in love. Yet he is also quick to send them off the stage, or even conclude their stories in ways that seem dangerously…
After spending time listening and participating in my class’s interactive oral for Cyrano de Bergerac, my mind and thought process towards this play were expanded. I never realized how pyrotechnic Rostand’s writing truly is. This play contains so many symbols that allows the reader to connect with the story on a deeper level. The interactive oral gave me a chance to notice the little symbolisms that most people overlook, such as, a barrier that prevents Cyrano from professing his love to his cousin Roxane, meant to be shown through Cyrano’s rather large nose. There was also a realization about the differences and similarities of the culture depicted then and the culture now. The stereotypical gender roles seemed to be switched in the play then what…
Thesis: The author uses imagery, diction and foreshadowing on the characters’ dialogues and narration to evoke a sense of curiosity accompanied with the fear of discovering the truth. All of that is then inserted into the readers’ minds to describe the setting and also the characters’ personalities.…
The second characteristic of local color writing is the characters portrayed in the stories. The characters of local color writing are usually stereotypes; women are often portrayed as young or unmarried. The usage of dialect and personality traits that are central to the region is very prevalent as well. Once again upon examining Kate Chopin’s stories it is clear to see how these are played out in the following stories. “desirees baby” “ The Hour”…
The play “Night, Mother” addresses the human condition and how character human depth influences the way readers understand drama. The invisible characters play a large part on how the two main character’s act, and how it influences their dialogue. The father, the son of Jessie, and her ex-husband are mentioned throughout the play, and they set up the dynamic of the story, physically and emotionally. Exploring their human depth and their importance throughout the play helps the reader of the story understand theater and the drama.…
Both Anton Chekhov and Joyce Oates chose to tell the story using a third-person narrator. This is one of the most important aspects of the characterization because if other characters were allowed to appear more within either story, the reader would have more than likely had a different view of their affair. For example, if Oates had allowed the reader to know Anna's husband more intimately and definitely if the reader could read his thoughts, we may have seen the affair as dirty. We only see him trying to make love to her in an almost impersonally way. They never really cominicate, and his love for her is never shown with in the story, so the reader has no real reason to sympathize with him. Instead, Anna's guilt seems sufficient, and her desire to be else where allows the reader to feels sorry for her and the fact that this love is what she perceives as her fate, we give her the sympathy and no longer see this affair as necessarily wrong.…
In the beginning of the story, Chekhov begins with the simple line, “It was said that a new person had appeared on the sea-front…” This passage shows that the local residents of Yalta have discovered an outsider, a person they know nothing about. Chekhov asks the reader to consider who is she with and why is she there? The character of the sly womanizer, Dmitri Gurov, also asks these questions. When first reading I began to form a certain opinion of Dmitri. We know he is married and has children. He also admits to being unfaithful to his wife on numerous occasions. He appears to not like women as he referred to them as the “lower race.” This characteristic of his personality leads to the encounter between himself, the unfaithful husband, and the young mysterious Anna, in the gardens. “If she is here alone without a husband or friends, it wouldn’t be amiss to make her acquaintance.” He stated of her.…
In The Lady with a Pet Dog, Chekhov presents a chauvinistic tale of a chance encounter. While the short story is told from a passive third person perspective, upon close examination it is apparent that Gurov and Anna fell in love for different reasons. These reasons reflect the mentality that defined Chekhov’s world; Russia at the turn of the century. This is a time, like most in humanity’s historical past, in which pro-feminist mentalities were lacking and society was run by men. Readers are presented with a classic transformation of the main character, Dmitri Gurov. The transformation reflects a male-dominant society, and the phases of the transformation focus on Gurov and are thus chauvinistic.…
It is nearly a universal truth that any good piece of literature contains well developed characters and most authors achieve this by providing background and dialogue for the main character '?s that helps the reader to identify with each character. In "?The Lady with the Dog"? however, Anton Chekhov expresses the metamorphosis of Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna, as well as their relationship, not through dialogue, but by providing symbolism throughout the setting of the story. From the first scene through the end of the story the setting plays a crucial role in expressing the emotions of the individual characters as well as the blossoming relationship between them.…
Like many books that have achieved classic status, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov has had its run with censorship issues when first being published for its extreme sexualization of children. Its taboo content, documenting a middle aged man’s run with perversity and his love affair with a child is unfortunately all Lolita is commonly known for. The genius behind Lolita is so easily misunderstood, stemming from the common practice of relating oneself to a novel’s characters while reading. However, Nabokov has opposed this practice of the reader several times, specifically in his essay Good Readers and Good Writers. What then, must be considered when reading Lolita? Most notably, readers consider how they are pulled against their…
Futliarnost, a Russian literature theme which is often present in Anton Chekhov’s short stories, is when a character is encased in a situation and can not escape. In “Rothschild’s Fiddle”, Yakov is entrapped in an almost trance like state, that is brought about by loss and remorse in his life. “Is Yakov ever released from this state, through Marfa’s death, or any other instance and does Chekhov intend for the reader to see one single moral in this story?” Chekhov uses irony and ambiguity to develop Yakov “Rothschild’s Fiddle” into a deeper character as well.…
Throughout both ‘A Hero’ and ‘An Unknown Girl’ the writers use many techniques to engage the reader and to convey the emotions and feelings of the characters. Throughout this essay, I will be exploring the different literary techniques used and developed by the writers. I will also look at how the two texts contrast each other, and on a personal level, how they make me and others respond upon reading them.…