A short play The Bear, written by Anton Chekhov, is a humorous love story between two protagonists, Mrs. Popov and Grigory Stepanovich Smirnov. Mrs. Popov is a landowner and widow, whose husband had passed away seven months ago. Grigory Stepanovich Smirnov is also a landowner, who lend money to Mr. Nikolai Popov before he died. One day, he visits Mrs. Popov, who had decided to isolate herself from the out side world and mourn until the day she dies. Mr. Smirnov asks her that he needs his money back by the next day, but Mrs. Popov tells him that she does not have any cash until two days later. Mr. Smirnov gets so angry that he challenges Mrs. Popov to gun-fight against him. In the middle of the fight, Mr. Smirnov falls in love with Mrs. Popov, and she loves him back despite the hatred she had for him.

             "The Bear" was not a hilariously funny, but an amusing and interesting story. An author wrote the play with full of wits and expressing them by a humorous style. The theme of this play was an interesting human psychology under an extreme circumstance caused by stress and frustration. Although Mrs. Popov and Mr. Smirnov seem to have totally opposite characteristics, but they still are similar characters in several ways; physically, they were both deceived by opposite gender, and mentally, they are both passionate. The most important difference in them is that Mrs. Popov decided to love the man who deceived her and Mr. Smirnov decided to hate the woman/women who deceived him. Nevertheless, they were both miserable and were looking for the one that he and she can love from the bottom of one's heart. The outcome of the story is very unexpected and surprising; however, it is, somehow, amusing and refreshing. The refreshing feeling probably comes from our stress and frustra!.

             tion with this too-realistic world and looking for some exciting adventure-like life. .

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