This is a brief, painful tale about a woman and her bitter, jealous husband.
Short as it is, “The Husband” still manages to offer a nuanced look at the unhappy couple: The wife, who dances happily with soldiers when they come to town; the husband, who tears her away from a bit of fun.
It’s a short, sad look at two people locked in unhappiness, well-wrought as fiction, but like many of the tales in this volume of Chekhov, it’s a downer.
READ THIS? READ THAT!
A motif (maybe a sub-motif?) of Chekhov’s stories (and plays) is “the visiting regiment.” An army brigade rolls into town and the town must (or wishes to) entertain the newcomers. In “The Husband,” we sense the excitement of meeting the officers; the visit is something fun and new. In “The Kiss,” we get a different perspective–that of the officers. “The Kiss” as a story is a bit overmuch, but it provides interesting detail for understanding life in the military of the day (at least for the officers.)
A Chekhov Circus 