Chekhov Plays

by Lydia Zhiburtovich (Translator), Anton Chekhov

Overview

One of a generation on the brink of a tremendous social upheaval, Anton Chekhov (1860 - 1904), despite his flashes of humor, paints in his plays and essentially tragic picture of Russian society. The plays in this volume - Ivanov, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Uncle Vania, and Three sisters, together with three one-act 'jests' - all display Chekhov's overwhelming sense of the tedium and futility of every day life. yet his representation of human relationships is infinitely sympathetic, and each play contains at least one character who expresses Chekhov's hype for a brighter future.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940162017868
Publisher:	New York : Scribner, 1916.
Publication date:	04/02/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov [Russian: ????´? ??´?????? ??´???] was born in the small seaport of Taganrog, southern Russia, the son of a grocer. Chekhov's grandfather was a serf, who had bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught himself to read and write. Yevgenia Morozova, Chekhov's mother, was the daughter of a cloth merchant. "When I think back on my childhood," Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." His early years were shadowed by his father's tyranny, religious fanaticism, and long nights in the store, which was open from five in the morning till midnight. He attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog (1867-68) and Taganrog grammar school (1868-79). The family was forced to move to Moscow following his father's bankruptcy. At the age of 16, Chekhov became independent and remained for some time alone in his native town, supporting himself through private tutoring. Chekhov's fist book of stories (1886) was a success, and gradually he became a full-time writer. The author's refusal to join the ranks of social critics arose the wrath of liberal and radical intellitentsia and he was criticized for dealing with serious social and moral questions, but avoiding giving answers. However, he was defended by such leading writers as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov. "I'm not a liberal, or a conservative, or a gradualist, or a monk, or an indifferentist. I should like to be a free artist and that's all..." Chekhov said in 1888.