Read Anton Chekhov’s A Marriage Proposal.
Meaning
- Identify the object of Chekhov’s satire in this play. Support your interpretation with a specific reference to the text.
- Why do you think Chekhov included the character to Chubukov in the play? What functioin does he serve?
Form and Style
- The play has a strong emotional tone. Explain how both the structure of the play and the punctuation of the text contribute to the emotional tone. Cite specific examples to support your answer.
- Melodrama is defined s “a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions.” Comment on how Chekhov uses melodramatic techniques to create humor in this piece.
Exploring Content
- What information about life in Czarist Russia do we learn from this script? Explain how this information creates the context of the drama in the play.
Creative Extension
- Choose a segment of the play and rewrite it in a narrative (short story) form. Be prepared to discuss changes you needed to make to transpose one form to another.
- Prepare a readers’ theatre presentation of a portion of the script. Focus on capturing the emotional tension created through the dialogue. Record your presentation (audio or video) and share it.
- Read Chekhov’s monologue On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco. Using this monologue as a model, write a script for a monologue given by one of the characters from A Marriage Proposal: Chubukov on the dangers of domestic champagne, Natalya on the dangers faced by women at harvest, or Lomov on the dangers of modern fabrics … and so on and so forth and all that.