The Proposal Long Question Answer

The Proposal
Anton Chekhov
Long Questions and Answers

1. “Why are you so formal in your get up ?” — Who is the speaker ? Who is being spoken to? What led the speaker to make this comment?

Ans: Here Chubokov is the speaker.
Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov is being spoken to.
Lomov has come to Chubukov’s house wearing a dress —jacket and white gloves with an intention to impress Natalya whom he wanted to propose for marriage, formally. After the formal exchange of courtesies Chubukov, without knowing of the actual reason, asks Lomov why he was dressed up in such a manner.

2. Lomov came with a proposal to marry Natalya Stepanovna. What
logic does he give for his decision?

Ans: Lomov has ultimately decided to marry with an intention to solve many problems and without a single trace of real love for his would be wife. He urgently needs to lead a quiet and regular life. According to Lomov, Natalya was not bad-looking, rather was well-educated and an excellent house-keeper. He does not expect more than that from his wife. Lastly the huge landed property to be inherited by Natalya is also a major reason behind his decision to marry Natalya. Lomov suffers from palpitations and anxiety attacks and becomes so stressed that eventually feels numbness in the leg and collapses. So he needed someone to nurse him.

3. “I’m the most unhappy of men !” Who said this ? Why did he say so ? How did the speaker get rid of his unhappiness?

Ans: Here the speaker is Chubukov.
Lomov fell unconscious during the altercation concerning the superiority of their hunting dogs, Squeezer and Guess. When Lomov loses his senses Natalya seems to be very concerned about Lomov anticipating the cancellation of the proposed marriage and Chubukov too exclaimed in regret and self pity.

After Lomov recovered from palpitations and anxiety attacks, Chubukov did not want to waste time in putting Lomov’s hand into his daughter Natalya’s and get them married . Chubokov showered his blessings upon the couple and asked them to leave him to live in peace.

4. Justify the title of the play “The Proposal”

Ans:- Anton Chekhov named the play very logically. At the beginning of the play, Lomov comes to Natalya’s house with a marriage proposal. Natalya’s father becomes overjoyed. But before Lomov can propose Natalya, they have a dispute over the ownership of Oxen Meadows, and Lomov leaves. But when Natalya learns that Lomov has come to propose her, she calls Lomov again. Then the proposal hangs again over the issue of their dog’s superiority. But in the end, Natalya’s father takes the couple by the hand and persuades them to marry. The play ends with Natalia and Lomov kissing and hugging each other.
So the drama revolves around Lomov’s marriage proposal to Natalia. Even if they quarrel twice, the real purpose, that is, the marriage proposal, remains intact. So the title justifies the theme of the play.

5. Write a short character sketch of Natalya Stepanovna.

Ans:- Natalya is one of the central characters in the play ‘The Proposal’ written by Anton Chekhov. She is a 25-year-old unmarried woman, the daughter of landowner Chubukov. Natalya is a well-educated, nice housekeeper and not bad looking at all. Her father describes her as a love-sick cat. At the beginning of the play she appears humble and obedient when she greets her neighbour, Lombov warmly. But we see a bit of stubbornness and rudeness in Natalya when she gets into an argument with Lomov over ownership of Oxen Meadows and the superiority of their dog. But when she learns that Lomov has come to propose her, she regrets it, becomes desperate to marry him, and blames her father for everything. All in all Natalya is a complex, hypocritical character.

6. “Then why are you in evening dress, my precious?” – Who says this? Why is the person spoken to in his evening dress? What does speaker guess?

Ans:- In the play “The Proposal” Chubukov says the quoted line to Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov.
Lomov, the 35-year old neighbour of Chubukov, was concerned for his marriage as he was already in a critical age. He came to Chubukov’s house to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. So he came in evening dress in order to impress Natalya.
Lomov wearing formal dress had come to Chubukov’s house and was behaving politely with Chubukov. So Chubukov assumed that he had come to borrow money from him and he intended not to give him a rouble. But when he came to know that Lomov had come to propose his daughter, Natalya, he became overwhelmed and immediately showered blessings on Lomov.

7. “I have come to you, …… to trouble you with a request” — Who is the speaker? Who is he speaking to? What is the request? How did the person spoken to react to the request?

Ans:- Here the speaker is Lomov, one of the central characters in the one-act play “The Proposal”.
He is speaking to his neighbour, Chubukov.
Lomov was 35-years old, a critical age to get married. So wearing formal dress, he came to Chubukov to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. That was the request.
Chubukov was vey happy hearing Lomov’s proposal. He couldn’t believe his ears. He hugged and kissed him. He told Lomov that he had been expecting this for a long time. He then blessed Lombov and his daughter.

8. “We’ve had the land for nearly three hundred years …” Who is the speaker? Who is spoken to? What is referred to as ‘the land’? What do you know of ‘the land’ from their conversation?

Ans: Here the speaker is Natalya Stepanovna.
The person spoken to is Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov.
Here ‘the land’ refers to the Oxen Meadows which is lodged between the birch woods and The Burnt Marsh .
In order to create a favourable situation to propose Natalya formally, Lomov refers to the closeness and friendly relation between the families of Lomovs and Chubokovs. In this context he mentions to the property known as the Oxen Meadows. But instantly Natalya claims that to be their family property for a long time.
As Lomov tries to establish the fact that the land was inherited by him from his ancestors, Natalya too was obstinate to prove that the land belongs to them irrespective of its monetary value. Lomov argues that his aunt’s grandmother gave the free use of those meadows forever to the peasants of Natatya’s father in return of which they were to make bricks for her. But Natalya opposes insisting that their land is extended to the Burnt Marsh including Oxen Meadows. The storyline of the drama reveals that Oxen Meadows are stretched about 13.5 acres and worth approximately 300 roubles.

9. Give a brief sketch of the character of Lomov in the play ‘The Proposal’.

Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov is a young landowner, a bachelor, aged around 35. He is quite healthy though often complains of palpitations and anxiety for no or petty reasons. Lomov purposefully decides to place a marriage proposal to Natalya who is well-educated, an efficient housekeeper and quite decent looking, not because he loves her, but because he calculates the economic profit he is going to reap by this marriage.
Lomov is very selfish and argumentative by nature . He gets involved in quarrels
with Natalya over petty issues like the Oxen Meadows and pet dogs named Squeezer and Guess. Lomov ill-treats Natalya and her father Chubukov in the course of the quarrel. But then he himself experiences palpitations, numbness in the leg and an eventual collapse due to excessive stress. Finally he manages to propose which is instantly accepted by Natalya. Here Lomov is a representative of decadent feudal society that possesses a very narrow frame of mind to consider love and marriage, nothing but a deal.

10. “Go; there’s a merchant come for his goods.” -Who said this and to whom? Who is ‘the merchant’? What is referred to as goods’? In what way does it bring out the attitude of the person and the society at that time?

Ans: Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov, an elderly landowner of the play “The Proposal” says this to his daughter Natalya Stepanova.
The ‘merchant referred here is Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov, a young landowner who is still a bachelor.
Natalya, the daughter of Chubukov is referred here as’ goods’ in the quote mentioned.
When Natalya comes to meet Lomov she was surprised because her father told her to meet the merchant who has come for ‘his goods’. This remark reveals the depreciative attitude of a father towards her daughter in the Russian society. She is considered nothing but a commodity to be sold to a suitable suitor. This comment brings out the inferior values of feudal and patriarchal society regarding the position of women in the social strata.

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