A Woman's Kingdom: Chekov

For my short story of choice, I chose to read “A Woman’s Kingdom” by Anton Chekhov. I chose this piece simply because the title intrigued me. Chekov is a very interesting author because he was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. It isn’t too often that individuals submerge themselves into science as well as the arts -- especially in the time of Chekov -- which makes his writing even more interesting to the reader. When I started reading “A Woman’s Kingdom” I was expecting to read a tale about the uprising of a certain woman, or because of the time period, I thought it could potentially be about a woman in the home, which some people viewed as “a woman’s kingdom.” However my assumptions proved wrong. Instead it is about a woman that inherited a business from her father and uncle. I found it especially interesting that a woman could even inherit something as large and financially dependent as a business, which shows differences between Russian and American thought during those times. “A Woman’s Kingdom”, a short story by Chekov, centers upon Anna Akimovna’s newly discovered desire for love and a family of her own—the “kingdom” that is everything but the huge industrial enterprise which she inherited. She imagines and often thinks about how other women her age from more modest backgrounds are exhausted, but happy, and the loving work of raising children; something that she does not need to deal with. A chance meeting reveals a man, Pimenov, upon whom she places her fantasies of a simple relationship. This fantasy would be hard to carry out simply because he beneath her class and is a foreman at the factory that she owns. Over the course of Christmas and Christmas Eve, she thinks about her future and if she will end up alone and she realizes that she can’t imagine her life being any different or separated from the business. At the start of the story