In Anton Chekhov’s “The lady with the dog” we get a view into two unfaithful lovers during their vacation. The main character, Dmitri, is pretty much a player. He kind of reminds me of a Russian Ryan Gosling type guy, except with none of the romantic aspect. He does not like his wife, in fact he believes women are of a lower race than men. Yet he knows that without women he would not enjoy life as much. When Anna, the lady with the dog, comes by he tries his game with her, but succumbs to falling in “love” with her. We get this sense of love, which of course is fake, but for a few minutes we believe that maybe Dmitri has actually found love. Then we also get this sense that perhaps Anna still respects her relationship, where as we know Dmitri does not. Dmitri is a man who will never be satisfied with any one person, he doesn’t love, where as Anna who believes she is going to have this fantastic new relationship when she really isn’t. They illustrate how society views relationships, and how lust can overcome our rational thoughts. The two would not have endured such lust for one another if there was no one to catch them. The love they experienced was false, and they both realized that, leaving each other to go on their own ways.
-Kyle Blessing
LITERATURE OF THE SPINE 