The Darling

"The Darling" by Chekhov is a very interesting tale. It is about a woman named Olga (---). Olga is a very likable lady, who all of her girlfriends call her darling, because she is so likable. Olga falls in love with her neighbor and they get married. She quickly adopts all of the views of her husband and lacks any of her own opinions. Her husband dies and she gets remarried. Again, she adopts all of the views of her new husband, lacking any of her own. This happens yet another time, and after this husband dies she has nothing to talk about because she has no opinions of her own, and always relied on the opinions of her husbands, never having to think for herself about what she believed (---). This Way of living and thinking is very opposite of the way Emerson and Thoreau lived and thought. Emerson says that "The mind is urged to ask for one Cause of many effects; then for the cause of that; and again the cause, diving still into the profound; self-assured that it shall arrive at an Absolute and sufficient one; a One that shall be All (The Three Fund...). Emerson clearly thinks that thinking and seeking the cause of things is very important. He is saying that he keeps digging deeper in thought figuring out how things are how they are and seeking the truth all the time. That is a philosophy that Emerson lives by. He constantly is studying and researching things to find the truth and his mind is constantly busy trying to process information and come to his own conclusions based off of his knowledge, understanding, and beliefs. This is how Emerson lives, and it is much different than how Olga lives (---) (The Three Fund...). Instead of actively engaging her mind, Olga relies on the beliefs of her husbands. She does not seek the truth, instead she accepts whatever it is her husband believes is the truth (---). This is extremely passive and is not at all how Emerson or Thoreau lived. They constantly asked questions and sought out the truth (Thoreau). However, Olga does not. She does not dig deeper, she simply accepts her husbands' views as her own without any thought.

"Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.

"The Three Fundamental Concepts of Emerson's Philosophy (3 of 7)."WisdomWorld.org Web Site (Main Page). Web. 06 Mar. 2012.

"TWO CHEKHOVS PRODUCTIONS." The Darling. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. .