Gurov's attitude towards women (situational irony)
Dmitri Dmitrich Gurov is a forty-year-old married man. He greatly dislikes his wife and often enters into “brisk transitory liaison[s]” with other women. Indeed, he is more comfortable than women than with men, and he greatly relies on them for company. Yet Gurov also considers women to be a “lower race." He dislikes and distrusts his wife, and he even exhibits condescending behavior towards Anna, the love of his life. This juxtaposition between Gurov's love and hatred of women seems absurd, but it is a classic illustration of misogyny.
Gurov's love for Anna (dramatic irony)
Gurov is a practiced womanizer. For years, he has been unfaithful to his wife with many other women. In some ways, Anna is not a particularly special woman. Before he falls in love with her, Gurov perceives her as a "good, simple woman." Yet in this later season of his life, after a long history with women, it is Anna who uniquely kindles the spark of love for him, contrary to both Gurov and the reader's expectations.
