The Lady with the Pet Dog

Comparison of two stories of the same name A tommyrot of two lovers in an social occasion is never a simple thing to understand. Anton Chekhov original and Joyce Carol Oatess updated meter reading of The Lady with the Pet Dog tells the story of two unhappy individuals toil some(prenominal) to find love in a long lasting affair. Both versions of the story are similar in plot, precisely the different heading of behold allows readers to view the conflicts and emotions that each character faces, instead of estimable getting one side of the story. Although both stories follow the same plot, there are many a(prenominal) differences that help oneself readers understand the emotions of the protagonist.Chekhovs version of The Lady with the Pet Dog the main protagonist is a male named Dmitry Gurov. The third person point of view allows readers to provided see how Gurovs emotions throughout the story and not his love interest Anna. Gurov is an unfaithful husband and views women as th e inferior race (Chekhov 205). He has been through many affairs in Moscow that he already knows that the affair will grow into an extreme complexity (205) and when the end comes a painful situation is created (205).In Oates version the protagonist is Anna, who is not as timid as she appears in Chekhovs version. Anna doesnt know what it feels like to have a bond with a person, because she fuckt seem to connect with her husband. The affair allows Anna some freedom from her boring life and allows her to have some purpose in life. Yet she feels guilty for creation in an affair with a stranger. The plot in Chekhovs version is very straight forward being in chronological order, whereas Oates mixes the plot somewhat starting with the climax source.They share the same climax of the theater, but in both stories Anna reacts differently when seeing her lover appear to see her. In Chekhovs version, Anna is shocked by Gurovs appearance. She tells him that she is suffering and thinks only abo ut him, but wants to forget everything that happened. Yet she is knows she wants to be with him so she promises to see him in Moscow and tells him to leave. plot of ground in Oatess version, Anna is shocked and very unpleased with seeing her lover, and makes sure he doesnt come near her.Her lover then calls her, and we see that Anna get cross with him for calling her. We can see that Oates was trying to give Anna a little more power in the affair unlike Chekhov. The mix of the plot in Oatess version I feel allows readers to really understand Anna and her emotions. It wouldve been easier to understand if it was in order, but Oates took the same story and updated it and wrote it in a way that make it much different from Chekhovs. She gave Anna life and we got to see how the guilt ate at her, while Gurov wasnt really affected as bad as she was in Chekhovs.I had to read Oatess story more than once to get the story into order, which allowed me to think more about Annas feelings more th en I could do if I only read it once. In both stories the protagonist are stuck in unhappy marriage ceremonys, but neither actually make an effort to divorce. The circumstance of Chekhovs version takes place at the turn of the century, so I feel maybe divorce wasnt an option for both characters then. Yet Oates had her story take place in the 1970s, which happened to be a time of feminism, which to my surprise Anna never thought about leaving her husband for her lover.The confusing emotions from an unhappy marriage and guilt drove Anna crazy. She would ponder this is fateto be here and not there, to be one person and not another, a certain mans wife and not the wife of another man (222). We could tell she just wants to be accepted from someone, and that was her lover. The guilt of cheating withal on a gloomy marriage drove her to tell her lover that she wished that one of her men would die, so it could make things easier on her. In each story we find that the protagonist finds so me sort of love in the end of the story.Chekhovs character Gurov, sees his wife as limited intelligence, narrow minded and dowdy (205). Anna seems to be the opposite of his wife, which makes him even more attractive to her. Gurov has been in many affairs, but each time he was go forth lonely, because he was focused on looking for the sexual outlook of the relationship and not the emotional. Anna allowed him to open up emotionally, giving him someone to talk to. In the end Gurov knew he was growing old and that he truly for the first time actually loved someone.Oatess Anna, has been through a lot of confusion never knowing who she loved. She almost commits suicide and gives up on her relationship. It takes her sometime, but she finally learns to accept her lover and the secrets. Anna was looking for her own identity and love, but she had to learn to love herself first before she could love anyone else. With the third person point of view we are limited to so much information, but O atess adaption sheds light on the other half of the story. A one sided story wouldve left readers with a lot of questions concerning Anna.Its like they made the affair seem so easy in Chekhovs version, but we find out that they struggled just like any couple would. Although the stories shared many similarities they did have their difference in approach. Works Cited Chekhov, Anton. The Lady with the Pet Dog. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 8th ed. capital of Massachusetts Bedford/St. Martins 2009. 205-16 Oates, Joyce Carol. The Lady with the Pet Dog. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 8th ed. Boston Bedford/St. Martins 2009. 219-31