The Lady with the Dog

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The Lady with the Dog

Author
Original title
Country
Language
Genre
Publication date
Pages
ISBN

Anton Chekhov

Russia
Russian
Short story, Drama
1899
34 pp
ISBN 0-393-09002-7

"The Lady with the Dog" (Russian: , Dama s sobachkoy)[1] is a short

story by Anton Chekhov first published in 1899. It tells the story of an adulterous affair
between a Russian banker and a young lady he meets while vacationing in Yalta. The
story comprises four parts: part I describes the initial meeting in Yalta, part II the
consummation of the affair and the remaining time in Yalta, part III Gurov's return to
Moscow and his visit to Anna's town, and part IV Anna's visits to Moscow. Vladimir
Nabokov declared that it was one of the greatest short stories ever written.[2]

Contents

1 Plot
2 Publication history
3 Adaptations
4 Cultural references
5 Notes/References

6 External links

Plot
Dmitri Gurov is a Moscow banker, married with a daughter and two sons. Unhappy in his
marriage, he is frequently unfaithful and considers women to be of a lower race. While
vacationing in Yalta, he sees a young lady walking along the seafront with her small dog,
and endeavors to make her acquaintance. The lady, Anna Sergeyevna, is also vacationing,
while her husband remains at home in an unnamed provincial town. They are soon
engaged in an affair, and spend most of their time together walking and taking drives to
nearby Oreanda. Though she is expecting her husband to come to Yalta, he eventually
sends for her to come home, saying that something is wrong with his eyes. Gurov sees
her off at the station.
Returning to Moscow and his daily routine, working by day and clubbing by night, Gurov
expects to soon forget young Anna but finds he is haunted by her memory. On the ruse of
going to St. Petersburg to take care of some business, he sets off to her town to find her.
Learning the location of the familys residence from a hotel porter, he finds the house,
only to realize that it would be futile to intrude. In despair, he reasons that Anna has
probably forgotten him and found someone else, and heads back to his hotel for a long
nap.
In the evening, he remembers having seen a sign earlier promoting a performance of The
Geisha. Reasoning that Anna and her husband may attend the first performance, he goes
to the theater. The couple enters and he watches intently. When the husband goes out for a
smoke during the first interval, Gurov greets Anna, who is bewildered and runs from him.
After following her through the theater, he confronts her and she confides that she has
been thinking of him constantly. Frightened, she begs him to leave and promises to come
to see him in Moscow.
She makes excuses to come to Moscow, telling her husband that she is going there to see
a doctor, which he "believes and does not believe". Gurov realizes that for the first time
in his life he has actually fallen in love, and wonders how they can continue. While they
talk of finding a plan, the story ends without a resolution.