About Love (Anton Chekov)

In this story we read the dynamics of romantic love almost at platonic level. It tries to show that 'love' as such is not bound by marital relations.

In a country house there were three person having breakfast. Alyohin, the narrator, and his guests Burkin and Ivan Ivanych. Just then Nikanor the cook came in and asked what to prepare for dinner. According to Alyohin, Pelageya loved this cook. She did not want to marry him, but was ready to live with him just so. The cook was deeply religious and therefore he was ready to live with her if she married him.

Alyohin thinks that love is a hindrance and a source of dissatisfaction and irritation. To prove this he starts telling his own story.

Alyohin Has been living a farmer's life at Sofyino since he graduated from the university. As a graduate, he was not fit for rough work but his father had spent a lot of money on his education by mortgaging the estate. So he had to work hard until he paid off the debt. Although he was a landowner, he would work with his men and women like a peasant. He also tried to maintain his civilized life by reading books and by drinking coffee and liquers after lunch and dinner. Later in summer he would be so tired that he could not go upstairs to his bed. He would sleep anywhere and began to eat in the servant's kitchen .

He had been elected honorary magistrate many years before. And sometimes he had to go to town to take part in court sessions. Then he would lead a luxurious life and meet educated people. He made friends in the town. One of his friends was Luganovich, who unexpectedly invited him to dinner. In his house he met Anna  Alexeyevna, Luganov's wife. Her first baby was born just six months before. She was a young, beautiful, kind, intelligent, fascinating women. When he was near her, he felt as if he had been familiar with her long ago in his childhood. Her husband was good-natured and simple-minded. He could not express his personal opinion on the decision of the court even at dinner and in private conversation. Both the husband and the wife entertained the guest. Their active participation made him think that they lived in peace and harmony.

Alyohin spent the wholw summer at Sofyino. Her memory remained in his mind all those months. He felt as if her shadow was lying lightly in his soul.

In the late autumn, Alyohin attended a charity ashow in the town and he saw ANna there. She looked wonderfully beautiful with her lovely and caressing eyes and she gave him and same feeling of nearness. She said that he looked dull and old, and that she expected that he would come to the theater. The next day he lunched with the Luganoviches. After that he would visit the family every time he went to town. He went into their house as though he were one of the family. She would welcome him and ask why he hadn't seen them for so long. Her gaze, her beautiful hand, her simple dress, her hairstyle, her voice her gait would make him feel new, extraordinary and very important. They would talk for hours. If she was not in the home, he would wait for her. When she came home from the market, he would take all her parcels from her as a boy.

Alyohin, an educated person, was not devoted to scholarship or literary work, but worked on the farm and yet was penniless. This distressed the Lyganoviches. They considered that Alyohin tried to hide his sufferings. They requested him to borrow some money form them. But he never accepted money form them.

Alyohin was unhappy. He wondered why Anna had married Luganovich, not him. Luganovich was not energetic, but old and obedient. Whenever he went to the town, he would find that she was expecting him. They would talk for a long time, but they never told that they loved each other. They tried to conceal it. He supposed that his gentle love could ruin the life of her husband, her children and it was not a good thing. If he had married her, she would not have been happier in his country house. They might not hve loved each other afterwards. Anna also might have thought like this. She might not make him happy because she was young enough for him and not labourous to start a new life. So she would ask her husband to find a suitable girl for Alyohin.

He would come to the Luganovich's and he was warmly welcomed there. He would to the theatre with her. In the hall they would sit side by side, and he felt that she was his own. But when they came out, they would go separately as strangers.

Anna's behaviour had been changed recently. She would frequently go to her mother and sister. She began to be moody. She felt that her life was unsatisfactory and ruined. At such times she did not care to see her husband and her children. She was being treated for nervous tiredness. She would disagree with Alyohin and wanted to tease him knowingly.

Luganovich was transferred to the western provinces aand Anna had to go to crimea for her treatment. A lot of people had come to the railway station to see Anna off. She had said goodbye to her husband and her children. But she had almost forgotten her basket. Alyohin ran into her compartment with it and then he had to say goodbye. When their ayes met together, their spiritually left them. He took her in his arms. She pressed her face to her breast, and tears flowed from her eyes. Kissing her face, he said that he loved her. Now he realized that the thing that stopped them from loving each other was unimportant. He understood that one should reason about love from higher level, and that one should not think of happiness or unhappiness, sin or virtue. Hw kissed her for the last time, pressed her hand and separated from her forever. The train was already moving. He went into another empty compartment. Until he reached the next station, he sat crying. Then he walked home to Sofyino.

The rain stopped and the sun came out. Burkin and Ivan Enjoyed the scene outside. At the same time they were sorry for Aoyohin. He could make his life happier by doing something else instead working on the farm. They also thought of ANna's sorrowful face.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1) The second paragraph of "About Love" is a brief account of violent love affair between two servants. Is it significant that contrast with Alyohin's own story? How does the anecdote contrast with Alyohin's own story?

Ans: Pelagya is in love with Nikanor. She does not want to marry him but is willing to live with him just so. Nikanor insists that she marry him. When he is drunk he swears at her and beats her and she has to hide herself from him.

Alyohin, a landowner, goes to town and is invited to dine by him friend, whose wife Anna Alexeyevna attracts him very much. He frequently visits her family, but both of them do not express their love to each other. They are afraid that they might ruin each other's life by doing so. As a result, she suffers from mental tiredness and has to go to Crimea for treatment. At the last meeting they confess their love to each other and part forever.

 Alyohin told his friends both of these events. It is quite important because they contrast with the other. The first one describe the love between the two servants, whereas in the second one describes the love between the landowner and the official's wife. Nikanor and Pelagya frankly express their desires but Aloyhin and Anna think it better to conceal their feelings. The servants are violent. He drinks and swears at her and even beats her. she sobs and hides herself. But Aloyhin and Anna beave very politely. They talk for a long time and sit silently for hours. They go to the theatre together but come out like a strangers. Pelageya does not hesitate to express her sensual love. She wants to live with Nikanor without marrying him. But Alyohin and Anna control themselves until their spiritual strength deserts them at their final meeting. Nikanor is called "mug" (fool) but Alyohin and Anna are both intelligent and educated. The servants might be happy in their own way, but Alyohin and Anna are dissatisfied with their lives. Thus a violent love affair between the servants contrasts with the quiet and unexpressed love between the intelligent person.

2) How does an account of the occasion and of the setting in which the narrative occurs affect our understanding of Alyohin? 

Ans: Alyohin told his story in the country. At that time a gray sky and trees drenched with rain could be seen from the windows. In such weather people could go nowhere and there was notheing for them to do but to tell and listen to stories. After he told his story to Burkin and Ivan, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Outside, there was a fine view of the garden and the river, which was shining in the sunshine like a mirror. The account of the time and the place helps us to understand Alyohin better. The rainy weather shows Alyohin's compulsion. He could not go out of it freely. But at he end of he story the rain stopped and the sun shone out. It expresses his freedom. now, after telling his story to his friends, he felt free. he could start a new life if he wished.

3) Alyohin is said to rush around like a squirrel in a cage and this judgement is echoed in the final paragraph of the story. What is the significant of this repetition?

Ans: The Luganoviches thought that Alyohin rushed around like a squirrel in a cage. They meant to say that he, being an educated happy like a squirrel in the jungle. he would not be free and happy like a squirrel in the jungle. He would work hard in order to earn more, but he always remained penniless. At the end of the story, Burkin and Evan hold the same opinion of his huge estate lie a squirrel in a cage. They intend to say that he could not make his life happier by devition his life to something else. He was trapped by his promise and reason. He could not come out of it. First, he lost his love because he was trapped by the reason. He argued that his love might ruin her happy life. He realized his mistake at the last meeting. Then he went to his house at Sofyino. Again he was trapped there by his promise to pay off the debt which his father had borrowed to spend on his education.

Practice Questions:

Short Answer Question:

1) 2072 Supp 

   How did Alyohin define love?

2) 2072 Set C

   Describe the circumstances which compelled Alyohin, The narrator of the story, quit the position of    the judge?

3) 2072 Partial Set

   Explain the significance of the statement- "a village cat driven by hunger to eat cucumber in the          kitchen garden".

Long Answer Question:

1) 2071 Set C
   Sketch the character of Alyohin. Do you consider him a successful or a failure person?
2) 2062
   Sketch the character of ALyohin.