The atmosphere of Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Lady with the Dog’ is dictated by the tone and mood of the exposition. It begins with a narrator that depicts the events of the story with realist and detached language. However, there are segments in which one of the main characters, Gurov, emotions are interspersed within the text. As such, the exposition presents that the central characters are Gurov and Anna, and the forces that antagonize them are their spouses and society. The elements of foreshadowing emerge when Gurov’s emotions become more noticeable, as the conflict is partially resolved when Gurov decides to prioritize his relationship with Anna instead of social expectations (Chekov, 2018). The exposition depicts foreshadowing of the theme of infidelity and love within social constraints through the imagery of Anna’s white dog, which is a symbol of her innocence prior to the affair.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’ follows the story of the titular Brown as he leaves his wife to run an errand despite her being afraid to be left alone. The exposition pits the symbolized goodness of the protagonists, with their names Faith and Goodman, which suggest morality, and the underlying danger of Salem at night (Hawthorne, 2017). This foreshadows the thematic aspects of the story that, include faith, good versus evil, and the hypocrisy of Puritanism. The atmosphere of the story is tense and signals a hidden conflict, which is revealed when Goodman is confirmed to be on a journey for a sinister purpose. Another character that is only hinted at in the exposition is met later in the story. The devil is a catalyst of the turmoil within Goodman regarding the hypocrisy of Puritanism that is the driving force in the narrative. Within the exposition, this is foreshadowed in the scene in which Goodman is urged to stay by his wife on the threshold of his home.
References
Chekov, A. (2018). The Lady with the Dog. Books on Demand.
Hawthorne, N. (2017). Young Goodman Brown. CreateSpace Independent Publishing.