In “The Treasure,” Anton Chekhov pairs a critical narrator with a static, one-dimensional main character to highlight women in 19th-century Russian society. It depicts Olenka as a woman who gains her own identity and sense of self-worth by embracing her current husband's ideas, and uses a narrator who continually criticizes Olenka for not having a mind of her own. Chekhov implies that truly interesting women achieve social and intellectual equality with men. The main character of the story, Olenka, however, possesses enough beauty to attract many men but loses them to fate. Olenka gains her identity and sense of self-worth by embracing her current husband's ideas. His naive and repetitive cloning of thoughts jumps from man to man. Her first husband, Ivan Petrovich or Kukin, was the director of the Trivoli open-air theater, and although Olenka managed the accounts and paid the salary, she was nevertheless a victim of his mimicry tendency. “And what Kukin said about the theater and actors, he repeated” (Chekhov 106). Having been given one more opportunity by the author, to start again on her own, Olenka marries once again, this time, to Vassily Andreitch Pustovalo, a manager of Babakayev, a timber merchant. Once again, she oversaw the accounts and book orders, but simply chooses to mirror her second husband's behavior. “Her husband's ideas were hers. If he thought the room was hot, or that business was slow, she felt the same way. (107) It seems that in this relationship Olenka sinks deeper into a well of plagiaristic thoughts devoid of autonomy. Once again her husband dies and Olenka is left alone, but after a while she meets a married man, Smirnin, a veterinarian....... middle of paper... and presents them as stupid, boring, senseless, simple and, worse than everything, without opinions. Olenka was beautiful, what an amazing beauty to have, having every opportunity to progress as an individual. She came from an educated family, her husbands gave her the rare freedom to run their companies, yet she chose to do nothing with her talent and simply collect their thoughts. This static character rejects complexity and rejects any opportunity for growth. “The Darling”, transformed from a fairy tale to a social statement on the Russian woman of the 20th century. Through the use of narration, Chekov cleverly suggests that woman should be something more, robust and profound. A woman with confidence, self-esteem and intellect strengthens a woman as her youth fades. It is possible that Chekhov believed that women should be more than just a “treasure".”.