# Sofya Petrovna — Short Fiction character guide

> Sofya Petrovna in Short Fiction by Anton Chekhov.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Sofya

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

## Snapshot

A woman caught between the life she was raised for and the life she actually wants, she keeps choosing and unchoosing herself.

## Who they are

Sofya Petrovna moves through drawing rooms and country houses with the manners of a lady and the unease of someone who suspects the manners are a costume. She is drawn to intensity, repelled by it, and unable to settle on either, which leaves her circling the same conversations with different men. Her indecision is the engine of the story: every scene she enters becomes a negotiation over what she will allow herself to feel.

## In the story

### [A Misfortune](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/a-misfortune)

The wife of notary Lubyantsev, a handsome young woman of twenty-five, who confronts Ilyin about his pursuit but later succumbs to an overpowering desire for him.

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

Not present in this chapter.

## Links

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