This one-act farce was written in 1889 and first performed the following year. It is a fast-paced drama, featuring dialogue-based action and situational humour. The narrative introduces Ivan Vassiliyitch Lomov, a large and hearty thirty-five year old landowner, who is the long-time neighbour of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov. Lomov has come to propose marriage to Chubukov’s twenty-five year old daughter, Natalya and after he has received permission to marry Natalya, she is invited into the room and Lomov tries to convey his proposal. He is a hypochondriac and while trying to make clear his reasons for being there, he gets into an argument with Natalia about The Oxen Meadows, a disputed piece of land between their respective properties, resulting in him having “palpitations” and experiencing a numbness in his leg. After the girl’s father notices they are arguing, he joins in and sends Ivan out of the house. The farce explores the process of getting married and could be read as a satire on the upper middle class and courtship. The play points out the struggle to balance the economic necessities of marriage with what the characters themselves actually desire, in all its comical reality.