The Darling
Complete textOlenka longs to love someone and becomes deeply involved in the concerns of the people closest to her. Her opinions and daily interests change with those attachments. A succession of relationships raises questions about whether devotion gives her a self or repeatedly takes the place of one.
Continue readingAbout The Darling
The narrator’s tenderness coexists with an unsettling pattern of borrowed convictions. Repeated phrases and changes of subject make Olenka’s dependence visible without reducing her need for affection to a simple joke. Read for the difference between care that responds to another person and a need to inhabit their entire world, especially when companionship is absent.
Reading focus
Notice how Olenka’s opinions change with her attachments, and weigh the warmth of her care against her difficulty living without someone to love.
This reading edition contains 4,930 words in 1 original section. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.
Author: Anton Chekhov. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.
Opening excerpt
OLENKA, the daughter of the retired collegiate assessor, Plemyanniakov, was sitting in her back porch, lost in thought. It was hot, the flies were persistent and teasing, and it was pleasant to reflect that it would soon be evening. Dark rainclouds were gathering from the east, and bringing from time to time a breath of moisture in the air.
Contents
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Is this the complete The Darling?
This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 1 section and 4,930 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.
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