This is a beautiful, concise tale of a lonely and loveless woman, a teacher in a rural school. Her work is largely unappreciated, if not completely ignored, by the local government and population.
On a regular basis she must travel to town to collect her pay, and on one of these trips she meets a local bachelor, Hanov, an older (40) fellow who, thanks to his wealth, is allowed his eccentricities. He is impetuous, irreverent, and kind. Still handsome. Perhaps a bit of a lush.
The schoolmistress, Marya Vassilyevna, finds herself falling into a revery, daydreaming of a life in which she marries Hanov and escapes her bleak, boring existence.
Of course, that will not happen. But you ache for Marya.
Wonderful story.
READ THIS? READ THAT!
Chekhov wrote at least a dozen tales that could be grouped under the heading “failure to connect.” Stories like “Ionitch,” “A Trivial Incident,” “Verotchka” and “A Woman’s Kingdom” are variations on the theme of men and women unwilling or unable to join a loving relationship. Any of those stories make an interesting pairing with “The Schoolmistress,” but the one I find myself thinking of is “A Lady’s Story.”
In “The Schoolmistress,” Maria Vassilyevna is hemmed in by financial and social restrictions, or at least she sees herself that way. In “A Lady’s Story,” the heroine, if she can be called that, has more agency. It is she who is in the position to decide: Shall I love or shall I not?
So often with Chekhov, when characters ask themselves that question, the answer is no.
A Chekhov Circus 