A Marriage Proposal - Anton Palovich Chekhov

A Marriage Proposal

    - Anton Palovich Chekhov

Anton Palovich Chekhov (1860-1904) is a major world classic, being an incomparable artist who touches the right chord of not only the Russians but of human beings everywhere. Chekhov fashions his plots to focus attention on his “message’’ or underline particular aspects of a character, with the result that the conventional plot is always kept to the minimum.

Character List:

Stepan Stepanovitch Tschubukov, a country farmer.

Natalia Stepanovitch, his daughter (age 25).

Ivan Vassiliyitch Lomov, Tschubukov’s neighbour.

This short play is surrounded with these three characters. “A Marriage Proposal” is a comedy bordering on a farce. There is much noisy fun here, if not actual horse play.

A Marriage Proposal is built on the theme of human vanity which blinds a person even to his best interests and lands him in all sorts of inconvenient or compromising situation.

Lomov:

               He was thirty-five years old. He lives a well regulated life. A person, who has weak heart, continual palpitation, and very sensitive and always getting excited and has the disease of insomnia.

Natalia:

                 Natalia was a young beautiful lady. Natalia was twenty-five years old. Natalia wants to marry with Lomov but having very egoistic mind set.

Tschub:

               Tschub is father of Natalia and neighbour of Lomov. Tschub impressed with the characteristic of Lomov and he also like Lomov because of his well settlement and his personality.

Lomov wants to be husband of Natalia so he comes with the marriage proposal to Tschub house. First of all, Tschub very happy with this proposal and also agree with this. Natalia is totally unaware about this matter and start quarrelling with Lomov. Both are quarrelling for very silly matter is that the meadow belongs to whom? Chekhov make fun on society that how on silly thing people quarrelling?

Meanwhile Natalia comes to know that Lomov came here with proposal. So, she tries to removing the quarrels but somehow he quarrel start again with other subject that which dog is better: Otkatai or Ugadi? The quarrel end after long argument or maybe it is end because of the illness of Lomov. And about the end of this play is happy end.

In this short play Chekhov covers the very invisible matters happens in an around us. Chekhov tries to bring that satirical matter with funny way. Moreover it is also brings out some patriarchal comedy and also the patriarchal view point on women.

For example- When Lomov choose his life partner what are the matters he wants from his life partner. What he think for Naltalia as a life partner?

Lomov: “Natalia is an excellent housekeeper, not at all bad-working, well-educated what more could I ask?”

So, these are the parameter to judge any girl as a life partner. So, here Chekhov tries to throw light on the reality of patriarchal power.

Chekhov raises laughter by stressing the incongruity of the central situation. The father of Natalia anxious to marry off his daughter to anyone. But Natalia believe in suitability. The eligible bachelor is interested in marriage simply because he has arrived at ‘a critical age’. Everything is good without ego. Each one of them is obsessed with the idea of his own importance, besides being a bundle of nerves. No wonder a serious thing like the marriage proposal is thrown about as of no concern of anybody!

Important matter is that Chekhov never used farce for his own sake. The farce is always wedded to social purposes. The shaft of satire goes straight to its mark.