The Lady with the Dog Fate and Free Will Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Section.Paragraph). We used Constance Garnett's translation.

Quote #7

He considered: to-day was a holiday, and the husband would probably be at home. And in any case it would be tactless to go into the house and upset her. If he were to send her a note it might fall into her husband's hands, and then it might ruin everything. The best thing was to trust to chance. (3.18)

But as Gurov soon finds, trusting to chance isn't possible. Part of his transformation in "Lady with the Dog" is about actively pursuing what he wants – in this case, Anna.

Quote #8

He walked up and down, and loathed the grey fence more and more, and by now he thought irritably that Anna Sergeyevna had forgotten him, and was perhaps already amusing herself with some one else, and that that was very natural in a young woman who had nothing to look at from morning till night but that confounded fence. (3.19)

Metaphor much? Anna is hemmed in by her fence the same way she and Gurov are each hemmed in by their marriages.