Seeking happiness in forbidden acts always generates more sadness. Even more so, when it carries a certain beauty.
“The Lady with the Little Dog” is a story by Anton Chekhov. It is about a bank official, married with children, who begins an adulterous relationship with a young woman, and then faces the harsh reality of not being able to make true love between them official.
The story is built at a slow pace. It was written with precise descriptions of the places and the characters’ thoughts.
Dmitri Dmitrich Gurov and the lady to whom the title refers live an idyll that transforms them forever. He starts out as a womanizer with misogynistic tendencies; her, as a woman who suffers from unhappiness and the need to please others.
Their unfaithful relationship gives them a new passion for living. But they are condemned to the sadness of not being able to make their relationship official. Chekhov did not judge his protagonists, but rather sought to understand them.
The reader decides what the fate of the characters was. Therefore, this story transcends the minds of those who read it.
“The Lady with the Dog” is a devastating and beautiful text. Love is like power: it always becomes a mirror of who we really are. Every human relationship transforms us, even if destiny has other plans for us.
It is available online as part of the public domain. It is also included in compilations of Chekhov’s stories, for which it is recommended to review the table of contents.
Technical sheet
Story title (Spanish): The Lady with the Dog
Author: Anton Chekhov
Magazine: Russian Thought
Year: 1899
Length: About 6,265 words
