The world has for a long time celebrated and valued the role played by women in society. This is often done through the literary works of some popular authors in our society. An example of some literary works that highlight the role of women in our society is a short story titled The Lady with the Dog written by Anton Chekov and The Dead written by James Joyce. Though both works have women as the main characters, their roles in both stories have been reversed. This essay looks at the role played by women characters in both short stories. (Chekov)
In the short story The Lady with the Dog, women can be said to be unhappy. We get this by looking at the life of Anna. Although she is married to a rich man, Anna is not happy in the marriage. This unhappiness makes her set on a journey to Yalta in search of peace. While in Yalta, she spends all her time in solitude with her dog. This fact alone shows that she is unhappy and lonely. When she strikes up a conversation with Gurov, we confirm this fact. This unhappiness makes her go to Yalta just to run from her husband. While she is away from her husband, she indulges in acts of immorality. (Chekov)
Another thing that we learn by looking at Anton’s story is that women during this time were used as sex objects. Women were expected to be responsive toward men at all times. After only one meeting between the two, Gurov thinks that Ann “would certainly meet him next day; it would be sure to happen.” (Chekov)This shows that women were always endearing themselves toward men. Even when the two find themselves together long after everyone else has gone to bed and Gurov kisses her, Ann does not resist despite her being a married woman. This clearly shows that women merely gave in to men’s demands easily. This fact can also be gotten by examining Gurov’s life. We first learn that he viewed women as belonging to the “lower race”. Despite this apparent despise of women, he could not go for more than two days without a woman in his life. This shows that women were too willing to give in to the demands of men despite how these men treated them. (Chekov)
Another trait that we can learn from the short story The Woman with the Dog is that they were naturally idle. When we look at Anna, we learn that all her time was spent just resting. (Chekov) This is perhaps the reason why she had so much time in her hands to spent away from her family. There is no anywhere in the story where we see that Gurov’s wife was working. The women could therefore be seen to have played the role of looking after their families while their husbands provided for the family. In fact, by looking at both Gurov’s wife and Ann, we learn that both were very young compared to their husbands who were a little bit old. This shows that women in this society were only meant for giving birth and looking after their families.
The women in this story also seem to be naïve and ignorant. (Chekov) Though Gurov has been cheating on her wife for a long time, she does not seem to suspect anything even with all the telling signs. On the other hand, Anna does not even know the kind of work her husband does. This clearly shows that what men do is not of concern to their wives. This shows clearly that women in this society are not only ignorant but also naïve.
On the other hand, the short story The Dead by James Joyce brings out a different side of women. Whereas the women in The Lady with the Dog were mere shadows of their male counterparts, those in The Dead were strong-willed and took a stand. In Anton’s short story, the ladies know exactly what they want in life. if we consider a young lady like Lily, for example, she already knows the kind of man she wants to get married to despite her young age. When Gabriel suggests that she should soon be getting married, she replies bitterly “The men that are now is only all palaver and what they can get out of you.” (Joyce) This shows that Lily despite her young age knows what to look for in a marriage partner. This is unlike the women in Anna’s case who get married just for the sake of it.
The women in The Dead all seem to know what is happening around them. Miss Ivors who is not even Gabriel’s husband seems to know that he writes for the Daily Express. (Joyce) This shows that she is concerned with what is happening in his life. When Miss Ivors invites Gabriel for an excursion to the Aran Isles in the summer and Gabriel refuses because of the tour, she does not let the matter rest. She insists on knowing where he would be going. This is unlike the women in Anton’s story who do not bother to know wherever their men spend their time. This shows the contrast in character between the two plays.
Joyce’s story The Dead starts on a note where the women are depicted to be working hard. We get the picture of Lily who does not even get the chance to rest due to the amount of work she has to attend to. (Joyce) Even though many of us would argue that she is only a house cleaner, we find that the other women are working hard too. Aunt Julia is all over the house trying to make sure that everyone is comfortable. While the woman in this play gets time to organize for social events, their counterparts in The Woman with the Dog only attended plays at the theater. This shows a difference in the social life between the two. Consequently, the women in Joyce’s play all seem to be happy unlike their counterparts in Antonics’ play who seem to be sulking and trying to find their identity. The only trace of unhappiness we find in The Dead is seen in Gabriel’s wife upon remembering her dead boyfriend from the past. (Joyce)
The short stories The Woman with the Dog and The Dead bring out different roles of women in society. One story depicts women on one hand as lazy and unconcerned with what is happening around them while the other depicts them as leading pillars in society. Both stories possess great moral lessons that all of us despite our gender should learn from and apply in our day-to-day living. The short story The Woman with the Dog especially encourages women to take a more active role in society instead of taking a back seat in matters affecting their families and society as large.
Works Cited
Chekhov, Anton. The Lady with the Dog. n.d. Web. 2010.
Joyce, James. The dead.n.d.Web. 2010.