It's a Colorful Life: Colors in

A detailed Summary of It's a Colorful Life: Colors in

In "The Lady with the Pet Dog," Anton Chekhov presents a colorful story about the secret relationship between a philanderer and an attractive woman, who are both married. These two people meet and create a relationship at a vacation spot, and eventually go their separate ways. The climax of the story is when Gurov, the infamous womanizer, realizes he is actually in love and tracks down his soul mate, Anna. All throughout this short story, Chekhov uses specific colors to portray hidden themes of purity, lust, uncertainty, and love.

One of the recurring colors in the story is white. The color white is most often associated with purity and goodness. In the story, Anna has a little white dog, which she has with her when she first meets Gurov. When he leans down to the dog, he threatens it, provoking it to snarl and growl. The white dog represents the purity which Anna possesses. The dog's aim, in growling at Gurov, is to try to fend off the sinner that is trying to infect Anna. Despite the little Pomeranian's efforts to deter him from "putting the moves" on Anna, Gurov is ultimately successful in attracting her to him.

When Gurov and Anna sit on the bench after they've had sexual int

When Gurov finds Anna's home, he catches sight of the nail-studded grey fence on the opposite side of the street. He walked back and forth along the fence while he hesitantly thought about his next move. He sees an old woman come out of the house with the white dog that he once saw in Yalta. He can't call to it because he doesn't remember its name. Eventually, he begins to hate the fence more and more. It is obvious that Gurov is uncertain about his next move, which is represented by the grey fence. The fact that the fence is studded with nails means that there may be harmful consequences to any of his actions. This would explain why he hates the fence. He becomes angry because he doesn't want to deal with any of the consequences that may follow his actions. When he is unable to call to the dog, it is if he cannot draw on purity to help him get to Anna. This clarifies why he later secretly sees Anna on a regular basis.

Also in the hotel room, Gurov notices a dusty inkstand on the table. He describes the inkstand as being "grey with dust" (Meyer 193). An inkpad is used for writing, which is a form of communication. The fact that it is grey with dust implies that not only has Gurov not spoken or written to Anna in a long time, but that he is uncertain that he'll ever speak to her again.

When the two lovers are together, their lives are indeed full of illuminating colors. However, with the exception of when they first meet, when they are apart, Gurov obliviously encounters the color grey multiple times throughout the story. The color grey in this story most definitely symbolizes uncertainty and or the things unknown by a character.

When they are sinfully together and carrying out their fantasies in Yalta, thei

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Approximate Word count = 1185
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English