Hello friends today we are discuss this question, the question is -“Go; there’s a merchant come for his goods.”-Who said this and to whom? Who is the merchant’? What is referred to as ‘goods’? In what way does it bring out the attitude of the person and the society at that time?
Chubukov said this to his daughter, Natalya Stepanovna, Here, the ‘merchant’ is Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov. Natalya Stepanovna, the twenty-five-year old daughter of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov is referred to as ‘goods’. Natalya who has surpassed the ideal age of marriage is considered as ‘goods’ by her father. She is a liability to her father and he wants to get rid of this trouble anyhow. Therefore, on hearing Lomov’s desire to marry his daughter, Chubukov becomes thrilled. To him, Lomov is a ‘merchant’ and he is ready to sell his daughter to him. The playwright makes dear that 19th century Russian society was very conservative and people married for personal gain rather than love because women needed financial security and men needed a perfect homemaker.