"You must excuse my apron and négligé...". - above mentioned line has been extracted. Who is the speaker of the quoted line? What is négligee? What was the speaker engaged in before arrival? What did the speaker offer the person addressed as you?

"You must excuse my apron and négligé..."- above-mentioned line has been extracted. Who is the speaker of the quoted line? What is négligee? What was the speaker engaged in before arrival? What did the speaker offer the person addressed as you?

The above-mentioned line has been extracted from Anton Chekhov's play 'The Proposal'.

Here the speaker is Natalya Stepanovna. 

A négligeé is a loose gown.

Before arrival, the speaker, Natalya Stepanovna was engaged in shelling peas for drying. 

The speaker offered lunch to the person addressed as 'you' but the person, Lomov, rejected her offer politely. So she asked him for smoke and gave him the matches.

 

"We've had the land for nearly three hundred years..."—Who is the speaker? Who is spoken to? What is referred to as 'the land'? What do you know of the land from their conversation?

Here, the speaker is Natalya Stepanovna. Natalya is speaking to Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov. The Oxen Meadows which are wedged in between birchwoods and the Burnt Marsh are referred to as 'the land'.

According to Natalya, Oxen Meadows are the property of Chubukovs and they have the land for nearly three hundred years. But Lomov says that this land was once a subject of dispute. His aunt's grandmother gave the free use of the Oxen Meadows in perpetuity to the peasants of her father's grandfather and in return, they had to make bricks for her. The peasants of her father's grandfather had the free use of the Meadows for forty years and considered those meadows as their own property. But Natalya does not believe Lomov's words and starts to argue with him regarding this issue.

"If you like, i'll make you a present of them."-Who is the speaker? Who is the person spoken to? What would the speaker make a present of? Why did the speaker say so?

"How have you the right to give away somebody else's property?" - Who is the speaker? What property is referred to here? Why does the speaker ask this question?

"Darling, the Meadows are ours!"- Who said this and to whom? Whom did the meadows belong to? Why was there an argument over them?

"You're not a neighbour, you're a grabber!"-Who said this and to whom? Why is this said?

“I don't want anything of yours and I don't want to give up anything of mine."-Who says this? To whom does the speaker say this? When does the speaker say this? Bring out the irony latent in it.

"l'll have the matter taken to court, and then l'll show you!"-Who is the speaker? Why does the speaker say this? What is the reaction of the person spoken to?

"... and not one has ever been tried for embezzlement, like your grandfather!"-Who said this and about whom? Analyse the character of the speaker under the light of the above statement.

"Oh, unhappy man that I am! I'll shoot myself! I'll hang myself!"—Who is unhappy? Why does the speaker wish to die?

"Bring him back! Back! Ah! Bring him here."-Who says this to whom? When is it said? Why is the speaker so excited? What light does the line throw on the character of the speaker?

"What have they done to me! Fetch him back!"-Who is the speaker? Who is 'him'? What ironic about the speaker's request to bring 'him' back?

"Forgive us, Ivan Vassilevitch, we were all a little heated." - Who is the speaker? Who is referred to by 'us'? Why were the persons referred to 'a little heated'? Why does the speaker ask for forgiveness?

"Oh, what a burden .... to be the father of a grown-up daughter!"—Who is the 'father'? Who is the 'daughter'? Why is the daughter a burden to the father?

"My land is worth little to me, but the principle .."-Who is the speaker? Which land he referring to? What 'principle' does he mean? What made him utter such a statement?

"He got left behind because the Count's whipper-in hit him with his whip."- Who is 'he' in this sentence? Name the master of him. Name his two contenders. When did the speaker say this?

"What sort of a hunter are you?"-What does Natalya want to say and why does she say so? What suggestions does she make after that?

"I've noticed that those hunters argue most who know least."-State context and explain the content.

“My heart's bursting!" —Who is the speaker? What happens immediately after the above comment?

"I give you my blessing and so on. Only leave me in peace!"—Who is the speaker? Why did the speaker say so?