# Olenka — Short Fiction character guide

> Olenka in Short Fiction by Anton Chekhov.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** The Darling Olenka, Darling

**First appearance:** 0335-the-darling

## Snapshot

A woman who cannot exist without loving someone, she adopts each beloved's opinions, routines, and even dreams as her own.

## Who they are

Olenka pours herself wholly into whoever she loves, whether a timber merchant, a theatre manager, or a schoolboy, until her husband's business becomes her vocabulary and his habits her day. Her tenderness is genuine, but it has no spine of its own, and friends gently urge her toward theatres and circuses she cannot imagine wanting. Her story asks whether a self made entirely of love is devotion or disappearance.

## In the story

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

Not present in this chapter.

### [The Darling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/the-darling)

The protagonist, a soft-hearted woman who constantly needs someone to love. She marries Kukin, then Pustovalov, and later attaches herself to Smirnin, adopting each man's interests and opinions.

## Links

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