Psychological Impoverishment in "Anyuta"
In Anton Chekhov's short story "Anyuta," the title character is defined by her internal impoverishment. Perhaps drawing on his professional background as a doctor, Chekhov primarily explores Anyuta's psychological impoverishment through her physical behavior and body, and secondarily through her relationship to Stepan Klochkov.
The story opens with an image of Anyuta and Stepan Klochkov in a dirty apartment. The image introduces several pertinent clues about how to interpret Anyuta's character, before the reader even sees her interact with Stepan. First, the narrator has given Stepan a last name but declined to specify Anyuta's. One possible interpretation of this difference is that Stepan's identity in the world is more particular and concrete than Anyuta. A last name is usually a family name. The reader gets the sense that Stepan has a family, comes from somewhere, is grounded by a historical past. Stepan not only has Another possible interpretation of this differential naming, which may be reconcilable with the first interpretation, is that the narrator has a stronger level of familiarity with Anyuta than Stepan, and so he introduces "Stepan Klochkov" to the reader formally. The narrator's intimacy with Anyuta allows him to present her without bothering to mention her last name. The reader is given a far fuller description of Anyuta's physical appearance than either of the other two character's. Effectively, the vagueness and intimacy of the introduction to Anyuta aligns the reader's sympathies with Anyuta. Immediately the narrator has given the reader the sense that Anyuta is alone in the world.
The details of Anyuta's physical appearance evoke impoverishment. The narrator describes her as "small, thin" "very pale with meek grey eyes" with her back bent (Chekhov 27). Anyuta's body immediately registers as insubstantial, as barely there at all. She has little weight in the world, and little coloring or liveliness to give her presence or importance to the people around her. She is not just "pale," but very...
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