Tale of Two Tales: Chekov’s and Oates’s The Lady with a Pet Dog
Chekhov’s and Oates’s versions of the story are told from the opposite point of view of each couple, or characters since Oates’s story does not directly borrow from Chekhov’s original story. Each choice in point of view allows for a different subtext in the story. Chekhov’s protagonist, Gurov, at the beginning of the story is a coarse, arrogant, and callow person, a fact of which the character himself is well aware. His attitude toward women in general is dismissive; he refers to them as the “inferior race.” And his attitude toward Anna Sergeyevna in particular is equally callous.
After his first encounter with her, he regards her as “something pathetic.” Since the story is told largely through his point of view, Gurov leads the direction of the plot. He is the one who pursues a relationship with Anna Sergeyevna, and, after their first liaison, follows her to Moscow to continue their affair. His pursuit of her contradicts his feelings in past affairs, where he grew bored of his paramours rather quickly.
This change became evident during the third section, after Gurov returned to his family but he could think of nothing but Anna Sergeyevna. In the final scene, Gurov realizes he is truly in love for the first time, which opens him up to greater, more tender emotions.
While we get some glimpse of Anna Sergeyna’s interior emotions through her dialogue, she is seen mostly through Gurov’s impressions of her. Yet, toward the end, she stops speaking altogether (in her last bit of dialogue she says as much), thus becoming joined as one in Gurov’s imagination. Joyce Carol Oates’s version reimagines the story through “Sergeyevna’s” eyes. Unlike Chekhov’s Gurov, Oates’s protagonist is passive.
She does not direct the action in the plot. Oates directs most of the action in her version through the character’s interior emotions. Oates’s “Sergeyevna” is a hysterical character. She has suicidal ideations, has a melodramatic self-image not unlike a teenager, and is full of self-loathing.
Since Oates’s version has been updated, she maintains many of the same characteristics that Chekhov displayed in his character of the late 1800s, a move that might seem surprising, considering that a woman during the so-called “sexual revolution” might have a different attitude toward adultery.
Yet, here is how Oates’s version of the story adds a different subtext than Chekhov’s. While Chekhov’s character discovers real love for another human being for the first time in his life, and the ultimate sacrifice that involves, Oates’s protagonists begins to love herself for the first time. Gurov’s love transcends himself, but Oates’s “Sergeyena’s” takes her back to self.
