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The Limits of Self-Knowledge
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Scene 1 Quotes
We’re living, if you don’t mind my saying so, like spiders,—we never see the light of day.
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Seven months after her husband’s death, Popova has shut herself away from society. Luka pleads with her, begging her to quit mourning and return to the world, for both of their sakes. He is subjected to her whims and must live as she does, tending to her every need without question. As a result, he is also forced to live in darkness as she does, isolated on the estate. Although Popova repeatedly refers to her actions as selfless, especially with regards to her uncaring husband, Luka invokes “we” to subtly remind her that he is subject to her choices. Still, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliqua
He was so fond of Toby! He always rode him over to the Korchagins and the Vlasovs. He sat a horse so wonderfully well! Such a graceful expression when he tugged at the reins with all his might! Remember? Toby, Toby! Tell them to give him an extra portion of oats.
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Luka suggests that Popova go out and ride her horse Toby about town in order to socialize, a perfectly innocuous suggestion. However, this sends her into another fit as she recalls how much her husband supposedly loved Toby. However, even as she explains that her husband “was so fond of Toby,” it does not appear he had any special affection for the horse. He rode the horse as a person does, and the meaning was attached by Popova almost in retrospect. As such, Toby becomes an empty symbol for Popova’s own affections. Feeding Toby extra oats is a way for Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut a
Scene 2 Quotes
And aren’t you ashamed? I’m a good girl, a faithful little wife, I’ve locked myself up in a fortress and will be true to you to the day I die, while you…aren’t you ashamed, you chubby thing?
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Alone, Popova addresses her husband directly as she looks at his photograph. She is proud of her actions and her insistence on performing grief. She believes there is a morality to this role, making her “a good girl, a faithful little wife.” Her goodness derives from her ability to adhere to a kind of femininity that she suggests is a challenge to maintain—to be accepting in the face of pain. But this performance of gender roles does not benefit anyone. Her husband is unaffected, and Popova herself (along with Luka) suffer as a result. Chekhov demonstrates how fidelity to these Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam of
Scene 4 Quotes
Popova: Twelve hundred! But what was my husband in debt to you for?
Smirnov: He bought oats from me.
Popova: (Sighing, to Luka): Now don’t you forget, Luka, to tell them to give Toby an extra portion of oats.
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Smirnov arrives and demands to be repaid for Nicolai Mikhailovich’s two “I.O.U.s.” He explains that Popova’s late husband purchased oats (for Toby) on credit, and now he is coming to collect. He begins somewhat reasonably and politely, asking to be repaid today to protect his estate from foreclosure. Popova, immune to his situation and only thinking of her own suffering, simply instructs Luka to feed Toby extra, at once reminded of her husband and insisting upon her fidelity to him while also rubbing salt in Smirnov’s wound. She says she cannot pay him today, she does not have the cash, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut
Scene 5 Quotes
Not one of the lousy deadbeats will pay up! And all because I’ve been too indulgent to them—I’m a soft touch, a pushover, a sissy! I’m too delicate with them! Well just you wait! You’ll learn who I am!
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On his own, Smirnov sends himself into a fit and begins one of his by now signature tirades. He describes his troubles collecting money and names the men in town who owe him and are in hiding. He refuses to understand his inability to collect as a kind of incompetence, although it becomes increasingly apparent that his approach (of simply appearing at someone’s doorstep unannounced and demanding payment they cannot make) is not likely to yield positive results. Instead of reflecting on that, and perhaps adhering to contracts and otherwise more fruitful approaches, he believes that this is a result Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusa
Scene 8 Quotes
You won’t lead me down the garden path again! Enough is enough! Dark eyes, flashing eyes, crimson lips, dimpled cheeks, the moon, low whispers, heavy breathing—for all this, madam, I now don’t give a tinker’s damn! Present company excepted, but all women, great and small, are phonies, showoffs, gossips, troublemakers, liars to the marrow of their bones; vain, fussy, ruthless, their reasoning is a disgrace; and as for what is in here (slaps his forehead), forgive my frankness, a sparrow could give ten points to any thinker in petticoats!
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Smirnov and Popova have escalated their argument into a full-on gender war. Smirnov describes his past as a Casanova of sorts and his tendency to fall in love with women who have broken his heart. He claims he broke many hearts as well, careful to preserve his ego even as he describes the vanities of unfeeling women. His chief complaint is the shallowness of women and their insistence upon appearances and reputation—ironic considering his own care for the same thing. Even as he derides women overall, he can’t help but fall for their seductions, describing their beauty and using suggestive Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusa
The man is faithful and constant in love! Do tell, now there’s news!...the very best was my late husband…. I loved him passionately, with every fiber of my being, as only a young, intelligent woman can love; I gave him my youth, happiness, life, my fortune, breathed through him, worshipped him like an idolater, and…and—then what? This best of men cheated me in the most shameless manner on every occasion!
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Popova rebukes Smirnov’s statement and belief that men are somehow better in love than women. As evidence, she points to her husband’s infidelity and her undying loyalty to a man who never loved her as she deserved. They both draw on examples from their own lives, limited only by the sphere of aristocratic romance rather than politics when discussing equal rights and equal action. Popova describes her sacrifices at length, as if there is some moral value in a woman suffering at the hands of a man. In the same way that Smirnov self-aggrandizes as he speaks poorly of women, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necess
Don’t I know perfectly well why you wear that black masquerade outfit and have buried yourself within these four walls? Of course I do! It’s so mysterious, so romantic!
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Although Popova has somewhat admitted to herself that she is in public mourning in order to maintain a certain reputation, this is the first time that someone else has pointed that out to her so concretely. Smirnov says she is in mourning not only to prove to herself and her husband that she is a good woman, but also to establish that reputation in society. He calls her mourning garb a masquerade, clearly some kind of inauthentic performance. He demonstrates awareness of gender roles as a social construct that people work to uphold, but cannot seem to understand how he Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas
Scene 9 Quotes
Luka: Saints in heaven!... Holy saints!... Water!
Smirnov: We’ll settle this with firearms!
Popova: Just because you’ve got fists like hams and a bull’s throat you think I’m afraid of you?...
Smirnov: I challenge you to a duel! I brook no insults and therefore I’ll overlook the fact that you are a woman, a frail creature!
Popova (Trying to shout over him.): You bear! You bear! You bear!
Smirnov: …Equal rights are equal rights, damn it all!...
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Luka, who displays dedication to Popova throughout the play, becomes so distressed by their argument that he falls into his own fit. While he has been quick to attend to everyone else throughout the play, they literally argue over him and escalate to violence. Smirnov, fed up with insults, decides to challenge Popova to a duel. Even though this is typically the province of men, he wants to fight her because he is so affronted by her insults and frustrated with the gender roles they are both playing out. He addresses this somewhat comically with the phrase “equal rights are Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis.
Now that’s a woman! That’s something I can understand! An honest-to-God woman! Not a sourpuss, not a limp rag, but flames, gunpowder, a rocket! I’m almost sorry I’ll have to kill her!
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Smirnov’s interest in Popova begins in earnest when she accepts his challenge, thereby acting outside of the expected social convention. She does not shy away from his threat of violence but instead accepts it, regardless of her own ineptitude. They are both acting irrationally (Popova hardly knows how to shoot a gun and needs Smirnov to instruct her) but are willing to meet each other in the absurd, beyond the realm of gendered social rules. This unsettles expectations of their behavior, even if it is entirely congruous with their own personal absurdities. Smirnov compliments how forceful Popova is, a value Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Comm
Scene 10 Quotes
Yes, yes go away!... (Shouts.) Where are you off to? Hold on… Go on, tough. Oh I’m really angry! Don’t come over here, don’t come over here!
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Like Smirnov, Popova has been reduced to incoherence. This is literalized by her inability to form a full sentence and insistence on her feelings rather than reality. She goes back and forth between what she wants and what she thinks she should want, emotion and reason thrown entirely out of order. She cannot think straight (or shoot straight for that matter) and wants Smirnov to simultaneously teach and protect her even as she tells him to go away. She continues to shout instructions, as she always does, forcing people to do what she wants. However, even as she tells him Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea susci
Luka, tell the stableboys that Toby gets no oats today.
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Toby, who has been a stand-in for Popova’s affections throughout the play, is given no oats at the end, which indicates that Popova no longer feels a strong sense of loyalty to her dead husband. The play ends with another instruction barked at Luka, who, after having attempted to save his boss from violence, is left with further orders and no regard for his effort. Popova quickly transfers her feelings and no one sees any issue with this, demonstrating that the object of her affection is of no real consequence. Additionally, Toby the horse never really mattered to her or Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dict
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