Compare and contrast Chekhov's and Oates' versions of "The Lady with the Dog".

Chekhov's version of the story is written from the man's standpoint, involving himself and Anna, a woman (with a pet dog), who he meets on vacation.  They begin an adulterous affair.

The man (Dmitri) is used to having affairs, and they generally end with his disgust over how something so beautiful becomes so ordinary--every time.  He has nothing but a superficial relationship with his wife.

When he meets Anna, and then they ultimately part, he believes it to be just another one of his flings.  He waits for the memory of their time together to fade with time, but he cannot forget her.  Dmitri goes to find her in her home town.  She has also been missing him terribly, and though horrified that he has sought her out where she lives, she agrees to travel to Moscow, where he lives, to see him.  Hence, the affair resumes.

There is a child in the story: Dmitri's daughter.  At one point he walks with her, drops her off at school, and continues on to meet Anna.

When they are together, Anna and Dmitri cannot seem to find any hope of happiness, as both are married, but still they continue to see each other.  Seeing himself in the mirror one day at her hotel, he sees himself as an older man with a young woman, and he wonders what she sees in him.  At the end of the story, there is a sense that though they know it will be difficult, Dmitri and Anna will continue with the affair, looking for a solution, however difficult.

In Oates' version, the story is told from Anna's viewpoint. Whereas Chekhov relays in a chronological order, in four parts, Oates writes her version in three parts; the parts do not follow a chronological order, and it is not until the third part that the entire story, in the order in which the events actually take place, is made clear.

The story is set in the United States, whereas Chekhov's version was set in Moscow and its surrounding areas.

The story refers to Anna's lover, but in this version, the lover has no name, he has a son who is blind, and the lover has the dog.

There are many similarities, except that this version shows us the inner turmoil of Anna more than that of her lover.  And whereas she suffers in Chekhov's version, the description in Oates' version is much more poignant for Anna, and we learn that she is not only terribly unhappy, but suicidal.  We also get a glimpse of Anna's husband in Oates' version as they clumsily make love the evening that the lover comes to town.  In this we get more information regarding the husband as a real person, whereas Chekhov's version paints him more as a shadow.

Chekhov's version leaves the reader hanging, not simply because there is no clear plan between the two, but also because Dmitri's reactions are often so bland.  However, Oates' style is very different, perhaps reflecting the differences in these two characters.  In Oates' version, Anna, still downhearted and suicidal (perhaps a more passionate main character?), is able to believe that somehow the relationship (though seemingly hopeless) will work out; at the end, she surprises her lover with excitement and enthusiasm at the prospect of a future together.

In both stories, Anna sees herself as a low and vulgar woman because of her infidelity; she is unable to face her unhappy life with her husband and so continues on in the affair.  Both versions fail to provide clear closure, and the reader is left to wonder, as do the main characters, exactly how the lovers will ever solve their dilemma.

While readers of modern literature may enjoy Oates's short story because of its stylistic approach (which is more in vogue with its use of common, ordinary characters and the vernacular and the stylish ambiguities of post-modern literature, along with the more feminist slant), the story written by the consummate craftsman, Anton Chekhov, is arguably stylistically superior. That this style is worthy of merit to modern readers is proven by the success of the modern author Raymond Carver, who has long admired and imitated Chekhov's economical style.

In contrast to the literary reflexivity--Oates recounts at length the introspection of her female character--Chekhov keeps his narrative to what one review calls "a concise evocation of the complexity of an intimate relationship." He uses minor details to support emotional states rather than describing the state in a conventional manner. Further, Chekhov's descriptions of nature reflect a character's emotions. For instance, in the first section of the story, after Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna dine in Yalta, they walk and talk to each other, and their conversation is composed of remarks about nature that reflect their feelings:

...the water was of a soft warm lilac hue, and there was a golden streak from the moon upon it. They talked of how sultry it was after a hot day.

Another subtlety of Chekhov's story is his use of impersonal constructions that suggest the subjectivity of the perceptions of the characters. For example, such phrases as "it seemed" and "it appeared" preface what Anna and Gurov perceive. Clearly, there is an artistry to Chekhov's creation of memorable settings that contributes greatly to creating mood. For instance, while the two lovers are in Oreanda, Chekhov writes,

Sitting beside a young woman who in the dawn seemed so lovely, soothed and spellbound in these magical surroundings--the sea, mountains, clouds, the open sky--Gurov thought how in reality everything is beautiful in this world when one reflects....

Chekhov's switching to the first person at times in the narrative, such as in this passage, also serves to place emphasis upon the genuine affection of the lovers. Interestingly, Chekhov's signature "zero ending" is not unlike the ending written by Joyce Carol Oates; they both suggest new beginnings, although Oates's seems, perhaps, more optimistic. 

In summation, the stylistic devices of Chekhov are more definitive and, for this reason, some readers may prefer it to the story of Oates. 

How do Chekhov and Oates approach affairs differently in "The Lady with the Dog" and "The Lady with the Pet Dog"?

A comparison of Chekhov's and Oates' authorial approaches to constructing the nature of the affairs in "The Lady with the Dog" and "The Lady with the Pet Dog," respectively,  reveals that there is a most important similarity in what the authors decided to do and a most important difference.

The most important similar decision the two authors make is to reveal the profound emotional and psychological affects of the affairs on the women. Chekhov describes very powerfully how his Anna was still wrapped in the "diffidence" of "inexperienced youth" and of how her loosened hair "hung down mournfully" and of how she was "dejected," as "though it were her fall." She speaks of needing forgiveness and of how the world now has the right to despise her--of how Gurov will now despise her. In a similar vein, though with a different psychological dynamic, Oates describes how her Anna is driven to thoughts of ending her life because she finds the repetition in which she is caught unbearable and because she longs for a marriage to the man she truly loves.

The most important different decision the two authors make is how to end the stories. Chekhov ends with Anna in dire psychological pain and spiritual depression caused by great inner suffering as she blames herself for spiritual and moral failure. The final scene has Anna and Gurov in a modest hotel room in Moscow sharing a commitment to "think of some plan" to end the secrecy and deception and the long separations--but "How? How?...How?" Oates end her story with her Anna turning away from impulses toward self-destruction and having an epiphany of how she and her lover have a true marriage of hearts and of how that was a sublime and wonderful truth.

How does Chekhov's understanding of adultery in "The Lady with the Pet Dog" compare to Oates'?

Regarding "The Lady with the Pet Dog," two short stories, one by Chekhov and one by Oates, one way to develop a theory of the stories to determine the authors' understandings of adulterous relationships is to examine a thematic concern from each story. Other ways to accomplish this may to be to examine character interaction, character traits, various expressions of emotions, various expectations, epiphanies (moments of enlightenment) that characters have, etc. For now, for illustration purposes, we'll examine the thematic concerns that are expressed in the paradoxes in the stories.

In Chekhov's version, Chekhov's final expression of his understanding of Gurov's and Anna's adulterous relationship is represented in the story's paradox (paradox: what seemingly cannot be true nonetheless is true, e.g., letting go of self brings the fulfillment of self). Gurov lives a life in which he has no deep bond with his wife, who is cold and distant, and so he contents himself with frequent affairs of the heart in which he gives momentary happiness to various women until he gets bored with them and pleasantly calls the affairs off. He never feels deeply moved yet is proud of the fact that he gives happiness to the various women he encounters. He believes this is a very good life and one that is profoundly real when coupled with his work and social standing.

After parting from Anna, however, Gurov's anticipated boredom and detachment fail to occur and he finds himself more and more preoccupied with thoughts of her. Over time, after they start seeing one another again, he comes to realize that she has become his real life and the real life he did have in his work, social status, wife and family has faded to a mere phantom experience in which his thoughts, heart and attention are always elsewhere. Gurov's paradoxical turn occurs when suddenly his public life is seen by him as unreal while his hidden secret life is seen as real. Interestingly, Anna never experiences a paradoxical turn; she is miserable and ashamed because of her "fall," and she remains miserable and ashamed of her "fall." The thematic concern expressed in the paradox is that public life of wealth, position and family is unreal while a forbidden life of love and compassion fraught with anguish is real.

In Oates' version, Oates' final expression of her understanding of Anna's adulterous relationship is represented in her story's paradox. Anna has been psychologically unhappy and unfulfilled in her marriage and feeling guilty and torn about her place in life, or about her marriage's place in her life. She is feeling psychologically unstable, which is why she goes to the beach house. Anna finds that a marriage that is not a love and a marriage of the heart is insupportable. After she starts (and stops then starts) her affair, she also finds falseness insupportable. Anna's paradoxical turn occurs when she realizes that her guilt-ridden relationship produces a real "marriage" of the heart while her lawful relationship produces emptiness of the heart. The thematic concern expressed in the paradox is that a true marriage of the heart is the relationship that has been driving her to suicide and is unlawful, while lawful marriage is false. Therefore Chekhov and Oates have similar understands of adulterous affairs, in terms of these paradoxical themes, in the sense that both perceive adultery to paradoxically lead to personal fulfillment and happiness, even if in the midst of tears.