Character of Natalya - The Proposal by Anton Chekhov

Character of Natalya:

             

           Natalya is a good house keeper and an educated girl with good looks. She is the lead female character of the play and the daughter of Chubukov. She is short tempered and a greedy natured girl. She has no such respect for Lomov till she came to know that he wants to marry her. Lomov is a rich man and Natalya is interested in his money.

When Lomov first came to Natallya’s house she made fun of him by saying,

“Well there! it’s you; and papa said, “Go; there’s a merchant come for his goods.”

             

          During the conversation she abuses Lomov a lot and insults him. But when she came to know that he wants to marry her, she was surprised and as per her greedy nature she accepted in the quarrel that the meadows belong to Lomov. In the next fight her short tempered nature can be observed and again she stared fighting with Lomov. She claims that meadows belong to her and she can’t bear the injustice at any cost. She refuses to take meadows as the gift from Lomov and said,

“I can make you a present of the meadows myself, because they are mine!”

           She is seen as the quarrel loving girl as she has not only abused Lomov but also his relatives. First she was not ready to see Lomov in her house but when she came to know the reality about marriage proposal she screamed to her father and told him to bring Lomov back in the house for further marriage discussion. She has understood the fact that though she is twenty-five, she cannot get better husband than Lomov.

            

          When Lomov came back, she again started quarrelling about the superiority of her dog. She was badly abusing Lomov without thinking that he is her future husband. She was only interested in proving her point right. She fought till she got the control over Lomov.

          

           Natalya is the perfect match for Lomov. Both have seminaries in their nature. Lomov and Natalya both are short tempered, funny, and like Lomov she is the master in a matter of quarrelling. If Lomov can’t be taken as a perfect hero, Natalya can’t be taken as the perfect heroine. 

Questions:

1. Judge the character of Natalya - Heroine or not? Why?  
2. Can we consider the character of Natalya as 'true to life'.
3. Explain - Humour and artificiality in the character of Natalya
  

Introduction and Background of the play

Character of Lomov
Character of Chubukov 
Critical views