THE PROPOSAL

                                                                   THE PROPOSAL 

1.Describe the character of Natalya.

Stepan Chubukov's 25-year-old daughter, Natalya Stepanovna is moderately well-educated in appearance and good at housework.But she is fast passing the age of marriage.

When she suspects that Lomov has come to talk about Oxen Meadows, she changes her nature, gets angry and finally kicks him out. But later she learns that Lomov came here for the sake of taking her hand. At once she is seized with hysteria and forces her old father to fetch him.

She eventually becomes embroiled in a debate over the superiority of the Squeezer over the Guess.Love-sick yet consumerist, She can be the ideal pair of depressed nature Lomov.

2.Describe the character of Lomov.

Ivan Veselevich Lomov, a 35-year-old Russian landowner who is fearful, brooding and stubborn.

But he needs to get married. It is for this purpose that he enters Stepan's house and utters the marriage proposal. Stepan becomes so happy that he sends his daughter Natalya.Ivan starts off pretty well, but soon gets into irrelevant topics like weather, pastures, hounds, etc.He feels bewildered and tries to turn the matter to marriage but romance and good sense have eluded him.He appears to have died from the fall but quickly recovers.Amid this chaos, their engagement was consummated. Lomov marries to secure his social status, not to preserve his romantic identity.

3. Describe the character of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov.

Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov is an eccentric Russian landowner in his seventies.He is worried about his daughter's marriage. But he is a double-edged man.He almost addresses Lomov as 'my darling'. But in his own statement he expressed doubt that he had come to borrow money.At first Chubukov was overjoyed and gave Lomov permission to marry his daughter but he soon called off the engagement ceremony when a dispute arose over meadows.However he obeys his daughter's orders and apologizes after digesting the insult when he is forced to accept Lomov.When his daughter gets married he is happy and says ,"What a weight off my Soldier....ouf".He is the epitome of father figure in 19th century Russia.However, he cannot be called a responsible father because he is not at all concerned about whether his daughter's marriage is happy or not.

4.Estimate the play 'The Proposal' as a one act play.

A short play consisting of one act is called a one-act play. It is basically a play that revolves around the introduction of a specific event and is limited in character. One-act plays can be called the dramatic equivalent of short stories. Anton Chekhov's 'The Proposal' is a successful one-act play as it focuses on the single issue of Lomov's marriage proposal to Chubukov's daughter Natalia. There are only three characters in the play- Lomov, Chubukov and Natalya. The play moves at a fast pace and ends abruptly. Chekhov's use of marriage proposals and divisions in the play becomes enjoyable for the audience. In short Chekhov wrote an interesting one-act play although he himself was not happy with the creation.

5.Make a brief sketch of the social life of Chekhov's time in Russia.

In the play "The Proposal" we find a monotonous and traditional socialist society.This society does not value individual desires or feelings. Like an automatic machine, this society wants to carry its worn-out customs.Such an attitude is easily accepted in a society where a man wants to marry to protect his social status and economic status.The father considers his daughter a burden.Such attitudes are still prevalent in our country.If we judge our attitude towards the girl child, we can find similarities between our society and Chekhov's Russia.The society described in the play is mainly agricultural based. Recreational activities here are hunting or drinking.Chekhov always fought against this way of life in his contemporary society.