A. P. Chekhov "Darling": a summary of the work

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is a universally recognized classic of world culture. During his life, he wrote many wonderful works that were translated into more than 100 languages. We all know his immortal plays "The Cherry Orchard", "The Seagull", "Three Sisters". But to many of his readers, he is more remembered as the author of short humorous and satirical stories. One of them is called "Darling". A summary of the work is given in the article.

Meet the main character

Olga Semenovna Plemyannikova is the daughter of a retired collegiate assessor. She lives on the outskirts of the city in the Gypsy Sloboda, not far from the Tivoli Garden, where the bored audience is entertained with musical numbers and theatrical performances. Olenka is a young lady of pleasant appearance with a soft meek look. Those around her love her.

She makes a good impression. Her naivete and absolute kindness appeal to both men and women, who call her that - darling. In the heart of a blooming rosy-cheeked young lady, there is invariably some kind of affection. She has a constant desire to love someone. At first, Olenka adored herfather, who is now old and sick, then her aunt, who visited her twice a year. And before that, the girl had tender feelings for the French teacher. Now Olenka's heart is free and longs for a new affection. You can feel how sweet, naive and trusting the main character of this work is, even after reading only its summary. Chekhov's "Darling" is a story about an ingenuous, ingenuous girl, at the same time very pleasant for others.

Olenka, Ivan Petrovich Kukin and his theater

Next to Olga, Ivan Petrovich Kukin, an entrepreneur and owner of the Tivoli Pleasure Garden, lives in an outbuilding. He often complains that the public today is ignorant and indifferent to art, that it rains all day long on the street, which makes it impossible to hold performances. As a result of all this, he, a great lover and connoisseur of music and theater, suffers colossal losses. Olenka's soul is filled with pity for this man. Despite the fact that Kukin is small, skinny and speaks in a "thin tenor", the heart of a sweet young lady is filled with love. The young are getting married. Now Olenka in the evenings gives her husband raspberry broth to drink, rubs him with cologne and wraps him in her soft shawls.

And he continues to complain about life, losing weight and turning yellow. The young wife gets a job with him at the theater, just like him, she scolds the audience for ignorance, complains about bad weather and deals with newspapermen who speak badly about the Tivoli Garden. And this is the whole soul. The summary of the story below readsfast in one go.

The new marriage of the heroine

But the love story of Olenka and Kukin ended tragically - the husband of a loving young lady died suddenly in Moscow, where he went to recruit a new troupe. Our heroine was very upset by the death of her husband, however, not for long. Three months later, a new attachment entered her heart. Vasily Andreevich Pustovalov, a very sedate and economic man, worked as a timber warehouse manager for the merchant Babakaev. Olenka loved him with all her heart. Soon the young people got married. Now the rosy-cheeked young lady spoke skillfully about the rise in the price of timber, timber tariffs, and so on. It seemed to her that she had been doing this for a long time. The Pustovalovs' houses always smelled deliciously of rich bread, fried meat, borscht and pies. Olenka grew stout, happy with her married life.

Vasily Andreevich did not like any entertainment, including the theater. Even on holidays he stayed at home. Olenka shared all the thoughts and thoughts of her husband. Now she told her acquaintances that the theater was a trifling entertainment not for working people like her and her husband. When Pustovalov left for the Mogilev province for the forest, Olenka was very bored. Sometimes on such days she was visited by the veterinarian Smirnin, who divorced his wife, leaving a small son. Our heroine, sighing, strongly advised him to make peace with his wife for the sake of the child. The young woman described by the author in the story is perfectly characterized even by its summary. Chekhov's "Darling" is a work abouta young lady who wholeheartedly gives herself to her affection, however, only until another sympathy replaces her. And we will see this soon.

Olenka's next affection

In full love, understanding and harmony, the Pustovalovs lived for six happy years. And then Vasily Andreevich repeated the fate of his predecessor Ivan Petrovich. Olenka's husband died suddenly, having caught a cold in the frosty winter in the forest. The young widow plunged into mourning, which this time lasted six months. And after this time, the neighbors already saw the young lady in the courtyard of the house in the company of veterinarian Smirnin.

From now on, darling only talked about cow diseases, stingray plague, city slaughterhouses, contaminated milk, and so on. It became clear to everyone around that a new attachment appeared in Olenka's soul. She gave herself to her with all her heart, sharing entirely all the thoughts and actions of Smirnin. Her happiness this time did not last long: soon the military veterinarian was assigned to a distant regiment, and he left. To understand what was going on in Olenka's soul after that, an assessment of her moral qualities, or rather, their analysis, will help us. Chekhov's "Darling" tells about a woman whose whole meaning of life is to love someone and make the existence of this person comfortable and happy. She cannot and does not want to live for herself. After Smirnin's departure, those around him did not recognize the former Olenka: she lost weight, aged dramatically, and became ugly. People no longer smiled at her as before, they avoided her. It was clear that the darling had a completely different start,lonely, empty life. It seemed that there would be no change in her.

Return of Smirnin

Day after day, year after year, the gray, dull existence of the main character proceeded. One can understand how hard it was for Olenka even after reading the summary of Chekhov's story. Darling did not speak to anyone now for the reason that she simply had nothing to say. Previously, when she was married, everything in her life had meaning: the music in the Tivoli Garden, and the forest warehouses, and the courtyard, and the autumn rain … But now she definitely did not know why this rain, the theater, the courtyard were needed. Her heart was empty. Everything changed at one moment, when Smirnin appeared on the threshold of her large and so empty house. He told Olenka that he had retired, reconciled with his wife and came to this city to find housing for his son, who had already grown up and had to go to the gymnasium. The woman burst into tears and invited Smirnin and his family to stay with her. If the former military veterinarian had refused her, it would have been a terrible blow for her. But Smirnin agreed, and the next day the walls were painted in the house and the roof was whitewashed. Olenka suddenly came to life, rejuvenated, a smile appeared on her lips again. She walked around the yard happy, ordered. Her life was filled with meaning.

Maternal feelings in Olenka's soul

The next day, an ugly lady with a capricious expression and a plump little boy appeared in the courtyard of the house. They were the wife and son of Smirnin. Olenka settles in an outbuilding, freeing up her house for the family of a retired veterinarian. Smirnin's wife soon leaves for Kharkov tosister and does not return for a long time. The head of the family himself often leaves somewhere. Sasha is left alone, abandoned by his parents. Olenka takes the boy to her wing. She takes care of him, teaches him lessons, escorts him to school, pampers him with sweets. And this is now the whole meaning of her life. “This is my biggest attachment of all that was before,” says the darling. The summary of the work may well convey the fullness of maternal feelings that covered our heroine with her head.

Olenka's new meaning of life

Now the woman lives the life of a high school student Sasha. She tells others about the difficulties of learning today in gymnasiums, about lessons, teachers and textbooks. Maternal feeling for the boy flares up in her day by day. She loves everything about him: his dimples, his hair, his oversized cap.

The people around now meet the rejuvenated and prettier Olenka with a smile. She makes a good impression again. The only thing the heroine is afraid of is that Sashenka will be taken away from her. Every time she knocks on the gate, she jumps up in fear and looks out: did the postman bring a telegram from Kharkov from the boy's mother?

This is what this work tells us about an extraordinary woman. "Darling" is an example of selfless love, self-sacrifice for the sake of another person's happiness. The heroine, in view of the repeated situations with finding the meaning of life and its loss, is depicted by the author comically. Each time her fate develops according to the same scenario. However, we want to see in Olenkaonly good things and be glad that she once again found her happiness.

The finale of Chekhov's "Darling" remains open, a summary of which is given above. The reader has a question: "Will the story of losses repeat itself for Olenka, or will she finally find happiness?" Each of us will answer it in our own way.