"A house with a mezzanine" by A.P. Chekhov: a brief retelling

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

The narration of the work is in the first person - the artist. "A House with a Mezzanine" is dedicated to the period when the narrator lived for some time in the Belokurovsky estate of one of the districts of T. province. According to him, the owner of the estate complained that he could not find a person to whom he could pour out his soul.

The narrator, while walking, went to an unfamiliar estate, where he saw two beautiful girls at once. A few days later, one of them arrived at the estate, collecting money for the peasants who had suffered from the fire. It turned out that the girl's name is Lydia Volchaninova, and she lives near the estate. After the death of her father, who several years ago was an honorary adviser, Lida's family moved to the village, and she herself became a teacher. Lida's mother, and her younger sister Zhenya, who was most often called Misya because of her childhood habit of addressing her own governess in this way. The mezzanine house the family lived in looked quite solid.

The author visits the Volchaninovs more and more often, mutual sympathy arises between him and Misya. But with Lida, on the contrary, relations did not work out, because she hated an idle lifestyle and tried to give the impression of a working person. She did not like the landscapes of the house, because they did not have folk themes. In many ways, Lida is the head of the family, and her mother and Zhenya simply tried not to argue with her, because they were afraid of her temper. In the story "House with a mezzanine", the brief content of which does not allow revealing all the characters in detail, a detailed description of Lydia's character is given.

There is a skirmish between her and the narrator, during which he notices that charitable works in favor of the peasants are not able to give a positive result, but rather, on the contrary, bring only harm. According to the narrator, help to the peasants in the form of organizing hospitals and schools is unable to free them. On the contrary, even more prejudices appear in people's lives. He also noted that they would now have to pay zemstvos to receive books, which automatically implies an increase in the amount of work. Lida insists on her own, the family supports her. Gradually, the author ceases to like the house with a mezzanine, and Lydia contributes to this in many ways.

The narrator confesses his love to Missus after another evening walk. The girl reciprocates, but immediately tells everything to Ekaterina Pavlovna and her sister, warning the narrator that it is not customary to keep secrets in their family. The next day, the hero comes to the Volchaninov estate, and Lida informs him that Misya and her mother went to Penza, after which, most likely, they will go abroad.

When the narrator comes back, a boy catches up with him with a note from Zhenya, in which she apologizes to him and says that she could not disobey her sister's will.

The author never saw the Volchaninov family again. One day he accidentally met Belokurov and he said that Lydia still lives and works as a school teacher. The owner of the estate could not tell anything intelligible about Zhenya.

The hero of the story gradually forgets the house with a mezzanine and the family in which Lydia is the main one. Only in moments of bitter loneliness does he remember the Volchaninovs and hope that someday he will see Missus again.

The story "The House with a Mezzanine" is one of the best works of A. P. Chekhov, it was filmed in 1960.