![The Lady With the Dog and Other Stories](/image/noimage.jpeg)
The Lady With the Dog and Other Stories
'The Lady With the Dog and Other Stories' Summary
Dmitri Gurov works in a Moscow bank. He is nearing 40, married, and has a daughter and two sons. Unhappy in his marriage and the monotony and meaninglessness of his life, he is frequently unfaithful and considers women to be of "a lower race". While vacationing in Yalta, he sees a young woman walking along the seafront with her little Pomeranian, and endeavors to make her acquaintance. The lady, Anna Sergeyevna, is also unhappily married and vacationing without her husband. Anna and Dmitri soon commence an affair, and spend most of their time together, often walking and taking drives to the nearby village of Oreanda. Though she is expecting her husband to come to Yalta, he eventually sends word for her to come home, saying that something is wrong with his eyes. Gurov sees her off at the station. As they part, both feel that they will never see each other again, and thus their affair is over.
Returning to Moscow, to his loveless marriage and his daily routine, working by day and socializing by night, Gurov expects to soon forget young Anna, but to his surprise, her memory haunts him. Unexpectedly, he fell deeply in love for the first time, after many affairs and just as he is approaching middle age. He feels that he must see Anna, despite the obvious complications. On the ruse of going to St. Petersburg to attend to personal business, he sets off to Anna's hometown to find her. Learning the location of the family's residence from a hotel porter, he finds the house, only to realize that it would be unwise to intrude. In despair, he rationalizes that Anna has probably forgotten him and found someone else, and heads back to his hotel.
In the evening, he remembers having seen a sign earlier in the day announcing the opening performance of The Geisha. Reasoning that Anna and her husband might attend, he goes to the theater. The couple enters and he watches intently. When the husband goes out for a smoke during the first interval, Gurov greets Anna, who is bewildered and runs from him. After following her through the theater, he confronts her and she confides that she has been thinking of him constantly. Frightened, she begs him to leave and promises to see him in Moscow.
Anna makes excuses to travel to Moscow, telling her husband that she is going there to see a doctor, which he "believes and does not believe". The pair are now fully aware that for the first time in their lives they have actually fallen in love, and they both wonder how they might overcome the many challenges that face them and achieve their fervent wish to spend their lives together. They desperately try to come up with a plan, but the story ends without offering a resolution:
"They … talked of how to avoid the necessity for secrecy, for deception, for living in different towns and not seeing each other for long stretches of time … and it was clear to both of them that … the most complicated and difficult part of their journey was just beginning."
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
RussianPublished In
1903Author
Anton Chekhov
Russia
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His career as a playwright produced four classic...
More on Anton ChekhovDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
![The Best American Humorous Short Stories Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-best-american-humorous-short-stories.webp)
The Best American Humorous Short Stories by Alexander Jessup
Eighteen short stories by famous and little known authors compassing the period 1839 - 1914.
![The Red and the Black, Volume II Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-red-and-the-black-volume-ii.webp)
The Red and the Black, Volume II by Stendhal
It chronicles the attempts of a provincial young man to rise socially beyond his modest upbringing through a combination of talent, hard work, decepti...
![Tales of the Jazz Age Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/tales-of-the-jazz-age.webp)
Tales of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tales of the Jazz Age is a collection of eleven short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Divided into three separate parts, according to subject matter,...
![The Trimmed Lamp: And Other Stories of the Four Million Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-trimmed-lamp-and-other-stories-of-the-four-million.webp)
The Trimmed Lamp: And Other Stories of the Four Million by O. Henry
Born in 1862 and died in 1910, O. Henry’s birth name is William Sydney Porter; however, he adopted the pen name O. Henry while in prison. He published...
![The Blue Fairy Book Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-blue-fairy-book.webp)
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
Published in 1889, The Blue Fairy Book is the first book in the series of story collections known as Andrew Lang's “Coloured” Fairy Books, which bring...
![Lifted Masks Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/lifted-masks.webp)
Lifted Masks by Susan Glaspell
In this collection of short stories, Susan Glaspell examines the unique character of America and its people.
![The Power of a Lie Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-power-of-a-lie.webp)
The Power of a Lie by Johan Bojer
This is a compelling literary work that explores the consequences of deceit and the far-reaching impact it can have on individuals and society. Publis...
![The Will and the Way Stories Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-will-and-the-way-stories.webp)
The Will and the Way Stories by Jessie Benton Fremont
Simply put, this is a book of 9 short vignettes each of which describes a different scenario which demonstrates the age old adage: 'where there's a wi...
![Best Russian Short Stories Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/best-russian-short-stories.webp)
Best Russian Short Stories by Anonymous
In this collection of Russian stories, editor and compiler Thomas Seltzer selects from a range of the best examples of 19th and early 20th century Rus...
![From Different Standpoints Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/from-different-standpoints.webp)
From Different Standpoints by Pansy (Isabella Macdonald Alden)
In From Different Standpoints, Isabella Macdonald Alden presents a captivating collection of short stories that explore the complexities of human rela...
Reviews for The Lady With the Dog and Other Stories
No reviews posted or approved, yet...