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This year marks Russian writer
Anton Chekhov’s death centenary. Aseem K. Jha looks at his pioneering contribution
ANTON Chekhov’s portrayal of pre-Revolution Russia was so vivid and graphic that it earned him the distinction of a realist who depicted a slice of life with an engaging authenticity. So much so, his stories and plays were almost prophetic because they foreshadowed coming events with an insight that was as amazing as it was sharp. Chekhov’s writings, especially his short fiction, act as a bridge between the anti-Romantic realism of Maupassant (19th century) and the psychological realism of James Joyce (20th century). By the time he began to write, around 1880, Russian literature was marked by social and religious themes. A writer was supposed to write with a mission to transform others. Chekhov effected a major change in this pattern; he brought objectivity to literature. Chekhov had a miserable childhood. He had to work for long hours in the family shop; he was regularly whipped. Reminiscing about his childhood, Chekhov once remarked, "There was no childhood in my childhood." But these hardships led to Chekhov’s basic compassion for others, as is evident in his stories. Trained as a doctor, he pursued medical practice and writing simultaneously for quite some time. "Medicine is my lawful wife," he wrote to a friend, "and literature is my mistress." But he was not satisfied with the quality of his earlier writings. "Oh, with what trash I began!" he once lamented. The tales of Milpomene was the first collection of short stories by Chekhov that appeared in print. It went unnoticed. Then came Motley Stories (1886), Innocent Words (1887) and Twilight (1887). These established Chekhov as a writer and also won him the Pushkin Prize. In 1899, his collected works were published in a 10-volume edition. He wrote more than 800 stories. As a storyteller Chekhov had genius for conveying the astonishing possibilities of human nature. His insight into human mind was profound and dynamic. No short story writer has better expressed the "invisible complexities of the texture of human consciousness." In his mature stories — The Lady with the Pet Dog and Misery for example — the plot originates from the inner force of his characters. His characters are seldom guided by the storyline. Chekhov was often criticised for the lack of message in his fictions. When The Robbers (a short story) appeared in Suvorin’s New Times in 1890, the publisher reproached Chekhov for his objectivity (i.e. lack of ‘message’). Chekhov responded ironically: "You tell me off my objectivity, calling it indifference to good and evil... When I depict horse thieves, you want me to say that stealing horses is wrong. But surely this has long been well known without me saying so. Let the jury condemn them, but it is my job simply to show them as they are." The hallmark of Chekhov’s style was brevity and realism. Throughout his life he saw the true artist as a highly skilled craftsman who spoke the truth as clearly as possible. He disliked insincerity, mannerism and effects: literature, he believed, should be as simple and comprehensive as possible. "A writer," Chekhov wrote, "should be truthful and simple to the point of asceticism." Apart from short fiction, Chekhov also wrote many plays. The Seagull (1896), Uncle Vanya (1899), Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904) are still considered classics of the Russian theatre. It was a theatre actress, Olga Knipper, he married in 1901 — just three years before he died at a young age of 44. |
