What is ironic about Natalya's request to bring Lomov back? | What are Lomov and Natalya's actual feelings and opinions about each other?

What is ironic about Natalya's request to bring Lomov back?

In Chekhov's play The Proposal', it is ironic that Natalya requests her father Chubukov to bring Lomov back after he leaves their house. Chubukov and Natalya quarrel bitterly with Lomov regarding the ownership of Oxen Meadows. She and her father abuse Lomov and his family members and almost drive him out of their house. They express their rage upon him by calling him "rascal", "monster" etc. But when Chubukov mentions that Lomov came with a proposal for marriage, Natalya gets overwhelmingly excited. She wants her father to call Lomov back as she becomes desperate to marry him. It is ironic that whom she calls a "rascal" only a while ago, now becomes so important to her. This irony reveals to us the picture of the society in which marriage is the only way for a woman to gain social and economic stability. It comes to be almost a business deal where there is no place for ideal love.

What are Lomov and Natalya's actual feelings and opinions about each other?

In Chekhov's play 'The Proposal', Lomov decides to marry Natalya. Natalya's father to assures him that his daughter will never turn down Lomov's proposal. Lomov says that Natalya has all the qualities of a good housewife and hence he has chosen her. However, while proposing, the conversation goes adrift and they start quarrelling. Natalya heaps all sorts of insults on his family and even calls him a 'rascal'. Lomov too argues spiritedly which leads us to believe that they do not have the least mutual regard though they are going to get married. Their perpetual argument is a satire on married life itself which is supposed to be romantic but turns out to be the opposite in reality,

Comment on the father-daughter relationship as depicted in the play.

Describe the physical problems that Lomov thinks he has.

Why does Lomov think Natalya will make an acceptable wife? Explain your answer.

Why did not Lomov directly ask Natalya to marry him?

Why did Lomov leave Chubukov house?

How did Lomov regain his senses finally by Chubukov? How was the marriage between Lomov and Natalya accomplished?

Who made the proposal and to whom? What was the proposal? How was the proposal realised?

How did the illness of Lomov help to unite Lomov and Natalya?

The playwright has used some funny adjectives with which the characters use to blame each other. How do they contribute to the comic elements of the play?

Do you find the play funny? Support your answer with illustrations from the text.

Do you think "The Proposal can be defined as a play of contradictions? Support your answer with reasons.

Make a brief sketch of social life as you see in the play.

What is the focus in the play? Is it a character? Is it an action? Is it the unpredictability of the people? Explain your answer.

Write a brief note on Chekhov's depiction of aristocratic society in 'The Proposal'.

Why does Chekhov choose only three characters to deliver his message to us?

What aspects of the human condition and society does the play make fun of?

What is Anton Chekhov trying to say about the manner in which neighbours interact/ behave? Support your answer with evidence from the play.

How would you best describe the personalities of each of the characters in the play?