Summary
"The Proposal" is a humorous play where a thirty-five year old bachelor, Ivan Lomov, comes to his
neighbour, Stepan Chubukov, to propose to his twenty-five year old daughter, Natalya Stepanovna.
Both Lomov and Natalya are desperate to get married. Though Lomov doesn't consider Natalya to be
an ideal match for him, yet knowing his own limitations, he decides to take this step. Not only is
Natalya fairly good looking and well-educated, she is an excellent house-keeper too. As far as Lomov
is concerned, in the first place he is at a critical age of thirty-five years, secondly his nervousness,
lack of confidence and fragile health leave him with no option but to propose Natalya.
Natalya, on the other hand, is more than eager to be proposed to by someone.
When Lomov tells Chubukov, Natalya's father, about the purpose of his visit, the old man who feels
it a burden to be the father of a grown up daughter, gets very excited. He is absolutely certain that
Natalya would readily give her consent for the proposal. He rushes in to call out Natalya. However,
when Natalya comes to the drawing room, she is surprised to see Lomov in a formal dress as she
doesn't know the purpose of his visit. After exchanging a few pleasantries, when Lomov is just on the
verge of proposing to the girl, there crops up a controversy between the two of them regarding the
ownership of a piece of land ‘Oxen Meadows’.
Both Lomov and Natalya claim to be the real owner of this property. Initially both of them claim it
very politely.
However, soon the argument becomes very heated and they start shouting at each other. Lomov
insists that the documents prove that Oxen Meadows belong to him, although at one time they were
a subject of dispute.
Natalya counters this claim by telling that their land extended till Burnt Marsh, which meant that the
Oxen Meadows were theirs. In the meantime, Chubukov also makes his entry and he joins the two in
the argument.
After a lot of accusations and mudslinging at each other's family, the flared up Lomov becomes
unwell and his heart starts palpitating dangerously. He leaves the father and daughter in a fit of
temper.
Soon after he leaves, Natalya gets to know from her father that he had come to propose to her.
Instantly she creates a scene. In hysterics, she tells her father to get back Lomov immediately. Both
the father and the daughter accuse each other of driving Lomov out.
However, the father runs after Lomov and gets him back.
This time Natalya is very sweet to Lomov but she doesn't know how to make him propose to her.
Unfortunately, there is yet another argument between the two before the proposal is made. This
time they start quarrelling over the superiority of their respective dogs. Natalya finds faults with
Lomov's dog 'Guess', whereas Lomov feels that 'Guess' is a far better dog than the Chubukovs'
'Squeezer'. Soon both of them flare up once again and Chubukov also joins them. They abuse and
accuse each other repeatedly. Lomov, too frail to continue the argument, falls into a chair
exhausted!
Natalya, taking the unconscious man to be dead, starts wailing. Chubukov is thoroughly unnerved,
but the moment he realises that Lomov is not dead, with all his presence of mind, he puts Lomov's
hand into his daughter's hand and gives consent for the wedding on Natalya's behalf. He gives his
"The Proposal" is a humorous play where a thirty-five year old bachelor, Ivan Lomov, comes to his
neighbour, Stepan Chubukov, to propose to his twenty-five year old daughter, Natalya Stepanovna.
Both Lomov and Natalya are desperate to get married. Though Lomov doesn't consider Natalya to be
an ideal match for him, yet knowing his own limitations, he decides to take this step. Not only is
Natalya fairly good looking and well-educated, she is an excellent house-keeper too. As far as Lomov
is concerned, in the first place he is at a critical age of thirty-five years, secondly his nervousness,
lack of confidence and fragile health leave him with no option but to propose Natalya.
Natalya, on the other hand, is more than eager to be proposed to by someone.
When Lomov tells Chubukov, Natalya's father, about the purpose of his visit, the old man who feels
it a burden to be the father of a grown up daughter, gets very excited. He is absolutely certain that
Natalya would readily give her consent for the proposal. He rushes in to call out Natalya. However,
when Natalya comes to the drawing room, she is surprised to see Lomov in a formal dress as she
doesn't know the purpose of his visit. After exchanging a few pleasantries, when Lomov is just on the
verge of proposing to the girl, there crops up a controversy between the two of them regarding the
ownership of a piece of land ‘Oxen Meadows’.
Both Lomov and Natalya claim to be the real owner of this property. Initially both of them claim it
very politely.
However, soon the argument becomes very heated and they start shouting at each other. Lomov
insists that the documents prove that Oxen Meadows belong to him, although at one time they were
a subject of dispute.
Natalya counters this claim by telling that their land extended till Burnt Marsh, which meant that the
Oxen Meadows were theirs. In the meantime, Chubukov also makes his entry and he joins the two in
the argument.
After a lot of accusations and mudslinging at each other's family, the flared up Lomov becomes
unwell and his heart starts palpitating dangerously. He leaves the father and daughter in a fit of
temper.
Soon after he leaves, Natalya gets to know from her father that he had come to propose to her.
Instantly she creates a scene. In hysterics, she tells her father to get back Lomov immediately. Both
the father and the daughter accuse each other of driving Lomov out.
However, the father runs after Lomov and gets him back.
This time Natalya is very sweet to Lomov but she doesn't know how to make him propose to her.
Unfortunately, there is yet another argument between the two before the proposal is made. This
time they start quarrelling over the superiority of their respective dogs. Natalya finds faults with
Lomov's dog 'Guess', whereas Lomov feels that 'Guess' is a far better dog than the Chubukovs'
'Squeezer'. Soon both of them flare up once again and Chubukov also joins them. They abuse and
accuse each other repeatedly. Lomov, too frail to continue the argument, falls into a chair
exhausted!
Natalya, taking the unconscious man to be dead, starts wailing. Chubukov is thoroughly unnerved,
but the moment he realises that Lomov is not dead, with all his presence of mind, he puts Lomov's
hand into his daughter's hand and gives consent for the wedding on Natalya's behalf. He gives his
