The Princess by Anton Chekhov (1904)

Name: The Princess
Author: Anton Chekhov

Princess Vera Gavrilovna arrives by carriage at the N-- Monastery, where she is a regular and cherished visitor, greeted with reverence by the priests and monks. She kisses the Father Superior's hand three times and effusively praises the peace and simplicity of monastic life, telling him she means to stay one night, then visit Klavdia Nikolaevna, then return to the monastery for three or four days. She reflects, as she often does there, that despite her wealth and rank she feels a natural kinship with the monks' humble existence, and imagines herself bringing comfort to the simple people around her, like a ray of light or a bird. Walking in the birch-lined avenue outside the monastery wall at evening, she indulges in melancholy, self-flattering thoughts about her unhappy marriage (from which she is separated), her financial troubles (many estates sold for her husband's debts, leaving only Baranovo and Mihaltsevo), and her wish to renounce the world. She encounters Mihail Ivanovitch, a doctor who once served on her estate at Dubovki and whose wife died the previous year. She greets him with performed warmth, but he responds coldly. Pressed by her to state what "mistakes" he believes she has made, he delivers a long, bitter denunciation. The doctor accuses her of a lifelong aversion to actual human beings masked as benevolence: her household is built on isolating servants and visitors from her presence (livery, high-backed chairs, thick carpets, hushed voices); her stewards and Polish superintendents grind down peasants and workers on her estates; her cooks have gone blind from kitchen heat and now live on charity; talented young men are corrupted into toadies in her service. He mocks her charitable "home for homeless old women" at Mihaltsevo as a hollow performance — the old women forbidden to use the fine linens and floors provided for show, paraded to chant a hymn whenever the princess deigns to visit. He similarly mocks her failed attempts to teach peasant children and to feed villagers' infants herself, saying the peasants fled her "benevolence" because it contained no real love, only the desire to play with people like living dolls. He reveals he himself was dismissed from her service after ten years without explanation, and that his wife came three times, unreceived, to beg for his position, and wept in the princess's hall — for which he says he will never forgive her. Finally he turns to her visits to the monastery itself, calling them another vain performance costing the monks trouble and expense while she gives them no real charity (not even a hundred roubles), and accuses her of coming with a private, self-invented God rather than genuine faith, never attending mass or vespers. The princess, bewildered and wounded, cries "It's not true!" and eventually breaks down weeping like a child. The doctor abruptly recognizes he has let malice carry him away, apologizes, and walks off, forgetting his hat. The princess is comforted by the stars, the singing of the evening service, and the sympathy she imagines all of nature feels for her suffering. She returns to her rooms, eats her favorite supper (sturgeon, mushrooms, Malaga, honey-cakes), and fantasizes about being ultimately ruined and abandoned by everyone, entering a convent without reproach, and eventually being recognized and begged forgiveness by all who wronged her. She prays, reads two chapters of the Gospel, and sleeps peacefully. The next morning she wakes late, recalls the doctor's words only briefly, and imagines instead that if people could see into her heart they would fall at her feet. She orders her carriage to continue on to Klavdia Nikolaevna's. As she departs, the doctor is waiting at the steps, pale and apologetic, begging her forgiveness for his "nonsense" of the day before; she extends her hand graciously for him to kiss. Riding away past bowing peasants and pilgrims, she feels serene, weightless, and joyful, murmuring to herself, "How happy I am!"

By Anton Chekhov · First published 1904 · Genre: Literary Fiction, Psychological Drama, Social Commentary · 5,694 words

First lines

A carriage with four fine sleek horses drove in at the big so-called Red Gate of the N -- -- Monastery. While it was still at a distance, the priests and monks who were standing in a group round the part of the hostel allotted to the gentry, recognised by the coachman and horses that the lady in the carriage was Princess Vera Gavrilovna, whom they knew very well.

An old man in livery jumped off the box and helped the princess to get out of the carriage. She raised her dark veil and moved in a leisurely way up to the priests to receive their blessing; then she nodded pleasantly to the rest of the monks and went into the hostel.

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The Princess is listed on Textopian as a short story by Anton Chekhov, dated 1904 CE.

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Work type: Short story
Author: Anton Chekhov
Date: 1904 CE
Language: English
Genres: Literary Fiction, Psychological Drama, Social Commentary, Character Study, Tragedy
Length: 5,694 words
Structure: 1 section, 75 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Genres

Literary Fiction — The work explores complex themes of identity, social class, and personal introspection, characteristic of literary fiction.
Psychological Drama — The narrative delves into the psychological struggles of the protagonist, revealing her inner conflicts and emotional turmoil.
Social Commentary — The text critiques social hierarchies and the disconnect between the aristocracy and the common people.
Character Study — The focus on the princess's thoughts and interactions provides a deep examination of her character and motivations.