By no mcans all Chckhov's readcrs will agrec in finding failurc and disillusionmcnt to bc such inscparablc fcaturcs of lifc as hc scems to suggcst in his works. And that Chckhov himsclf, as a man, had an outlook far lcss mclancholy than that sccmingly implicd by Chckhov thc artist we know from thc rich sourcc matcrial ofhis biography: his personal lcttcrs, totalling ovcr 4,000, and thc many mcmoirs about him. Nor, in ordcr to cnjoy Chckhov's work, nced readcrs fcel any morc obligcd than did hc himself (in his non-literary capacity) to adopt thc philosophy of all- cmbracing frustration apparcntly dcduciblc from his writings.
Rather may wc marvcl at thc skill with which this arguably distortcd philosophy has bccn uscd as a prism to display thc human prcdicamcnt in so original, so cxhilarating, and abovc all so ultimatcly undistorting a projcction.
RONALD HINGLEY
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
W. H. Bruford, Chekhov and his Russia: A Sociological Study (London, 1948).
The Oxford Chekhov. Tr. and ed. Ronald Hingley. Nine vols (London, 1964-80).
Letters of Anton Chekhov. Tr. Michael Henry Heim in collaboration with Simon Karlinsky. Selection, Commentary and Introduction by Simon Karlinsky (New York, 1973).
Letters of Anton Chekhov. Selected and edited by Avrahm Yarmolinsky (New York, 1973).
T. Eckman, ed., Anton Chekhov, l86«ig6o (Leiden, 1960).
Ronald Hingley, Chekhov: a Biographical aiid Critical Study (London, 1950).
A New Life of Antort Chekhov (London, 1976).
Robert Louis Jackson, ed., Chekhov: a Collection of Critical Essays (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1967).
Ka. l D. Kramer, The Chamcleon and the Dream: the Image of Reality iii Cexov's Stories (The Hague, 1970).
Virginia Llewellyn Smith, Antoii Chekhov aiid the Lady with the Dog. Foreword by Ronald Hingley (London, 1973).
A CHRONOLOGY OF ANTON CHEKHOV
All datcs are given old style.
[860 16 or 17 January. Born in Taganrog, a port on the Sea of Azov in south Russia.
1876 His father goes bankrupt. The family movcs to Moscow, leaving Anton to finish his schooling.
Joins family and cnrols in thc Medical Faculty of Moscow University.
Begins to contribute to Strekoza ('Dragonfly'), a St. Pcters- burg comic weekly.
1882 Starts to write short stories and a gossip column for Oskolki ('Splinters') and to depcnd on writing for an mcome.
1884 Graduates in medicine. Shows early symptoms of tuber- culosis.
1885-6 Contributes to Peterburgskaya gazeta ('St. Petersburg Gazette') and Novoye vremya ('New Time').
March. Letter from D. V. Grigorovich encourages him to take writing seriously.
First collection of stories: Motley Stories.
Literary reputation grows fast. Second collection ofstories: /h the Twilight.
19 Novembcr. First Moscow performancc of Ivanov: mixed reception.
First publication (Tiie Steppe) in a serious literary journal, Sevemy vesltiik ('Thc Northern Hcrald').
31 January. First St. Petersburg performance of Ivanov: widely and favourably reviewed.
June. Death of brother Nicholas from tuberculosis.
[890 April-December. Crosses Siberia to visit the pcnal settlc- ment on Sakhalin Island. Returns via Hong Kong, Singaporc and Ccylon.
First trip to wcstern Europe: Italy and Francc.
March. Movcs with family to small country cstate a, Melikhovo, fifty miles south of Moscow.
1895 First mccting with Tolstov
17 Octobcr. First—disastrous—performancc of The Seagu/l in St. Petersburg.
Suffers severe haemorrhage.
1897-8 Winters in France. Champions Zola's dcfence of Dreyfus.
Beginning of collaboration with thc ncwly foundcd Moscow Art Theatre. Mcets. Olga Knippcr. Spends the winter in Yalta, where hc meets Gorky.
17 December. First Moscow Art Theatrc performance of The Seagulclass="underline" succcssful.
Complctcs the building of a house in Yalta, whcre he settles with mother and sister.
26 October. First performance of Uncle Vanya (written ?i896).
189^1901 First complete edition of his works (10 volumes).
1901 31 January. Three Sisters first performed.
25 May. Marries Olga Knipper.
1904 17 January. First performance of The Cherry Orchard.
2 July. Dies in Badenweiler, Gcrmany.
HIS WIFE
'I thoucht I told you not to tidy my dcsk,' said Nicholas. 'I can't find anything whcn you'vc been round tidying. Wherc 's that tclegram got to? Whcrc did you put it? Would you mind having a look? It's from Kazan, dated ycsterday.'
The maid, a pale, very slim girl, seemed unconcerned. She did find scveral telegrams in the basket under thc desk and handed thcm to the doctor without a word, but those were aU local telegrams from his patients. Thcn they searchcd thc drawing-room and his wife Olga's room.
It was past' midnight. Nicholas knew that his wife would not be back for a long time, not till five in the morning at least. Hc did not trust hcr and felt depressed and could not sleep when she stayed out late. He despised his wife, hcr bed, her looking-glass, her boxes of chocolates and aU these lilics-of-the-vaUey and hyacinths that came from someone every day and made the whole house smell as sickly- sweet as a florist's shop. On nights like this he grew irritable, moody and snappish, and he felt that he simply must have ycsterday's telegram from his brother, though there was nothing in the thing beyond the compliments of the season.
On the table in his. wife's room he did turn up a telegram under a box of writing-papcr and glanced at it. It came from Monte Carlo and was addressed to his wife, care of his mother-in-law. The signature was Michel. The doctor could not make head or tail of it as it was in some foreign language, English apparently.
Who could Michel be? Why Monte Carlo ? And why send it care of his mother-in-law?
Suspicions, conjectures, deductions—seven years of married life had made such things second nature to him and he often thought that he had had enough practice at home to tum him into a first-class detective.