Chapter 9: The Proposal (The Proposal)

The play is about the third kind of proposal, (iii) the act of asking someone's hand in marriage. In the play Lomov comes to Chubukov's house to ask for the hand of his daughter Natalya in marriage.

(iii) the act of asking someone's hand in marriage

Sample answer (Indian customs differ from region to region, so answers may vary):

At first Chubukov suspects that Lomov has come to borrow money. He says in an aside, "He's come to borrow money. Shan't give him any!"

No, he is not sincere. His warm words come only after he learns that Lomov wants to marry his daughter, which is a good match for his daughter and his land. A moment earlier he thought Lomov a borrower and had no wish to help. Later, when they quarrel over Oxen Meadows, he calls him a "pettifogger", a "malicious, doublefaced intriguer", "The villain! The scarecrow!" and orders him, "And don't set foot in my house again!". When he learns that Lomov had come to propose, he calls him back and at the end pushes the marriage through ("Hurry up and get married and -- well, to the devil with you!"), mainly to settle the matter. His affection is therefore for his own gain.

He suspects Lomov has come to borrow money; his later affection is not sincere but for gain.

No, I do not agree that Natalya is in love with Lomov. When he arrives, she greets him casually and talks of peas, hay and the weather. She does not seem to expect a proposal and even says her father told her a "merchant" had come for his goods. She quarrels with him at once over Oxen Meadows and the dogs, and calls him a "rascal" and a "monster".

But she is certainly eager to marry. As soon as she learns that he had come to propose, she cries, "Bring him back! Back!", and falls into hysterics, and later tells him, "I'm willing." So she wants marriage and is afraid of losing the chance, but her behaviour shows no sign of love.

No. Natalya is eager to marry, but she shows no love for Lomov.

(i) Expressions used by the characters:

(ii) Five adjectives for each character (sample):

• Chubukov: hot-tempered, quarrelsome, greedy, hypocritical, talkative.
• Natalya: stubborn, argumentative, proud, impulsive, eager to marry.
• Lomov: nervous, excitable, hypochondriac, quarrelsome, over-polite.

(iii) Sample answer: they will quarrel next about who is the better hunter or whose dog is better, who will manage the household and land, where the couple will live, who will pay for the wedding, or whether Oxen Meadows should be given as a gift. Every small matter will turn into a fight, as the end of the play shows when they begin arguing about Guess and Squeezer again.

Expressions that sound Russian or old-fashioned:

• Addressing a grown man as "my darling", "my angel", "my treasure", "my precious" and "my beauty".
• Long formal names such as "honoured Stepan Stepanovitch" and "honoured Natalya Stepanovna".
• "thanks to your prayers, and so on", "I have the honour to ask...", "egad" and "By Jove!".
• "You must excuse my apron and neglige." and "Shan't give him any!".

Idiomatic modern English expressions in the play:

• "Spit it out!"
• "I can't make head or tail of all this..."
• "why don't you mind your own business"
• "you just think I'm a fool and want to have me on"
• "Why talk rot?"
• "What a weight off my shoulders"
• "I'm thinking of having a go at the blackcock"

Syllables and stress (the stressed syllable is in capitals; this is the usual British pronunciation, and a dictionary may show small variations):

asked (this blank is already filled in the book).

asked

said (or declared, as in Sentence Sets 2 and 5).

said

there. (Natalya's "here" in Set 3 becomes "there" in "why he hadn't been there for such a long time".)

there

past. In Set 3 the present perfect "haven't been" changes to the past perfect "hadn't been", and in Set 4 "What's the matter?" becomes "what the matter was".

past

past continuous tense. For example, "am getting" (I'm getting) changes to "was getting" (Set 2).

past continuous; am getting

respectfully (as in "Lomov asked Stepan Stepanovitch respectfully...").

respectfully

he, she, him, her (also his and their). For example, "I may count on her consent" becomes "he might count on her consent", and "My mowers will be there" becomes "her mowers would be there".

he, she, him, her

Because the reporting verbs (laughs, replies, says, regrets) are in the present tense, the tenses inside the reported clauses do not need to move back. Sample answer:

A. K. Hangal, one of Hindi cinema's most famous character actors, laughs and asks why we want to know his age, adding that if people know he is so old, he won't get work. He is 90 years old. For his age, he is rather energetic. We ask him what the secret is. He replies that his intake of everything is in small quantities and that he walks a lot. He says that he joined the industry when people retire, and that he was in his 40s, so he does not miss being called a star. He adds that he is still respected and given work when actors of his age are living in poverty and without work, and that he does not have any complaints, but that yes, he has always been underpaid. Recipient of the Padma Bhushan, Hangal never hankered after money or materialistic gains. He regrets that, no doubt, he is content today, but money is important, and that he was a fool not to understand the value of money earlier.

Sample answer:

1. Anger harms health: it raises blood pressure and causes headaches and palpitations, as in the play, where Lomov and Chubukov nearly collapse.
2. It spoils relationships: angry words, like the insults hurled in the play, hurt others and are hard to take back.
3. It leads to bad decisions: a person who loses his temper may say or do things that he regrets later, like Lomov and Natalya quarrelling over trivial things and almost losing the marriage.

Ways to avoid losing temper: take deep breaths and count to ten, leave the place for a while, drink water, speak slowly and softly, listen to the other person, exercise or listen to music, and discuss the matter later when calm.

Benefits: controlled anger can warn us that something is wrong and give us the energy to stand up against injustice or to protect ourselves, but it should never turn into shouting or violence.

Sample script (the lines are taken from the excerpt):

Scene: The husband's office room. He is busy with papers. A messenger enters and bows.

MESSENGER: [respectfully] Sir, the Rani Mother has sent for you.

HUSBAND: [startled, looking up] Who did you say had sent for me?

MESSENGER: The Rani Mother.

HUSBAND: The Bara Rani?

MESSENGER: No, sir, the Chota Rani Mother.

HUSBAND: [softly, to himself] The Chota Rani! It seems a century since I was sent for by her. [To others] Please wait here. [He goes to the inner apartments.]

Scene: The inner room. Bimala, dressed up, stands near the window, toying nervously with her bangles. The husband enters and looks at her silently. She flushes and then speaks quickly.

BIMALA: [abruptly, firmly] Look here! Is it right that ours should be the only market in all Bengal which allows foreign goods?

HUSBAND: [calmly] What, then, would be the right thing to do?

BIMALA: [with force] Order them to be cleared out!

HUSBAND: But the goods are not mine.

BIMALA: [stepping forward] Is not the market yours?

HUSBAND: It is much more theirs who use it for trade.

BIMALA: [angrily] Let them trade in Indian goods, then.

HUSBAND: Nothing would please me better. But suppose they do not?

BIMALA: Nonsense! How dare they be so insolent? Are you not...

HUSBAND: [gently but firmly, moving to the door] I am very busy this afternoon and cannot stop to argue it out. But I must refuse to tyrannise.

BIMALA: [pleading] It would not be tyranny for selfish gain, but for the sake of the country.

HUSBAND: [sadly, turning at the door] To tyrannise for the country is to tyrannise over the country. But that I am afraid you will never understand. [He leaves; Bimala stands still.]

Discussion guidance (sample points):

• Personal qualities: looks matter little in the long run; a partner who respects our beliefs and has a good sense of humour makes life lighter.
• Value system: kindness, compassion and tolerance are the most important, together with a healthy attitude to money, without greed. Both partners should have common goals.
• Education and professional background: a good education and a steady career are useful and help both to be independent, but they should not be the only thing considered.
• Lomov and Chubukov in the play think mostly of land and money, which is not a good basis for marriage. Understanding, trust and respect are more important.

Discussion guidance (sample points): Yes. Many romantic comedies show a couple who quarrel over silly things at first and then discover that they love each other. In the play, the proposal is forgotten in a quarrel about Oxen Meadows and about the dogs. There are comic fainting and hysterics, with Lomov apparently "dead" and a flustered father who orders them to "Kiss and be damned to you!", and the happy ending with the call for champagne while the couple are still arguing. Students can recount a film scene in which two lovers or families begin by fighting, are brought together by a misunderstanding and end up happily.

The playwright is William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare

These words are spelt the same but have different meanings (and sometimes different pronunciations).