Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short story writer who is regarded as one of the greatest writers of the modern theatre. His plays and stories are celebrated for their realism and for their psychological insight.

Early Life and Medical Career

Chekhov was born in 1860 in Taganrog, in southern Russia, the son of a grocer. He was educated at the local gymnasium and studied medicine at Moscow University.

He qualified as a doctor and practised medicine throughout his life. He wrote stories to support his family and published them in humorous magazines.

He travelled widely, including a journey to Sakhalin Island to study the prison colony. The journey produced a documentary study and influenced his later fiction.

The Short Stories

Chekhov wrote more than six hundred short stories. The stories are characterised by their brevity and by their understated endings.

The Lady with the Dog, The Kiss, and About Love are among his most admired stories. The stories treat themes of love, of boredom, and of the failure of communication.

He revolutionised the short story by removing the conventional plot and the moralising narrator. The stories often end without resolution.

The Plays

Chekhov wrote a series of plays that transformed the theatre. The Seagull, first produced in 1896, was a failure but was revived by the Moscow Art Theatre.

Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard are among his most famous plays. The plays are characterised by their depiction of the ordinary life of the provincial gentry.

The plays were directed by Konstantin Stanislavski, whose system of acting was influenced by the demands of the texts. The partnership between the playwright and the director was fruitful.

The Themes and the Method

Chekhov explored the lives of ordinary people and the failure of their hopes. The characters long for a better life but are unable to achieve it.

He avoided explicit moral judgment and allowed the audience to draw their own conclusions. The method has been described as indirect action.

The plays combine comedy with tragedy and with a sense of the absurd. The balance of the moods is a characteristic of his art.

The Later Life and Death

Chekhov married the actress Olga Knipper in 1901. They lived apart for much of the time, and their letters are an important record.

His health declined because of tuberculosis, and he spent time in the Crimea and in Europe. He died in 1904 in the German spa town of Badenweiler.

He was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. His work has been translated and performed throughout the world.

Legacy

Chekhov is regarded as one of the founders of the modern short story and of the modern theatre. His influence on the literature and on the drama of the twentieth century has been profound.

His plays are among the most performed in the world. The Moscow Art Theatre adopted the seagull as its emblem.

He is remembered for his humanity and for his insight. His work continues to be studied and to be performed.

The Early Stories

Chekhov published his first stories in humorous magazines under pseudonyms. The stories were written to earn money and were often brief and comic.

The early stories include The Death of a Government Clerk and A Chameleon. The stories satirise the manners of the bureaucracy and of the provincial society.

He collected the stories in volumes and gained a reputation as a writer. He was praised by the critics and by the public.

The Sakhalin Journey

Chekhov travelled to Sakhalin Island in 1890 to study the penal colony. The journey was long and arduous and he crossed Siberia by carriage.

He conducted a census of the convicts and of the settlers. The study was published in 1895 and is a landmark of social investigation.

The experience influenced his later work and his view of society. The journey affected his health and contributed to the decline of his lungs.

The Theatre and the Moscow Art Theatre

The Seagull was first produced in 1896 and was a failure. The production was poorly received and the author fled from the theatre.

The play was revived by the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898 and was a triumph. The production established the reputation of the theatre and of the director Stanislavski.

The theatre adopted the seagull as its emblem. The subsequent productions of Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard were also successful.

The Short Story as a Form

Chekhov developed the short story into a serious literary form. He rejected the elaborate plot and the moralising conclusion.

He wrote of ordinary people and of the ordinary events of life. The stories are open-ended and leave the reader to draw the conclusion.

The technique has been called the indirect method. It influenced the development of the modern short story in many countries.

The Last Years

Chekhov married the actress Olga Knipper in 1901. He lived at Yalta for the sake of his health and continued to write.

He died at Badenweiler in Germany in 1904. He was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

The Cherry Orchard was first performed in the year of his death. The play is a comedy of the passing of the old order.

See also

• Modern theatre
• Moscow Art Theatre