UNIT 4, Part 2 Portraits of Real Life

1. UNIT 4, Part 2 Portraits of Real Life Click the mouse button or press the space bar to continue

2. Unit 4, Part 2 MAIN MENU Portraits of Real Life (pages 870– 895) Click a selection title to go to the corresponding selection menu.

3. SELECTION MENU Selection Menu (pages 870–887) Before You Read Reading the Selection After You Read Grammar Workshop

4. BEFORE YOU READ Meet Anton Chekhov Click the picture to learn about the author.

5. BEFORE YOU READ Connecting to the Play Chekhov’s main character in A Marriage Proposal makes plans that he cannot seem to carry out. He battles both his pride and his imaginary ailments to try to achieve his goal. Before you read the play, think about the questions on the following slide.

6. BEFORE YOU READ Connecting to the Play • Think of a time when you carefully planned for something. Did any forces interfere with your plans? • When the occasion you had planned for was over, how did you feel about your planning?

7. BEFORE YOU READ Building Background Chekhov set this one-act play in the late 1800s in the Russian provinces, or countryside. At this time in Russia, the serfs had been freed, the Bolshevik revolution was less than twenty years away, and yet aristocratic farmers still depended on servants to do the work on their large estates.

8. BEFORE YOU READ Building Background Although A Marriage Proposal is a light comedy, its depiction of Russia’s aristocracy is consistent with a theme seen throughout Chekhov’s work. Chekhov sensed that the “old” Russia was dying. Therefore, he often shows aristocrats as incompetent and frustrated, as he does with the petty characters in A Marriage Proposal.

9. BEFORE YOU READ Setting Purposes for Reading Portraits of Real Life As you read this play, notice how Chekhov’s characters’ speech and actions mimic those in real life.

10. BEFORE YOU READ Setting Purposes for Reading Farce A farce is a type of comedy with stereotyped characters in ridiculous situations. In a farce, an author uses physical action, exaggeration, improbable events, and surprises to make the audience laugh.

11. BEFORE YOU READ Setting Purposes for Reading Farce Farce is one way to make fun of human traits and social customs. As you read, try to determine which traits and customs Chekhov is highlighting.

12. BEFORE YOU READ Recognizing Author’s Purpose Authors often write for a particular purpose: to entertain, to inform or teach a lesson, to tell a story, to try to persuade readers to accept an idea, or for a variety of other purposes. As you read A Marriage Proposal, see if you can determine why the author chose to tell this story in this particular way.

13. Reading Tip: Noting Details Use a graphic organizer like the one shown to help you keep track of details and draw conclusions about them. BEFORE YOU READ Recognizing Author’s Purpose

14. BEFORE YOU READ pompousadj. showing an exaggerated sense of self-importance (p. 873) The shopkeeper’s attitude was pompous, so I left. affable adj. friendly and pleasant (p. 873) Grace has friends because she is so affable. Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.

15. BEFORE YOU READ hypochondriacn. one whose worry over health is so great that it brings on the imagined symptoms of an illness (p. 873) Doctors see their fair share of hypochondriacs. impudencen. speech or behavior that is aggressively forward or rude (p. 877) Arnie showed his impudence when he cut in front of those who had been standing in the lunch line. Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.

16. BEFORE YOU READ obliviousadj. unmindful or unaware; not noticing (p. 882) Ana and Maria were oblivious to their teacher’s desire to start class. Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.

18. READING THE SELECTION Portraits of Real Life Consider this question as you read. What is Chekhov saying about marriage and relationships? Answer:He makes fun of the romantic view of love and marriage because it is an unrealistic expectation.

19. READING THE SELECTION Portraits of Real Life Consider the following question as you read. What is Chekhov saying about the Russian aristocracy of the time? Answer:They are petty and disconnected from reality.

20. READING THE SELECTION Viewing the Art Look at the painting on page 872. What does this portrayal of Russian country life tell you about the people who lived here? Answer:The people were poor and had a hard life.

21. READING THE SELECTION Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose Read the text highlighted in blue on page 873. Why do you think Chekhov chose to describe Natalia in this way?

22. READING THE SELECTION Reading Strategy Answer: In Chekhov’s time, it was probably unusual for a woman of this age to be unmarried. By including this information, Chekhov communicates to the audience the focus of his play.

23. READING THE SELECTION Reading Strategy Questioning Read the descriptions of the characters on page 873. What details in the cast of characters indicate that the play takes place in a different era and/or culture? Answer: In addition to the Russian names, the men’s descriptions as landowners and the description of Natalia as “twenty-five but still unmarried”.

24. READING THE SELECTION Portraits of Real LifeRead the text highlighted in tan on page 874. How would you describe Lomov’s manner here?

25. READING THE SELECTION Answer: Lomov and Chubukov each have their own ways of speaking and their own vocabulary and expressions, just like real people. For instance, Chubukov says “and so forth” repeatedly, and Lomov stumbles when he speaks, never seeming to say exactly what he means.

26. READING THE SELECTION Viewing the Art Look at the painting on page 874. What does this painting suggest to you about rural life in Russia in the 1800s? How does this view affect your understanding of the play? Answer:Rural life provided few opportunities for people. People were stuck in a state of poverty.

27. READING THE SELECTION Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose Read the first text highlighted in blue on page 875. Why does Chekhov have Chubukov respond in this way?

28. READING THE SELECTION Reading Strategy Answer: At first, Chubukov believes that Lomov wants to borrow money, and he is unwilling to comply. However, when he realizes that Lomov wants to marry his daughter, his attitude changes completely. It appears that Chekhov does not have a high opinion of his characters and that he frequently pokes fun at them.

29. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Farce Read the text highlighted in purple on page 875.What makes Chubukov’s reaction to Lomov’s request an example of farce? Answer: Chubukov has an exaggerated response to Lomov’s statement, pretending that he has often wished Lomov would become his son-in-law. He is obviously delighted that anyone wants to marry his daughter.

30. READING THE SELECTION Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose Read the text highlighted in blue on page 875. How do you think Chekhov wants the audience to feel about Lomov? Answer: Chekhov portrays Lomov as a ridiculous, shallow man; he probably wants the audience to find him humorous or pathetic.

31. READING THE SELECTION Portraits of Real Life Read the first text highlighted in tan on page 876.Why do you suppose it is taking so long for Lomov to ask Natalia his question? Answer: He is nervous and unsure of how Natalia will respond, so he will not ask her directly. He also seems to want to establish the connection between their families first.

32. READING THE SELECTION Portraits of Real Life Read the second text highlighted in tan on page 876. What does Natalia and Lomov’s conversation tell you about the life of the Russian aristocracy in the nineteenth century?

33. READING THE SELECTION Answer: You may conclude that the aristocrats lived on land that had belonged to their families for generations and that land was a source of wealth and pride.

34. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Farce Read the first text highlighted in purple on page 877. What makes Lomov’s statement here ridiculous? Answer: The stage directions emphasize Lomov’s exaggeration of his physical symptoms, as in “clutching his heart.” Lomov is constantly describing his deteriorating physical state.

35. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Farce Read the second text highlighted in purple on page 877. How does Chekhov make Lomov’s behavior farcical here? Answer: Chubukov’s argument is that “everyone knows” the land is his. However, it is clear that Lomov does not know this; in fact, Lomov thinks that the land is his.

36. READING THE SELECTION Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose Read the text highlighted in blue on page 878. What do you think is Chekhov’s purpose in including this detail?

37. READING THE SELECTION Reading Strategy Answer: Chekhov includes this detail in order to make the argument and the characters even more ridiculous. Lomov tells Chubukov to leave his family out of the argument, but then he attacks Chubukov’s family.

38. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Farce Read the text highlighted in purple on page 878. How does Lomov’s hypochondria contribute to the farcical aspects of the play? Answer: It is clear that Lomov is overreacting about his health. On one hand, he believes that he needs a wife to ease his nervous concerns, and on the other, he is allowing his fictional conditions to interfere with his plans to propose to Natalia.

39. READING THE SELECTION Viewing the Art Look at the painting on page 879. How does this setting compare with your vision of the play’s setting so far? Explain. Answer: Answers will vary, but you should comment on the relative wealth or poverty of the aristocrats and servants, and their respective houses.

40. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Farce Read the text highlighted in purple on page 880.What makes Natalia’s reaction here farcical?

41. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Answer: She has just called Lomov “a monster,” and yet when her father tells her that Lomov meant to propose to her, she wants him to come back. She is so desperate to be married that she suggests that she will die if Lomov does not come back.

42. READING THE SELECTION Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose Read the text highlighted in blue on page 880.What is the author saying here about his characters’ convictions? Answer: He is suggesting that his characters’ beliefs are weak and can be easily influenced, or that they will pretend to believe anything for the sake of personal gain.

43. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Farce Read the text highlighted in purple on page 881. How does the argument over the dogs increase the farcical element of the play? Answer: The argument over the dogs is even pettier than the previous one concerning land, exaggerating the unattractive traits of Natalia and Lomov.

44. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Farce Read the text highlighted in purple on page 882. How does Chekhov make Chubukov’s insight here seem humorous? Answer: Chubukov applies his theory of jealousy to Lomov but not to himself or to Natalia.

45. READING THE SELECTION Portraits of Real Life Read the text highlighted in tan on page 883. What do you think audiences in Russia when this play was first produced would have thought of this recent argument?

46. READING THE SELECTION Answer: Chekhov creates a sense of anger through his use of forceful language and exclamation points. Russian audiences may have seen the characters’ pettiness as exaggerated rather than realistic.

47. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Farce Read the first text highlighted in purple on page 883. Do you think Lomov is actually dead? Answer: He probably is not dead. Comedies usually end happily, so it is unlikely that the author would kill off a main character and prevent a resolution to the conflict. Chekhov is exaggerating Natalia’s reaction to create a farcical effect.

48. READING THE SELECTION Literary Element Farce Read the second text highlighted in purple on page 883. What makes this dialogue humorous? Answer: Despite having just agreed to marry one another, Lomov and Natalia are still arguing over whose dog is superior.

50. AFTER YOU READ Responding and Thinking Critically Respond Did you like the ending of the play? Explain why or why not. Answer: You may like the ending of the play because it was funny, but you may dislike it because Lomov and Natalia seem unlikely to be happy.