The Proposal by Anton Chekhov - NCERT Class 10 - Summary, Characters, Themes & Question Answers

 

The Proposal

Anton Chekhov

Detailed Summary

Setting and characters

The play is a one-act farce set in the drawing-room of Stepan Chubukov's country house. It has three characters:

• Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov, a landowner and gossipy, excitable father.
• Natalya Stepanovna, his 25-year-old daughter.
• Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov, a neighbouring landowner, 35, who is large and healthy-looking but a suspicious hypochondriac.

Part 1: The arrival and the invitation to propose

Lomov arrives in a dress-jacket and white gloves, and Chubukov is puzzled by the formal outfit. Lomov is so nervous that he keeps stumbling over his words and has to drink water. Chubukov assumes he has come to borrow money and privately resolves to refuse. When Lomov finally says he wants to marry Natalya, Chubukov is overjoyed, embraces him, and goes to fetch her, assuring Lomov she is practically lovesick for him.

Alone, Lomov reveals his motives in a nervous monologue. He is at a "critical age." He needs a quiet, regular life because of his palpitations, twitching eyebrow and bad sleep. Natalya is a good housekeeper, decent-looking and educated, so "what more do I want?" Marriage is a practical decision, and he believes that if he waits for real love he'll never marry.

Part 2: The quarrel over Oxen Meadows

Natalya comes in, apologising for her apron while she shells peas, and makes small talk about hay and the weather. When Lomov leads into his proposal by mentioning the long friendship of their families, he calls the Oxen Meadows "mine." Natalya corrects him, insisting they belong to her family.

Both cite ancestry and history, and neither will give way. Lomov appeals to documents and a story about his aunt's grandmother lending the land to Chubukov's ancestors' peasants. Natalya says her family has held the land for nearly 300 years. She admits the meadows are worth only about 300 roubles, but she "can't stand unfairness." Lomov insists it's a matter of principle and offers to give her the land, which only insults her further. She accuses him of ingratitude, pointing out that they lent him their threshing-machine, and he retorts that she is calling him a land-grabber. When she threatens to send her mowers out that day, he threatens violence, and he clutches his heart as the two shout "Mine!" and "Ours!" at each other.

Part 3: Chubukov joins the fight

Chubukov comes in and, naturally, takes his daughter's side. He says he'd rather give the meadows to the peasants than to Lomov. The dispute quickly moves from land to family insults:

• Lomov threatens a lawsuit, and Chubukov calls him a pettifogger, as were all his people.
• Lomov brings up Chubukov's grandfather, who was tried for embezzlement.
• Chubukov says the Lomovs have madness in the family, that Lomov's grandfather was a drunkard, and that his aunt eloped with an architect.
• Lomov insults Chubukov's mother, and Chubukov insults Lomov's gambler father.

Meanwhile their bodies fail them. Lomov complains of a numb foot, pulling in his side and stars before his eyes. Chubukov's left foot goes to sleep and his heart hurts. Lomov staggers out, and Chubukov orders him never to set foot in the house again.

Part 4: The reversal

Father and daughter vent about Lomov, with Chubukov calling him a scarecrow. Then Chubukov mentions, in passing, that the "turnip-ghost" actually came to propose to Natalya. She is stunned that no one told her, collapses in hysterics and demands that he be brought back at once. Chubukov, in despair, goes after him. They quarrel over who is to blame, and he leaves her to deal with Lomov himself.

Lomov returns exhausted and still complaining of palpitations. Natalya now graciously concedes that the Oxen Meadows really are his, and Lomov, flustered and relieved, says his only concern was the principle. Both are anxious to keep things calm.

Part 5: The quarrel over the dogs

Natalya steers the conversation to safer ground, and Lomov mentions that his dog Guess has gone lame. Their talk of hunting dogs turns into a fresh dispute, over whether Guess is better than the Chubukovs' dog Squeezer. She says Squeezer is a thoroughbred and heaps better, while Lomov says Squeezer is overshot (his lower jaw is shorter than the upper), which supposedly makes him a poor hunter. Natalya says Lomov has a "demon of contradiction" and that people who know the least argue the most. The shouting returns, with Lomov insisting Squeezer is a hundred times worse.

Chubukov arrives and again sides with his daughter. He concedes Guess has good points but says he is old and short in the muzzle. The men trade stories of past hunts, and the arguing escalates:

• Chubukov accuses Lomov of not being a real hunter, and Lomov accuses Chubukov of hunting only to curry favour with the Count.
• The insults get personal: "intriguer," "old rat," "Jesuit," "milksop." Lomov says Chubukov's late wife used to beat him, and Chubukov says Lomov is under the slipper of his housekeeper.
• Lomov, crying that his heart has burst, collapses into an armchair.

Part 6: Lomov "dies" and the engagement

Natalya screams that Lomov is dead and falls into hysterics herself, and Chubukov, sick and gasping for air, lifts water to Lomov's mouth. He wails that he is the unhappiest of men and asks for a knife or a pistol. Lomov stirs, dazed.

Chubukov seizes the moment, joins Lomov's hand to Natalya's and gives his blessing, mostly to be left in peace. Natalya says, "I'm willing," and Lomov, still half-conscious, kisses her without understanding what is happening. Once he grasps it, he is pleased, though his foot is still asleep.

The ending

For a moment all is peace. Then Natalya says that Lomov must now admit Guess is worse than Squeezer, and he answers "Better!" They revert to arguing ("Better!" "Worse!"), while Chubukov, trying to shout them down, calls for champagne. The final image is a marriage that begins exactly as it will go on: bickering.

Themes

• Marriage as a transaction. Lomov's proposal is practical, a matter of age, health and convenience, and Chubukov's joy is partly about marrying off his daughter. The "romance" has more to do with property and status than affection.
• Pride and pettiness. Both disputes are over things of little real value (meadows worth 300 roubles, a dog). The characters fight on "principle" and can't stop even when it hurts their own interests.
• Hypochondria and nerves. The bodily symptoms flare with every argument and disappear when convenient, which satirises the self-absorption of the provincial gentry.
• Satire of the gentry. Chekhov mocks the idle landowning class, whose lives revolve around inheritance, litigation, gossip and hunting.

Think About Play

1. What does Chubukov first suspect, and is he sincere?

When Lomov arrives in evening dress and gloves and says he has come to ask a favour, Chubukov suspects that he has come to borrow money. He says in an aside, "He's come to borrow money. Shan't give him any!" His suspicion shows that his earlier warmth, with its "my angel," "my darling" and "my treasure," is only a habit of speech. He was ready to refuse Lomov the moment he thought he might be asked for something.

His declaration, "I've always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son," is not sincere. He makes it only after Lomov says he wants to marry Natalya, which means a 25-year-old daughter will be settled. Within minutes of the quarrel starting, he calls Lomov a pettifogger, a villain, a scarecrow and a turnip-ghost, and he orders him never to set foot in the house again. Later he complains about what a burden it is to be the father of a grown-up daughter, which shows what the marriage means to him: relief, not affection for Lomov. His joy is real for the moment, but it is joy at his own convenience, and his love for Lomov is a pretence.

2. Is Natalya "in love, like a lovesick cat"?

I do not agree with Chubukov. He says it to reassure Lomov and to hurry the match along, not because he knows her feelings. When Natalya comes in, she has no idea why Lomov has come, since her father told her only that a merchant had come for his goods. She talks about shelling peas, the hay and the weather, and she asks why he is in evening dress and whether he is going to a ball. A woman in love with him would have expected him, or at least have guessed.

She also quarrels with him almost at once over the Oxen Meadows, calling his behaviour impudent and treating him as an enemy. Her only change of heart comes when she learns he came to propose. Then she falls into hysterics and cries, "Bring him back!" Her reaction is to the prospect of marriage, not to Lomov himself. Even after the engagement, she goes on arguing that Guess is worse than Squeezer. What she wants is to be married, not to love Lomov, and the play treats marriage as a practical arrangement for both of them.

3. (i) What the characters say about each other

Lomov begins politely, calling Chubukov "honoured Stepan Stepanovitch" and describing Natalya as "an excellent housekeeper, not bad-looking, well-educated." That list is practical and says nothing of love. Once the quarrel begins, he accuses Chubukov of being a grabber and not a neighbour, and he later calls him an intriguer, an old rat and a Jesuit. He hints that Chubukov took bribes before the last elections, says his grandfather was tried for embezzlement, says his mother was hump-backed and says his late wife used to beat him. He tells Natalya to be silent and then to shut up.

Chubukov starts with endearments such as "my angel," "my precious" and "my treasure," and then calls Lomov a pettifogger, a "malicious, doublefaced intriguer," a villain, a scarecrow, a blind hen, a turnip-ghost, a stuffed sausage and a wizen-faced frump. He says the Lomovs have lunacy in the family, that Lomov's grandfather was a drunkard and his father a guzzling gambler, and that his aunt ran away with an architect. Later he calls Lomov a boy, a pup and a milksop, and says he is "under the slipper of your house-keeper." He also tells Lomov he is not a real hunter and should sit at home with his palpitations.

Natalya at first addresses Lomov politely, then calls his behaviour impudent and says he treats them as if they were gypsies. She calls him a rascal and a monster, and says his conduct is low, dishonest and mean. Over the dogs, she says he has a "demon of contradiction," that he talks rot and that his dog is as ugly as a worn-out cab-horse. She sneers that he should lie on the kitchen oven and catch black beetles instead of hunting foxes, and she asks what sort of hunter he is when he cannot even sit on a horse. Chubukov also describes Natalya to Lomov as a lovesick cat, and later he blames her for the break, saying "it's all you... you!" She blames him in return.

(ii) Five adjectives for each character

Lomov is hypochondriac, nervous, touchy, stubborn and calculating. Natalya is quick-tempered, practical, proud, argumentative and eager to marry. Chubukov is effusive, hot-headed, scheming, two-faced and comic.

(iii) What will they quarrel about next?

They are likely to go on quarrelling about almost anything, because quarrelling is how they relate to each other. After the wedding, the Oxen Meadows will probably come up again, now as "our" land, and so will the question of whose dog is better. Natalya, who resented the 125 roubles Lomov paid for Guess, will probably argue with him about money and the running of the household. She will also tire of his palpitations and numb foot and tease him about them, and he will resent it. Chubukov lives next door and enjoys taking sides, so the old hostility between the two will keep returning. The play ends with the couple fighting over Guess and Squeezer while Chubukov calls for champagne, which suggests that the marriage will go on in exactly this way.

Thinking About the Language

1. Russian-sounding versus modern English expressions

Several of Chubukov’s ways of speaking feel more Russian than English. In an English play, an older man would hardly address a grown man as “my darling,” “my angel,” “my treasure,” “my beauty” or “my precious.” English speakers keep such endearments for children, lovers or close family, and a landowner using them to a male neighbour sounds comic or even insincere. In Russian, these diminutives and pet names are a normal part of warm, hospitable speech among men, so the translator has kept them. The same is true of “my dear fellow,” “dear one” and “my beloved,” which sound old-fashioned and over-affectionate to a modern English ear.

Other expressions that are no longer used in contemporary English include “By Jove!” and “egad,” which are mild exclamations from older English. “Honoured Stepan Stepanovitch” is also very formal, and no one today would address a neighbour like that. Likewise, “I have the honour to ask...” and “I beg pardon” belong to a ceremonious, nineteenth-century style. Chubukov’s habit of ending sentences with “and so on” or “and all that” is a speech tic that reads as a translation of a Russian filler. Natalya’s “Well, I never!” is also dated, though still understood. Insults such as “turnip-ghost,” “wizen-faced frump,” “stuffed sausage,” “blind hen” and “Jesuit” would not be used by an English speaker today, and “intriguer” is an unusual word where we would say “schemer.”

Many expressions in the play are still idiomatic modern English. Examples are “Spit it out!”, “Don’t go round and round it” (that is, “don’t beat about the bush”), “I’ll give it to them in the neck,” “to have me on” (to tease or fool someone), “to get in with the Count,” “a weight off my shoulders,” “I can’t make head or tail of all this,” “I can’t stand unfairness,” “you’re just on the look-out for a chance” and “Shut up!” These are ordinary, direct and colloquial, and they stand out against the courtly, flowery language around them.

2. Pronunciation and stress

Stress is shown in capitals. Please check the pronunciation in a dictionary as well, since the exact vowel sounds differ between British and American English.

• palpitations (5 syllables): pal-pi-TA-tions
• interfere (3): in-ter-FERE
• implore (2): im-PLORE
• thoroughbred (3): THOR-ough-bred
• pedigree (3): PED-i-gree
• principle (3): PRIN-ci-ple
• evidence (3): EV-i-dence
• misfortune (3): mis-FOR-tune
• malicious (3): ma-LI-cious
• embezzlement (3): em-BEZ-zle-ment
• architect (3): AR-chi-tect
• neighbours (2): NEIGH-bours
• accustomed (3): ac-CUS-tomed
• temporary (4 in careful speech, often 3 in casual speech): TEM-po-rar-y
• behaviour (3): be-HAV-iour
• documents (3): DOC-u-ments

Notice that the stress falls on the first syllable in most of the three-syllable nouns (pedigree, principle, evidence, architect, documents), while verbs and words beginning with a prefix such as in-, im-, mis-, ac- and be- are usually stressed on the second syllable.

3. Meanings and sentences

(i) “You may take it that” means “you can assume that” or “you should understand that.” It is used to state something firmly, often as a warning.
Sentence: You may take it that the school will not change the exam date, so start revising now.

(ii) “He seems to be coming round” means he is becoming conscious again after fainting or being unconscious. It can also mean he is changing his mind and agreeing with something he had earlier opposed.
Sentence: After the nurse sprinkled water on his face, the boy who had fainted seemed to be coming round.

(iii) “My foot’s gone to sleep” means the foot has become numb and tingly, usually because the blood supply was cut off by sitting in one position for too long.
Sentence: I sat cross-legged through the whole film, and when it ended, my foot had gone to sleep, so I could hardly stand up.

Reported Speech

1.    To report a question, we use the reporting verb asked (the example already done for you).

2.    To report a statement, we use the reporting verb said or told (“told” is followed by the listener, as in “Lomov told Natalya that...”).

3.    The adverb of place here changes to there.

4.    When the verb in direct speech is in the present tense, the verb in reported speech is in the past tense.

5.    If the verb in direct speech is in the present continuous tense, the verb in reported speech changes to past continuous tense. For example, is getting changes to was getting.

6.    When the sentence in direct speech contains a word denoting respect, we add the adverb respectfully in the reporting clause.

7.    The pronouns I, me, our and mine, which are used in the first person in direct speech, change according to the subject or object of the reporting verb, such as he, she, him, her (or they, them) in reported speech.

Speaking and writing

Activities: Answers and Material

1. Anger management

Three ill effects of anger

First, anger damages relationships. Harsh words said in the heat of the moment, like the insults Lomov and Chubukov trade, are remembered long after the quarrel ends, and they can turn friends into enemies. Second, anger harms health. A racing heart, raised blood pressure, headaches and sleeplessness are all common, and the play exaggerates this comically when Lomov's palpitations, numb foot and twitching eyebrow worsen with every argument. Third, anger clouds judgement. An angry person makes poor decisions, as Lomov does when he nearly loses a bride over five dessiatins of meadow and a dog.

Ways to avoid losing your temper

Pause before you respond, and take a few slow, deep breaths or count to ten. If you can, step out of the room for a while, since anger fades with a little distance. Ask yourself whether the matter will still be important in a week or a year. Speak slowly and quietly, because lowering your voice often lowers your temper. Try to understand the other person's point of view, and say how you feel with "I feel upset when..." instead of attacking them with "You always...". Regular exercise, enough sleep and talking to a trusted friend also help, and so does returning to the issue once you are calm.

Are there any benefits from anger?

In small, controlled amounts, yes. Anger can signal that something is unfair or that a boundary has been crossed, and it can give people the energy to stand up against injustice, as many reformers and protesters have done. It can also motivate a person to change a bad situation. The benefit comes only when anger is expressed in a measured way, for a real cause, and not in an outburst over trivial things.

2. Script based on the excerpt from The Home and the World

Characters: Nikhil (the husband, a landowner), Bimala (his wife, the Chota Rani), a Messenger.

Setting: Nikhil's office room, then the couple's private room in the inner apartments, one afternoon.

---

(Nikhil sits at a desk piled with papers, writing busily. The Messenger enters and bows.)

Messenger: (hesitantly) Sir, the Rani Mother has sent for you.

Nikhil: (looking up, startled, putting down his pen) Who did you say has sent for me?

Messenger: The Rani Mother, sir.

Nikhil: (frowning slightly) The Bara Rani?

Messenger: No, sir, the Chota Rani Mother.

(Nikhil is silent for a moment, plainly surprised. He gestures to the waiting visitors to stay seated, then exits slowly. The scene changes to the inner room. Bimala stands near the window in a fine sari, arranging a vase. She hears footsteps and turns. Nikhil stops at the door and looks at her in silence. She blushes and plays nervously with the bangles on her left arm.)

Bimala: (abruptly, in a firm voice) Look here! Is it right that ours should be the only market in all Bengal which allows foreign goods?

Nikhil: (calmly, taking a step forward) What, then, would be the right thing to do?

Bimala: (with a sharp wave of her hand) Order them to be cleared out!

Nikhil: (gently) But the goods are not mine.

Bimala: (stepping closer, with rising anger) Is not the market yours?

Nikhil: It is much more theirs who use it for trade.

Bimala: (impatiently) Let them trade in Indian goods, then.

Nikhil: Nothing would please me better. But suppose they do not?

Bimala: (stamping her foot) Nonsense! How dare they be so insolent? Are you not...

Nikhil: (raising a hand to stop her, with quiet firmness) I am very busy this afternoon and cannot stop to argue it out. But I must refuse to tyrannise.

Bimala: (passionately) It would not be tyranny for selfish gain, but for the sake of the country.

Nikhil: (sadly, turning to leave) To tyrannise for the country is to tyrannise over the country. But that I am afraid you will never understand.

(He exits. Bimala stands alone, fists clenched, her bangles still. Curtain.)

---

Staging notes: Nikhil speaks softly throughout, and his calm contrasts with Bimala's heat. Bimala's nervousness at the start gives way to confidence and then anger, so she should move more and more as the scene goes on.

3. Qualities to look for in a marriage partner

Personal qualities. Looks matter at first, but they fade, and a good partner's appearance counts for much less than character. Shared attitudes and beliefs about family, religion, children and how to live make daily life smoother, though partners need not agree on everything. A sense of humour is valuable because it helps a couple get through disagreements and hard times, and it would have saved Lomov and Natalya from many quarrels.

Value system. Compassion and kindness show how a person will treat you, family members and strangers. Tolerance is essential because no two people think alike, and a partner must accept differences. Ambition is good when it is balanced with contentment and does not push the family aside. Attitude to money matters a great deal: couples do well when they agree on saving, spending and generosity, and trouble comes when one is greedy or careless. Lomov and Natalya fight over 300 roubles of land, which shows how money and property can poison a relationship.

Education and professional background. A similar level of education helps partners talk as equals. A steady profession gives security, but the more important question is whether each partner respects the other's work and allows them to grow. The play warns against Lomov's approach, in which he chooses a wife for her housekeeping, looks and education and not for love or understanding.

Conclusion for discussion. Most groups agree that respect, honesty, kindness and the ability to communicate matter more than looks or wealth.

4. Romantic-comedy scenes recalled in the play

Several episodes in the play resemble common scenes in romantic comedies.

Enemies who end up together. A couple who begin by bickering and then discover they are meant for each other is a classic romcom pattern. Lomov and Natalya fight bitterly and then get engaged within minutes. Many films use this "enemies to lovers" device, such as Pride and Prejudice (where Elizabeth and Darcy quarrel before they fall in love) and the Hindi film Jab We Met, in which two opposite personalities begin as a mismatch.

The nervous suitor in formal clothes. Lomov's dress-jacket and white gloves, and his stumbling attempt to propose, are like the awkward hero rehearsing his proposal, losing his words and failing to say the thing he came for.

The interfering parent. Chubukov, who is desperate to see his daughter married, resembles the pushy parents of many family comedies, including the over-eager relatives in films like Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and in Hindi and Tamil family comedies about arranged matches.

The sudden change of heart. When Natalya learns that Lomov came to propose, she cries "Bring him back!" This is like the heroine in a film who rushes to the station or airport to stop the hero from leaving.

The fainting scene and the happy ending. Lomov's "death" and revival, which brings about the engagement, is a farcical version of the accident or illness that makes lovers admit their feelings. The ending, with a kiss and a call for champagne, is a typical romcom finale, though Chekhov undercuts it by having the couple resume quarrelling.

Each group can add its own examples from films it knows, and then compare how the films handle the quarrel, the misunderstanding and the reconciliation.

 

 

 

 

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