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Intro
Popova is a young widow dutifully mourning her husband by locking herself in her estate with only her servant, Luka, for company. One day, local landowner Smirnov barges in and demands she pay him immediately the money her husband owed him for the oats he purchased on credit. Popova refuses and they argue back and forth in her drawing room. She banishes him but he won’t leave; he needs this money to pay back the bank. Otherwise, he will lose his estate.
The two argue about the nature of relationships between men and women. Smirnov says that women are vain, flighty, and not to be trusted with love or money, while men make countless sacrifices on both accounts. Popova points to her fidelity to her unfaithful husband as a counterexample. Luka continues to interject as the fight escalates, begging them to stop, but they continue right over him.
Eventually, they decide to duel as men do. When Popova leaves to retrieve her late husband’s pistols, Smirnov finds himself admiring her resolve and quickly decides he’s no longer angry but rather in love with her. He shows her how to shoot but tells her he won’t shoot her, much to her dismay. He tells her repeatedly that he loves her and that despite his current financial situation he would make a great husband. She is flustered and insists upon carrying out the duel, telling him to go away, while he insists (rudely) that he loves her.
Meanwhile Luka, distressed by this situation, gathers all the working men to come save Popova with pitchforks and rakes. He returns to find them kissing, and Popova instructs him not to feed her late husband’s beloved horse Toby.
