blog post #2 Andrew Snyder

Question 4:
The plot order is completely different for both versions of "The Lady with the Pet Dog."  In Chekhov's version the plot works chronologically starting with how Gurov and Anna meet and start their affair, then they split returning to their separate homes and lives.  After being back in Moscow for awhile, Gurov goes to Anna's hometown and finds her.  After their meeting in a theater, Gurov and Anna continue their affair.  In Oates's version, the plot jumps around the story starting with Anna fainting from the sight of her lover at a concert and from there shows how the couple continue their secret affair.  In the second half of Oates's telling of the story, the story shows how Anna began her relationship with her lover and how her love for him has tormented her since the inception of their affair.  I feel that Chekhov's plot is the more logically of the two, telling the story as it is and nothing more.  With Oates's version, the plot is more emotional and detailed.  I believe though that out of the two, Oates's plot is more effective making the story more complex.  Anna battles with her emotions relentlessly and the out of order story telling grabs the reader's attention and wrapped more in the story.  The backtracking of Oates's plot reveals how Anna looks back at all of the events that lead up to her current situation and how they affect her conscious deeply.

Question 6:
I believe Oates wrote her version of the "The Lady with the Pet Dog" to create a more complex and emotional story.  Looking through the female perspective, Oates creates a story that does have resolution unlike Chekhov's version.  Anna, in Oates's plot, is battling with what is morally right and cannot come to terms with what her life has become.  At the end of the story, she comes to terms with herself and realizes that she is truely happy and in love with her new lover.  Looking through the man's point of view in Chekhov's version, the story is not complex and man looks at everything as it is on paper and acts on instinct.  When we read the story through the eyes of a woman, we get more emotional turmoil added into the story.  Both versions of the story reveal how the characters develop through their own eyes, but in Oates's we can dig a little deeper.  Oates must have realized that the woman's side of things can have many layers and emotions that Chekhov's point of view could never offer.  Since Chekhov's Gurov has cheated many times before meeting Anna, the only thing that we see Gurov develops as a character is the fact he finds new love he has not experienced before and acts instinctly to acquire it.  Chekhov's story is open ended, but with Oates's, we see how Anna has to battle with the choices she has made and how it tears her apart.  Even though we still may not know what happens to the couple in Oates's version, we at least know that Anna comes to terms with the affair before the stroy ends.