Theme of Feminism in The Darling by Anton Chekhov Literary Analysis Essay

📌Category: Literature
📌Words: 530
📌Pages: 2
📌Published: 21 April 2022

In the cultivation of societal progress, feminism has demanded for independent thought proving the sex’s desired capability against codependency. Anton Chekhov explores an enemy of the feminist progression in his short story, The Darling, through the characterization of the protagonist, Olenka. Chekhov presents Olenka embarrassingly codependent on the men in her life as she is incapable of feminist qualities such as independence and inner-happiness. Olenka’s anti-feminist qualities in her relationships demonstrate Chekhov’s criticism of the character and her lack of feminism.

Chekhov’s characterization of Olenka’s dependency is exemplified in the description of her relationships’ dynamic between her and her husbands. Her identity is consistent with someone who needs love and company in order to live fully which is why her marriages are anti-feminist. To simplify, in her first marriage to Kukin, he is described as “a thin man, with a yellow face, and curls combed forward on his forehead...yet he aroused a deep and genuine affection in her ''(213). Needless to say, she isn’t necessarily physically attracted to him and shows she does not have an explicit standard for men but rather relies on the fact that she could love him. This allowed Chekhov to show her as someone who held a yearning for love and company but was never bothered if her love was reciprocated. While this may gain some sympathy from the reader, her lack of expectation in her relationship proved how she was incompacitated for independence. Without holding a specific standard for a partner, one’s self worth could easily be compromised thus not achieving independence within oneself. When she was inevitably widowed, “and so it was, day after day and year after year, and now joy, and no opinions...whatever Mavra cook, the cook, said she accepted”(219). Chekhov bluntly states how Olenka did not have inner happiness or opinion; he refers to how without her husbands, she was unable to find love within herself or express real meaning for her own life. This is an extremely anti-feminist provoking aspect about Olenka because it completely opposes the feminist pursuit of happiness. Most women discover self love and happiness by achieving individual thought instead of being defined by the men who think for them. Chekhov contrasts this concept of feminism with Olenka and shows his criticism by making the reader feel sympathy for her character. 

Notably, Chekhov goes against a conventional literary composition and presents antagonist and protagonist traits in one character: Olenka. This juxtaposition is essentially Olenka’s incapability to accomplish the heroine criteria of a protagonist and how her character shows to be an adversary against feminism which is a clear antagonist quality. In her second marriage Chekhov describes how “her husband’s ideas were hers. If he thought the room was too hot, or that business was slack, she thought the same”(216). This trait of evident codependency for male validation presents an antagonist tendency and hints at Chekhov’s warnings against the dangers of internal misogyny. Olenka is submissively accepting the thoughts of her husbands and has never presented opposition. Without the empowerment of individual thought, Olenka subconsciously doesn’t realize how she is projecting this sexist idea onto herself. 

Needless to say, The Darling, scrutinizes its main character for being unable to possess feminist self worth (independence and happiness within herself) by characterizing anti-feminist traits like codependency. Olenka demands empathy from her audience because of this inability and Chekhov utilizes this character and her traits to convey a message to warn the reader of internalized misogyny and the importance of feminism.

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