Genre
A short story, narrative
Setting and Context
The actions take place on the Volga river, and in unnamed resort town on its bank.
Narrator and Point of View
The third person narration
Tone and Mood
The tone overall is romantic, but when the main hero realizes that he has fallen in love the tone becomes sorrow and depressing
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists are the lieutenant and a stranger woman, the antagonist is love that has captured the man and made him suffer
Major Conflict
The major conflict stands in inability to deafen the feelings, and in absence of an opportunity for these two people to be together
Climax
Climax happens when the lieutenant sees the lovely stranger off the landing
Foreshadowing
The fact that the woman is married and has a daughter foreshadows that there nothing can happen between them in future
Understatement
No manes of the main characters are given, as well as woman’s emotions and feeling are not described. The reader does not know how she treats this adventure, and it is difficult to judge her because of absence of these data
Allusions
The story alludes to some resort towns in Russia, like Yalta, Anapa.
Imagery
When the main hero returns to the room where they have spent the night together, everything around reminds him of her. The smell of her perfume, unfinished cup of coffee makes him ache, and provokes sensual feelings.
Paradox
The paradox of the story is that love, which is supposed to bring pleasure and happiness, brings nothing but sorrow, grief and hurts people
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The author uses sometimes metonymies to add stylistic coloring to the plot: “he gathered his last bits of strength”, “the room has already been stripped of the last traces of her”
Personification
In the story “lots of multi-colored lights dotted the river and white ones dangled on the masts of the approaching steamer”
