# Anna Akimovna — Short Fiction character guide

> Anna Akimovna in Short Fiction by Anton Chekhov.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Anna

**First appearance:** 0000-a-living-chattel

## Snapshot

A young factory owner who moves between the elegant upstairs and the icon-lit downstairs, giving roubles and wondering who she is.

## Who they are

Anna Akimovna owns the works and the house, yet on Christmas morning she drifts from the flunkey's honeyed greeting to the cook's peasant relatives, distributing coins by rank. Handsome, plump, radiant in her fine dress, she notices a squinting orphan girl and feels a sudden sick pang about who will ever marry her. Her double life between gentry and servants, generosity and loneliness, sets up the story's ache about class, kindness, and the marriage she cannot quite want.

## Relationships

### [Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/dmitri_dmitritch_gurov)

_romantic_

Anna Akimovna and Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov are engaged in a passionate, possibly illicit romance.

### [Lysevitch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/lysevitch)

_social_

Anna Akimovna and Lysevitch are acquaintances or social peers, interacting in upper-class settings.

### [Father Anastasy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/father_anastasy)

_social_

Anna Akimovna and Father Anastasy are acquaintances, likely meeting in religious or social contexts.

### [Lysevitch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/lysevitch)

_social_

Anna Akimovna and Lysevitch are acquaintances or social peers, interacting in upper-class settings.

### [Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/dmitri_dmitritch_gurov)

_romantic_

Anna Akimovna and Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov are engaged in a passionate, possibly illicit romance.

### [Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/dmitri_dmitritch_gurov)

_romantic_

Anna Akimovna and Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov are engaged in a passionate, possibly illicit romance.

### [Father Anastasy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/father_anastasy)

_social_

Anna Akimovna and Father Anastasy are acquaintances, likely meeting in religious or social contexts.

### [Father Anastasy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/father_anastasy)

_social_

Anna Akimovna and Father Anastasy are acquaintances, likely meeting in religious or social contexts.

## In the story

### [A Woman's Kingdom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/a-woman-s-kingdom)

The protagonist, a wealthy factory heiress, contemplates her life and loneliness during Christmas.

### [I: Christmas Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/i-christmas-eve)

The wealthy factory owner, conflicted about her fortune and role as a benefactor, visits the Tchalikov family on Christmas Eve.

### [II: Christmas Morning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/ii-christmas-morning)

The wealthy young mistress of the house, who feels both festive and isolated on Christmas morning.

### [III: Dinner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/iii-dinner)

Hosts the dinner, feels lonely, and longs for a traditional marriage and family.

### [IV: Evening](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/iv-evening)

Experiences a crisis of self-awareness, realizing her dreams of marrying a workman are false and that she is fundamentally aligned with the vulgar society she despises. Ends the night in tears, feeling lonely and foolish.

### [Anna on the Neck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/anna-on-the-neck)

The protagonist who marries for money and gradually becomes cold and self-centered.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/i)

The bride, an eighteen-year-old girl who marries for money to support her impoverished family, feeling cheated and unhappy.

### [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/ii)

Anna is the central figure, experiencing a dramatic shift in her social life and confidence at the ball and bazaar.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/ii)

The narrator's sister, who comes to the rehearsal to urge him to take the railway post and later speaks with Madame Azhogin.

### [About Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/about-love)

Anna Alexyevna, the married woman Alehin loves, who reciprocates his feelings but suppresses them.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/anna_akimovna
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters