Give a brief sketch of the character of Lomov in the play The Proposal’.
Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov is a long time neighbour of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov in the play The Proposal’ written by Anton Chekhov. He is a 35-year-old bachelor. The playwright further describes him as a large and hearty, but a very suspicious landowner. He is a stock character. He is a hypochondriac who is obsessed with his imaginary illness and spends sleepless nights. It is through him that Chekhov satirises the attitude of the Russian upper-middle-class society towards marriage. Lomov chooses “a quiet and regular life” instead of searching for ideal or real love. Hence he decides to marry Natalya. Later he gets involved in continual arguments with her. His hesitation and nervousness in uttering the marriage proposal is funny and hilarious. Lomov’s illness is a representation of the diseased society. It indicates individual frailty as well as social degeneration.
Sketch the character of Natalya.
In the play ‘The Proposal written by Anton Chekhov, Natalya Stepanovna is the twenty-five-year-old daughter of the wealthy landowner Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov. We learn from Lomov’s soliloquy that she is an excellent housekeeper, not bad-looking and well-educated, even before she appears. When finally she does, this anti-romantic heroine destroys all the expectations of romance in the situation that is supposed to be romantic. She is dressed in an apron and négligeé and talks about shelling peas and stacking hay to a man who has come with a marriage proposal. She shows no traces of the “love-sick cat” attitude that her father has led us to expect. This spirited lady mocks and argues with Lomov unabashed but gets extremely excited and restless to call him back when she comes to know about his proposal of marriage. In her extreme eagerness to get married, she accepts the proposal never uttered by Lomov and kisses the undisposed and confused Lomov at her father’s command but starts to argue immediately after. Thus, Chekhov uses her as a tool to satirize the process of courtship and marriage.
“Now, you know, you shouldn’t forget all about your neighbours, my darling.”—Who said this and to whom? Why was the speaker surprised? Comment on the approach of the speaker.
“Then why are you in evening dress, my precious ?”-Who said this? Why was the person spoken to, in his evening dress? What did the speaker assume about the person?
“He’s come to borrow money! Shan’t give him any…”-Who is the speaker? What makes him say this? What features of this character are revealed here?
“Oh, don’t go round and round it, darling! – Who is addressed as ‘darling’? What is it? Who is the speaker? Why does he make this comment?
“I’ve come to ask the hand of your daughter, Natalya Stepanovna, in marriage.”-Who is the speaker? To whom does the speaker say this? What was the reaction of the person spoken to?
“…do you think I may count on her consent ?”-Why is the speaker so uncertain? How does the speaker ultimately get consent?
“She’s like a love-sick cat,”-Who said this and about whom? Analyse the character of the person, referred to here, under the light of the comment above.
“If I give myself time to think, to hesitate, to talk a lot for an ideal, or for real love, then I’ll never get married.”-Who thinks so? When does he think so? Why does the speaker think about it?
“Go; there’s a merchant come for his goods.”—Who said this and to whom? Who is the merchant’? What is referred to as ‘goods’? In what way does it bring out the attitude of the person and the society at that time?
“I’m trembling all over,’ -Who is ‘I’ here? How does the speaker express his nervousness?
“You must excuse my apron and négligé…”. – above-mentioned line has been extracted. Who is the speaker of the quoted line? What is négligee? What was the speaker engaged in before arrival? What did the speaker offer the person addressed as you?
“We’ve had the land for nearly three hundred years…”—Who is the speaker? Who is spoken to? What is referred to as ‘the land’? What do you know of the land from their conversation?
“If you like, i’ll make you a present of them.”-Who is the speaker? Who is the person spoken to? What would the speaker make a present of? Why did the speaker say so?
“How have you the right to give away somebody else’s property?” – Who is the speaker? What property is referred to here? Why does the speaker ask this question?
“Darling, the Meadows are ours!”- Who said this and to whom? Whom did the meadows belong to? Why was there an argument over them?
“You’re not a neighbour, you’re a grabber!”-Who said this and to whom? Why is this said?