Chekhov's "The Lady with a Pet Dog" might be compared with two modern motion pictures: Play Misty for Me (1971) and Fatal Attraction (1987). In both of these big-budget American films a man gets involved with a woman without considering the consequences. He is just bored or restless; he has nothing better to do; he has time on his hands. Then the relationship in both cases becomes intensely serious. Chekhov seems to be saying that people should not use other people as objects but should respect them as complex fellow humans. Chekhov stresses the fact that the main character is terribly bored in a boring resort town and instigates the adulterous liaison just for diversion, just to have something to do.
Everyone at the resort is bored. The biggest event they have to talk about is that a new visitor has been seen on the promenade walking a little dog. There is no mention of a husband. She must be alone. Gurov will know right where to find her, and since she has a little dog she has to walk it several times a day. He finds that he can use her dog to strike up an acquaintanceship. As Somerset Maugham wrote in his Ashenden story "The Traitor":
It is never very difficult to get to know anyone who has a dog.
I suspect that Play Misty for Me and Fatal Attraction were both inspired by Chekhov's story. The structure of the story is really simple: a man starts an affair because he is bored or curious or mildly attracted, and then finds he cannot get out of it. This sort of thing is not at all uncommon in real life.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
What two modern movies have plots that resemble Chekhov's "The Lady with the Pet Dog"?
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