The Proposal

Context

Farce
A farce is a comedic dramatic work that uses
broad satire and unlikely, exaggerated situations
with stereotypical characters. Some scholars
believe the typically crude characters and
implausible plots used in farce render the form
inferior to more sophisticated types of comedy.
The term farce was first used in France during the
1400s to describe entertainments full of
caricatures, buffoonery, and acrobatics. However,
this type of theater has its roots in the plays of
ancient Greece and Rome. Many of these ancient
comedies used stock characters, including the
clown and the glutton. Farce was often used in the
1800s, during Anton Chekhov's time, and is still
popular today.
Chekhov's The Proposal is often considered to be
a farce because of its use of exaggeration. For
instance, Lomov's hypochondria—or anxiety about
his health—is extreme. Also, the constant arguing
among Lomov, Natalya, and Chubukov is
unlikely, especially since a marriage proposal is
the reason for Lomov's visit. However, Chekhov
raises the level of his farce by using exaggeration
to convey insightful criticisms about the
landowning class and marriage. For example, the
petty argument about the ownership of Oxen
Meadows conveys the obsession of this class with
owning land, even if it has little value, because it
defines who they are.
The Proposal enjoyed considerable success both in
the rural provinces and cities of Russia. Shortly
after its 1889 premiere, Czar Alexander III (1845–
94) himself praised a performance of this play at
his summer palace near St. Petersburg, Russia.
Chekhov, though, disliked the play, perhaps
because of its use of exaggeration. He even called
it a "wretched, boring, vulgar little skit." He also
told a theater producer to "Roll cigarettes out of it
for all I care." This sentiment dates from an age
when many people not only smoked but hand-
rolled their own cigarettes from shredded tobacco
and small sheets of paper.

Social Class in Late 19th-Century Russia

During the late 1800s in Russia, society was
largely divided into four classes: the upper class,
the middle class, the working class, and the
peasants. By far the largest class was the peasants,
or landless famers and those whose patrons
allotted them some land to plant for themselves.
According to an 1897 census, peasants made up
about 82 percent of the population. The working
class (factory workers, soldiers, artisans)
accounted for some 4 percent, and the middle class
(merchants, bureaucrats, professionals) made up
only 1.5 percent of the population. The upper class
included royalty, nobility, wealthy landowners,
and higher clergy and formed 12.5 percent of the
population. The characters in The Proposal,
Lomov, Natalya, and Chubukov, were wealthy
landowners from that top class.
The main attributes for leading a privileged life in
19th-century Russia were noble titles and land
ownership. However, not all landowners were
members of the nobility. For instance, in The
Proposal, neither Lomov nor the Chubukovs have
noble titles, yet they are well-to-do landowners.
Wealthy landowners were known to exert a strong
conservative influence on Russian society. They
worked hard to block any reforms that would give
peasants more rights and more land. They saw the
possibility of such reforms as a threat to their
power. Nineteenth-century Russian nobleman
Sergey Witte (1849–1915) voiced the opinion,
"Many of the aristocracy are unbelievably
avaricious, hypocrites, scoundrels, and good-for-
nothings."
In The Proposal, Chekhov uses satire to skewer
the wealthy landowners. Lomov, Natalya, and
Chubukov are depicted as greedy, petty, and
concerned about having a superior position even
over others in their class, and all are ridiculous in
this obsession.

Marriage in Late 19th-Century Russia

Marriage in Russia during the late 1800s followed
a prescribed pattern. Within the social circles of
the nobility and wealthy landowners, parents often
arranged their children's marriages. In The
Proposal, Lomov must come to Chubukov to ask
for his daughter's hand in marriage. In addition, for
the upper class, marriage was ideally confined to
members of their own category. Moreover,
marriage was expected to improve each family's
financial situation. Chekhov depicts these
conditions in The Proposal. Lomov and the
Chubukovs both belong to the landed gentry.
Furthermore, a marriage between Lomov and
Natalya would increase the estates of both
families, thereby providing a financial benefit.
Chekhov satirizes this businesslike arrangement
when Chubukov refers to Lomov's upcoming
proposal as "a merchant com[ing] by to collect his
goods."
A Russian wife's relationship to her husband is
also laid out in the 1836 Code of Russian Laws.
The code states a wife "must obey her husband,
reside with him in love [and] respect ... and offer
him ... affection as the ruler of the household."
Chekhov satirizes this law through the relationship
between Lomov and Natalya. She does not love or
respect Lomov. In addition, she shows no
indication that she will obey her husband-to-be.
Instead, she is stubborn and argumentative with
him—as he is with her. Rather than being pleasant
and affectionate toward Lomov, she is insulting
and harsh. Indeed, her behavior toward him
mirrors his behavior toward her and calls into
question the entire institution of marriage when
based on such values.

A marriage proposal
 “A marriage proposal” is a very interesting drama
Written by Anton Chekhov, a famous playwright
and story-writer of Russia.
 The play presents the scene of Lomov’s marriage
proposal to a girl named Natalia.
 Through this one-act drama, Chekhov reveals the
fakeness of the world.
 He also tries to show how superficial these days
people have become.
 Instead of emotional bonding in relationships,
people simply favor wealth and money.
 In this story, Lomov and Chobukov are close
friends.
 Lomov is in love with Natalia, the daughter of
Chobukov.
 Lomov wants to marry her but he does not dare to
propose marriage to Natalia.
 Natalia’s father also wants his daughter to marry
Lomov because Lomov is a very rich man.
 But he has no idea how to persuade his daughter
for this proposal.
 One day Lomov comes to his friend’s house and
decides that today he will definitely propose
marriage to Natalia.
 Incidentally, Natalia comes there herself.
Chobukov leaves them alone and leaves.
 A debate takes place between Lomov and Natalia.
 They start arguing over their dogs – Leap and
Guess.
 This debate is further heightened regarding their
ownership of very old land.
 They shout at each other.
 Upon hearing the scream, Chubukov comes out.
Watching the two fight, he pretends to faint and die
 And appeals to Lomov and Natalia to accept the
marriage proposal quickly.
  Both accept the proposal.
 In this way, their argument turns into their
marriage.
 Then after that, Natalia’s father Chobukov regains
his consciousness and is happy that his daughter is
going to marry a rich man.

The Proposal | Symbols

 Lomov's Hypochondria
Lomov is a hypochondriac who constantly
fears he is about to have a severe heart attack
or stroke. As a result, when he gets upset, he
refers to his foot falling asleep, his heart
aching, and his eyebrows twitching.
For Chekhov Lomov's hypochondria is a
symbol not only of how self-centered the
character is but also of his inner conflict.
Lomov lacks the confidence to make decisions
and thus unconsciously feels something must
be "wrong" with him—in other words, he
must be ill. Any minor—or imaginary—
symptom convinces him he is at death's door,
effectively distracting him from the necessity
to make and act on a decision.
He is a wealthy landowner who is about to
make a significant decision, namely proposing
marriage. However, before he talks
with Natalya, he obsesses about his twitching
right eyebrow, his trembling lips, and a pull in
his shoulder. Indeed, Lomov's hypochondria is
so extreme that it makes him ineffective. At
the end of the play—profoundly anxious about
his aches and pains—Lomov faints and is
unable to propose to Natalya. Chubukov has to
do it for him.
The author could be seen as using this symbol
to satirize the landowning class. Lomov's self-
concern makes him ineffective, similar to how
the selfishness of the landowners makes them
unable to take significant action in society.
They are too concerned with their own
problems, too sick to be of any use to
themselves, to others, or surely to their ailing
country and society.

 The Oxen Meadows

The Oxen Meadows is a small piece of land
that lies between the Lomov estate and
the Chubukov estate. Both families claim the
meadows as their own. In fact, Lomov gets in
a heated argument with Chubukov
and Natalya about the land's ownership, even
though it has little value. Chekhov uses the
Oxen Meadows as a physical embodiment of
the characters' greed and stubbornness.
Lomov, Natalya, and Chubukov are so
obsessed with owning land that they can't see
the ownership of this tract as being
insignificant. It is not by chance that Chekhov
called this land the Oxen Meadows. This name
calls to mind the popular phrase stubborn as
an ox.
The argument over the meadows also shows
how much the three characters are concerned
with superficial appearances. Their desire to
appear virtuous and right about something
trivial and empty is more important than a
proposal of marriage.

 Guesser and Messer

Like the Oxen Meadows, the dogs Guesser
and Messer symbolize character traits. The
dogs represent the stubbornness of their
owners about unimportant matters, such as
which dog is better. However, this symbol
emphasizes pettiness more than greed. Even
though the Oxen Meadows does not have
much value, it does have some financial
worth. However, winning an argument about
the better dog has no importance whatsoever.
The hunting pastime is a luxury only wealthy
landowners and the nobility can afford. The
dogs, thus, support a recreational sport. In
addition, the people winning this argument
will not have any effect on the dogs
themselves. It will not make them better at
hunting.
In addition, through the use of the names
Guesser and Messer, Chekhov hints that the
dogs aren't really worth much. The
name Guesser implies that this dog guesses a
lot when hunting rather than really knowing
what it is doing. On the other hand, the
name Messer suggests that this dog often
makes a mess and thus isn't very well trained.
So the characters are deluded, each thinking
its dog is better than it really is.
Chekhov thus uses Guesser and Messer to
reveal the characters' petty concern about
appearing superior to others and their delusion
about themselves.

Summary
The scene is taking place in the reception
room of Chubukov's home. We find
Chubukov seated in the hall and there
comes his neighbor Lomov. He is wearing
a nice dress as though he is going for a
party. Chubukov is a farmer. Lomov is his
neighbor. They have been in good terms
all through their lives.
As Lomov comes to Chubukov's house, he
is formally greeted and an enquiry is
made about his well-being. Chubukov
notices the dress that is worn by Lomov
and questions if he was going for an
evening ball. Lomov responding to
Chubukov says that he had come to meet
him to ask for some assistance. He does
not have the courage to speak of his
marriage proposal. His heart beats faster
and he feels nervous. Lomov keeps
drinking water to calm himself down.
Chubukov ponders over and assumes
that Lomov had come to him to ask
money. Finally, Lomov musters up
courage and tells Chubukov that he was
there to ask for his daughter in marriage
to him. Chubukov cannot believe his ears
and therefore asks him to repeat what he
had said, Chubukov is excited and
discloses the fact that he was also
pondering over the same matter. He tells
Lomov that he has always loved him as
his own son. With all exhilaration
Chubukov goes to call Natasha. Lomov
asks Chubukov if Natalya would give her
consent for their marriage and Chubukov
answers positively.
Lomov is completely trembling and
frightened of the events to happen.
However, he consoles himself saying that
if he thinks too much he would never get
married. Meanwhile, he also reveals the
features of Natasha as we come to know
she is excellent housekeeper, not bad-
looking, well-educated and so on. He is
also concerned about he turning 35.
Lomov also describes his features, as he
says he has to lead a regular and quiet
life, he suffers from palpitations, he is
always excitable and gets awfully upset.
Worst of all is the way he sleeps. He does
not have proper sleep. He keeps getting
disturbed all the time.
Natalya comes and begins casual
conversation with Lomov. Natalya
excuses herself for the way she had
dressed. She offers him to give lunch, but
Lomov does not have lunch. Natalya
finally gives him the smoke. She talks of
the difficulties of staking hay as it was
raining. She just like her father also asks
why Lomov was so neatly dressed that
evening. He tells her that he has
something important to tell, which may
make her angry and may also get her
surprised. Lomov goes on beating around
the bush but never telling Natalya about
his proposal. His logic is that since they
have known each other for so long and
since their lands are adjoining each
other, they should marry. However,
before completing his thoughts he makes
reference to Oxen Meadows. These
meadows become a point of difference
and conflict between the two them.
Natalya goes on to claim that meadows
always belonged to them. There is strong
argument between Natalya and Lomov
over the ownership of the meadows.
Lomov is ready to show her the
documents but Natalya is in no mood to
give in. She just does not want to listen
to his arguments. Finally, when Lomov
realizes that Natalya would not withdraw
her arguments he tells her, he is not
greedy for land. He says he is arguing to
uphold his principles. He is ready to gift
those meadows to Natalya. She is
offended by this present and reminds
Lomov of the favours they had done to
him and tells him that he is being silly by
behaving in this manner.
They both continue to argue over the
ownership of the meadows. Lomov tells
her that if not for his palpitation and fear
he would have fought the fight better.
The two of them are interrupted by her
father. Natalya seeks the help of her
father to sort out the matter. He in fact
continues the fight from where Natalya
had stopped. He tries to reason with
Lomov and tell him that the meadows
belonged to them.Chubukov tells him
that how much ever he tries he cannot
show any documentary proof of his
ownership over that land. The argument
gets heated as both accuse each other of
grabbing land. Lomov raises his voice
which is disliked by Chubukov, Lomov is
adamant and unyielding in giving up the
ownership over the meadows. Lomov
threatens to go to court and Chubukov is
also ready to follow him. The arguments
have now become abusive as they start
involving each other ancestors and their
behavior. They start blaming and abusing
each other's family members. Finally, at
the end of that conflict Lomov begins to
experience some physical uneasiness and
therefore takes his hat and walks out of
the house of Chubukov.
Now, only the father and daughter are
left on the stage. They continue to abuse
Lomov and go on calling him names. In
the process of abusing Lomov, Chubukov
speaks of his guts to make a proposal.
Natalya is suddenly shocked and
surprised to hear about Lomov's
proposal. She immediately instructs her
father to bring Lomov back. Chubukov
feels ashamed to call Lomov back after
having abused him thoroughly, but he
calls him back. Lomov comes back to
Natalya's house. He comes and again
begins to complain of his palpitations.
Natalya profusely apologizes for her
behavior and tells Lomov that the
meadows belong to him. Lomov
continues to discuss meadows but by
now Natalya wants to divert his mind to
other topics. She asks him if he was
planning to go to hunting. This distracts
Lomov and he forgets about the
meadows. Lomov tells her that he
wanted to go for hunting but his dog had
gone lame. Lomov tells of his dog
Mironov and its hunting habits which
were unmatched by any other dog.
Meanwhile, Natalya says that the dog
she has-Squeezer- was best. Lomov
disagrees and tells that Squeezer was
overshot, which means the dog is a bad
hunter. Lomov also finds fault with the
jaw of Squeezer to which Natalya jumps
up in defense and says that it was son of
Harnes and Chisels, while there is no
getting at the pedigree of her dog.
They now begin to fight over dogs. Either
of them claims their dog to be better.
Natalya is steadfast in saying that her
Squeezer is best, while Lomov claims his
is better. Lomov finally that he must
either be blind or a fool to not see good
things in Squeezer. They continue their
arguments adamantly until finally
Chubukov enters.

The father again enters the room. Both

turn to him for opinion. He says Mironov
certainly has his good points. He is from a
good breed, has a good stride, strong
haunches, and so forth. But he has two
faults he is old and he has a short lower
jaw. Lomov tells Chubukov that on a
hunting expedition his dog, Mironov, had
run neck to neck with the Count's dog.
But Squeezer was left behind. Chubukov
says that the Count struck his dog with a
whip; that is why was left behind. Lomov
reminds him that his dog was whipped
because instead of running after the fox,
he bit the sheep. Chubukov, however,
does not agree. He requests Lomov to
stop that argument. But that does not
seem possible. Chubukov gets angry. He
tells Lomov to stay at home with his
palpitation; he is not fit for hunting. They
again abuse each other and call names.
Lomov begins to see stars; every part of
his body is bursting. He falls into a chair
and faints.

Seeing Lomov faint, Natalya thinks that

he is dead. She starts weeping and crying
and requests her father to call the doctor.
The poor father feels miserable. He holds
a glass of water to Lomov's lips, but the
latter does not drink. The father finds
himself in a terrible situation. He is so
mad with desperation that he wants to
shoot himself. In the meantime, Lomov
comes to senses. He sees mist before his
eyes. Chubukov does not want to take
any chance by leaving them alone. He at
once speaks out that his daughter is
willing to marry. He thrusts Lomov's hand
into his daughter's hand and gives them
his blessings. He just wants to be left in
peace. Lomov is still dazed. He is not able
to understand what is going on. At last
they kiss each other and are reconciled.
But they again start quarrelling over their
dogs. Natalya says, "Mironov is worse
than Squeezer. Lomov says, "Better".
Amidst their shouting and quarrelling the
father shouts, "Champagne, Champagne"