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A review by leelulah
The Darling by Anton Chekhov
2.0
Read to understand Eudora Welty's On Reading. Apparently, it's commonly held that the Darling is a reflection of what Chekhov thought of women. Now I haven't read enough things by him to have this certainity, and I loved The Orchard Tree. I think this was satirical. Her dreams and devotion were almost cartoonish Now, if this is Chekhov writing from his perspective of fear of commitment, only God knows. But this had funny bits and wasn't as terrible as the blurb here makes it out to be.
I don't necessarily hold that womanizers as him can have high ideas of women at least until they change their ways, but I have definitely seen worse in Latin American novels from the 70s. It's hard to read this as an anti marriage writing, for one could've been censored in Russia by openly ascribing to such views, and it's a bit like reading Wilde as a misogynist because a lot of his characters, or the most often quoted, are so.
One would have to compare with other writings of Chekhov to have a definitive view. Was this what men expected of women and is this intended to be critical of such expectations instead? Because else, if your happiness isn't your spouse's happiness (men and women), what you are married for?
I don't necessarily hold that womanizers as him can have high ideas of women at least until they change their ways, but I have definitely seen worse in Latin American novels from the 70s. It's hard to read this as an anti marriage writing, for one could've been censored in Russia by openly ascribing to such views, and it's a bit like reading Wilde as a misogynist because a lot of his characters, or the most often quoted, are so.
One would have to compare with other writings of Chekhov to have a definitive view. Was this what men expected of women and is this intended to be critical of such expectations instead? Because else, if your happiness isn't your spouse's happiness (men and women), what you are married for?