The Looking Glass: Close Reading

In "The Looking Glass," by Anton Chekhov, we witness immense detail of Nellie, a young girl who is aspiring towards marriage. Through elaborate detail and imagery, both the characters and the looking glass appear to come to life. Chekhov's diction of the story through descriptions such as, "pale, tense, and as motionless as the looking glass," "clouded in mist and merged into a boundless grey sea," and "all was dark, empty, meaningless" portray a negative, boring, run-of-the-mill life. That is, until she sees in the looking glass, an image of "the destined one"... her husband. He then becomes the epitome of life, personal happiness, career, and fate. The consistency of the grey background remains throughout the text, as do the occasional interjections of symbolism and continued imagery in physicality of Nellie, her husband, the doctor, and her children.
As we look at the setting of this piece being set in Russia, in the 1880's, the roles of women in the society fit the portrayal of Nellie, as a young woman who is vulnerable, fearing for her future, and hoping for a husband to cover the grey background. Women are more responsible for the financial futures of their family upon death of a husband, which explains why she is so nervous about the typhus.

When I look at my reflection in the mirror, all I seem to see are scars; Scars from the pain of my past, scars from the fear of the future.
A "looking glass" is merely the translation of a mirror, from times long before our own.


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