"The Darling"- Anton Chekov

In "The Darling" by Anton Chekov, we see the story of the main character, Olga, throughout the span of her life which happens to be full of loss, disappointment, leading up to what i am sure she felt, dissatisfaction. Olga, through horrible times, attaches herself to different men in  her life.  She gets close to them and emotionally connects herself to them.  After the death of her father, Olga marries a theater owner, Mr. Kukin, but he, another manly figure in her life, dies. From there she goes from man to man.  The next man she finds her self attached to is Smirnin.  It all began with her dear and intimate love for her father.  His death sent her spiraling (Chekov). Through these marriages we see that that Olga kind of, well really, loses all sense of individualism.  She is focusing on one part of her life.  And that part of her life, is searching endlessly, to each edge of this search for husbands, lovers, and companions(Chekov).  I think that the main character is afraid to stop and look in the mirror because she is afraid of what she will find.  She may believe that if she is alone she is not worthy or significant.  She may just believe that if she is only strong with a male figure in her life to support and carry her which causes her dramatic search for a male companion.  This is the opposite idea of Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson because she does not stop and think, "Hey, maybe it would be best if I really just focus on me, for now, and not go on some wild goose chase for men that frankly do not seem to be sticking around for very long.(Emerson)"  She needs to focus on individualistic qualities instead of the partnerships that she so desires. Self Reliance and managing her individualism like Emerson believed in would be a really good thing for Olga(Emerson). 

Chekhov, Anton. "The Darling." Glencoe Literature: The Reader's Choice. New York, NY: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2000. 557-66. Print. 

Emerson, Ralph W. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://www.emersoncentral.com/selfreliance.htm>