Love or Morality, Which is More Important - Essay Example

Love or Morality, Which is More Important According to several sources, the act of committing adultery is viewed as a highly unethical and immoral act. However, there are several individuals who perceive the act of adultery as an act of cheating in a relationship, which is justifiable under certain conditions. Therefore, adultery is portrayed as an unfaithful and dishonest act in a marriage. According to experts, there are various compelling reasons that attract individuals to the vice of cheating. On the contrary, these reasons and circumstances do not fully justify the act of cheating or adultery. Although the act of cheating within a relationship is wrong, there are several situations in the story by Anton Chekhov whereby cheating is highly evident. The story ‘The Lady with the Pet Dog’ portrays a male point of view of committing adultery that offers a clear view of why most individuals are unfaithful in relationships (Chekhov 228). This paper will employ the new critical theory in discussing the issue of love and morality in a relationship according to the story by Anton Chekhov. The act of committing adultery is viewed as an emotional fulfillment and a physical need at the same time. However, this can significantly affect the individuals involved emotionally and physically depending on the circumstances involved. These circumstances are based on the circumstances that involve the individual. According to the story, Gurov and Anna are married, however; they are no longer in love with their partners due to lack of intimacies in the relationship. This situation fully justifies the adulterous act between Anna and Gurov. In the beginning of the story? Anna was already engaged in an illegal relationship with Gurov, until the end of the narrative when she realizes that they were both married to different individuals. In this story, Gurov and Anna significantly contribute to the theme of love and morality (Chekhov 230). According to Anna, the fact that her husband made her unhappy is what lured her into cheating. This is because she was not happy and was no longer in love with her husband. In the story, it is also mentioned that Gurov had brought her daughter to school in order to see Anna. This reveals that the aspect of self pleasure is pre-dominant in the story. This aspect of self pleasure totally changed the motivation of Anna and Gurov (Chekhov 231). In addition, Gurov’s wife is portrayed in the worst description. According to the author she was tall, black-browned, dignified and erect. This description does not portray an appealing picture to the reader. Gurov had met her while he was still attending college, and they fell in love blindly. From the perspective, Chekhov highlights that Anna was a mystery in the small town which Gurov was enticed to solve. Gurov questioned himself about this mystery which he was about to solve. To Gurov’s dismay, Anna was married, and she had come in the town just to visit. On the contrary, Gurov was fully satisfied about her condition (Chekhov 235). As highlighted in the preamble, the logic behind the issue of infidelity may give an individual an assurance of how adultery can be justifiable. This is because there are several reasons that lure individuals into committing adultery. Some of the most regular reasons include the loss of a loved one, tediousness in a relationship, lack of emotional fulfillment to express passionate desires and lack of personal happiness in the relationship among others. In this case, the lack of love between Gurov and his wife reveals the unfaithfulness of Gurov in the marriage (Chekhov 237). This prompted Gurov to seek an intimate relationship with another woman in their affair. In most cases, the adulterer usually attempts to replace his or her emotions through having an affair with a different individual. According to Chekhov, Gurov was unfaithful to his wife for a long period. The author points out that Gurov considered his wife as unintelligent, narrow-minded and dowdy. He was also terrified of her, and that is why he did not prefer staying at home (Chekhov 235). This was the main reason why Gurov runs away from his marriage. This portrayal proved that there was a crucial problem in their marriage. As time goes by, Anna and Gurov spent more time together. They occasionally went for walks and observed the sunset together. At one time, Anna confessed to Gurov her life was full of loneliness and somewhat meaningless. This was a clear sign that Anna loved Gurov. She even portrays her love to him when she went to the harbor on a daily basis with a bouquet of flowers pretending to meet someone, who was to arrive with the steamboat. These are some of the seductive acts that Anna staged in order to attract Gurov (Chekhov 239). Later on, Anna realized that she was doing the wrong thing. In fact, her conscience confirmed to her that she was supposed to appear casual in order to minimize the significance of the affair she had with Gurov. She received a letter from her husband to return home and help him with a minor ailment (Chekhov 236). This made Anna conclude her illicit affair with Gurov by leaving the town. Gurov had a vain effort to forget this last fling after Anna left. All in all, Gurov resumed his old lifestyle hoping that the memory of Anna will fade away with time. However, the memory of his affair continually haunts him especially at the dinner party. Furthermore, Gurov was bored with the routine in his old lifestyle. Therefore, he leaves for Saratov and he cheated his spouse that he was headed for a business trip to St. Petersburg (Chekhov 239). While in Saratov, he heads to Anna’s house to convince her to return to Yalta. To his disappointment there was no sign of Anna but, they met at the auditorium. At this instance, they both kissed passionately. This is an ambiguous case because it is presumed that Anna had abandoned the illicit relationship she had with Gurov. However, according to the scenario presented by Chekhov, it is quite clear that both Gurov and Anna still had feelings for each other. It is also ambiguous that Anna was frightened to get discovered in the situation whereby they were embracing and kissing. Additionally, when they met at the hotel in Moscow, Gurov was trying to be optimistic of their relationship by implying that the affair they had would last at least ten years. This was such an ambiguous thought since; both of them were sad because they knew that they were in an apparently hopeless situation of sustaining their affair. The story also ends in total ambiguity after Gurov discovers that he was living two separate lives (Chekhov 240). Therefore, he geared up to make peace and begin a new, splendid life with his family. This is because the only sure method of making peace with his family was through having an open and legal relationship. The setting of the story also influences the theme of love and morality between the characters. For example, Yalta is portrayed as a lonely way based on the sea front. Both Gurov and Anna are presumably lonely because they have issues with their legal couples. Afterwards, they grow fond of each other, and they also exercise an illegal relationship. They justify their illegal affair based on the fact that they are not satisfied with their couples. A flashback in the story proves that Gurov despised his shrewish life and also had several love affairs outside their marriage. The two main characters in this story are undecided whether to love their partners or practice adultery (Chekhov 240). In conclusion, Chekhov suggests that according to Gurov, the world of relationships with women was not a straightforward one because he was devoted to the feminine gender yet he referred to them as the “lower race”. When the story concludes, Gurov discovers that the affair they had with Anna was hopeless, hence; he strived to make peace with his family. Chekhov portrays a poignant scene whereby Gurov left the hotel room and salutes Anna goodbye (Chekhov 241). This clearly proves that love is more salient than morality since; if both characters loved their couples they would not commit adultery. Work Cited Chekhov, Anton. Lady with the Little Dog and Other Stories. North California: The Penguin Classics Press, 2002. Print. Read More