The Proposal Class 10: Summary, Characters and Question Answers

The Proposal Class 10 is Anton Chekhov's one-act play about a man who comes to propose marriage and ends up fighting about land and dogs. This guide gives you the plot scene by scene, the three characters, how the comedy works, and eight board-style question answers.

About the Play

The play was originally titled A Marriage Proposal and was written in 1888–89. It is a farce: a comedy with exaggerated characters and absurd situations. It makes fun of wealthy families who look for marriages mainly to add to their estates.

There are three characters:

Summary: Lomov Arrives

The play opens in the drawing-room of Chubukov's house. Lomov arrives in a dress-jacket and white gloves, dressed for a formal occasion. Chubukov suspects he has come to borrow money, but he hides this behind sweet words like my angel and my treasure.

Lomov is nervous. He struggles with his words and drinks water to calm himself. When he finally says he has come to ask for Natalya's hand, Chubukov is overjoyed. He embraces Lomov, says he has always loved him like a son, and goes to fetch Natalya. This sudden change from suspicion to joy shows how false the polite behaviour of this class can be.

Lomov's reasons for marrying are practical. He is 35, which he calls a critical age. He wants not real love but a quiet and regular life. Natalya is an excellent housekeeper, well-educated and not bad-looking. Lomov is also a hypochondriac: he complains of palpitations, a twitching eyebrow and a pull in his side that keeps him awake.

Summary: The Quarrel over Oxen Meadows

Natalya enters and the talk starts politely. But when Lomov mentions my Oxen Meadows, she insists the land belongs to the Chubukovs and has for nearly 300 years. Lomov explains that his aunt's grandmother let Chubukov's grandfather's peasants use the land in return for making bricks. Natalya will not listen and keeps saying the land is ours, ours, ours!

Chubukov joins in on his daughter's side. The quarrel grows until Lomov threatens to go to court, and the proposal is completely forgotten. Lomov is insulted and driven out of the house.

Summary: The Revelation and the Dogs

After Lomov leaves, Chubukov angrily reveals that the wizen-faced frump had come to propose. Natalya falls into an armchair and screams, bring him back! Her wish to marry is stronger than her pride about the land. Chubukov, cursing his luck, goes to fetch Lomov back.

When Lomov returns, the land dispute is put aside, but a new quarrel starts at once, this time over their hunting dogs, Guess and Squeezer. Lomov says his dog Guess has gone lame. Natalya says Guess is worse than her father's dog Squeezer. Lomov says Guess is a first-rate dog that cost him 125 roubles, while Squeezer is overshot, meaning his upper jaw sticks out beyond the lower one. Natalya says Squeezer cost eighty-five roubles. Chubukov joins in and insults Lomov's dog and his hunting.

Summary: The Climax and Ending

Overwhelmed by palpitations and shouting, Lomov collapses into a chair and faints. Natalya and Chubukov panic, thinking he is dead. When he comes round, Chubukov quickly puts Lomov's hand into Natalya's, declares her willing, and gives his blessing, telling them to kiss and be damned. Lomov, still dazed, realises what has happened and says he is happy.

But as champagne is called for, Natalya and Lomov start arguing again about whose dog is better. The engagement has not changed their habits at all.

Characters and How the Comedy Works

• Lomov: nervous, suspicious and full of physical complaints that flare up in every argument.
• Natalya: proud and quarrelsome, yet desperate to marry once she learns why Lomov came.
• Chubukov: swings from affection to insults and back, and pushes the match through.

Dramatic irony: the audience knows Lomov has come to propose before Natalya does, so we watch her fight with the man who wants to marry her.

Situational irony: a visit meant to create harmony keeps producing quarrels.

The play never settles who really owns Oxen Meadows or which dog is better. Each side makes self-serving claims, so keep those claims linked to the person who makes them.

Themes: marriage as a business deal to join land and wealth; pride and quarrelsome natures; the gap between polite manners and real feelings.

Important Question Answers

1. What is the main motive for marriage in the play? Economic gain: joining the estates of two wealthy neighbouring families. The proposal is more a business deal than a romance.

2. What is a farce? A comedy that uses highly exaggerated, unlikely situations and characters to make people laugh.

3. Why is Lomov in evening dress and gloves? He has come to make a formal marriage proposal to Natalya.

4. Why does Lomov want to marry Natalya? He is 35, which he thinks is a critical age, he wants a quiet and regular life because of his health, and he finds her a good housekeeper, well-educated and not bad-looking.

5. On what basis does Lomov claim Oxen Meadows? He says his aunt's grandmother gave Chubukov's grandfather's peasants the use of the land in return for making bricks.

6. How does Natalya's attitude change when she learns why Lomov came? She stops caring about the land, becomes hysterical, and demands that her father bring him back so she can accept.

7. What is the difference between dramatic and situational irony in the play? Dramatic irony: the audience knows the purpose of the visit before Natalya. Situational irony: a visit meant for marriage keeps turning into arguments.

8. How does the play end, and why is the ending important? Lomov and Natalya get engaged, but immediately start quarrelling about their dogs as champagne is called for. It shows that their pride and quarrelsome habits have not changed.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Do not write that Natalya refused the proposal. She did not know about it during the first quarrel.
• Do not state as fact who owns Oxen Meadows or which dog is better. The play leaves both as disputed claims.
• Do not mix up the dogs: Guess is Lomov's, Squeezer is Chubukov's.

To practise character sketches and extract questions on this play, study this chapter with Joy.