A psychological analysis of the characters in “Lady With the Pet Dog” by Anton Chekhov.
This paper examines the psychological behavior of the main characters, Anna and Dmitri, in “Lady with a Pet Dog” by Anton Chekhov. By focusing on the extra-marital affairs of these two characters, the paper highlights the psychology that drives Dmitri in his very unhappy marriage with Anna. The paper examines the development of the inner thoughts of these characters to learn the mind frames Chekhov has given them in Russian society.
“The problem of marriage is the first issue that confronts Dmitri when he is tired of being unhappy with his wife. Not only does he think women are inferior, but he translates this anger at the bad marriage onto women. This sort of neurotic behavior seems to stem from his lack of confidence or luck, for that matter, in finding the right woman for him. For instance, when Dmitri walks up to Anna in a bar, she is ashamed and awestruck that Dmitri had hailed her. Chekhov writes:
“”She glanced at him and turned pale, then glanced again with horror, unable to believe her eyes, and tightly gripped the fan and the lorgnette in her hands, evidently struggling with herself not to faint. Both were silent. She was sitting, he was standing, frightened by her confusion and not venturing to sit down beside her.” (Chekhov Online Text)”
“”She glanced at him and turned pale, then glanced again with horror, unable to believe her eyes, and tightly gripped the fan and the lorgnette in her hands, evidently struggling with herself not to faint. Both were silent. She was sitting, he was standing, frightened by her confusion and not venturing to sit down beside her.” (Chekhov Online Text)”