# A Pink Stocking explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Anton Chekhov. ## What happens On a rainy day, Pavel Petrovitch Somov criticizes his wife Lidotchka's poorly written letter to her sister, attacking her grammar, lack of ideas, and moral shortcomings. Lidotchka becomes upset, blaming her mother for not sending her to high school. Somov, after a good dinner, reconciles with her, concluding that a simple, uneducated wife is easier to live with than a learned woman. ## Themes in this chapter ### Hypocrisy and Moral Failure Somov criticizes his wife's ignorance and moral failings, yet he later embraces her simplicity and opposes women's education, revealing his own hypocrisy. ### Love and Marriage The chapter explores the dynamics of a marriage where the husband belittles his wife's intellect but ultimately values her domesticity and lack of criticism. ## Character check-ins ### Ivan Petrovitch Pavel Petrovitch Somov, the husband, who criticizes his wife's letter and later reconciles with her over dinner. ### Liza Lidotchka, the wife, who writes a poorly composed letter and is upset by her husband's criticism. ## Key lines > You are a mother... do you understand? A mother! How can you teach your children if you know nothing yourself? Somov questions his wife's ability to educate their children due to her own lack of knowledge. _Somov uses motherhood as a justification for criticizing his wife's ignorance._ > A blue stocking is the very deuce! Neither man nor woman, but just something midway: neither one thing nor another... I hate blue stockings! Somov expresses his disdain for educated women, calling them unnatural and undesirable. _This reflects the societal prejudice against women's education in the story's context._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/a-pink-stocking - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_5_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters