A Pink Stocking (Chekhov)
Short summary
On a dull, rainy day, Pavel Petrovitch Somov paced around his study, bored and irritable. His wife Lidotchka sat at his desk writing a lengthy letter to her sister.
Out of boredom, Somov asked to read his wife's letter. After reading it, he became increasingly agitated by her poor grammar, spelling errors, and lack of coherent ideas. He criticized her harshly, expressing shock at her educational deficiencies despite her coming from a cultivated family.
Lidotchka, embarrassed and ashamed, remained silent. At dinner, she began crying and blamed her mother for not sending her to a high school. Somov pointed out the contradiction in his own position.
"You are angry because I am not learned, and at the same time you hate learned women; you are annoyed because I have no ideas in my letter, and yet you yourself are opposed to my studying..."
After drinking vodka and enjoying his meal, Somov's mood improved. He realized he preferred his simple, undemanding wife to an educated woman who might challenge him. He concluded that if he wanted intellectual conversation, he could always speak with men instead.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
A dull, rainy day: a bored husband and his writing wife
On a dreary, rainy day, Pavel Petrovitch Somov paced restlessly around his study. The gloomy weather outside matched his mood as he struggled with boredom, having nothing to occupy himself with. The newspapers had not arrived, the weather was too poor for shooting, and it was nowhere near dinnertime.
Pavel was not alone in his study. His wife Lidotchka sat at his writing table, busily composing a letter. She was a pretty young woman wearing a light blouse and pink stockings. As Pavel paced back and forth, he repeatedly glanced over her shoulder at her writing, noting the sprawling letters with flourishes, numerous blots, and fingermarks. Her lines ran downhill with peculiar wriggles as they approached the margin.
Madame Somov, a pretty little lady in a light blouse and pink stockings, is sitting at his writing table. She is eagerly scribbling a letter... with all sorts of tails and flourishes.
Pavels discovery of Lidotchkas poorly written letter
Noticing that his wife had already written six pages, Pavel inquired who she was writing to. Lidotchka replied that she was writing to her sister Varya. Bored and seeking distraction, Pavel asked to read the letter, and his wife readily agreed, commenting that there was nothing interesting in it.
Pavel took the pages and began reading while continuing to pace around the room. Lidotchka watched his face for reactions. After the first page, his expression lengthened into something resembling panic. By the third page, he was frowning and scratching his head. At the fourth page, he paused, looked at his wife with alarm, and seemed to ponder what he was reading. He continued with a sigh, his face showing perplexity and concern.
Upon finishing the letter, Pavel flung the sheets onto the table and exclaimed in disbelief. When Lidotchka asked what was wrong, he criticized her writing harshly, claiming she had wasted two hours writing six pages that contained no substance whatsoever. He compared reading her letter to deciphering Chinese characters on tea chests.
"It's absolute twaddle! There are words and sentences, but not the slightest sense in them. Your whole letter is exactly like the conversation of two boys: 'We had pancakes today!'"
Pavels criticism of his wifes education and grammar
Lidotchka blushed and admitted she had written carelessly. Pavel, however, insisted that even a careless letter should have meaning and style. He criticized her for repetition, dragging out ideas, and writing in a disorganized manner where nothing had a clear beginning or end.
When Lidotchka defended herself by saying there wouldn't have been mistakes if she had written carefully, Pavel clarified that he wasn't merely concerned about errors. He was appalled by her grammatical mistakes, lack of punctuation, poor spelling, and desperate handwriting. He expressed surprise at her educational deficiencies, especially considering she belonged to a cultivated circle as the wife of a university man and the daughter of a general.
Pavel asked if she had ever attended school, to which Lidotchka replied that she had graduated from Von Mebke's boarding school. Pavel shrugged and continued pacing, sighing heavily. Lidotchka, ashamed of her ignorance, sighed as well and cast down her eyes. Ten minutes passed in uncomfortable silence.
Breaking the silence, Pavel expressed horror at the implications of Lidotchka's poor education, particularly since she was a mother. He questioned how she could teach her children if she knew nothing herself, lamenting that despite her good brain, she had never mastered even the rudiments of knowledge. He added that she was morally deficient as well, sometimes using language that made his ears tingle.
"You are a mother... do you understand? A mother! How can you teach your children if you know nothing yourself? You have a good brain, but what's the use of it if you have never mastered the very rudiments of knowledge?"
The dinner scene: from criticism to forgiveness
As Pavel continued to pace and Lidotchka sat blinking without protest, both felt oppressed and miserable. Time passed unnoticed until the dinner hour approached. At the table, Pavel, who enjoyed good food and eating in peace, drank a large glass of vodka and changed the subject.
Lidotchka listened and agreed with him, but suddenly began crying over her soup. She blamed her mother for not sending her to high school, from which she could have progressed to university. Pavel dismissed this idea, muttering that going to university would be running to extremes. He declared his hatred for blue stockings - overly educated women - calling them neither man nor woman but something in between, and stated he would never have married a learned woman.
Lidotchka pointed out the contradiction in his position - he was angry because she wasn't learned, yet he hated learned women; he was annoyed by her letter's lack of ideas but opposed her studying. Pavel merely yawned and poured himself another glass of vodka, saying she was catching him at his word.
Pavels reflections on educated versus simple women
Under the influence of vodka and a good dinner, Pavel's mood improved. Watching his pretty wife anxiously preparing the salad, he felt affection, indulgence, and forgiveness toward her. He regretted depressing her and saying such dreadful things.
Pavel acknowledged to himself that Lidotchka was silly, uncivilized, and narrow-minded, but he considered that there were two sides to the question. He reflected that perhaps people were right when they said a woman's shallowness was connected to her natural vocation. If her purpose was to love her husband, bear children, and mix salad, he wondered what need she had for learning.
"Perhaps people are perfectly right when they say that woman's shallowness rests on her very vocation. Granted that it is her vocation to love her husband, to bear children, and to mix salad, what the devil does she want with learning?"
He remembered that learned women were typically tedious, exacting, strict, and unyielding, while it was easy to get along with silly Lidotchka, who never interfered with anything, didn't understand much, and never criticized him. With Lidotchka, he had peace and comfort without risk of interference.
"There is peace and comfort with Lidotchka, and no risk of being interfered with... 'Confound them, those clever and learned women! It's better and easier to live with simple ones,' he thinks."
Pavel briefly considered that a civilized man sometimes desires intellectual conversation with a clever, well-educated woman. He thought he could visit Natalya Andreyevna or Marya Frantsovna for such discussions if needed. But he quickly dismissed the idea, deciding he could discuss intellectual subjects with men instead.
In the end, Pavel concluded that it was better and easier to live with simple women like his wife rather than with educated ones.