The story can be seen as "Gurov's spiritual journey—his transformation from a connoisseur of women to a man tenderly devoted to a single ordinary woman."[7] The story can also be seen as "playing with the paradox that a lie—a husband deceiving a wife or a wife deceiving a husband—can be the fulcrum of truth of feeling, a vehicle of authenticity."[7]
Maxim Gorky, a Russian writer from a working-class background, saw the importance of the story as a wake-up call to people "to let go of sleepy, half-dead existence."[8]
Robert Fulford offers yet another interpretation of the story:[8]
"What Chekhov says in this sophisticated parable is that love radically alters the landscape of existence. When touched by love, we know the world in a different way. Love changes the inner landscape, too. Under the pressure of love, Gurov looks inside himself and sees someone he has not known before, someone capable of feelings that he barely knew existed."
Nabokov wrote about the unconventional ending:
"All the traditional rules ... have been broken in this wonderful short story ... no problem, no regular climax, no point at the end. And it is one of the greatest stories ever written."[8]
