What is the significance of the two lovers meeting at Yalta, a resort town?
In this short story, Gurov and Anna fall in love and have an affair in the town Yalta that is known for love affairs. Gurov had a prejudice against women and despised all the stories of sin told about this place Yalta. It ironic because Gurov hates and does not believe these immoral stories about Yalta yet he becomes an example and lives in one of these stories. Gurov an older man has an affair with Anna with younger women and both parties are married. They both commit sin in a resort town known for sin. What’s also interesting about this story is how Gurov has all this hate for women yet falls in love with a woman. Gurov has been apart of many affairs but finally realizes he is in love with this being the first time. Anna is different already regarding herself as low for having an affair. Yalta represents everything Gurov hates. Gurov meeting Anna in Yalta represents the transition Gurov will take in his life.
To add on to your thoughts, I believed that in the beginning of the story, Yalta was a symbol of a vacation spot which you touched upon. It was a place with many “tales of easy conquests,” “trips to the mountains,” and filled with “tempting thought of a swift, fleeting love affair, a romance with an unknown woman” (1). The setting itself seemed to have encouraged affairs. Chekhov described Yalta as a very romantic and colorful place with descriptions such as “strange light of the sea,” “water was of a soft warm lilac hue, and there was a golden streak from the moon upon it” (2). Everything seems so perfect and ignites the desire to seek for an affair. Although I’m not sure what you mean by Yalta being a place Gurov hates, I do agree with the fact that meeting Sergeyevna represented a transition in his life. The setting actively demonstrates the changes in Gurov. When Sergeyevna left Yalta, Yalta lost its color and everything became dull to Gurov, which urged him to look for Sergeyevna.