A Misfortune

A Misfortune by Anton Chekhov (1886)

Sofya Petrovna Lubyantsev, the young wife of the notary Andrey Ilyitch, walks in the woods near the railway embankment with Ilyin, a lawyer summering nearby who has been her friend for five years but has spent the last two or three weeks pursuing her with ardent attention and letters. She tells him plainly that his pursuit must stop: she loves and respects her husband, has a daughter, and values the sanctity of marriage and the peace of her home. Ilyin, pale and angry, admits his behavior is immoral and criminal but insists he cannot master his passion; he has bought tickets to leave five times and always turned back. He accuses her of insincerity, saying she never gives him a flat "no" but instead keeps arranging "chance" meetings. As they argue by a seat in the wood, he falls to his knees, clasps her knees, and pours out a declaration of love. She is overwhelmed by weakness rather than the indignation she expects of herself, and does not pull away until the whistle of an oncoming train—her husband's train—startles her into flight. Ashamed, she hurries home repeating "You low creature!" to herself, and tries to prove her devotion to her family by scolding the cook for a late dinner, laying the table herself, and hugging her daughter Varya. When her husband Andrey Ilyitch arrives, tired and hungry, she watches him eat with sudden distaste and finds herself irritated rather than loving. She proposes they go away together on a tour; he demurs, citing money and his office, and tells her to go alone if she wishes—unwittingly leaving open the possibility that Ilyin, going the same direction, might share her train compartment. She imagines this scenario, half-fantasizing about Ilyin kneeling before her again during the journey. Deciding to go regardless, she feels temporarily fortified and spends the evening playing piano for guests, flirting recklessly and singing mournful songs with a kind of defiant abandon, aware all the while that Ilyin, present among the guests, is silent, pale, and suffering. After the guests leave, she walks Ilyin to the steps of the verandah, intending to tell him of her travel plans, but he embraces her, calls her "thou," kisses her neck, and urges her to come to him at once, arguing that submission is inevitable and only a matter of time. She tears herself away and flees inside, calling herself mad, but sits motionless afterward, gripped by an "oppressive, overpowering desire" she no longer feels strong enough to resist. She goes to her bedroom, where her husband is already in bed; she hints to him that she is "in love already" and warns he risks losing her, but he dismisses it as fancy, delivers a few listless remarks about family and infidelity, and goes back to sleep, unpersuaded and unmoved by her appeal for him to accompany her. Left alone, Sofya Petrovna dresses and goes out into the windy night, telling her sleeping husband she is going for a walk and asking if he will join her—receiving no answer. She walks on, muttering self-condemnation ("Immoral creature! Low wretch!"), driven by a force she cannot resist, stronger than shame, reason, or fear. The story ends with her walking on into the darkness, propelled toward Ilyin.

By Anton Chekhov · First published 1886 · Genre: Drama, Psychological Fiction, Realism · 6,056 words

First lines

Sofya Petrovna, the wife of Lubyantsev the notary, a handsome young woman of five-and-twenty, was walking slowly along a track that had been cleared in the wood, with Ilyin, a lawyer who was spending the summer in the neighbourhood. It was five o'clock in the evening. Feathery-white masses of cloud stood overhead; patches of bright blue sky peeped out between them. The clouds stood motionless, as though they had caught in the tops of the tall old pine trees. It was still and sultry.

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Tragicomedy · Satire · Social Commentary · Russian Literature · Realism · Short Story · Marriage · Infidelity · Class Conflict · Morality · Moral Ambiguity · Cultural Critique

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