At Home

The Russian steppe figures prominently throughout “At Home.” When Vera first arrives in the countryside, she is anxious about exchanging her fashionable life in Moscow with the vast emptiness of the Russian steppe. But the surplus generated by the peasants on her family’s estate is what has allowed Vera to travel extensively, to read widely, and to become educated. By returning home, Vera is finally able to see the hard, unglamorous life that has made her forays into high society possible. Toward the end of the story, Vera’s alienation from the steppe reaches its heights when she runs away to hide in a ravine. In a moment of clarity, Vera decides that she must give in to the “luxuriant steppe” (Part 3, Paragraph 32) because fighting it is impossible. By submitting to the power of the steppe, Vera finds a way to survive in comfort despite her troubled conscience.

When Vera first arrives at the estate, she has all sorts of ideas of change and reform, but from the very beginning of the story, Chekhov signals that none of these changes will come to pass. The initial description of the steppe shows how tempting Vera finds its beautiful, peaceful nature. In the end, she will submit to her desire to live in the steppe but without the idealism that she had when she arrived.

Vera’s marriage to Neshtchapov is foreshadowed in her conversation with Auntie Dasha when Dasha proclaims that he is her destiny. Auntie Dasha tends to exaggerate—as when she fawns over Vera, calling her a queen and herself a slave—and at first, one might take her fatalism as part of her melodramatic personality. However, by the end of the story, marrying Neshtchapov becomes Vera’s only option that will allow her to maintain her sanity and live a semblance of a worthwhile life.