Tsehhov daam koeraga Chekov Lady and the Lapdog
the second-person pronouns in the Russian original. Gurov addresses Anna throughout as ty
while she addresses him throughout as vy. Because of his unhappy marriage and
the ease with which
he had always been able to enter into brief aff airs, Gurov had long considered
women "a lower breed." So now, aft er he and Anna have had sex, he addresses
Anna as he would anyone who had proven herself to be of the "lower breed,"
with a slight degree of contempt.
Untranslatable "You" in Chekhov's Lady with Lapdog 293
Anna, on the other hand, is distraught and troubled. Th e sexual relationship has
brought her the realization that she has betrayed not only her husband but herself
as well. Her entire emotional struggle involves resisting the notion that she
has become a "bad, despicable creature." Her not crossing over to using ty with
Gurov suggests her need to maintain some distance between herself and him,
thereby preserving a degree of self-respect
annaabi.ee 
