"I'm the most unhappy of men."- Who said this? Why did he say so? How did the speaker get rid of his unhappiness?

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 Q "I'm the most unhappy of men."- Who said this? Why did he say so? How did the speaker get rid of his unhappiness?1+3+2

Ans. : In Anton Chekhov's one-act play 'The Proposal' Chubukov, the father of a grown-up daughter, Natalya' said this.

Chubukov thought himself to be an unhappy man as he was the father of a grown-up daughter. When Lomov visited his house to ask the hand of his daughter, Natalya, in marriage, he became very happy. But his happiness vanished before long because Lomov left his house in anger after a quarrel over Oxen Meadowes. His daughter again quarrelled with Lomov when the latter came back. Now the quarrel was over the quality of their hunting dogs, Guess and Squeezer. Lomov, who was a patient of insomnia and palpitations suddenly fainted as he was unable to keep up his nerves. Natalya thought Lomov was dead and started screaming in fear. Confronted with such a shocking turn of events, and the loss of a prospective groom for his daughter, Chubukov exclaimed in utter helplessness that he was the most unhappy of men.

When Lomov came round, Chubukov asked him to hurry up and get married as Natalya was willing. He blessed the couple and wanted that they leave him in peace. In this way, he tried to get rid of his unhappiness.