Composition

The story "The Lady with the Dog" was conceived at a turning point, both for Russia and for the whole world. The year of writing is 1889, that is, the penultimate year of the 19th century. What was Russia of that time? A country of pre-revolutionary sentiments, tired of the ideas of Domostroy that have been put into practice for centuries, tired of how wrong everything is, and how little a person means by himself, and how little his feelings and thoughts mean. In just 19 years, Russia will explode and inexorably begin to change, but now, in 1889, thanks to Chekhov, it appears before us in one of its most threatening and terrifying guises: Russia is a tyrant state, a devourer of human lives. .

However, at that time (by the way, we note that the time of writing the story and the time depicted by the author coincide) few people could still see the impending, or rather, close approaching threat. Life went on as before, because there are daily chores the best remedy from clairvoyance, because behind them you see nothing but themselves. As before, quite wealthy people go on vacation (you can go to Paris, but if funds do not allow, then to Yalta), husbands cheat on their wives, owners of hotels and inns earn money. In addition, there are more and more so-called "enlightened" women, or, as Gurov's wife used to say to herself, "thinking" women, to whom men treated, at best, condescendingly, seeing in this, firstly, a threat to patriarchy , and secondly, the obvious female stupidity. Later it turned out that both of them were mistaken.

Apparently, Chekhov did not like women who were trying to artificially become taller than men. Judging by "The Lady with the Dog" and "The House with the Mezzanine" (where such a heroine was Lidia Volchaninova), such dislike arose as a result of the understanding that "thinking" women would not save the general situation, and perhaps even aggravate it.

"The people are entangled in a great chain, and you do not cut this chain, but only add new links - that's my conviction." ("House with mezzanine"). It seems that this phrase, in addition to the hero who uttered it, could be signed by the author himself.

I must say that "The Lady with the Dog" and "The House with the Mezzanine" are very similar. Not in terms of content, but in terms of the feelings that these two stories leave after reading them. And the details - thoughts about enlightened women, about what prevents two lovers from uniting - complete the similarity.

Thus, we come directly to the text, to its themes and problems. The topic is simple, but for the townsfolk it is also an occasion for rather slippery gossip: a holiday romance and its consequences. But after all, knowing the style of Chekhov's narration, one cannot even assume that his goal was to depict precisely the notorious holiday romance. You have to dig much deeper. In my opinion, the main goal of the work is to show the reader (especially, of course, the reader of that time) what he did not notice before: this is the seeming hopelessness of the situation, as if it were really better for the heroes to give up their love, this is the fear of the heroes themselves to overcome the views of society, fear of taking steps towards their real, not stolen happiness, their being bound by chimeric chains of non-existent duties. And of course, it is quite clear that not only the heroes are to blame for their inaction. This inaction gave rise to something similar to the "dark kingdom" in Ostrovsky's Thunderstorm. But it's new" dark kingdom"lies not on the tyranny of some and the voicelessness of others, but on general indifference to each other and blindness in relation to the present state of affairs. A vivid example of this is the following scene:

One night, leaving the doctor's club with his partner, an official, he (Gurov) could not resist and said:

If you knew what a charming woman I met in Yalta!

The official got into the sleigh and drove off, but suddenly turned around and called out:

Dmitry Dmitrich!!

And just now you were right: the sturgeon is stinky!

As we can see, this official, Gurov's partner in playing cards, is indifferent, blind and deaf. He is only interested in the state of his own stomach, and the concept of tact, in the presence of which you will not respond like this to a remark about a charming woman, is completely unfamiliar to him.

Returning to the theme of the story - the resort novel - one cannot fail to notice that the theme is divided into two separate sub-themes, one way or another connected with each other and forming the main one.

The first, which we are introduced to at the beginning, is the behavior of men and women in resorts away from family and their usual way of life. We see how Gurov is seized by "the seductive thought of a quick, fleeting connection, of an affair with an unknown woman." Later we learn that he succeeds in doing this. Now we may be puzzled: for what purpose does Chekhov open this topic? It seems to me that this topic is intended not only to start the action, but also serves certain purposes. In fact, not just out of boredom, Gurov makes this acquaintance! If there were no such prerequisite as an unloved wife, Gurov would hardly have cheated on her. Yes, and Anna Sergeevna did not love her husband. So, they came together out of loneliness, instinctively feeling the lack of love, needing it.

In our time, it is not clear to many how people who did not have any positive feelings for each other connected their destinies, but even at the end of the 19th century it was as real as it is today. That, I think, is the purpose of the first subtopic: to show people how wrong a family union is without love and respect, what consequences it can lead to.

The second sub-theme is the theme of love and the changes that it brings with it. The meeting with Anna Sergeevna changed Gurov. He fell in love with her, fell in love with a woman for the first time in his life, experienced in adulthood everything that young men feel: “And only now, when his head has become gray-haired, he fell in love properly, truly - for the first time in his life.” And together with love, an understanding came to him:

What wild manners, what faces! What senseless nights, what uninteresting, imperceptible days! A frantic game of cards, gluttony, drunkenness, constant talk all about one thing. Unnecessary deeds and conversations all about one thing take in their share the best part of the time, the best forces, and, in the end, there remains some kind of short, wingless life, some kind of nonsense, and you can’t leave and run away, as if you were sitting in a madhouse or in the prison companies!

Love itself changed Gurov, as if Chekhov says, love can do anything. And now his hero is no longer a playboy, but real man who knows how to sympathize, be sincere, gentle.

Having dealt with the purpose of the story, for the sake of which it was written, we will consider in detail the plot of the work, its composition. Among those walking on the Yalta embankment, a new face appears - a lady with a dog. This event is the start of an action. By the way, the exposure in this case follows the plot, and not vice versa. A few days in the garden main character– Gurov – he gets acquainted with this lady. This is how the action begins. Together they walk, spend a lot of time. Gradually, our heroes - and there are two of them - become attached to each other, but, as we remember, Gurov had his own plans for Anna Sergeevna. He dreamed of a holiday romance.

After a week of acquaintance, the action suddenly approached the first high point of its development - the first climax. Gurov and Anna Sergeevna went to her room, and there, according to Anna Sergeevna, she fell.

It seems that Gurov achieved what he wanted, and something must follow from this. According to the logic of things, the heroes must either part and avert their eyes from each other during random meetings, or continue to meet.

“Then every afternoon they met on the embankment, had breakfast together, dined, walked, admired the sea.”

The denouement was a letter that came from Anna Sergeevna's husband, in which he begged his wife to return home. Soon Gurov also went home, thinking that they would never see each other again.

However, the action is still developing. Upon his arrival home, Gurov cannot forget the lady with the dog, and the memory, very real, follows him like a shadow. He changes internally and, finally, matures in order to see Anna Sergeevna again. In December, during the holidays, he comes to S. and makes inquiries about where Anna von Diederitz lives. Unable to see her during the day, Gurov goes to the theater in the evening in the hope that she will be there.

The second climax was their meeting. Again, the heroes face a choice - to be or not to be together, and after a short meeting they part again, but now in the firm belief that Anna Sergeevna will come to Gurov in Moscow. Such is the denouement.

The story concludes with a narration about further meetings of the characters, but in the full sense this cannot be called a conclusion: the last paragraph allows further development actions and further experiences of Anna Sergeevna and Gurov.

Until now, we have not talked about anyone else, except for Anna Sergeevna and Gurov, as if the rest of the heroes do not exist. Partly so it also is. The fact is that Chekhov singles out only two heroes - those who are able to develop. Thus, he emphasizes the disunity of people, as if they speak different languages. Everyone around is impersonal; even if there are many of them, you will not see the presence of a person. We are given only two portraits of secondary characters: Gurov's wife and Anna Sergeevna's husband, and even outwardly these people are unattractive, not to mention their other features. And the role that these heroes play is always negative: they are the force that separates lovers.

The portraits of the main characters are inviting. She is: a short blonde with an angular laugh; thin, weak neck, beautiful gray eyes. There is something "pathetic" in her (in Gurov's words), or rather, when looking at her, one wants to be strong and feel sorry for her. He: "In his appearance, in his character, in his whole nature there was something attractive, elusive, which disposed women to him."

Oddly enough, only one character is shown in development. Only Gurov radically changes his life position, and Anna Sergeevna remains practically unchanged, except that she understands that she is not a fallen woman, and finds the strength in herself to fight.

The story covers a time period of approximately six months to a year, it is impossible to determine exactly. During this time, the action was transferred from Yalta to Moscow, from Moscow to the city of S. and back. According to the author, the characters are exactly "two migratory birds, a male and a female, who were caught and forced to live in separate cages." However, even at a distance from each other, they continue to mentally be together.

So, on the basis of the foregoing, we see that we have a typical story in terms of genre - a prose work, small in terms of the volume of phenomena and events depicted, and hence in terms of the volume of text, in which characters act, representing certain individuals. They are shown to us in a well-known completed (that is, having a beginning and an end) moment of their life, which most fully reveals their characters to us. The number of characters in the story is small, and all of them, except for the main ones, are outlined briefly.

Chekhov uses literary language throughout the story to show that the characters belong to the so-called "decent society", but from all the variety artistic means uses only portraits of heroes and landscapes that accurately reflect the state of mind of the heroes, emphasizing them.

We have considered only one small work by A.P. Chekhov, but we see how masterfully the author shows seemingly insignificant, but entailing so much life situations, depicts integral, exceptionally realistic characters with all their shortcomings and is able to convey to the reader not only the content , but also the ideas of the story, and also makes us feel confident that true love, loyalty can accomplish a lot.

Known to us as a talented satirist writer, he created many amazing stories, short stories and various works whose relevance is evident even today. Sometimes it seems that Anton Pavlovich set his goal to highlight all sides human life- all its subtleties and all its moral facets. And it cannot be said that he did not cope with this task, because all his works are diverse and deep, and affect the most diverse aspects of life.

"Student"

Despite its small volume, this story raises global questions of morality and touches many hot topics. The protagonist of the story comes to an understanding of everything true in life and due to this he gains faith and looks at the world with completely different eyes.

From the very beginning, Chekhov shows us the student as a person completely disappointed in the world and in people. Throughout the story, we observe the rebirth of Ivan, how he changes himself - fills his inner world something bright and kind, and now faith leads him forward. Minor characters stories show the same problem. Lukeria and Vasilisa are also familiar with the hardships of life, but their dignity is that they never lost their faith.

"Lady with a dog"

This story is striking in that its main motive - love, is revealed from an unexpected side. Chekhov, being a master of depicting boring and gray everyday life, allows two extraordinary heroes to meet in one of his stories - "The Lady with the Dog". What is so special about these two heroes that makes their meeting significant? ..

Both Gurov and Anna Sergeevna are tormented by everyday life, the uncertainty of their choices - they both do not love and do not accept their spouses, and because of this, life seems incredibly boring to them. But resort love changes their worldview and their lives are filled with colors and new sensations. And it turns out that the holiday romance changes the lives of the characters once and for all.

Gurov, returning to Moscow, discovers that his life is not only ugly, but that he can no longer put up with it. And suddenly he realizes that the symbol of his happiness is Anna Sergeevna, whom he thought he would forget by this time. The main thing that the writer wanted to show is that freedom and a happy life in dreams are presented in a completely different way, and when real life comes, a person cannot cope with her routine and life. The end of the story can be called open, since new life for the two main characters is just beginning.

"The Cherry Orchard"

When people talk about Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard", then they always mention that this work is contrasting - the serious is intertwined with the funny, and the impression of this work cannot be called unambiguous. Chekhov wanted to reflect the social changes of the era in the play and show how the nobility was gradually transforming and losing its positions ... And he succeeded in doing so to the fullest.

With his characteristic style, Chekhov showed the measured and quiet life of the main characters, and all the key and conflicting events took place not in front of the reader, but behind the scenes. And the socio-historical turning point in the life of all of Russia, and in the society of nobles, is revealed from the most unexpected side - rather everyday and faded.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is an outstanding writer and playwright, whose works are imbued with love, free-thinking and love of life. His works are studied in schools and institutes, are regularly interpreted on the stage, and find readers all over the world. But the most important thing is that his works resonate in the hearts of ordinary people.

The story "The Lady with the Dog" was written in 1898, after a long creative crisis of the writer. Many critics believe that Chekhov took up writing the story after a trip to Yalta, where he met Olga Knipper. Perhaps it is to her that we owe the creation of this work.

The idea of ​​the story appeared in 1896, when the author outlined the basis of the plot in a notebook. At that time, he was already mortally ill with tuberculosis, so he sought to put his collected works in order. In parallel, he was engaged in theatrical productions of his own plays. Employment did not allow him to immediately begin work on the text, so it stretched out for two years. And yet, during this time, he was able to make a completely new, truly unique story, creative history who became a legend. Many eminent literary scholars and critics recognized the work as innovative and unparalleled.

Genre and direction

If we talk about the genre, then it is considered that this is a story, although some literary critics classify "The Lady with the Dog" as a story. Indeed, the work is divided into parts, and its volume is borderline: large for a story, but small for a story. However, the number of heroes still indicates the smallest prose genre.

The direction is realism. The author describes completely ordinary things, inviting the reader to hear a story based on real events. Adultery was not uncommon in those days, as was the unequal marriage of a young girl with an adult man.

Composition

The work consists of four parts, each of which tells about the relationship between Dmitry Dmitrievich and Anna Sergeevna, gradually increasing the pace of events. However, the composition of the story "The Lady with the Dog" has its own characteristics. Many critics, including famous writer Vladimir Nabokov, pointed out that the text does not have a traditional linear structure, where there is a place for an outset, a climax and a denouement. It is not clear what is the highest point of tension in him, it is not clear what he wanted to say with an open ending. In this story there is no usual logical completeness.

Such randomness of parts is not the author's mistake, but his innovation. Only in this way it was possible to transfer a fragment from real life where the laws of dramaturgy do not apply. He wanted to portray the natural relationship of two real people, not a story about them. In his text, everything happens as in life: smoothly, without pathos and intrigue, as if by itself. The open ending conveys the confusion of the characters who do not know what awaits them next.

The meaning of the name

Why did the author call the story "The Lady with the Dog"? The meaning of the title lies in the fact that a random woman without a name became everything for Gurov. At the very beginning, he liked the idea of ​​starting a short-term relationship with a nameless stranger whom no one knew in Yalta. Then he foresaw the ease of this victory and impunity, because since no one knows it, it means that it is free from public control.

“She walked alone, all in the same beret, with a white Spitz; no one knew who she was and they just called her that: the lady with the dog.

However, in the final, he realized that he could not live without this lady with a dog. The name sounds ironic in relation to the main character: he did not want to know Anna Sergeevna, it was enough for him to have an affair with a stranger, but fate outwitted him, and he could not refuse love.

essence

The main character Gurov is married, but unfaithful to his wife, and the "lady with the dog" herself is married, but not happy. Throughout the story, the reader experiences the story along with the characters, observes how their worldview, attitude to life and desires change. At first, the hero experiences carnal pleasure from meeting Anna and is weighed down by her remorse. The purity of a young girl who cheated on her husband for the first time becomes a heavy burden for him, because tears and regrets poison the delights of love. When Anna received news from her husband, she immediately left for home, saying that the meeting with Gurov should not have happened. The man, who had already cheated on his wife more than once, also decided that it was all over. However, in Moscow, a spiritual rebirth awaited him. Short-term communication became the only important thing for Gurov. He was tired of children, service, wife and endless lunches and dinners, which took the golden years of his life.

Unable to stand it, he went to look for HER. In the city of C. He found her address and began to wait for a meeting. Tormented by expectation, he sought her out in the theatre. They went out to a secluded area and declared their love to each other. Since then, she began to travel to Moscow to see him. And here they once again sat and thought what would happen next, what to do? This is where the story "The Lady with the Dog" ends.

Characteristics of heroes

The images of the characters in the story "The Lady with the Dog" are not fully disclosed. And yet they are presented to the reader only in those aspects that he needs to understand the meaning of the work. The wise Litrekon has prepared for you a table with a system of images:

1. Dmitry Gurov- the main character of the story "The Lady with the Dog". The hero lives in Moscow with his family - his wife and children. He is tired of Everyday life and looking for something new. Dmitry got married early, so he quickly got tired of the routine that appeared in his life. He cheated on his wife for a long time and often, because he not only did not love, but also did not respect her. He generally treated women condescendingly and believed that they were an "inferior race." For him, a holiday romance is a common thing, and a woman is an instrument of fleeting happiness. With the ladies he was cheerful and young, he always knew how to please them, what to say. However, a chance meeting with Anna turned the hero's life upside down: he fell in love with her and abandoned his usual hobbies. Life in Moscow seemed to him dreary and meaningless. He realized that all this vulgar talk about sturgeon, trips to dinner, the appearance of a normal life is a miserable and useless waste of time.
2. Anna Sergeyevna — main character story "The Lady with the Dog" This is a young woman, timid and honest in her soul, but forced by circumstances through sin to join in love. She married inexperienced and very young, and her husband turned out to be a “lackey”, that is, a person who is ready to kowtow to superior personalities and live in slavish dependence on their opinion. Life together with him did not work out, and Anna, having found the slightest reason, went on vacation to Yalta. Communication with Gurov became a great feeling for her. She repented of her act, believed that now he could not respect her. And yet she could not resist the temptation of love. At parting, she firmly decided to forget him, but in her city she only thought about that connection. As a result, she agreed to be Gurov's mistress and go to him in Moscow, because her kind and complaisant nature dissolved in love.
3. dog image assigned to Anna Sergeevna. This image indicates that this lady is from high society. Also, the Spitz is a symbol of Anna's loneliness. Only the company of a dog was not burdensome and pleasant for her. When a lover appeared in her life, the mention of the dog stopped.

Topic

The theme of the story "The Lady with the Dog" brings us back to traditional questions for Chekhov:

1. Love. The leading theme of love in the story rightfully takes the first place. Gurov depicts a naive and sincere love, which Anna "bites" on. But the lady herself was truly carried away by Dmitry. Love in this story is considered from two planes: false and sincere. Anna's frank and strong affection was transferred to Gurov, and for the first time in his life he also felt something different from his usual adventures. The feeling transformed him: now he has renounced his past delusions, he has begun to see life more clearly. His false life suddenly became meaningful and truthful. This means that love acts as a means and stimulus for spiritual rebirth.
2. Landscape and its role in the story "The Lady with the Dog" are very significant. Nature emphasizes the state of mind of the heroes: the southern abundance of the sun symbolizes the flourishing of feelings, the cold and cold of Moscow convey Gurov's longing. The author tries to add some poetry to the story, hinting to the reader that the resort hobby is not really an affair, but a deep feeling that will not leave the heroes for a long time.
3. Dream. Dreamy Anna, who thinks that everything will change soon, and Gurov is a gift of fate that can help her find herself, her place in the world, the author likes. He sees in her isolation from the real world, in her throwing and aspirations, a beautiful soul, which is tyrannized by the environment. Gurov's daydreaming comes down to fleeting desires. He does not think ahead, he enjoys the present.
4. Fate. The theme of fate also occupies an important place in the story. Anna literally fled to the south, she was unable to put up with an unwanted marriage. And the result of this escape was true love. Chance or fate? The author does not give his answer, but from the outside it looks as if providence itself has pushed two unfortunate people in need of deep feelings.

Problem

The problematics of the work "Lady with a Dog" is full of topical questions that many people ask:

1. Selfishness. The egoist in this story is Gurov. Usually people in love plan the same goals, have the same desires, but not in our case. Gurov is a simple womanizer who wanted something new. He does not try to understand Anna's problems, that for her this is an extremely risky and painful step. Dmitry absolutely does not care, and he is weighed down by the repentance of his mistress. But gradually true love helps him get rid of this moral disease.
2. Indifference. Gurov suffered because he was indifferent to women and even considered them an "inferior race." He willingly took advantage of their affection, but deep down he despised them for who they were. That is why he shamelessly cheated on his wife and did not even think about how this would affect his family. He was indifferent to Anna at first, but then he realized that he was mistaken: she is not just another affair, but a beloved woman, without whom he cannot live.
3. Case. Each of the heroes had their own case, which helped them protect themselves from reality and the environment. Gurov was hiding from the unsatisfactory family life in treason, Anna - on trips and even in "women's disease". Everyone compensated for their loneliness: Anna got a dog, and Gurov whiled away the days with people who meant nothing to him, just not to go home.
4. freedom. The symbol of bondage in The Lady with the Dog is the gray fence behind which Anna was languishing. Gurov was on duty with him every day when he came to her in order to casually meet her on the street. Then he thought that behind this fence she must feel unhappy. Indeed, every person is surrounded by such a fence, a screen of everyday life, behind which he hides his secret personal life. It would seem that Gurov was free before meeting Anna, but no matter how: only love allowed him to discard the framework and fear, to take and hug her in front of people.
5. Treason. The problem of betrayal in this story is almost in the first place, because the whole plot is built around infidelity. Traditionally, people condemn betrayal, but the author tries to prove that they are not always entitled to do so. Sometimes there is no more love in a marriage, but society, the church and the law prevent the dissolution of the marriage. However, the heart cannot vegetate without love, it reaches out to another heart. And that's when the heavy moral choice: either change and go against everything, or be hypocritical and preserve the conventions of marriage. Which of these is more moral? There is no answer, there is only life, forcing you to go beyond the rules and traditions.
6. moral questions. The author also raises moral questions such as morality and duty. He revises the usual concepts, showing the hypocrisy and falsity of family life, not illuminated by love.

Main idea

The meaning of the story "The Lady with the Dog" is to reconsider the usual moral taboos on which society is based. People should not blindly live the rest of their days trying to disguise their dislike for each other. Hypocrisy cannot be a reliable foundation, it cracks. This is how the relationship between the Gurovs broke. They could not speak frankly among themselves and only hid the emerging problems. In the end, none of them were happy. Only sincere love can be the basis of marriage, and if it is not there, then it is not worth maintaining the appearance of a family in order to please society. It only exacerbates social evils.

The main idea of ​​the story "The Lady with the Dog" is expressed in the fact that love liberates a person, liberates and improves his personality. Only after meeting with Anna Gurov realizes the petty-bourgeois vulgarity of his environment, understands the importance of love and makes a bold deed - goes to HER. The same insignificant reveler and womanizer Gurov reincarnates into a passionate and loving man, ready to be on duty at the fence to catch HER.

What does it teach?

The moral of the story "The Lady with the Dog" is that you need to make your dreams come true. Do what you want, not someone else. Gurov initially went to the wrong profession, which he wanted, as a result, he suffered all his life. Anna was not happy next to her husband, which also gave her a lot of grief. If each of them made a choice in favor of what they loved, their lives would have turned out differently.

The moral conclusion from this book can be drawn as follows: you should not create the appearance of life and enslave yourself in a case of comfort. One must live, love and even suffer in order to feel the fullness of life.

Criticism

Chekhov's contemporaries noticed the features of the story "The Lady with the Dog" and its innovation. So, M. Gorky once wrote to Chekhov:

I read your Lady. Do you know what you are doing? Kill realism.

He believed that his colleague put a longing in the development of realism, since after him no one could write as simply and clearly about everyday life.

The work was praised by many famous figures, including Isaac Levitan:

"Damn it, how well Antony painted The Lady with the Dog - as well as I paint pictures."

But there were also criticisms, because many people were offended by the vulgarity of the holiday romance, which the author elevated to a fateful meeting:

The well-known literary critic Alexander Skabichevsky even called the characters "tiny", and the drama they are experiencing - "shamefully painful"

The artistic originality of the story "The Lady with the Dog" was not to the liking of many. In particular, the open ending has baffled some readers. Solovyov wrote:

“Of course, this story is an excerpt; it doesn’t even end with anything, and its last lines only suggest some kind of cruel life drama ahead, ”which confirmed many statements about the open ending of the story.

Later, Chekhov's poetics in the story "The Lady with the Dog" was appreciated:

Vladimir Nabokov wrote that in The Lady with the Dog "all the traditional rules of narration are broken", but "this story is one of the greatest in world literature".

Alexander Chudakov, one of the largest researchers of Chekhov's poetics, draws attention to the syntax in the story. From the mid-1890s, Chekhov, who had previously left his characters to tell their own stories, reduced the amount of direct and indirect speech and began to use more subtle stylistic devices. “She talked a lot, and her questions were jerky, and she herself immediately forgot what she was asking about; then she lost her lorgnette in the crowd, ”all this seems to be the author’s speech, but in it, through discontinuity and“ suffocating ”rhythm, the emotional state of the heroine is accurately conveyed. As a result, Chekhov manages to achieve a feeling of complete plausibility.

The significance of the story "The Lady with the Dog" is difficult to overestimate: it was translated into many languages ​​during the author's lifetime. foreign languages, in the 20th century it was often filmed and staged theatrical performances. There is even a legendary ballet starring Maya Plisetskaya.

Lesson 89

Lesson Objectives:

1. Show the meaning of the story "The Bride" and "The Lady with the Dog" in Chekhov's work; give an idea of artistic features works: to expand the concept of moral categories.

2. Learning to analyze the work.

3. Education aesthetic taste, respect for the most beautiful and amazing feeling of love.

During the classes.

1. Preparing students for the perception of the story:
teacher's word .
Everyone knows the statement of F.M. Dostoevsky

that Pushkin took a certain secret with him to the grave, and now we are unraveling this secret without him. These same words - about the mystery, about the mystery of creativity - I'm sure can be attributed to Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.

His originality puzzled even his contemporaries, and until now he remains one of the most "unsolved" writers. Indeed, behind the seeming simplicity of Chekhov's works lies something that does not lend itself to a clear critical formulation. "Enemy of vulgarity?" "The Twilight Singer?" "Poet of the End?" He was close and understandable to L. Tolstoy, and M. Gorky, and D. Merezhkovsky ... For A. Bely, Chekhov was a writer who discovered a new art - "realism of symbolism or symbolism of realism."

Student's report about A.P. Chekhov's story "The Bride".

The story "The Bride" - Chekhov's last completed story - was waiting in literary criticism special destiny. Many saw in him "a turning point in the writer's work towards a more vigorous, optimistic perception of reality." In the opinion of Soviet criticism, the meaning of the story "The Bride" is absolutely transparent. Nadya Shumina, a future revolutionary, awakens to a new, conscious life under the influence of the revolutionary democrat Sasha and accomplishes a feat - she leaves her "native corner" that has become disgusting to her just on the eve of the wedding. Parallels were often drawn: Nadia - Sasha and Anya - Petya from The Cherry Orchard. “The writer could not agree on censorship conditions that Nadia and Anya were going into a revolutionary struggle,” wrote V. Yermilov. For him, it is clear that in Nadia Shumilova Chekhov showed "a wonderful image of a Russian girl who has embarked on an honest path of revolutionary struggle in order to turn life around, to turn the Motherland into a flowering garden."

A. Turkov no longer claims that Nadia is leaving for the revolution, however, he notes that the story "The Bride" resembles numerous works of democratic writers of the 60-70s about the breakup of a young man and a girl with their environment for the sake of life inspired by high ideals .. (Turkov A. Chekhov and his time, - M., 1987. - S. 517). Indeed, Anton Pavlovich himself in a letter to O.L. Knipper remarked: "Now I am writing a story in the old manner, in the manner of the seventies."

2. Conversation with students:

• 
  what makes the heroine of the story Nadya Shumina run away from home almost before the wedding ?

(Example answer:

From a small exposition at the beginning of the story, we learned that Nadia Shumina is 23 years old, that from the age of 16 she "passionately dreamed of marriage." But now, when the day of her wedding with Andrey Andreevich, the "clever, kind" man whom she liked, had already been appointed, everything suddenly changed all at once: "there was no joy, she slept badly at night, the fun was gone." As if continuing a well-known theme, Chekhov shows that Nadya suddenly felt enclosed in a case in which she was stuffy and dreary. A young girl rushes into space: “I wanted to think that not here, but somewhere under the sky, above the trees, far outside the city, in the fields and forests, now its own spring life has unfolded, mysterious, beautiful, rich and holy, inaccessible to the understanding of the weak, sinful person.)

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  How a writer creates the impression of a “case” with details »?

(Sounds, smells of roasted turkey, oil paint; the sound of knives in the kitchen, Sasha's cough).

Students write conclusions in notebooks.

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  What family friend Alexander Timofeevich is trying to explain to Nadia ? (students read examples from the text).

3 . Student report about Andrei Andreevich, Nadya's fiancé . (An exemplary answer.

At first glance, a typical Chekhov intellectual: graduated from the Faculty of Philology (like Gurov from the story "The Lady with the Dog"), "looks like an artist" (like Alekhine from the "little trilogy"), plays the violin (like Andrey Prozorov from "Three Sisters" ). But the reader sees Andrey Andreevich's uselessness. “I don’t do anything and I can’t do anything,” he admits. Nadya's fiancé belongs to the type of people about whom Lopakhin says: "And how many, brother, are there people in Russia who exist for no one knows why." Andrei Andreevich is incapable of working, does not want to serve (“Why is it that I am so disgusted even by the thought that someday I will put a cockade on my forehead and go to serve?”), He is sometimes even too lazy to talk: “He loved the violin, perhaps because during the game it was possible to remain silent.

but speech characteristic Andrei Andreevich is very expressive. “Oh, how happy I am! I'm mad with delight!" - he says to Nadia, and it seems to her that she read something like that in a novel - "old, tattered, long abandoned."

“O Mother Russia,” Andrey Andreevich says with pathos, “how many more idle and useless people you carry on yourself! How many of you are like me, long-suffering! For a taciturn hero, such a tirade is stronger than a “respected closet”!)

Conversation with students :

How Nadya's grandmother and mother took her sudden departure ?

(Grandma lay motionless for three days. Nina Ivanovna had aged a lot in a year.)

Written responses :

What does Nadia put into the words: “You are very unhappy, mother”?

How does Nadia's attitude towards people around her change?

Individual task . Is Nadia capable of true love?

- Selective reading of written responses .

4 . Closing conversation with students :

What exactly pushes Nadya to run away from home (“the desire to turn life around” or specific egoism)?


What human vices does A.P. Chekhov in his story "The Bride"? (In Chekhov, his heroes bring suffering to their loved ones unconsciously: either due to their spiritual limitations, or due to the universal properties of the world in which they live. Similarly, Nadya, not wanting it at all, dooms her people to grief, longing and loneliness , not interested in what is going on in their souls, not feeling any moral responsibility to them.Now, at the end of the story, it no longer seems to her that she "jays someone's life". She is young, healthy, free and has means, in order to "directly and boldly look into the eyes of one's fate, to recognize oneself as right.")

5. Teacher's word . In parting, the writer left us a riddle, which we are also trying to solve. In the final lines of the story we read: "She went upstairs to pack, and the next day she said goodbye to her people and, alive, cheerful, left the city - as she thought, forever." What does this "as expected" mean? This decision made by Nadia not to return to native city or the author's assessment of what is happening? True to his principles, Chekhov gives the reader the opportunity to think and guess for himself how the fate of his heroine will turn out.

6. Conversation on the text of the story "The Lady with the Dog"

Where do the events in the story take place?

What do we know about the main characters before they met?

Both characters are family people. What is missing in their family relationships?

What are their family relationships based on?

For what purpose, besides rest, did the heroes come to Yalta?

2) Working with text:

What "bitter experience" did Gurov have?

What impression did Gurov make on women?

How did he react to them?

Reading an excerpt. Ch.1 "And then one day, in the evening" to "She laughed"

For what purpose did Gurov decide to meet the "lady in the beret"?

What impression did Anna Sergeevna make on Gurov?

(“There is something pathetic about her after all”)

Read how Anna Sergeevna differed from Gurov's previous women!

Why is the heroine unwilling and unable to justify her behavior?

(The idea is that a holiday romance should cause joy, but both heroes do not experience anything like that.

Gurov - confused (and he is experienced in dealing with women!)

Anna Sergeyevna -in desperation "I love an honest, clean life.")

How did Gurov react to Anna Sergeevna's revelation?

(eating watermelon! - invulnerable indifference to the suffering of another - symbolizes an indifferent lover, accustomed to easy victories)

Tell us about the relationship between the characters before they went home.

(pay attention to the rich inner world of Gurov, in which his ability to

Read the episode that tells about the state of the hero after returning home (ch. 3 - at the beginning).

Try to answer the questions Gurov puts to himself.

(what happened? Already talking to himself about his love, wants to open up to someone)

Dialogue with an official about "sturgeon with a smell" -

HERO'S INTERNAL CONFLICT!

His whole gut rejects the existing way of his life - he wants more. The hero is reborn. He realized that he was leading a double life: hiding not only his "romance", but also "a real human life."

Read the episode from the words "He came to C ..." to "He thought ...".

Tell us about the meeting of heroes in the theater.

Describe Gurov's behavior in the hotel when Anna Sergeevna is crying.

(I ordered tea! - a symbol of home, everyday life, peace)

Teacher's word.

Chekhov is a subtle psychologist, a master of briefly and concisely speaking about many things, about important things. He used such techniques as subtext, artistic detail, symbol.

Artistic detail - an expressive detail in the work, which has a significantly meaningful and ideological and emotional load.

Symbol - sign, allusion.

In the story "The Lady with the Dog" one can trace the emergence of a genuine, inner closeness of two personalities, which the author emphasized with artistic details symbolizing important, essential, characteristic. Hoping for a thoughtful reader.Remember the episodes: watermelon in Yalta and tea in Moscow! From indifference to an atmosphere of domestic intimacy, when Gurov already loves, understands, supports.

Prove with quotes from the text that the characters truly love each other.

6. Generalization of the material:

Consider why Chekhov called the story "The Lady with the Dog."

(the main event of the story is the change that occurs under the influence of love. The lady with the dog is a symbol of the spiritual change that happened to Gurov. Internal rebirth, the rebirth of a person under the influence of love for a woman)

What title would you give this story?

What do you think Chekhov wanted to say by describing this story to us?

Teacher's word.

This story has no plot ending. This is called an open ending. What did Chekhov want to emphasize by this?

Thus, we can sum up:

It is important for Chekhov to say not where the characters want to go, but what they are running from.

The fate of the heroes makes us think about why people are unhappy, what needs to be done to bring joy, sincerity, love into life.

For Chekhov, the main thing is that there is a gradual “uncovering” of a person, the acquisition of the true meaning of life, the desire of people to get away from those rules that make them unhappy. According to Chekhov, one can respect people for their ability to love!

7. Homework to choose from:

In the last period of his work, Chekhov increasingly turns to the image of people who are opposed to the world of lies and deceit surrounding them. Usually they do not solve global problems, they are not ideologists, like some characters of Leo Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. But Chekhov has his own principle of depicting life. He analyzes human relations at the level of everyday life, often trifles, seemingly random details. After all, it is far from always possible to discern the characteristic phenomena that take place in the depths of life through outstanding events. In Chekhov, the picture of reality is recreated not only in general, but also in particular. And then it turns out that living conditions become unbearable even for the most ordinary, ordinary people. They do not perform heroic deeds, but they no longer want to live an unnatural life, pretend and be hypocritical.

The story "The Lady with the Dog" is dedicated to the history of spiritual insight, the revival of two ordinary people - Gurov and Anna Sergeevna, who accidentally met during the holiday season in Yalta. The writer does not in the least idealize either Anna Sergeyevna (“a little woman, unremarkable in any way, with a vulgar lorgnette in her hands”), or Gurov, who is accustomed to easy victories. However, their images are given in development.

The first half of the story has a plot ending. It describes, in general, the usual “resort romance”. Gurov, having said goodbye to Anna Sergeevna, thought that "there was another adventure or adventure in his life, and it, too, has already ended." Meanwhile, everything that happened in Yalta was only an exposition; "adventure" turned out to be big, true love, which "changed them both".

The inner plot of the work is connected with the evolution of the character of the hero, his gradual transition from vulgarity, emptiness, even cynicism to a wealth of experiences, genuine spirituality. Under the influence of a new, previously unexplored feeling, Gurov's attitude changes. He develops a feeling of disgust for what previously seemed to be the usual norm, for this whole crazy world, where in response to an attempt at confession one can hear only an indifferent and, in fact, offensive phrase about "sturgeon with a smell." This spoiled sturgeon (is it not from here that “sturgeon of the second freshness” appears in Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”?) becomes a symbol of “a short, wingless life”, which is compared in the story with a madhouse or prison companies, life where the dominant color is gray.

It is symbolic that when Gurov came to the city of S. to meet Anna Sergeevna, the bed in his hotel room was covered with a gray blanket, the floor was covered with gray cloth, the inkwell turned out to be gray from dust, and opposite the house where Anna lived Sergeevna, stretched a long gray fence. material from the site

Gurov and Anna Sergeevna, who fell in love with each other "like very close, dear people, like husband and wife, like tender friends", think painfully, "how to save yourself from the need to hide, deceive." The story does not have a plot ending, which is very characteristic of the late Chekhov, but the meaning of this and other works of the writer was completely correctly understood by Gorky, who wrote to Chekhov in January 1900 about The Lady with the Dog: business with your little stories, arousing in people an aversion to this sleepy, half-dead life - damn it!