The proposal

The Proposal Summary

The curtain rises with Lomov entering his neighbour Chubukov’s house fully dressed up in his evening attire. Chubukov is surprised to see him well-dressed and asks him the occasion. Lomov reveals that he had come to make a request. Chubukov anticipates that he must have come to ask for money which he doesn’t intend on giving. On being revealed that Lomov had come to ask for Chubulov’s daughter, Natalya’s hand in marriage, Chubukov gets filled with excitement and leaves to call Natalya. Lomov is a 35 year- old gentleman who suffers from palpitations, gets upset very easily and doesn’t sleep well. He thinks it is the best age for him to get married and he is happy that he has his mind made-up about Natalya. According to him, Natalya is average-looking and a good housekeeper. When Natalya arrives, Lomov begins the conversation about how grateful and glad he is that both their families are on good terms since the very beginning. While continuing to talk about his land, he somehow mentions about Oxen Meadows which earlier was a disputed property but is now his. Natalya couldn’t believe a word he was saying because she believes that Oxen Meadows belong to her family. Both of them enter into a heated discussion and act childishly when Chubukov enters just to get the conversation more heated. They shout and scream while Lomov suffers from extreme pounding of the heart, a side pull and a numb foot. They throw Lomov out of the house and continue cursing him. While speaking ill of him, Chubukov unintentionally reveals that he had come with a marriage proposal for Natalya which surprises Natalya and she immediately regrets sending him out. She tells her father to bring him back immediately and Chubukov curses himself on being a father of a grown-up daughter. When Lomov returns, Natalya tries to deviate to another topic and starts talking about shooting. Somehow they enter into an argument involving their dogs. Natalya feels that her Squeezer is better than Lomov’s Guess. They continue arguing when Chubukov enters the scene only to make the situation worse, once again. Everyone gets hyper and Lomov finally falls due to his palpitations. Even then, the cursing continues when suddenly Natalya notices that he is unconscious. They try to get water down his throat but end up getting unsuccessful and declare him dead. It is only when Lomov moves a little bit, they feed him some water and Chubukov forcefully hands over Natalya’s hands to him, gives his blessings and asks them to kiss. Lomov, still not fully conscious doesn’t understand what is going on. When he finally comes to his senses, he expresses his excitement and kisses Natalya’s hands. Natalya, being childish as she is, manipulates him into accepting that Squeezer is better than Guess but Lomov, being adamant as he is, refuses to accept it. Thus, once again, the quarrelling continues.