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Anton Chekhov's Selected Plays
"Letters" is the largest collection of Chekhov's commentary on his plays ever to appear in an English-language edition.
"Criticism" includes eleven essays by leading European and Russian Chekhov scholars, most appearing in English for the first time, including those by Boris Zingerman, Maria Deppermann, and Lev Shestor. This volume also provides discussion of Chekhov's plays by some of the twentieth century's great directors, including Konstantin Stanislavsky, Peter Brook, and Mark Rozovsky.
A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.
674 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Anton Chekhov
6,001 books9,821 followers
Antón Chéjov
(Spanish)
Dramas, such as The Seagull (1896, revised 1898), and including "A Dreary Story" (1889) of Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, also Chekov, concern the inability of humans to communicate.
Born ( Антон Павлович Чехов ) in the small southern seaport of Taganrog, the son of a grocer. His grandfather, a serf, bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught to read. A cloth merchant fathered Yevgenia Morozova, his mother.
"When I think back on my childhood," Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." Tyranny of his father, religious fanaticism, and long nights in the store, open from five in the morning till midnight, shadowed his early years. He attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog from 1867 to 1868 and then Taganrog grammar school. Bankruptcy of his father compelled the family to move to Moscow. At the age of 16 years in 1876, independent Chekhov for some time alone in his native town supported through private tutoring.
In 1879, Chekhov left grammar school and entered the university medical school at Moscow. In the school, he began to publish hundreds of short comics to support his mother, sisters and brothers. Nicholas Leikin published him at this period and owned Oskolki (splinters), the journal of Saint Petersburg. His subjected silly social situations, marital problems, and farcical encounters among husbands, wives, mistresses, and lust; even after his marriage, Chekhov, the shy author, knew not much of whims of young women.
Nenunzhaya pobeda , first novel of Chekhov, set in 1882 in Hungary, parodied the novels of the popular Mór Jókai. People also mocked ideological optimism of Jókai as a politician.
Chekhov graduated in 1884 and practiced medicine. He worked from 1885 in Peterburskaia gazeta.
In 1886, Chekhov met H.S. Suvorin, who invited him, a regular contributor, to work for Novoe vremya, the daily paper of Saint Petersburg. He gained a wide fame before 1886. He authored The Shooting Party , his second full-length novel, later translated into English. Agatha Christie used its characters and atmosphere in later her mystery novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . First book of Chekhov in 1886 succeeded, and he gradually committed full time. The refusal of the author to join the ranks of social critics arose the wrath of liberal and radical intelligentsia, who criticized him for dealing with serious social and moral questions but avoiding giving answers. Such leaders as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, however, defended him. "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.
The failure of The Wood Demon , play in 1889, and problems with novel made Chekhov to withdraw from literature for a period. In 1890, he traveled across Siberia to Sakhalin, remote prison island. He conducted a detailed census of ten thousand convicts and settlers, condemned to live on that harsh island. Chekhov expected to use the results of his research for his doctoral dissertation. Hard conditions on the island probably also weakened his own physical condition. From this journey came his famous travel book.
Chekhov practiced medicine until 1892. During these years, Chechov developed his concept of the dispassionate, non-judgmental author. He outlined his program in a letter to his brother Aleksandr: "1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of political-social-economic nature; 2. total objectivity; 3. truthful descriptions of persons and objects; 4. extreme brevity; 5. audacity and originality; flee the stereotype; 6. compassion." Because he objected that the paper conducted against [a:Alfred Dreyfu
Dramas, such as The Seagull (1896, revised 1898), and including "A Dreary Story" (1889) of Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, also Chekov, concern the inability of humans to communicate.
Born ( Антон Павлович Чехов ) in the small southern seaport of Taganrog, the son of a grocer. His grandfather, a serf, bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught to read. A cloth merchant fathered Yevgenia Morozova, his mother.
"When I think back on my childhood," Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." Tyranny of his father, religious fanaticism, and long nights in the store, open from five in the morning till midnight, shadowed his early years. He attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog from 1867 to 1868 and then Taganrog grammar school. Bankruptcy of his father compelled the family to move to Moscow. At the age of 16 years in 1876, independent Chekhov for some time alone in his native town supported through private tutoring.
In 1879, Chekhov left grammar school and entered the university medical school at Moscow. In the school, he began to publish hundreds of short comics to support his mother, sisters and brothers. Nicholas Leikin published him at this period and owned Oskolki (splinters), the journal of Saint Petersburg. His subjected silly social situations, marital problems, and farcical encounters among husbands, wives, mistresses, and lust; even after his marriage, Chekhov, the shy author, knew not much of whims of young women.
Nenunzhaya pobeda , first novel of Chekhov, set in 1882 in Hungary, parodied the novels of the popular Mór Jókai. People also mocked ideological optimism of Jókai as a politician.
Chekhov graduated in 1884 and practiced medicine. He worked from 1885 in Peterburskaia gazeta.
In 1886, Chekhov met H.S. Suvorin, who invited him, a regular contributor, to work for Novoe vremya, the daily paper of Saint Petersburg. He gained a wide fame before 1886. He authored The Shooting Party , his second full-length novel, later translated into English. Agatha Christie used its characters and atmosphere in later her mystery novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . First book of Chekhov in 1886 succeeded, and he gradually committed full time. The refusal of the author to join the ranks of social critics arose the wrath of liberal and radical intelligentsia, who criticized him for dealing with serious social and moral questions but avoiding giving answers. Such leaders as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, however, defended him. "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.
The failure of The Wood Demon , play in 1889, and problems with novel made Chekhov to withdraw from literature for a period. In 1890, he traveled across Siberia to Sakhalin, remote prison island. He conducted a detailed census of ten thousand convicts and settlers, condemned to live on that harsh island. Chekhov expected to use the results of his research for his doctoral dissertation. Hard conditions on the island probably also weakened his own physical condition. From this journey came his famous travel book.
Chekhov practiced medicine until 1892. During these years, Chechov developed his concept of the dispassionate, non-judgmental author. He outlined his program in a letter to his brother Aleksandr: "1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of political-social-economic nature; 2. total objectivity; 3. truthful descriptions of persons and objects; 4. extreme brevity; 5. audacity and originality; flee the stereotype; 6. compassion." Because he objected that the paper conducted against [a:Alfred Dreyfu
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 22, 2022
Not an easy read. First of all, plays are hard for me to follow. Secondly, the Russian names, and nicknames. I do find it easier to keep track of the characters in longer fiction like Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky. Thirdly, i got the basic idea of what was happening but certainly missed the comedy and nuance. Oh well. Was worth a try.
November 16, 2007
Just three sisters.
December 7, 2024
Chekhov's writing underscores the honest fact that our lives are basically tragedies with the texture of comedy.
June 6, 2024
The critical essays in this edition are wonderfully informative (and as soon as I get my copy back from my niece, I’ll be able to make some detailed entries here)
I love the essay by Otomar Krejča, in writing about Chekhov’s plays, exhorts us to “Read Ward No. 6! (see separate entry under that short story - one of my favorite Chekhov short stories; no, one of my favorite short stories)
I find it hilarious, given all that’s made of Chekhov’s statement about using a gun/revolver/rifle, that in Vanya he has Vanya shoot not once but twice and has him miss both times.
See notes under the LATW adaption of Vanya for performance of this play in NYC 2024
See separate notes under other editions of Uncle Vanya and under Ward No. 6
In the McPherson adaptation, I’ve been tracking the way different translators have handled Marina’s onomatopoeic geese: here - “Goosie-goosie-gander, honk, honk honk!”
I love the essay by Otomar Krejča, in writing about Chekhov’s plays, exhorts us to “Read Ward No. 6! (see separate entry under that short story - one of my favorite Chekhov short stories; no, one of my favorite short stories)
I find it hilarious, given all that’s made of Chekhov’s statement about using a gun/revolver/rifle, that in Vanya he has Vanya shoot not once but twice and has him miss both times.
See notes under the LATW adaption of Vanya for performance of this play in NYC 2024
See separate notes under other editions of Uncle Vanya and under Ward No. 6
In the McPherson adaptation, I’ve been tracking the way different translators have handled Marina’s onomatopoeic geese: here - “Goosie-goosie-gander, honk, honk honk!”
December 26, 2017
Three Sisters - Chekhov 9/10
After reading some of Chekhov's short stories years ago I kept wanting to read his plays, but never got around to it. With Three Sisters starting at the theater near my house, I had an excuse to move them up my to read list. The story follows three sisters (and their brother) who live in rural Russia and are very well off and educated, pining to return to Moscow, where they grew up. The play occurs over several years covering a wide range of romances, aspirations, and struggles the family experiences with a kind of honest uncertainty that is rare to find. Chekhov has a talent for rendering the complexities of our hopes and doubts that does those questions justice with out succumbing to convenient cliches or sentiment for resolution. Instead we see life as a mystery that we pass through, like moving in the dark, echoed in the famous last lines "If only we knew... If only we knew." It is, frankly, a challenging play, dense with characters, ideas, and overlapping events. But Chekhov's uncompromising aesthetic offers a rich and unique kind of play.
The Cherry Orchard - Chekhov 8/10
The Cherry Orchard is the story of a Russian aristocratic Lyubov returning to her large countryside estate after a long spell abroad. The estate, known for its large cherry orchard, has fallen in to dire finances and is set to be auctioned. The estate represents a kind of microcosm of Russian society in a period of change. However, unlike most social commentary, there is little sloganeering or facile morals to be taken away. Instead, again, Chekhov dives deeply into the myriad of perspectives and their intertwined relationships. As the estate nears ruin, land owners and former serfs, the young and the elderly, intellectuals and laborers, all find themselves pulling in different directions. Chekhov offers no answers and we frequently don't know whether to laugh or cry. It is a strange kind of elixir he mixes, but one feels it somehow works.
Ivanov 5/10
Ivanov feels like the early Chekovian play that it is: it teems with the indefinable ennui of modernity and the complexities of social relations, but it does not quite come together. While his later plays certainly do not offer any kind of denouement or facile moral, they do have some trajectory they converge on where even with out resolution we feel some satisfaction of completion - that the story has done what it must. Further, the causes of Ivanov's troubles are never really understood. While not always essential to depict or explain every motivation, Ivanov's problems are such a driving point of the story that it is difficult have avoid. Nonetheless, the play has much of the beautiful writing and subtle, observant thoughts that make the later plays so wonderful it is still worth a read.
The Seagull 7/10
The Seagull is a strange play. Many of Chekhov's plays are strange in their mood, their balance of themes, but the Seagull is stranger in a more traditional sense. It contains with in it portions of a highly symbolic and abstract play that seems experimental and bleeds into the actual play in way that would not really arrive in theater for another half a century. I'm not sure about how I feel about the handling of the ending, but there is a modern realism and honesty about ugly truths about life to the play that is clearly on the precipice of his later plays. It is also a play that is strikingly visual, painting images in one's mind. A play about love and art, it is darker and more philosophically challenging than those themes often suggest.
Uncle Vanya 6/10
One should perhaps not be allowed to read Uncle Vanya after The Cherry Orchard or Three Sisters (which I did). On its own merits, I'm sure it holds up better than my current assessment, but it clearly belongs to his earlier plays. It is motivated by the ennui characteristic of all Chekhov's plays and his writing is as impressive as ever, but like The Seagull and Ivanov, he still doesn't seem to know what to do with it - or perhaps more accurately, feels obligated to do something with it at all. All of these plays feel like they end with some reaching out for a doctrine powerful enough or an event dramatic enough to resolve or overwhelm the uncertainty of the life. In contrast, in The Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters Chekhov finally finds the courage to face the unknown unflinchingly and without recourse to artifice or platitudes. Here, instead, we find a play with Chekhov's markings, but not his best.
After reading some of Chekhov's short stories years ago I kept wanting to read his plays, but never got around to it. With Three Sisters starting at the theater near my house, I had an excuse to move them up my to read list. The story follows three sisters (and their brother) who live in rural Russia and are very well off and educated, pining to return to Moscow, where they grew up. The play occurs over several years covering a wide range of romances, aspirations, and struggles the family experiences with a kind of honest uncertainty that is rare to find. Chekhov has a talent for rendering the complexities of our hopes and doubts that does those questions justice with out succumbing to convenient cliches or sentiment for resolution. Instead we see life as a mystery that we pass through, like moving in the dark, echoed in the famous last lines "If only we knew... If only we knew." It is, frankly, a challenging play, dense with characters, ideas, and overlapping events. But Chekhov's uncompromising aesthetic offers a rich and unique kind of play.
The Cherry Orchard - Chekhov 8/10
The Cherry Orchard is the story of a Russian aristocratic Lyubov returning to her large countryside estate after a long spell abroad. The estate, known for its large cherry orchard, has fallen in to dire finances and is set to be auctioned. The estate represents a kind of microcosm of Russian society in a period of change. However, unlike most social commentary, there is little sloganeering or facile morals to be taken away. Instead, again, Chekhov dives deeply into the myriad of perspectives and their intertwined relationships. As the estate nears ruin, land owners and former serfs, the young and the elderly, intellectuals and laborers, all find themselves pulling in different directions. Chekhov offers no answers and we frequently don't know whether to laugh or cry. It is a strange kind of elixir he mixes, but one feels it somehow works.
Ivanov 5/10
Ivanov feels like the early Chekovian play that it is: it teems with the indefinable ennui of modernity and the complexities of social relations, but it does not quite come together. While his later plays certainly do not offer any kind of denouement or facile moral, they do have some trajectory they converge on where even with out resolution we feel some satisfaction of completion - that the story has done what it must. Further, the causes of Ivanov's troubles are never really understood. While not always essential to depict or explain every motivation, Ivanov's problems are such a driving point of the story that it is difficult have avoid. Nonetheless, the play has much of the beautiful writing and subtle, observant thoughts that make the later plays so wonderful it is still worth a read.
The Seagull 7/10
The Seagull is a strange play. Many of Chekhov's plays are strange in their mood, their balance of themes, but the Seagull is stranger in a more traditional sense. It contains with in it portions of a highly symbolic and abstract play that seems experimental and bleeds into the actual play in way that would not really arrive in theater for another half a century. I'm not sure about how I feel about the handling of the ending, but there is a modern realism and honesty about ugly truths about life to the play that is clearly on the precipice of his later plays. It is also a play that is strikingly visual, painting images in one's mind. A play about love and art, it is darker and more philosophically challenging than those themes often suggest.
Uncle Vanya 6/10
One should perhaps not be allowed to read Uncle Vanya after The Cherry Orchard or Three Sisters (which I did). On its own merits, I'm sure it holds up better than my current assessment, but it clearly belongs to his earlier plays. It is motivated by the ennui characteristic of all Chekhov's plays and his writing is as impressive as ever, but like The Seagull and Ivanov, he still doesn't seem to know what to do with it - or perhaps more accurately, feels obligated to do something with it at all. All of these plays feel like they end with some reaching out for a doctrine powerful enough or an event dramatic enough to resolve or overwhelm the uncertainty of the life. In contrast, in The Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters Chekhov finally finds the courage to face the unknown unflinchingly and without recourse to artifice or platitudes. Here, instead, we find a play with Chekhov's markings, but not his best.
September 9, 2009
“Man is endowed with reason and with the power of creation so he can increase what is given to him, but up to this moment he hasn’t created - he’s destroyed. The forests diminish year after year, rivers dry up, wildlife is coming to an end, the climate is spoiled, and with every passing day the earth keeps growing poorer and uglier.”
Chekov wrote this in 1895; how much truer it is now than it was then! Knowing I was going to TUTA’s production of "Uncle Vanya" at the Chopin Theatre in June, I reread the play and fell under Chekov’s spell again. And that cast completely embodied his text, bringing what’s perfect on the page to life...abandoned plans, cheerless relationships, the fleeting, shared comfort of close moments. Poor, plain Sonya, ambitious Astrov, superficial Yelena, spiteful Vanya and the others are as real and unhappy as most people on the globe. If a troupe is staging “The Seagull” or “Three Sisters,” I’ll open my trusty Norton Critical Edition to measure the immortal words against those actors entrusted to utter them.
[I think I first devoured the four major plays in May 2004...a fair trade with Alyson for "Franny and Zooey," n'est-ce pas?:]
Chekov wrote this in 1895; how much truer it is now than it was then! Knowing I was going to TUTA’s production of "Uncle Vanya" at the Chopin Theatre in June, I reread the play and fell under Chekov’s spell again. And that cast completely embodied his text, bringing what’s perfect on the page to life...abandoned plans, cheerless relationships, the fleeting, shared comfort of close moments. Poor, plain Sonya, ambitious Astrov, superficial Yelena, spiteful Vanya and the others are as real and unhappy as most people on the globe. If a troupe is staging “The Seagull” or “Three Sisters,” I’ll open my trusty Norton Critical Edition to measure the immortal words against those actors entrusted to utter them.
[I think I first devoured the four major plays in May 2004...a fair trade with Alyson for "Franny and Zooey," n'est-ce pas?:]
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August 17, 2017senelick vs rocamora translation chekhov
This whole block of text should link to a really long review I left on another edition of this book explaining my thoughts on the differences. Written with the idea of helping someone choose between the two translations, since I didn't find any similar post when I was trying to choose which edition to read for a monologue.
The TLDR; Neither edition was perfect. I ended up borrowing pieces of both translations to put together a natural-sounding monologue for a class. Slightly prefer Rocamora for performing or studying, but the Senelick is slightly more accessible
This whole block of text should link to a really long review I left on another edition of this book explaining my thoughts on the differences. Written with the idea of helping someone choose between the two translations, since I didn't find any similar post when I was trying to choose which edition to read for a monologue.
The TLDR; Neither edition was perfect. I ended up borrowing pieces of both translations to put together a natural-sounding monologue for a class. Slightly prefer Rocamora for performing or studying, but the Senelick is slightly more accessible
February 27, 2016
The Norton edition of Chekhov's plays contains some fascinating information, including the letters Chekhov wrote from Yalta while creating the play. The notes are useful too.
The production I saw at BAM was intriguing and well worth seeing--and seeing again if I could. I admired the use of space, the ensemble, the risks the director took in making the play resonate with the future of Russia after 1904.
The production I saw at BAM was intriguing and well worth seeing--and seeing again if I could. I admired the use of space, the ensemble, the risks the director took in making the play resonate with the future of Russia after 1904.
June 4, 2012
I love Anton Chekhov's more famous works such as Uncle Vanya and The Seagull but this book was my first time reading his shorter works. His one-acts especially The Bear are very cute and fun! Who doesn't love a good farce? However, some of the situations and arguments between characters can get rather conventional and repetitive.
March 16, 2011
only read the seagull, uncle vanya, three sisters & the cherry orchard
i'm not really a fan of his plays. they don't really do much for me. i find them awful. anticlimatic, melodramatic, ugh idk, but they're off all the same.
i'm not really a fan of his plays. they don't really do much for me. i find them awful. anticlimatic, melodramatic, ugh idk, but they're off all the same.
April 19, 2016
Read for class and only went through The Seagull and it's criticism. Older work, but quite historic. Worth the read and study to learn about Chekhov and his role in developing plays as they are today.
May 8, 2009
Read "The Cherry Orchard" for class; found it confusing and dull.
March 14, 2010
Seeing a Russian troupe performing Uncle Vanya next Sunday. Getting prepared
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews