Introduction :-
A Marriage Proposal (sometimes translated as simply The Proposal, is a one-act farce by Anton Chekhov, written in 1888–1889 and first performed in 1890. It is a fast-paced play of dialogue-based action and situational humour. A young man Lomov comes to propose to his neighbour Natalya but they keep on fighting over various topics. Through this play, Chekhov exposes the "fakeness" of the world and tries to show how superficial modern people are. Rather than emotionally bonding in relationships, people instead connect with wealth and money.
About the Author :-
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was an acclaimed Russian playwright and short story writer whose works were translated into several languages.His characters include a cross-section of people across gentry and middle class reflecting their attitude, behaviour and social etiquette.He was a literary realist of precision who presented the secret motives of his characters. It is characteristic of Chekov to weave a simple plot with freedom to the readers to draw their own conclusions. He depicts the trivialities of Russian life of his time devoid of obtrusive literary devices.
The Proposal Summary :-
'The Proposal" is a one-act play written in 1880 by the acclaimed Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov. The play is a typical example of what is know as "Farce - A Comic play involving ridiculously improbable situations and events which seem to be absurd tothe audience
The play is set in the country house of a wealthy landlord. Stephen Stepanovitch Chubukov. It involves the humourous and absurd argument between Chubukov, his daughter Natalya and their long time neighbour
Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov. The play is an adaptation by Brian Molloy based on the translation by Julius West (1889).
The play is set in the rural countryside of Russia during the late 1800s. When Ivan arrives at the home of the Chubukov family, the elderly Stepan assumes that the well-dressed young man has come to borrow money.
Instead, Stepan is pleased when Ivan asks for his daughter's hand in marriage. Stepan whole-heartedly bestows his blessing, declaring that he already loves him like a son. The old man then leaves to fetch his daughter, assuring the younger man that Natalya will graciously accept the proposal.
While alone, Ivan delivers a soliloquy, explaining his high level of nervousness, as well as a number of physical ailments that have recently plagued his daily life. This monologue sets up everything that unfolds next.
Everything is going well when Natalya first enters the room. They chat pleasantly about the weather and agriculture. Ivan attempts to bring up the subject of marriage by first stating how he has known her family since childhood.
As he touches upon his past, he mentions his family's ownership of the Oxen Meadows. Natalya stops the conversation to clarify. She believes that her family has always owned the meadows, and this disagreement ignites a caustic debate, one that sends tempers flaring and Ivan's heart palpitating.
After they yell at each other, Ivan feels dizzy and tries to calm himself down and change the subject back to matrimony, only to get immersed in the argument yet again. Natalya's father joins the battle, siding with his daughter, and angrily demanding that Ivan leave at once.
As soon as Ivan is gone, Stepan reveals that the young man has planned to propose to Natalya. Shocked and apparently desperate to be married, Natalya insists that her father bring him back.
Once Ivan has returned, she tries to bend the subject toward romance. However, instead of discussing marriage, they begin to argue over which of their dogs is the better hound. This seemingly innocuous topic launches into yet another heated argument.
Finally, Ivan's heart cannot take it anymore and he flops down dead. At least that's what Stepan and Natalya believe for a moment. Fortunately, Ivan breaks out of his fainting spell and regains his senses enough for him to propose to Natalya. She accepts, but before the curtain falls, they return to their old argument regarding who owns the better dog.
In short, "The Marriage Proposal" is a delightful gem of a comedy. It makes one wonder why so much of Chekhov's full-length plays (even the ones labelled as comedies) seem so thematically heavy.
Characters in the Play :-
Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov- a wealthy land owner
Natalya Stepanovna (Chubukor Daughter) - twenty five years old
Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov a young man and neighbour of Chubukov.
Setting of the Play :-
A drawing room in Chubukov's house.
Themes of the Play :-
Landowning Class
A major theme in The Proposal is Chekhov's satire of the landowning class in 19th-century Russia. As mentioned in the Context section, the landowners were a small, privileged class who were notoriously conservative in clinging to old values that defined them. They knew their advantage in society was based mainly on owning land, as opposed to having a title of nobility. As a result, they opposed any reforms that would allow their peasants to own a piece of land. Chekhov makes fun of the landowners by depicting Lomov, Natalya, and Chubukov as obsessed about ownership of a worthless tract called Oxen Meadows. Their pride and greed are so extreme that they override a marriage proposal. Lomov calls Chubukov a land grabber, but, in truth, they all are.
Additionally, Chekhov depicts the three characters as being so stubborn that they can't admit being wrong. Natalya tells Lomov she was mistaken about owning Oxen Meadows, but she really doesn't believe it. She just says this to get Lomov to propose to her. Chekhov satirizes the characters' stubbornness over Oxen Meadows because landowners believed in their right to own huge amounts of land—and would never consider budging on this position.
Finally, Chekhov shows the characters as valuing superficial appearance over substance. They give the appearance of being solid citizens who support traditional values, including marriage. However, through his depiction of Lomov, Natalya, and Chubukov, Chekhov shows that for some landowners this appearance is false. What they really care about is owning land and appearing virtuous and right, while in reality they care little about Christian values. For example, instead of being kind to each other, they are mean and childish.
Romance and Marriage
Chekhov's theme of romance and marriage runs throughout each section of the comedy. The narrative satirises marriage mainly through the use of situational irony. This type of irony involves a difference between what is expected to happen and what does happen. The audience expects Lomov's proposal to Natalya to be filled with romantic sentiments, loving caresses, and perhaps even tears of joy. However, what the audience gets is bickering between two petty people who each want to prove they are right above anything else. Romantic love has been thrown out the window.
Chubukov's attitude toward the prospective union of Natalya and Lomov also skewers the ideas of romance and marriage. This character is older than Lomov and has seen more of life. As a result, he believes, as a person grounded by his class, that most of life is a charade, in which people go through the motions while not really meaning what they say. Because of this, Chekhov constantly has Chubukov mouthing phrases such as "and so on and all that." This implies that Chubukov sees people performing rote behaviors that are expected in certain social situations. Thus, for Chubukov, a marriage proposal is a formality in which each participant expresses certain expected sentiments like love, loyalty, and so on. Whether they truly mean these sentiments is another matter.
Chubukov's attitude reaches a climax at the end of the play, when he orders a dazed Lomov to get married and sticks the suitor's hand in Natalya's hand. Then Chubukov says, "She's willing and all that and so on." Thus—with no romantic gestures—Lomov becomes engaged without really knowing what's happening. However, in a society in which appearance matters more than substance, this doesn't matter. The formalities have been observed and the charade has been acted out, much to the relief of Chubukov. The play's last line has Chubukov saying, "And they lived happily ever after!" This is the typical, expected ending of a fairy-tale romance. But the truth of this matter, as the bickering Lomov and Natalya show, is clearly going to be quite the opposite.
Lack of Communication
Chekhov uses three methods to covey the lack of communication theme. The first is Lomov's style of speech. He has a roundabout way of talking that prevents him from getting to the point. For example, instead of directly proposing to Natalya, he talks about their families. Also, he often stops his train of thought to mention something else. Many times, this tendency is caused by his hypochondria. In the middle of his argument with Natalya and Chubukov about Oxen Meadows he cries, "You're a snake and a ... Oh, my heart ... And it's an open secret that before the last elections you bribed ... my eyes are gone blurry."
Secondly, when Lomov digresses from the main point, he and Natalya each value the digression more than the central topic of conversation. For instance, with Oxen Meadows, Lomov and Natalya view the issue of who owns this plot of land as more pressing than the primary purpose of their talk. This tendency of valuing a superficial digression is even more pronounced with Guesser and Messer. During this scene, both Lomov and Natalya know that a decision is about to be made that will change their lives, namely getting married. Yet, they find more meaning in a frivolous argument about who has the better dog.
Finally, Lomov, Natalya, and Chubukov are more concerned about proving they are right than understanding their opponent's viewpoint. This attitude blocks communication because they end up barraging one another with biased statements and insults instead of being empathetic. For example, in the Guesser and Messer argument, Lomov resorts to calling Chubukov a snake and a rat. In retaliation Chubukov calls Lomov a brat and a fool. Such name calling is hardly conducive to open communication and is used by Chekhov for his satiric purposes of their nature.
Conclusion :-
To sum up, We can say that The play is about the tendency of rich families to hunt ties with other wealthy families, to extend their estates by encouraging marriages that observe economic sense.
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