The Proposal
Anton Chekhov
(Class – XII)
Textual Questions & Answers (Marks – 05)
👉 “I’m trembling all over, just as if I’d got an examination before me.”
– To what situation does the speaker compare getting an examination? Why did he come to such a conclusion? Whom does he find appropriate? Why?
Answer: Lomov, the speaker of the above line compares the waiting period before Natalya gives her consent to the marriage proposal with the feelings of appearing for an examination. These feelings make him nervous and he starts trembling.
Lomov came to such a conclusion because he was very tense and not sure weather Natalya would agree to his proposal or not.
He finds Natalya Stepanovna, the 25 year old daughter of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov to be appropriate.
Lomov considers Natalys as his ideal match because she is an excellent housekeeper not bad-looking and well-educated. Since he wants to lead a ‘quiet and regular life’, he finds Natalya good enough to qualify as his wife.
👉 “And it’s impossible for me not to marry.”
- Why is the speaker so interested to marry? Whom does he want to marry? Why?
Answer: Lomov who wants to marry Natalya Stepanovitch, in his soliloquy thinks of the reasons which compelled him to take the decision of marriage. He is 35 years old and According to him he has reached a critical age, the last stage of his youth. Till date, he has not found anybody whom he can truly love and thus thinks that waiting further may lead him to exceed the ideal age for getting married. Moreover Lomov is obsessed about his health and slight excitement makes him palpitate. He also thinks that he suffers from various other diseases and needs someone to look after him. Besides, he wants to lead a ‘quiet and regular life’. Therefore, all these reasons encourage Lomov to take the decision to get married.
Lomov wants to marry Chubukov’s daughter Natalya Stepanovna.
Lomov wants to marry Natalya because she is an excellent housekeeper not bad looking and well qualified. According to him all these qualities are enough to consider Natalya as a suitable match.
👉 “Go; there is a merchant come for his goods.”
- Who said this and to whom? Who is the merchant? What is referred to as goods? In what way does it bring out the attitude of the person and the society at that time?
Answer: Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov said this to his daughter, Natalya Stepanovna.
Here the merchant is Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov.
Natalya, the 25 year old daughter of Chubukov, a landowner is referred to as ‘goods’.
Natalya, who has crossed the ideal age of marriage, is considered as ‘goods’ by her father. She is a burden to her father and he wants to get rid of this trouble anyhow. Therefore, on hearing Lomov's desire to marry his daughter, Chubukov becomes thrilled. To him, Lomov is a merchant who has come to collect his ‘goods’ that is Natalya. This sketches the picture of a society where women were treated as commodities. The playwright makes clear that 19th century Russian society was very conservative and people married for personal gain rather than love because woman needed financial security and men needed a perfect homemaker.
👉 “I shall try to be brief”
– Who is the speaker? Is the speaker successful in his or her purpose? Bring out the irony of this situation.
Answer: Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov is the speaker.
No, the speaker is not successful in his purpose.
The quoted statement by Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov is ironical in several ways. Firstly, he declares that he shall try to be brief. But in reality he brings up an elaborate matter involving his childhood- How the Lomovs and the Chubukovs have always been on excellent terms and so on. It is also ironical in the sense that Lomov’s real intention is to propose to Natalya for which he tries to impress her by recounting the good relationships shared by the two families since the days of their respective grandparents. But in trying to do so he brings up the sensitive issue of ownership of the Oxen Meadows and that spoils everything. The situation turns from bad to worse and forces Lomov to leave Natalya’a house in anger instead of proposing marriage to her.
👉 “You will remember my Oxen Meadows touch your birch-woods”
- who is the speaker? Who is he speaking to? What else did the speaker say along with the above quoted line? What followed after the speaker said the above quoted line?
Answer: The speaker of the above quoted line is Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov, a neighbour of Chubukov and Natalya.
Lumov is speaking to Chubukov’s 25 year old daughter, Natalya Stepanovna.
Along with the above quoted line, the speaker said that he had inherited the Oxen Meadows from his late aunt and uncle who had the highest regard for Natalya’s father and her late mother. He added that the Lomoves and the Chubukovs always shared the most friendly relations. He also spoke about the mutual respect between the two families and admired that it was a privilege of knowing the Chubukovs since his childhood.
A heated argument between Lomov and Natalya regarding who is the rightful owner of the Oxen Meadows followed after the speaker said the above quoted line.
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Read also: 🔎
👉 The Proposal – Character analysis of Lomov, Natalya & Chubukov
👉 The Proposal by Anton Chekhov - Appropriateness of the Title
👉 “She is like a lovesick cat,” - The Proposal