Analysis

It is appropriate that this humorous and poignant story has a pitiable yet ludicrous protagonist. While Olga is endearingly sweet and unaffected, readers cannot help but be irritated by her inability to form opinions. We see that she loves the theater when she is married to Kukin but detests it when with Pustovalov; she also switches from taking an exuberant interest in life's distractions to somberly reflecting on its frivolities in accordance with her husbands' views. Consequently, we have to decide whether to pity Olga for her lack of autonomy or laugh at her ignorance. She lacks independence of mind as well as spirit and floats adrift in a sea of male opinions, ideas, and beliefs. We are left to wonder at the sheer unoriginality of a woman who, when married to a timber merchant, concludes, "the most important and necessary thing in life was timber." Essentially, Chekhov seems to use his protagonist to emblematize female disempowerment (it is deeply ironic that the anti-feminist author Tolstoy admired Olga, whom he felt personified the ideal of female selflessness.)

On this point, readers see how the characters' use of the endearment "darling" patronizes and even demeans Olga. We sense that society is collectively patting the protagonist on the back for subordinating to the male intellect. But Chekhov does more than merely condemn his heroine as anti-feminist. Looking closely at the text we see that the author's treatment of his protagonist is far more complex. Chekhov first cultivates our sympathy toward his protagonist by noting that Olga felt a "deep and genuine feeling" toward her first husband; he then shows how she suffers through a string of bereavements. Olga thus emerges as a flawed yet gentle woman whose life has been blighted by disappointment. Even the sense of fulfillment she gains looking after Sasha is spurious because the child does not love her in return. We see that while Olga is prepared to die for the little boy, Sasha asks his "auntie" not to walk him into school because he is secretly ashamed of her. As a result, readers feel both sympathy and exasperation toward the protagonist. Because she has loved and lost so many times, one is tempted to forgive her for being unintelligent.

Although this tale is unusual in that Chekhov introduces a female protagonist, many familiar motifs reappear. One is the repeated "hammering" of people clattering on the pavement and banging on gates. This motif also appears in On Official Duty and Gooseberries, although in slightly different form. In general, noises play a key role in Chekhov's tales as they emphasize life's irrationality and man's lack of control over the forces of nature, destiny, and fortune.