This is a sketch of two repellent characters: Natalya Andreyevna, an opera diva, and her husband Nikitin, once a humble bookkeeper, but now a striving (if unsuccessful) entrepreneur with absurd schemes ranging from sausage skins to theatrical productions.
As the sketch opens, we find the diva in bed, thinking fondly of her daughter, who lives somewhere with someone… the diva can’t recall. This introduction suggests a story in which the diva will get her come-uppance, but the focus then shifts to Nikitin, a pathetic bore who harangues his wife for money and, when she won’t cough up, tries to dangle her as bait to raise funds for his inane schemes.
It’s a harsh, broad, and fairly unpersuasive portrait of two grotesque people – another example of Chekhov skewering hypocrites, liars and, especially, theater people, who as we have seen over and over again he holds in the greatest contempt. It’s all just too much to be believed, beginning with Natalya’s hypocritical musings about her distant daughter, and continuing through Nikitin’s ridiculous business schemes.
READ THIS? READ THAT!
For a slightly more entertaining take-down of hypocrisy, you could try “The Chameleon.”
A Chekhov Circus 