Poor Darling

In Anton Chekhov’s “The Darling”, the protagonist, Olenka, is a loving, kind-hearted, and beautiful young woman who has a difficult time finding purpose in her life without a man. Starting with her father and French master, “She was always fond of some one, and could not exist without loving” (105). During her first marriage with a theater owner, her life revolved around the finances and affairs of the company as she spread the appreciation of art but then she was widowed. With her new spouse who was a timber merchant, she gave up all interest in theater and substituted it with the love of timber until he passed away as well. When a veterinary surgeon enters her life, she turns her focus onto cattle plagues, foot and mouth diseases, and municipal slaughterhouses.

Because of Olenka’s dependence on men and their viewpoints, she did not possess any opinions of her own so this depicts her lack of individuality and self-empowerment. Her reliance on men is clearly portrayed when she becomes completely fragile and torn apart at the death or absence of a male but recovers from this quickly when another male enters her life. Her heartbreaks end momentarily as she proceeds onto the next male who will be the center of her life.

The term of affection “darling” is directed towards and used by Olenka throughout the short story but on several occasions it seems to be used more sympathetically and amusingly than affectionately. The neighbors and people in her lives view her as an ignorant and delicate woman who cannot endure on her own and keeps losing the men she is dependent on. Without a man, she loses all confidence and is described as “thinner and plainer” and “her best years were over and left behind” (109).

Olenka’s anti-feministic ways are characterized through her inability to be satisfied on her own and even in her older days, she has a young boy named Sasha to whom she showers her maternal love onto. Even in this ‘mother and son’ relationship, Olenka does not obtain her personal opinions to guide this young boy but once again continues to follow the ways of the male. The cycle repeats itself as the short story ends with another heartbreak for Olenka as Sasha is also leaving her and she experiences despair once again.