Prose I The Kiss by Anton Chekov

By: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Shiddiq Santoso Wahyu Darmajanti Febriana Fia Febrianingsih Mawarni Ujang Kurniawan Irfan Masawi (080511100023) (090511100009) (090511100013) (090511100053) (090511100069)

English Department Trunojoyo University 2011

Chapter I Introduction

1.1 Background of study

Literature is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, prose. Poetry expresses a conversation or interchange that is grounded in the most deeply felt experiences of human beings. Drama is literature designed to be performed by actors. Prose is the ordinary form of written language. Prose divided into two, fiction and nonfiction. Fiction, originally meant anything made up or shaped, the prose stories based on the authors creation and imagination. It includes myths, parables, novels, romances, and short stories. On the other hand, nonfiction is literary works which describe or interpret facts, present judgments, and opinions. It consists of news reports, essays, magazines, newspapers, historical and biographical works and many other forms of communication. Short story is a short piece of fiction aiming at unity of characterization, theme and effect. The authors of the modern English short story no longer attempt to make daily life more entertaining by inventing exotic plots. Instead, modern short story writers have tended to base their narratives on their own experience; here the focus is much more on the less spectacular aspects of life, on the significance underlying what is apparently trivial. The result of such perceptive writing is perfection of form, harmony of theme and structure, and precision of style to reveal the subtleties of the human mind and of human behaviour.

1.2 Summary
The Kiss by Anton Chekov tells about a man named Riabovitch who cannot forget his first experience to kiss by a woman. When he comes to von Rabbeks house (at the village of Miestetchki) as an invitation a party of his batteries, he is accidentally come into a dark room. He is around the house to make some adventure. In that dark room, he met a woman who suddenly kisses him. But, she kisses wrong guy. She thinks that Riabovitch is the man who has appointment with her in the dark room. That kiss happened so fast and he realizes that it just accidental, he is also embraces nevertheless no one know it. At dinner time, he searching the womans faces (he cannot see well because it is too dark). There are many people in the party, includes a family of von Rabbek, many beautiful woman, and another guest. The first is a woman in lilac; she has pretty shoulders and arms, a cleaver face, a charming voice. He hopes that is the woman, but she has long nose and the woman does not has long nose. The second is a blonde woman in black suit. She is younger, simpler, sincerer, and also drink with grace attitude. He thinks that she is the one, but he goes wrong again she has a flat face. The third is a woman beside his friend, Lobuitko. If the three person individual characteristics mingled become one, he imagines a face of a woman who kissed him but she does not appear anywhere. He always thinking about the kiss and still looking for the woman. Until he and his batteries continued his journey to their camp. He becomes a brave man after he experience his first kiss and fells that he fall in love with the woman even he does not know who is she and what she looks like. He tells his experience to his friends, but they laugh him and do not believe his story. He acts as a man who is fall in love when his friends talk about marriage. On the thirty-first of August, he leaves his camp with two batteries. When they arrive to the Miestetchki, Riabovitch remember the house, the dark room, also the woman he falls in love with. He around the house of von Rabbek, but it is very quite. So, he goes to the river, enjoying the river from the bridge. After it he said to himself that he is stupid because he hopes and love someone that he does not know about the identity. He moves on and tries to forget his first kiss. Then, a horseman comes to him and give invitation but he ignore it.

Chapter II Discussion

The Elements of the Short Story

Plot is the sequence of incidents or events of which a story is composed. The uses of plot in The Kiss very excellent arrangement. At the first as the introduction, Riabovitch who is shy man and unconfidence person. He has kissed by a woman in a dark room by accident, the woman presume that he is her couple (this is the conflict). He never has interaction with woman like it before so it makes him embrace and always remember and wants to know who is the woman (this is the climax). He knows that the kiss should not for him but he fall in love with the woman even he does not know the face (this is the anti climax). He always thinking about her until at last he decides to forget her and moves on to past his life like usual (this is the end or Denouement). Character 1. Lieutenant Loibuitko He is tall man and he is twenty-five years old. On the face of Lieutenant Loibuitko, the tall stout officer referred to, there was not one trace of hair though he was twenty-five years old.

2. General von Rabbek He has kind heart because he likes to make a garden party. His Excellency, General von Rabbek, request the honor of the officers company at tea in his house near by Has a handsome face even he is sixty. A handsome, well-preserved man of sixty, in multi, came to the hall door to greet his guest. 3. Ex-Empress Eugnie She has a tall body and older than General von Rabbek, her healthy is still hold out.

A tall elderly lady, with a good figure, and a long face with black eyebrows, who resembled closely the ex-Empress Eugnie, greeted them at the drawing-room door. 4. Staff-Captain Riabovitch He has short body and his shoulders are round, his face looks lynx. Staff-Captain Riabovitch, a short, round-shouldered, spectacled officer, whiskered like a lynx. He is shy young man. His first emotion was shame, as if everyone in the room already knew that he had just been embraced and kissed. He becomes brave man after he kissed. Riabovitch also cried to the brakes! and each time He is ordinary man. that he was an ordinary man, and that his life was ordinary, rejoiced and consoled him. 5. The woman She has same characteristic arms and shoulders with the lilac girl, her hair are curls and blonde, and have eyes like Loibuitkos left. If you take the arms and shoulders of the lilac girl, add the blondes curls, and the eyes of the girl on Loibuitkos left, then- 6. Girl in lilac She has pretty arms and shoulders, looks like a clever girl, and her voice are charming, and her nose is long. at the girl in lilac she pleased him; she had pretty shoulders and arms, a clever face, a charming voice But, smiling insincerely, she wrinkled her long nose, 7. The blonde in black She is younger, simpler, and sincerer and has a flat face. The blonde was younger, simpler, sincerer; she had charming kiss curls, and drank from her tumbler with inexpressible grace but soon he noticed that her face was flat 8. Lieutenant Merzliakoff He is silent and little man, also staid person. Lieutenant Merzliakoff, a staid, silent, little man, by repute highly cultivated, who took with him everywhere

9. Madame Lopukhoff She is tall, stout lady, and big women, at the age of forty. Madame Lopukhoff was a tall, stout lady, long past forty. Being partial to big women, regardless of age 10. Captain Watchter He is married with woman who really loves him, though he has an ugly red neck and no waist. Captain Watcher is also married, and his wife loves him, though he has an ugly red neck and no waist 11. Salmanoff He has coarse hair, and typical Tartar. Salmanoff is coarse, and typical Tartar, but he has had a romance ending in marriage Setting is where the story takes place and the time. a. Setting of time On the twentieth of May, at eight o clock in the evening, six batteries ... At supper Riabovitch ate and drank mechanically On the thirty-first of August he left camp, this time Towards evening the white barns and well-known church rose on the horizon. b. Setting of place (village, house of General von Rabbek). at the village of Miestetchki to spend the night, before going to their camp. In a big dining room, at a big table, sat ten men and women, drinking tea. , and found himself in an almost dark room which he had seen before, c. Setting of condition (in the war). , six batteries of the N Artillery Brigade arrived he left the camp, this time not with the whole brigade but with only two batteries. Theme is a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. Not all stories have a theme. There are three possible ways to stating the theme of The Kiss:

1. The emotions of a shy young man may spring almost entirely from fancy rather than from fact. 2. A shy man who builds a romance upon a trifling incident may find that the return to reality disillusions and embitters him. 3. A shy man is capable in his imagination of building up out of some trivial incident a fantastically absurd romantic dream life that he emotionally mistakes from reality at the same time that he intellectually knows it to be false, when the romantic bubble is pricked, he may plunge from the heights of ecstasy to depths of despair, through in reality there has been no basis for either emotion. Point of view, of who tells the story. The point of view in this short story is omniscient point of view. It means that the story told by the author, using the third person, and his knowledge and prerogatives are unlimited. He is free to go wherever he wishes, to peer inside the minds and hearts of his character at will and tell us what they are thinking or felling. Because of The Kiss the author use name to show the main character (Riabovitch). Symbol is something that means more than what it is. In The Kiss, the nightingale is given an emphasis not given to the drowsy snipe. It is singled out for attention and is referred to again later in the story, and this attention cannot be explained by any function it has in the plot. The meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story. Nightingale is supported by the behavior of Riabovitch, the main character of the story. The kiss may effects on him is central to the meaning of the story. Can be called as a symbol if an item suggest a meaning different in kind from its literal meaning; a symbol should show the representative of a class or type. Riabovitch is a shy, timid young man. He is typical because he is like other shy. The nightingale, the wet towel, and the moons reflection are neither example nor evidences of Riabovitchs emotional condition. Irony is a term with a range of meaning; all of them enclose some sort of incompatibility or anomaly. It is a contrast in which one term of the contrast in some way mocks the other term. This short story use irony of situation (usually the most important kind for the story writer, the discrepancy is between
7

appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between what is and what would seem appropriate). In The Kiss, it is ironic that a rather trivial accident should have such a disproportionate effect on Riabovitchs thoughts and feelings, and this disparity tells us something about Riabovitch and about human nature in general. It also ironic that Riabovitch should finally neglect in the invitations he had been so eagerly anticipating, and this irony underscores the extent of the challenge that has occurred in him. The story would have been complete without the second invitation, but the additional ironic twist give the change in Riabovitch an emphasis it would not otherwise have had.

Chapter III Conclusion

The short story The Kiss by Anton Chekov which tells about Riabovitch who cannot forget his first kisses experience. He kissed by a strange woman in the dark room. The conclusion is this short story can be analyzed from the plot, character, setting, theme, point of view, symbol, and irony. From the plot which has excellent arrangement, people can enjoy when read this short story. Although there are many character appears in the story, but the main character is Riabovitch. The setting condition of this short story is in the middle of war, and the setting of time is May until August, also the setting of place is in the village. There are three possible ways to stating the theme of The Kiss, like have been discussed bellow. The point of view in this short story is omniscient point of view. Because of Anton Chekov use name to show the main character. There are many symbol and irony which have been discussed, such as nightingale as the symbol of Riabovitch and tells us something about Riabovitch and also about human nature in general.