The Darling

When I first read this story I was really puzzled to try and find a theme or a plot inside the story. Truth is I really found no plot at all. The only thing I found during this story is a girl who complained about her life and would only listen to her husband and what he had to say. She never socialized with anybody and would not do anything unless it was with her husband. The first difference I saw between Chekhov and Emerson and Thoreau was that Chekhov wrote about a woman who would rely on other people to do the work for her and she never relies on herself to do the things that she needs to get done. Here is a quote from the story to get you going on what it was like living with this lady, "Who will look after me now, my darling? she sobbed, after burying her husband. How can I possibly live without you? I'm so wretched and unhappy! Pity me, good people, I'm all alone now..." (Chekhov 562). I typed this quote because of the fact that it shows how much she relied on her husband and now that he is dead she does know what to do. She says that she is all alone (Chekhov 562) and she has no one else to talk to when there is a ton of other people out there to listen and be friends with her. This goes against with every belief that Thoreau and Emerson had because they believed that you needed to rely on yourself and do not rely on other people which is clearly not the case here. Here is another quote from the story where it shows another showing as to how much Olenka relied on other people, "She wore a black dress with weepers, having vowed never to wear a hat or gloves again, went out seldom and then only to church or to her husband's grave, and lived at home like a nun" (Chekhov 562). Now this quote shows that the only interaction that Olenka got with other people is when she went to church or she went to go and visit her husband's grave. I found it interesting when the story read "and lived at home like a nun" (Chekhov 562) because nun's aren't allowed to marry people and they do not really interact with people very much outside of the church which is what is happening to Olenka. Overall, this story goes against every belief that Emerson and Thoreau had.

Bibliography

Chekhov, Anton."The Darling." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009.557-565. Print.