Huber has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Fiction Writing and currently teaches at the New York University School of Continuing Education. In the following essay, he provides an overview of the chief criticisms of "The Lady with the Pet Dog," focusing particularly on Chekhov's "casual" approach in writing the story.

"The Lady with the Pet Dog" is regarded as one of the greatest of all short stories, but it is not an easy story to "interpret," because Chekhov's chief aim in writing the story is to be as natural as possible and to respect people and things for what they are, rather than turning them into symbols and forcing them to convey a certain idea or message. Chekhov is reluctant to put himself above his characters and manipulate them. Perhaps the most famous criticism of the story comes from Vladimir Nabokov, the Russian emigre who...