Skip to main content

The Proposal - Anton Chekhov

'The Proposal' by Anton Chekhov is a humourous one act play. It has three characters. Natalia, Lomov and Chubukov.

Lomov is 35 years old unmarried landlord. Chubukov if his neighbour who have twenty five years old daughter, Natalia. Lomov wants to marry her and so go to her house with marriage proposal. Chubukov warmly welcomes him. He tells why he is there. He says that he has come for marriage proposal to Natalia. Chubukov is very happy to hear that and kisses him. He goes to call his daughter. Lomov starts to think about him and Natalia. He thinks that if he will not marry now then he will never get married. He has weak heart and suffers from palpitation. And Natalia is a good housekeeper, not bad looking and well educated.

Natalia comes and they begin to talk. Chubukov had not told Natalia that Lomov has come for marriage proposal. Lomov was very nervous and he can not speak about his intention. Instead he speaks of the old relations of the Lomovs and the Chubukovs. He tells her that his late aunt and his late uncle had a great regard for her father and her late mother, and furthermore his property adjoins hers; his Oxen meadows touch her birch woods. Natalia is shocked to hear that the Oxen Meadows belong to Lomov. She claims that the meadows are hers, and not his. They quarrel on that. Chubukov comes and he takes his daughter's side. The both yell on Lomov. Lomov starts to palpitate and like he will faint. He runs out of the house and Chubukov warns him to never come again.

When Natalia come to know that Lomov had came for marriage proposal, she blames her father for not telling her that and asks to bring him back. Chubukov brings Lomov back and they start conversation. Again they starts quarrel. This time on their dog. Lomov says that his dog Guess is best while Natalia says that her dog Leap is far better than Guess. Again Chubukov enters and yell on Lomov. Lomov starts to faint and like he is dead. Natalia starts crying and asks to call doctor. Meanwhile Lomov starts to recover and Chubukov thrusts Natalia's hand into Lomov's hand. Both kiss and Chubukov gives them blessing. They still argue in dig but Chubukov starts shouting champagne, champagne.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Old Woman - Joseph Campbell

'The Old Woman' is simple and short poem by Joseph Campbell where he compares old woman with different things and describes her. The poem has three stanzas. .In  the first stanza , the poet compares the old lady with the white candle. White colour is symbol of peace and candle is symbol of light. The old woman is like white candle. She is in peace and she gives other people light by his experiences. She is able to show right path who need that. In the second  stanza, the poet compares the old lady with the spent radiance of the winter's sun. It refers old woman's long life. But now she is old like winter's sun, but she has gathered a wide experience of life. Poet writes, "A woman with her travail done" In last stanza, the poet compares the old woman with the water under the ruined mill. The water is still under the ruined mill and by comparing this poet writes about the old lady that her all sons has gone, they do not live with her. But she has all the...

To the Indians who died in South Africa - T.S. Eliot

A man's destination is his own village,  His own fire, and his wife's cooking;  To sit in front of his own door at sunset  And see his grandson, and his neighbour's grandson  Playing in the dust together.  Scarred but secure, he has many memories  Which return at the hour of conversation,  (The warm or the cool hour, according to the climate)  Of foreign men, who fought in foreign places,  Foreign to each other.  A man's destination is not his destiny,  Every country is home to one man  And exile to another. Where a man dies bravely  At one with his destiny, that soil is his.  Let his village remember.  This was not your land, or ours: but a village in the Midlands,  And one in the Five Rivers, may have the same graveyard.  Let those who go home tell the same story of you:  Of action with a common purpose, action  None the less fruitful if neither you nor we  Know, unt...

Joy and woe woven are fine - William Blake

In this short poem William Blake wants to give message that joy and grief, both are part of life and both are good. He says joy and woe are woven fine. Woven means things which are attached to each other. Both happiness and grief are fine. They are cloths of our soul. In every grief, there are also joy we need to find it. We are not here for only happiness or for only pain. But we are made for both. And when we know that joy and woe both are part of our life, we can live happily in grief also. So, in this poem poet wants to tell that accept both joy and pain. Do not become unhappy when sad moments come, there are always happy moments also. Know that both are part of everyone's life and live happily. That is all poet wants to say in the poem.