The Kiss starts on an evening when the officers of the Reserve of Artillery Brigade are invited by Lieutenant-General Von Rabbek to take tea at his home. Once in the house the officers meet the family of Von Rabbek and are invited to have a drink and dance. While most of the officers dance, Ryabovich, the protagonist, wanders around the house because he does not know how to dance. Then, when he is alone inside a bedroom, a woman enters, kisses him, and leaves right away. Ryabovich does not know what to do next. He is just confused thinking whether the kiss was intentional or not. On the one hand he becomes glad thinking that it could be the beginning of a love story, but on the other hand he thinks that it was just an accident and that he will never be loved by anybody because he is not an attractive person.
This short story written by Anton Chekhov analyzes the psychology of the protagonist, especially his decision making process after he is kissed by the mysterious woman. The Kiss is a modern short story because its conclusion is an expression of disenchantment.
The protagonist has a very low perception of himself. He considers himself to be somebody not attractive and not capable of accomplishing much. Therefore he lives a dull life in which he does not feel confident enough to undertake high projects. However, after Ryabovich is kissed, he begins to see the world in a new light. He starts thinking that after all he is not that unattractive, and that he is competent and capable of doing great things. Then, what he just hopes is to see again the woman who kissed him and to talk with her, and propose her to get married and live a happy life together until the end of their lives.
Ryabovich tries hard to find again that woman. He even went back to Von Rabbek’s house to ask whether she was back. However, there are no traces anywhere of that woman. Therefore, Ryabovich begins thinking that it was just an illusion; something beautiful to think of and that is. Ryabovich thinks that to be kissed suddenly and be looked for by someone who really loves you is something that only happen in romances, but not in real life. As a consequence that new light enkindled by the kiss just fades away with these new thoughts.
The two above mentioned positions do not succeed each other chronologically, but rather intermingle along the story. It is a fight of two opposite ways of looking at reality; that is a positive one and a negative one. The positive one looks at the future, whereas the negative one looks at the past. The positive one keeps hope, whereas the negative just damns itself to a terrible fate. The positive one enkindles a light of joy in one’s life, whereas the negative one encircles one’s horizons with the darkness of sadness. Between these two opposed forces lies Ryabovich.
Unfortunately, at the end it is the negative way of looking at reality the one that conquers the other. Ryabovich looses hope and decides to forget that kiss and give up his search for the woman. It is disenchantment that conquers the soul of Ryabovich and makes him think that in this life there is no room for joy and hope. It is disenchantment that makes Ryabovich a victim of sadness and despair. This disenchantment is a trait of Modernism, so this short story belongs to Modernism. However this is a very early type of Modernism, which does not contain some of the characteristics of Modernism. Another characteristic of Modernism in Chekhov’s stories is the stream of consciousness that later on authors like Joyce would makes use of.
This short story written by Anton Chekhov analyzes the psychology of the protagonist, especially his decision making process after he is kissed by the mysterious woman. The Kiss is a modern short story because its conclusion is an expression of disenchantment.
The protagonist has a very low perception of himself. He considers himself to be somebody not attractive and not capable of accomplishing much. Therefore he lives a dull life in which he does not feel confident enough to undertake high projects. However, after Ryabovich is kissed, he begins to see the world in a new light. He starts thinking that after all he is not that unattractive, and that he is competent and capable of doing great things. Then, what he just hopes is to see again the woman who kissed him and to talk with her, and propose her to get married and live a happy life together until the end of their lives.
Ryabovich tries hard to find again that woman. He even went back to Von Rabbek’s house to ask whether she was back. However, there are no traces anywhere of that woman. Therefore, Ryabovich begins thinking that it was just an illusion; something beautiful to think of and that is. Ryabovich thinks that to be kissed suddenly and be looked for by someone who really loves you is something that only happen in romances, but not in real life. As a consequence that new light enkindled by the kiss just fades away with these new thoughts.
The two above mentioned positions do not succeed each other chronologically, but rather intermingle along the story. It is a fight of two opposite ways of looking at reality; that is a positive one and a negative one. The positive one looks at the future, whereas the negative one looks at the past. The positive one keeps hope, whereas the negative just damns itself to a terrible fate. The positive one enkindles a light of joy in one’s life, whereas the negative one encircles one’s horizons with the darkness of sadness. Between these two opposed forces lies Ryabovich.
Unfortunately, at the end it is the negative way of looking at reality the one that conquers the other. Ryabovich looses hope and decides to forget that kiss and give up his search for the woman. It is disenchantment that conquers the soul of Ryabovich and makes him think that in this life there is no room for joy and hope. It is disenchantment that makes Ryabovich a victim of sadness and despair. This disenchantment is a trait of Modernism, so this short story belongs to Modernism. However this is a very early type of Modernism, which does not contain some of the characteristics of Modernism. Another characteristic of Modernism in Chekhov’s stories is the stream of consciousness that later on authors like Joyce would makes use of.
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