Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

Short Fictional Narrative Notes.

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department

"THE DARLING"
About The Darling Short Story:
"The Darling" is a short story by Anton Chekhov, written in December 1898. First published in The Family
magazine, it was ultimately included in the nine volume of Chekhov's work, released by book publisher
Adolph Marx. The story draws from Chekhov's experiences living in Taganrog, Moscow, and Yalta. The
play's protagonist aroused mixed reactions from Chekhov's contemporaries, though in general "The
Darling" was warmly received by the literary community of Russia of the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.

"The Darling" bears some key hallmarks of Chekhov's works. For one, it is a short, humorous story.
Chekhov made his early career writing satirical short stories, and the tendency to approach fiction this
way would never quite leave him. It also concerns the lives of Russian peasants, a subject to which
Chekhov dedicated much of his literary efforts. Importantly, Chekhov had a conflicted view of the
peasant class, often finding their behavior and lifestyles abhorrent, but finding humanity and pathos in
them nonetheless. This tension is central to "The Darling," with its sympathetic portrayal of a series of
largely unlikable characters.

The Darling Summary:

The story opens with Olenka sitting at the back doorstep of her house as rain clouds roll in. She's
listening to Kukin, the owner of the open-air theatre the Tivoli, complain about how the weather is
ruining his business. Olenka listens, growing more affectionate for Kukin the more he prattles on. She
falls in love with Kukin and they marry after her father's death.

Olenka and Kukin lead a comfortable happy life. Olenka starts to work at the Tivoli, soon adopting all of
Kukin's opinions and becoming preoccupied with the theatre. Kukin eventually leaves to Moscow to
recruit a troupe for his theater, and Olenka anxiously awaits his return. But she receives a telegram that
Kukin has been detained and, shortly after, another one stating that he has died.

While mourning, Olenka meets Vasily Pustovalov, a lumber merchant. It does not take Olenka long to fall
in love with him and promptly marry him. Olenka and Pustovalov live happily together, spending their
time either preoccupied with the lumber business or enjoying a materially-comfortable home life.

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Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

Olenka absorbs all of her husband's ideas about business and religion, and becomes totally obsessed
with lumber. On one winter day, Pustovalov goes to the lumber yard too soon after drinking hot tea,
promptly falling ill. After four months of fighting off the sickness, Pustovalov dies, leaving Olenka alone
yet again.

Olenka is much more reclusive after Pustovalov's death, and mourns in solitude for six months. She
slowly builds a rapport with Smirnin, a military veterinary surgeon who is lodging in her house, and can
be seen drinking tea with him as he reads her the news. Like with all the previous men in her life, Olenka
begins to grow fascinated with Smirnin's work and absorbs all manner of his opinions. Yet their
relationship cannot blossom since Smirnin is married to a woman he's estranged from, and together they
have a young son. Soon enough, Smirnin is transferred by the military.

With no man in her life, Olenka sinks into a deep depression and finds herself in an odd predicament.
With no one around her spouting ideas and opinions, she finds that she has none whatsoever. Even
about the smallest objects or the weather, she is totally blank. She finds herself attracting less attention
around town, and only growing more isolated.

One day, Smirnin returns to the town with his wife, who he has reconciled with, and his son, Sasha. He
tells Olenka they need a place to live and Olenka welcomes them to lodge in her house. After some time
Smirnin's wife leaves for Kharkov to live with her sister for good, and Smirnin himself grows occupied
with the town's nightlife and social happenings. Olenka decides to take a more active role in Sasha's
upbringing with the boys' parents having practically abandoned him, and Olenka develops a maternal
relationship with the boy.

In an ironic inversion of her relationship with the other men in her life, Olenka starts to absorb all of
Sasha's opinions and ideas about his school, but this time her obsession resembles that of a doting
mother. Nonetheless, as many small boys do, Sasha starts to feel suffocated by the attention. The story
ends with him crying out a protest against Olenka's closeness and constant attention in his sleep.

The Darling Character list:

Olga Semyonovna, "Olenka"
Olenka, the daughter of a retired collegiate assessor, is the central character of the story and the
"darling" referred to in the title. She is a pretty girl, with a kind heart and a nice smile; however, she has
no ideas or opinions of her own. Olenka needs another person in her life to give her a sense of identity,
to tell her what to think and what to make of life. The drama of the story comes from this strange
personality trait.

Ivan Petrovich Kukin, "Vanichka":

Kukin is described as a short, gaunt man with despair inscribed on his face. He is a manager of an open-
air theatre, the Tivoli, and Olenka's first husband. After listening to Kukin's constant complaining, Olenka
starts to take on his opinions about theatre and the public as her own. During a trip to Moscow, he is
detained and, soon after, dies, which Olenka learns via misspelled telegram.

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

Vasily Andreyich Pustovalov:

Pustovalov is a lumber merchant and Olenka's second husband. He's a deeply religious man, and leads a
pious, materially -comfortable life with Olenka for six years until his untimely death from an illness
contracted while out in the cold.

Vladimir Platonych Smirnin:

Smirnin is a veterinary surgeon living in Olenka's lodge. After the death of her second husband, he and
Olenka become close, but do not develop a romantic relationship on account of his marriage to an
estranged wife and the young son they share. Smirnin disappears for a spell, leaving Olenka in despair
and totally lacking in ideas or opinions. He later returns to Olenka's house with his wife and child.
Despite them all boarding at Olenka's house, Smirnin is largely absent for the rest of the story.

Sasha:
Sasha is Smirnin's son. He comes to Olenka's house with his parents, and lives there with them until his
mother leaves and Smirnin proves more or less absent. Olenka begins to care for Sasha as her own,
making him the centre of her life and absorbing all of his opinions about school. Sasha, though, is
somewhat suffocated by the relationship.

Smirnin's wife:
Described as a "thin, pale woman with a crabbed expression," Smirnin's wife is more notable as a
character for her absence. She appears briefly when she, Smirnin, and Sasha come to live in Olenka's
house. Shortly after, she moves away to Kharkov to live with her sister, leaving the family permanently
behind.

The Darling Glossary:

Collegiate Assessor:
A civil servant in the Imperial Russian government

Operetta:
A short, humorous opera

Pantomime:
A performance using entirely gestures, lacking any verbal expression.

'Faust Burlesqued':
Faust up to Date, a musical burlesque by Meyer Lutz (1864)

'Orpheus in Hades':

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

Orpheus in the Underworld, an operetta by Jacques Offenbach

Bryansk:
A city in western Russia

Kharkov:
A city in northeastern Ukraine

Vespers:
Evening prayers

Genuflections:
Kneeling during prayer

Akimbo:
Body position with hands on the hips and elbows bowed outwards

Superfluous:
Excessive, unnecessary

Cracknels:
Hard, crisp biscuits

Entwine:
To interlace

Sardonic:
Cynical or sarcastic

The Darling Themes:

Identity:
Olenka, the titular "darling," has no identity outside of the men she loves. Her opinions, personality, and
actions are entirely dictated by the interests of her current husband. In her first marriage, Olenka spends
all her time at the theatre that her husband owns, investing everything in helping him with his work.
When her first husband dies, she falls in love with someone else and loses all interest in her past passion
in order to adopt her current husband's interest. When Olenka is without a husband, she sits aimlessly
and is unable to form any thoughts of her own. Olenka is characterized as a kind of leech who can only

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

exist through the being of another person. Chekhov warns against this type of woman, who is purely
defined by her male relationships.

Love:
At the beginning of the short story, Chekhov explains that Olenka was "always fond of someone, and
could not exist without loving." Olenka is defined by her love, first for her father, then for her husbands,
and finally for a child that she becomes obsessed with. While this love is strong in the moment, it quickly
transfers. She seems to love her husbands deeply, and embraces every aspect of them, but as each dies
she quickly moves on to the next, immersing herself just as deeply as before. This pattern suggests a kind
of shallowness to Olenka's love and illustrates that perhaps Olenka is more in love with being in love
than with any of the men to whom she attaches herself.

Gendered Roles:
Simply, men in this story are portrayed as opinionated individuals with some purpose, be that as a
theatre owner, an entrepreneurial lumber merchant, a veterinarian trying to make it on his own, or a
young boy working to become a doctor or engineer. Women, on the other hand, are presented in much
vaguer terms. Olenka takes part in whatever the man who is the focus of her life at that moment is
engaged with, but doesn't do much of her own. The other women we encounter fall roughly into some
stereotype: the old woman Olenka drinks tea with, Smirnin's estranged wife who is basically a non-
entity, the various women Olenka encounters at the market, church, or post office. Men are portrayed as
driven, and women, generally, are there as background.

Fate:
There's a strong sense of fate throughout the story, and Chekhov makes sure its effects seem completely
arbitrary. Kukin is thrown in prison after facetiously declaring that he'd rather be thrown in prison than
run his theater. Pustovalov grows ill after spending a cold day in the yard that he and Olenka treasure so
much. Olenka is doomed to always lose the men she grows obsessed with, and in turn to lose her
identity. In each of these cases, the characters' fates seem written on the wall, and the story is propelled
by watching these fates play out.

Religion:
Throughout the story, the characters frequently talk about God's will or pray with one another. Chekhov
seems to be contrasting this belief in God with the aforementioned theme of fate. To paraphrase what
Pustovalov says to Olenka after Kukin’s death, God has a plan and people on earth must simply accept it.
Through this line, Chekhov seems to prod the reader to ask if such bizarre and arbitrary fates really could
be the act of God. As the story progresses, the only real logic that seems to play out is simple human
mortality and change, with God providing little grace, but potentially a whole lot of hardship.

The Darling Quotes and Analysis:

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

"Olenka, the daughter of the retired collegiate assessor, Plemyanniakov, was sitting in her back porch,
lost in thought."

“Narrator”

Explanation:
The opening sentence of the story shows Olenka "lost in thought," and from the start we see Chekhov
building a character whose mind is a mystery. We have no idea what her thoughts are, and such will be
the case for the rest of the story, as Olenka's only discernible thoughts emerge as the thoughts of others.
This sentence also introduces Olenka as someone's daughter, setting up a dynamic where Olenka will
predominately be defined by her relationships to other men.

"Damn my luck in this world and the next! Let the artists have me up! Send me to prison!—to Siberia!
—the scaffold! Ha, ha, ha!"

“Kukin”

Explanation:
During his diatribe about the rain keeping away patrons at his theatre, Kukin facetiously invites all
manner of disaster on himself. Little does he know that later in the story, he indeed will end up thrown in
jail and, soon after, dead. By showing this character receiving the fate that he tempts, Chekhov shows off
his black humor and raises a bit of a metaphysical mystery about a man's destiny.

"It seemed to her that she had been in the timber trade for ages and ages, and that the most
important and necessary thing in life was timber; and there was something intimate and touching to
her in the very sound of words such as 'baulk,' 'post,' 'beam,' 'pole,' 'scantling,' 'batten,' 'lath,' 'plank,'
etc."

“Narrator”

Explanation:
One of the funnier indications of Olenka's tendency to take on the opinions and ideas of a man in her life
comes with this strange infatuation with timber-related vocabulary. Chekhov seems to understand that
without absurd, humorous touches like this, his tale of a peculiar woman's tragic life would otherwise be
unremittingly bleak.

"When Pustovalov went away to buy wood in the Mogilev district, she missed him dreadfully, lay
awake and cried."

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

“Narrator”

Explanation:
This is the key recurring vignette in "The Darling": Olenka, left without the man she's grown dependent
on, spending her alone time in a state of hopeless despondency. Note how similar Chekhov's portrayal of
her is in this scene when Pustovalov is simply away buying lumber as it is when Pustovalov dies. On a
psychological level, we can understand that Olenka is reliving the drama of when Kukin went to Moscow
and never returned, but on a characterization level, Chekhov uses scenes like this to develop a habitual
action.

"She repeated the veterinary surgeon's words, and was of the same opinion as him about everything."

“Narrator”

Explanation:
By this point in the story—when two of Olenka's husbands have died and she is getting closer to Smirnin,
the veterinarian—we have come to accept that Olenka will attach herself as quickly as she can to
another man, but Chekov makes sure that the dramatic nature of Olenka revising her personality is never
lost on us. It is in fact quite bizarre to watch this woman suddenly sound off on obscure matters that
could only possibly be relevant to a veterinary surgeon.

"She saw the objects about her and understood what she saw, but could not form any opinion about
them, and did not know what to talk about. And how awful it is not to have any opinions!"

“Narrator”

Explanation:
Here, the drama of the story is really revealed. We learn that "The Darling" is not simply a story about a
woman and her many tragic losses, but the story of a woman who is constantly at risk of losing her entire
personhood when she loses a man in her life. Olenka has no opinions or ideas of her own, and we realize
that she is a peculiarly and profoundly empty character, who looks around the room and sees objects
and can't even muster a scant thought about them.

"I'll give it you! Get away! Shut up!"

“Sasha”

Explanation:

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

The confounding final lines of the story are bellowed by young Sasha in his sleep. While they are fairly
cryptic, it's at least somewhat obvious that Sasha is having a dream about Olenka, and that he wishes to
push her away. If this is the case, then perhaps Chekhov is showing us how yet another male figure will
abandon Olenka, this one just a boy. At the same time, Olenka has a maternal relationship with the boy,
and the natural progression of that dynamic leads to the son-figure eventually leaving home. Is it
possible that by finding a male figure who will rightfully leave, Olenka has broken her tragic cycle? Or will
this be yet another unbearable abandonment?

The Darling Symbols, Allegory and Motifs:

Weather (Motif):
The weather appears as a constant foil to whatever the characters of the story desire. The story opens
with Kukin complaining about how the rain will affect attendance at this theatre, and the cold kills
Olenka's second husband, Pustovalov. Finally, it is crucial to the development of Olenka as a character
without any opinions or ideas of her own that the story opens with Olenka sitting outside, observing the
coming rain clouds and feeling indifferent.

The Garden (Symbol):

The garden at Olenka's house is the site of much of the story's action. Typically, a garden represents a
haven for life and even abundance, and indeed, when things are good, Olenka's garden becomes a
joyous place, especially when she and Pustovalov are together. When Pustovalov dies, Olenka stays
inside, abandoning the garden, and in turn, life itself. We see the garden in a positive light when Smirnin
shows up, as Olenka spends her time there with him drinking tea, but after Smirnin leaves, Chekhov
likens Olenka's total lack of opinions and ideas to that empty yard.

Sashenka (Allegory):
Sasha's appearance in the last part of this story sparks Olenka's maternal instincts, and in turn their
relationship becomes an unusual allegory for the bond between mother and son. After all, Sasha is not
her son, but rather the son of a woman who has basically abandoned him. When Olenka takes to calling
Sasha by the affectionate term Sashenka, Chekhov seems to be showing that the all-consuming maternal
infatuation with the child is the least-strange type of infatuation Olenka has taken up so far, as it's a
common female experience.

The Darling Metaphors and Similes:

"Storming the entrenchments of his chief foe, the indifferent public"
(Metaphor):
Chekhov uses the phrase "storming the entrenchments of his chief foe" to draw a comical war metaphor
that explains how Kukin views the public. It lends hyperbolic coloring to Kukin’s disdain of the public's

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

taste and his struggle to keep them engaged with his theatre. And much like a man at war, Kukin will
ultimately die on an expedition to wrangle people for his cause.

"She compared herself with the hens, who are awake all night and uneasy when
the cock is not in the hen-house." (Simile)
Here, Chekhov employs the metaphor of the hens to illustrate how unsettled Olenka remains while Kukin
is away. Yet, again in a humorous manner, Chekhov is drawing an uncharitable comparison between
Olenka and a chicken, perhaps suggesting that it's a bit absurd that she goes as crazy as a farm animal
when a man is not around.

"There was the same emptiness in her brain and in her heart as there was in her
yard outside." (Metaphor):
This metaphor does some complex work, both drawing a comparison between Olenka's own emptiness
and that of her yard, as well as bringing back this image of the yard to imbue it with even more meaning.
The yard appears multiple times throughout the story, and its fullness or emptiness always seems to be
an indicator of Olenka's own psychological state.

The Darling Irony:

"What's the use of these theatres?" (Situational Irony):
Olenka retorts with this line when a friend suggests to her that she and Pustovalov should go to the
theater to take a break from Pustovalov's business. When Kukin was still alive, all Olenka cared about
was the theater, so it's a bit ironic when she now expresses disdain for it. Chekhov uses this reversal to
ironically demonstrate how much Olenka's entire being changes depending on the man she devotes her
love to.

Kukin Gets Detained (Situational Irony):

Earlier in the story, during one of his rants about the Tivoli's misfortunes, Kukin declares "Send me to
prison!" Ironically, he gets just what he asks for. During a trip to Moscow, Kukin is detained and dies
suddenly soon after. We don't know exactly what the nature of his death was, but it does seem like
Chekhov is doling out some ironic comeuppance for such a downtrodden character.

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

The Darling Imagery:

“Rain”
Rain appears frequently in the story, contributing to an atmosphere of general gloom and often acting as
a harbinger of something terrible to come. Rain clouds appear in the first paragraph, with Olenka
regarding them pleasantly, and the same rain clouds are appraised by Kukin as a threat to his theater.
Through this interaction over rain, we can trace Olenka's shift of perspective from her own to Kukin’s, as
she soon grows as sour about the rain as Kukin does.

“Olenka's Mole”
While Chekov only mentions this mole once, it is an important image for two reasons. First, it is one of
the few defining facial features that we know Olenka has, lending her a sense of individuality, if only for a
fleeting moment. Second, it's mention is the last time we get a concrete description of Olenka's face.
When she grows old and mourns later in the story, we only know that her beauty is fading and her face
has grown less attractive, but we never get as good of a glimpse at this fallen Olenka, who has sacrificed
years of her life to a series of men, as we do of the young Olenka with her mole and naivete.

The Window:
Olenka is often shown sitting at a window when she is feeling unsettled. Early in the story, she watches
Kukin return from work and taps on the window to gain his attention. Later, after Pustovalov dies and the
veterinary surgeon leaves, she stares out of her window, forlorn. That she's sitting in her house, staring
out, during these moments suggests that Olenka is trapped and lonely in the domestic space of the
home, with the window acting as a barely visible yet entirely material object that separates this lonely
woman from the world whenever she doesn't have a man to devote her energy to.

The Darling Literary Elements:

Genre:
Social-psychological story (narrative)

Setting and Context:

Late 19th century, Ukraine (Yalta)

Narrator and Point of View:

Third-person narration, focused on Olenka's perspective.

Tone and Mood:

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

The narrative has a straightforward, spare tone. Even the deaths of Olenka’s first and second husbands
are described without emotion on the part of the narrator. However, Olenka's own mood is often
histrionic and emotional, which colors the narrative.

Protagonist and Antagonist:

Olenka, often referred to as "the darling," is the protagonist. There is no obvious antagonist, but rather
Olenka's own struggle to overcome the loneliness that she feels when she does not have a man in her
life.

Major Conflict:
Most of the conflict in the story can be read in Olenka’s wandering in her life: from one man to another,
from one point of view to another, from one thought to another.

Climax:
There is no real climax to the story, which works more like a snapshot of life. This feature is very
characteristic of Chekhov’s stories.

Personification:
From time to time we meet personifications in the text: “buildings grew”, “time runs” etc.

The Darling Short Story Questions:

What outdoor imagery does Chekhov use in The Darling, and how does this imagery develop his
narrative and themes?

There are two key pieces of outdoors imagery in this story: rain and the garden. The story opens with
Olenka looking at the rain clouds absentmindedly, but Kukin is shortly afterward shown complaining
about the rain, apoplectic that this will keep customers away from his theater. Here, the rain becomes a
vehicle for a type of dynamic between two characters that will dominate the story: Olenka observing a
man give his ideas and opinions, which she then absorbs as her own. You can find several examples of
rain and clouds playing similar roles.

If rain and clouds represent an external state of action between characters, then the garden at Olenka's
house shows her internal state. It is flourishing and full of action when Olenka's life is also flourishing and
full of action. But in Olenka's darkest, loneliest moments, the garden is portrayed as grim and desolate.
You can explore those specific scenes and how it helps Chekhov develop Olenka's character.

How are Sasha's lines at the end of the story relevant to both the story itself and Chekhov's overall
style of storytelling?

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.

Short Fictional Narrative Notes:

Sasha's lines at the end of the story, uttered while he is dreaming, don't have a clear meaning as a
conclusion to the story, and this is exactly what makes them so intriguing. There are two major points to
keep in mind when analyzing them. The first is Sasha's appearance as another man in Olenka's life who
she dedicates everything to, with the difference that, unlike the others, he is child. A mother-son
relationship develops between them even though Olenka is not Sasha's mother, and you can explore
Sasha's declaration as his own desire to push this mother figure away, and what implication that has for
Olenka given her history of abandonment.

The other major point to discuss is how this provides an inconclusive end to the story. James Joyce once
said that Chekhov's stories don't have a beginning, middle, and end, instead following the flow of life
itself. You can use this ending to analyze the cyclic structure of the narrative and, in turn, talk about how
these lines suggest that there is much more to this story about Olenka (and the mini-story about Olenka
and Sasha) than "The Darling" covers.

Why does Chekhov use the specific male characters that appear in this story? Compare and contrast
them in terms of their relationship with Olenka.

It would be one kind of story if Olenka kept falling for the same kind of man, but instead, Chekhov
matches her with a series of men who are totally different from one another. On the one hand, they
each represent a different type of person in Russian society: Kukin the artist, Pustovalov the merchant,
Smirnin the military man, and Sasha the student. Through these characters—and their concerns and
tendencies—Chekhov sketches a picture of Russian society at the time and gives little commentaries on
the quality of the people themselves that tend to fill these roles.

Making these characters so different from each other, Chekhov can also develop his themes of identity,
love, and fate. Olenka's identity shifts radically in accordance with each of these types of people, and the
relationship between her need for love and her own personhood is a fraught one that ultimately delivers
the majority of the drama in the story. With a darkly comic touch, Chekhov also shows us that the fate of
all these people, no matter how different they are, is ultimately the same. In one way or another, they all
vanish from Olenka's life.

By M.Ashiq / City University English Department.