The Kiss by Anton Chekhov
"The Kiss" by Anton Chekhov is a short story set in a Russian village during a May evening. The narrative revolves around an unassuming officer, Ryabovich, who is characterized by his shyness and social awkwardness. At a gathering hosted by the local retired general, he inadvertently encounters an unidentified woman who kisses him passionately before realizing her mistake and fleeing the room. This brief encounter transforms Ryabovich, igniting a newfound exuberance and romantic fantasies about the mysterious woman.
As time passes, however, Ryabovich's idealized notions of love and happiness become increasingly disillusioned. Upon returning to the village months later, he finds that the enchantment of the evening and its subsequent dreams no longer hold the same allure, leading him to reject the general's invitation. The story explores themes of desire, the fleeting nature of romance, and the complex interplay between fantasy and reality, ultimately illustrating how a single moment can profoundly affect one's perception of self and the world. Chekhov’s work provides a nuanced perspective on human emotions and the sometimes absurd nature of our aspirations.
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The Kiss by Anton Chekhov
First published: "Potseluy," 1887 (English translation, 1915)
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The 1880's
Locale: The village of Mestechki and various small towns in Russia
Principal Characters:
Lieutenant Ryabovich , a timid artillery officerLieutenant Lobytko , a boastful womanizerLieutenant Merzlyakov , a coldly analytic intellectualLieutenant General von Rabbeck , Mestechki's leading landowner
The Story
The setting of "The Kiss" is a Russian village on a May evening. The officers of an artillery brigade encamped nearby are invited by a retired lieutenant general, von Rabbeck, who is the leading landowner in the village, to spend an evening dining and dancing in his residence. After describing a panoramic scene of aristocratic society, Anton Chekhov focuses on one of the officers, Ryabovich, who characterizes himself with the diagnosis: "I am the shyest, most modest, and most undistinguished officer in the whole brigade!" He is an inarticulate conversationalist, a graceless dancer, a timid drinker, and an altogether awkward social mixer. During the evening he wanders away from the activities he is unable to enjoy and strays into a semidark room that is soon entered by an unidentifiable woman, who clasps two fragrant arms around his neck, whispers, "At last!" and kisses him. Recognizing her mistake, the woman then shrieks and runs from the room.
Ryabovich also exits quickly, and soon shows himself to be a changed man: "He wanted to dance, to talk, to run into the garden, to laugh aloud." He no longer worries about his round shoulders, plain looks, and general ineptness. He begins to exercise a lively romantic fancy, speculating which of the ladies at the dinner table might have been his companion. Before falling asleep, he indulges in joyful fantasies.
The artillery brigade soon leaves the area for maneuvers. Ryabovich tries to tell himself that the episode of the kiss was accidental and trifling, but to no avail: His psychic needs embrace it as a wondrously radiant event. When he tries to recount it to his coarse fellow officers, he is chagrined that they reduce it to a lewdly womanizing level. He imagines himself loved by and married to her, happy and stable; he can hardly wait to return to the village, to reunite with her.
In late August, Ryabovich's battery does return. That night he makes his second trip to the general's estate, but this time pauses to ponder in the garden. He can no longer hear the nightingale that sang loudly in May; the poplar and grass no longer exude a scent; he walks a bridge near the general's bathing cabin and touches a towel that feels clammy and cold; ripples of the river rip the moon's reflection into bits. Ryabovich now realizes that his romantic dreams have been absurdly disproportionate to their cause: "And the whole world . . . seemed to [him] an unintelligible, aimless jest." When the general's invitation comes, he refuses it.