A Marriage Proposal (The Proposal) MCQ Quiz : 20 Questions

A Marriage Proposal (The Proposal) MCQ Quiz : Anton Chekhov’s one-act play, The Proposal, is a farce that humorously exposes how wealthy families often treat marriage as a business arrangement rather than a romantic union.

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The story focuses on Ivan Lomov, a nervous landowner who visits his neighbor, Stepan Chubukov, dressed in formal evening wear to ask for his daughter Natalya‘s hand in marriage.

Lomov is thirty-five years old and feels he must marry immediately because he suffers from palpitations and sleep problems, and he desires a quiet, regular life.

Initially, Chubukov is overjoyed by the request, embracing Lomov and treating him like his own son. However, when Lomov begins talking to Natalya, the conversation turns into a bitter quarrel instead of a romantic proposal. They fight over the ownership of a piece of land called Oxen Meadows, which is situated between the birchwoods and the Burnt Marsh.

Lomov argues that his aunt’s grandmother gave the land to her family’s peasants, but Natalya insists that the land has belonged to her family for nearly three hundred years. The argument escalates into shouting and personal insults about their ancestors, leading Lomov to leave in anger.

When Chubukov reveals to his daughter that the “merchant” was actually there to propose, she becomes hysterical and demands her father bring him back at once. Lomov returns, exhausted and sick, but they soon start a second argument about their hunting dogs, Guess and Squeezer. They dispute which dog is superior based on their price and physical features like the shape of the jaw.

The stress causes Lomov to faint, making Chubukov fear he has died in his drawing room. When Lomov regains consciousness, the father quickly forces them to join hands and get engaged to end the chaos. The play ” The Proposal by Anton Chekhov concludes with the couple still arguing about their dogs even after the proposal is accepted.