Books and writers / Chekhov

Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov 

(1860 - 1904)

Russian playwright and one of the great masters of modern short story. In his work Chekhov combined the dispassionate attitude of a scientist and doctor with the sensitivity and psychological understanding of an artist. Chekhov portrayed often life in the Russian small towns, where tragic events occur in a minor key, as a part of everyday texture of life. His characters are passive by-standers in regard to their lives, filled with the feeling of hopelessness and the fruitlessness of all efforts. "What difference does it make?" says Chebutykin in Three Sisters.

"There is not, or there hardly is, a single Russian gentleman or university man who does not boast of his past. The present is always worse than the past. Why? Because Russian excitability has one specific characteristic: it is quickly followed by exhaustion" (in Letters on the Short Story, the Drama and other Literary Topics, 1924)

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov 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 Morozov, 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 Moskow 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.

In 1879 Chekhov entered the Moskow University Medical School. While in the school, he began to publish hundreds of comic short stories to support himself and his mother, sisters and brothers. His publisher at this period was Nicholas Leikin, owner of the St. Petersburg journal Oskolki (splinters). His subjects were silly social situations, marital problems, farcical encounters between husbands, wives, mistresses, and lovers, whims of young women, of whom Chekhov had not much knowledge – in his youth the author had been shy with women but it has been claimed that he had more that 30 love affairs during his life and he visited brothels regularly. His works appeared in St. Petersburg daily papers, Peterburskaia gazeta from 1885, and Novoe vremia from 1886.

Chekhov's first novel, Nenunzhaya pobeda (1882), set in Hungary, parodied the novels of the popular Hungarian writer Mór Jókai. As a politician Jókai was also mocked for his ideological optimism. By 1886 Chekhov had gained a wide fame as a writer. His second full-length novel, The Shooting Party, was translated into English in 1926. Agatha Christie used its characters and atmosphere in her mystery novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926).

Chekhov graduated in 1884, and practiced medicine until 1892. In 1886 Chekhov met H.S. Suvorin, who invited him to become a regular contributor for the St. Petersburg daily Novoe vremya. His friendship with Suvorin ended in 1898 because of his objections to the anti-Dreyfus campaingn conducted by paper. But during these years Chechov developed his concept of the dispassionate, non-judgemental 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."

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.

The failure of his play The Wood Demon (1889) and problems with his novel made Chekhov to withdraw from literature for a period. In 1890 he travelled across Siberia to remote prison island, Sakhalin. There he conducted a detailed census of some 10,000 convicts and settlers condemned to live their lives on that harsh island. Chekhov hoped to use the results of his research for his doctoral dissertation. It is probable that hard conditions on the island also worsened his own physical condition. From this journey was born his famous travel book The Island: A Journey to Sakhalin (1893-94). Chekhov returned to Russia via Singapore, India, Ceylon, and the Suez Canal. From 1892 to 1899 Chekhov worked in Melikhovo, and in Yalta from 1899.

"My life is tedious, dull, monotonous, because I am a painter, a queer fish, and have been worried all my life with envy, discontent, disbelief in my work: I am always poor, I am a vagabond, but you are a wealthy, normal man, a landowner, a gentleman - why do you live so tamely and take so little from life?" (from The House with the Mezzanine, 1986)

Chekhov was awarded the Pushkin Prize in 1888. Next year he was elected a member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. In 1900 he became a member of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, but resigned his post two years later as a protest against the cancellation by the authorities of Gorky's election to the Academy. Later, in 1900, Gorky wrote to him: "After any of your stories, however insignificant, everything appears crude, as if written not by a pen, but by a cudgel."

As a short story writer Chekhov was phenomenally fast – he could compose a little sketch or a joke while just visiting at a newspaper office. During his career he produced several hundred tales. 'Palata No. 6' (1892, Ward Number Six) is Chekhov's classical tale of the abuse of psychiatry. Gromov is convinced that anyone can be imprisoned. He develops a persecution mania and is incarcerated in a horrific asylum, where he meets Doctor Ragin. Their relationship attracts attention and the doctor is tricked into becoming a patient in his own ward. He dies after being beaten by a charge hand. – The symmetrical story has much similarities with such works as Samuel Fuller's film The Shock Corridor (1963), and Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over Cockoo's Nest (1975).

Today Chekhov's fame today rests primarily on his plays. He used ordinary conversations, pauses, noncommunication, nonhappening, incomplete thoughts, to reveal the truth behind trivial words and daily life. There is always a division between the outer appearance and the inner currents of thoughts and emotions. His characters belong often to the provincial middle class, petty aristocracy, or landowners of prerevolutionary Russia. They contemplate their unsatisfactory lives, immersed in nostalgia, unable to make decisions and help themselves when a crisis breaks out.

Chekhov's first full-length plays were failures. When Chaika (The Seagull), written in Melikhovo, was revised in 1898 by Stanislavsky at the Moskow Art Theatre, he gained also fame as a playwright. Chekhov described The Seagull as a comedy, but it ends with the suicide of a young poet. The idea for the play partly emerged from a day's hunting trip Chekhov had made with his friend Isaac Levitan, who shot at a woodcock, which did not die. Disgusted, Chekhov smashed the bird's head in with his rifle butt.

Another masterpieces from this period is Dyadya Vanya (1900, Uncle Vanya), a melancholic story of Sonia and his brother-in-law Ivan (Uncle Vanya), who see their dreams and hopes passing in drudgery for others. Tri sestry (1901, The Three Sisters) was set in a provincial garrison town. The talented Prozorov sisters, whose hopes have much in common with the Brontë sisters, recognize the uselessness of their lives and cling to one another for consolation. "If only we knew! If only we knew!" cries Olga at the end of the play.

Vishnyovy sad (1904, The Cherry Orchaid) reflected the larger developments in the Russian society. Mme Ranevskaias returns to her estate and finds out that the family house, together with the adjoining orchard, is to be auctioned. Her brother Gaev is too impractical to help in the crisis. The businessman Lopakhin purchases the estate and the orchard is demolished. "Everything on earth must come to an end..."

In these three famous plays Chekhov blended humor and tragedy. He left much room for imagination – his plays as well as his stories are in opposition to the concept of an artist as a mouthpiece of political change or social message. However, in his late years Chekhov supported morally the young experimental director, Vsevolod Meyerhold, who hoped to establish a revolutionary theater. Usually in Chekhov's dramas surprise and tension are not key elements, the dramatic movement is subdued, his characters do not fight, they endure their fate with patience. But in the process they perhaps discover something about themselves and their monotonous life.

"Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, the climate's ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day." (from Uncle Vanya, 1897) - "When a woman isn't beautiful, people always say, 'You have lovely eyes, you have lovely hair'." (in Uncle Vanya)

Chekhov bought in 1892 a country estate in the village of Melikhove, where his best stories were written, including 'Neighbours' (1892), 'Ward Number Six', 'The Black Monk' (1894), 'The Murder' (1895), and 'Ariadne' (1895). He also served as a volunteer census taker, participated in famine relief, and worked as a medical inspector during cholore epidemics. In 1897 he fell ill with tuberculosis and lived since either abroad or in the Crimea.

Much to the surprise of his friends and family, Chekhov married in 1901 the Moscow Art Theater actress Olga Knipper (1870-1959), eight years his junior. She had several years central roles in his plays on stage. Living apart from his wife who continued her career in Moscow, Chekhov wrote in Yalta some of his most famous stories, such as 'The Man in a Shell,' 'Gooseberries,' 'About Love,' 'Lady with the Dog,' and 'In the Ravine.' His last great piece, 'The Betrothed,' was an optimistic tale of a young woman who escapes from provincial dullness into personal freedom. Olga had a miscarriage in 1902; her unborn child was fathered by someone other than Chechov, possibly by an actor named Aleksandr Vishnevsky. ('Secrets, lies and a child: William Boyd on the truth behind Chekhov’s marriage' by William Boyd, The Guardian, 20 August 2018)

Tolstoy, who admired Chekhov's fiction, did not think much of his dramatic skills. When he met Chekhov in Yalta, he said: "Don't write any more plays, old thing." Chekhov himself thought that Tolstoy was already a very sick man at that time, but he lived longer than Chekhov.

Chekhov died on July 14/15, 1904, in Badenweiler, Germany. His last words were, "It's a long time since I drank champagne." His body was returned to Russia in a refrigerated railroad car marked "for oysters". A number of people waited for it at the Moscow train station, but they first started to follow the wrong coffin, that of a General Keller, which was being eccompanied by a military band. Chekhov was buried in the cemetery of the Novodevichy (New Virgin) Monastery in Moscow, between the grave of his father and that of a Cossack widow. Though a celebrated figure by the Russian literary public at the time of his death, Chekhov remained rather unknown internationally until the years after World War I, when his works were translated into English.

Chekhov's brother Aleksandr, who married the author's mistress Natalia Golden, had problems with alcohol. His son Mihail moved in the 1920s first to Germany and then in the United States, where he worked as a teacher of acting and acted among others in Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945). It has been said that during WW II the German army saved Chekhov's house in Yalta because Mihail's wife Olga, whose aunt was married to Chekhov, had been photographed with Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring. She also was a Soviet agent and knew Stalin.

For further reading: Anton Chekhov: A Critical Study by William Gerhardie (1923); Chekhov by R. Hingley (1950); Chekhov: A Life by David Magarshack (1952); Anton Chekhov by Walter Horace Bruford (1957), Chekhov: A Biography by Ernest J. Simmons (1962); Anton Chekhov's Life and Thought by M.H. Heim (1975); A New Life of Anton Chekhov by Ronald Hingley (1976); Chekhov: A Study of the Major Stories and Plays by Beverly Hahn (1977); Chekhov: The Critical Heritage, ed. by Viktor Emeljanow (1981); Anton Chekhov by Irina Kirk (1981); Chekhov: A Study of the Four Major Plays by Richard Peace (1983); A Chekhov Companion, ed. by Toby W. Clayman (1985); Anton Chekhov: A Reference Guide to Literature by K.A. Lantz (1985); Anton Chekhov by Laurence Senelick (1985); Chekhov on Women by Carolina de Maegd-Soëp (1987); 'The Cherry Orchard': A Catastrophe and Comedy by Donald Rayfield (1994); Chekhov's 'Three Sisters' by Gordon McVay (1995); Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' and 'The Wood Demon' by Donald Rayfield (1995); Anton Chekhov: A Life by Donald Rayfield (1997); Understanding Chekhov by Donald Rayfield (1998); Reading Chekhov: A Critical Journey by Janet Malcolm (2001); If Only We Could Know: An Interpretation of Chekhov by Vladimir Kataev (2002);  Memories of Chekhov, ed. Peter Sekirin (2011); Anton Chekhov: A Life in Four Acts by Carol Rocamora (2013).

Selected works:

• Platonov, 1878/81 (play, published 1923)
  - That Worthless Fellow Platonov (tr. John Cournos, 1930) / Don Juan in the Russian Manner (tr. B. Ashmore, 1953) / Platonov: A Play in Four Acts and Five Scenes (tr. David Magarshack, 1964) / Platonov (tr. Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 2, 1967)
  - Platonov (suom. Annikki Laaksi, 1966) / Isättömyys eli Platonov (suom. Esa Adrian, 1983)  
  -  FILM: 1977, Neokonchennaya pyesa dlya mekhanicheskogo pianino / Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano, dir. by Nikita Mikhalkov
• Nenuzhnaya pobeda, 1882
  - A Useless Victory (translated by Lionel Britton)
  - Turha voitto (suom. Vilho Elomaa, 1919)
• Na bolshoi doroge, 1884 (play, performance forbidden by censor in 1885, adapted from the short story 'In the Autumn') - On the Highway (tr. D. Modell, in Drama VI, 22, 1916) / On the High Road (tr.  Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 1, 1968) / Along the Highway (tr. Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
• 'Khameleon', 1884
  - A Chameleon (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Cook's Wedding and Other Stories, 1922) / Chameleon (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
• 'Ustritsy', 1884
  - Oysters  (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Cook's Wedding and Other Stories, 1922; Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
• 'Drama na okhote', 1884-85
  - The Shooting Party (translators: A.E. Chamot; Ronald Wilks) / The Huntsman  (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000) 
  - Kohtaaminen metsästysretkellä (suom. Valdemar Melanko, 1980)
  -  FILM: 1978, Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver, dir. by Emil Loteanu
• 'Zhivaya Khronologiya', 1885
  - A Living Chronology  (in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
• O vrede tabaka: Stsena monolog, 1886-1903 (play, published 1903)
  - On the Harmfulness of Tobacco (tr. Constance Garnett, in Plays, 1935; S. Koteliansky, in Plays and Stories of Tchehoff, 1937) / Smoking is Bad for You (tr. Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov, 1968) / On the Injurious Effects of Tobacco (tr. Eugene K. Bristow, in Plays, 1977) / The Evils of Tobacco (tr.  Michael Frayn, in Chekhov: Plays, 1993; Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006) / The Dangers of Tobacco (tr.  Paul Schmidt, in 7 Short Farces by Anton Chekhov, 1998)
  - Tupakan vahingollisuudesta (suom. Markku Lahtela, 1962)
• 'Toska', 1886
  - Misery (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
• 'Van'ka', 1886
  - Vanka  (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Cook's Wedding and Other Stories, 1922; Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Vanjka (suom. L. Helo, 1937)
• 'Panikhida', 1886
  - The Requiem  (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
• 'Mal'ciki,' 1886
  - Boys (tr.  Constance Garnett, in The Cook's Wedding and Other Stories, 1922)
  - Pojat (suom. Kerttu Kyhälä-Juntunen, 1978)
• 'Kashtanka', 1887
  - Kashtanka (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Cook's Wedding and Other Stories, 1922)
  - Kashtanka (suom. L. Helo, teoksessa Kertomuksia, 1935; E. Pastak, 1936; Matti Lehmonen, teoksessa Valittuja, 1945; Eila Salminen, teoksessa Koiramaisia juttuja, 1980)
• Ivanov, 1887 (play, rev. ed. 1889; in P'esy, 1897)
  - Ivanov (tr: E. Winer, in Makers of the Modern Theatre, 1961; Ariadne Nicolaeff, 1966; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 2, 1967; Karl Kramer and Margaret Booker, in Chekhov's Major Plays, 1997; Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Ivanov (suom. Esa Adrian, 1983)
• Lebedinaia pesnia, 1887 (play, adapted from the short story 'Kalkhas', in P'esy, 1897)
  - The Swan Song (tr. M. Fell, in Repertory, 1960; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 1, 1968; Michael Frayn, in Chekhov: Plays, 1993; Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997; Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Joutsenlaulu (suom. Markku Lahtela, 1962)
  - FILM: 1992, dir. by Kenneth Branagh, starring John Gielgud
• 'Step', 1888
  - The Steppe (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Bishop and Other Stories, 1919; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Complete Short Novels, 2005)
  - Aro ja muita novelleja (suom. Ulla-Liisa Heino, 1970)
• 'Ogni', 1888
  - Lights (tr. Constance Garnett, in Love and Other Stories, 1923)
  - Tuulet (suom. Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja I, 1975)
• 'Nepriyatnost', 1888
  - An Unpleasantness (tr. Avrahm Yarmolinsky, in The Unknown Chekhov: Stories and Other Writings Hitherto Untranslated, 1954)
  - Nolo tapaus (suom. Marja Koskinen, Mestarinovelleja I, 1975)
• Medved', 1888 (play)
  - The Boor (tr. H. Bankhage, 1915) / The Bear (tr. B. Clark, in Thirty One-Act Plays, 1943; Elisaveta Fen, in The Seagull, and Other Plays, 1954; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 1, 1968; Michael Frayn, in Chekhov: Plays, 1993; Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997; Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Karhu: pila yhdessä näytöksessä (suomentanut R. W. S., 1908) /  Karhu (suom. Jalo Kalima, 1952)  
  - FILMS: 1938, dir. by Isidor Annensky; 1961, dir. by Martin Fric; 1996, The Boor, dir. by Ian Thompson; 2000, Speed for Thespians, dir. by Kalman Apple
• 'Skuchnaia istoriia', 1889
  - A Tiresome Story (tr.  Robert Edward Crozier Long, et al., in Rothschild's Fiddle and Other Stories, 1917) / A Boring Story (tr.  Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Ikävä tarina (suom. L. Grönlund & V. Levänen, Novelleja, 1960) / Ikävä tapaus (suom. Juhani Konkka, Valitut novellit, 1960) / Ikävä tarina (suom. Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja I, 1975)
• Tatiana Repina, 1889 (play)
  - Tatyana Repin (tr.  Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 1, 1968) / Tatyana Repina (tr. Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
• Predlozhenie, 1889 (play)
  - A Marriage Proposal (tr. H. Baukhage and B. Clark, 1914; P. Wayne, in One-Act Comedies, 1935) / The Marriage Proposal (tr. Paula Caywood, 1997) / The Proposal (tr.  Elisaveta Fen, in The Seagull, and Other Plays, 1954; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 1, 1968; Paul Schmidt; Michael Frayn, in Chekhov: Plays, 1993; Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997; Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Kosinta (suom. Reino Silva, 1908; Jalo Kalima, 1950; Markku Lahtela, 1970)
• Svabda, 1889 (play, published 1902)
  - The Wedding (tr. Julius West, in Plays, 1916;  Constance Garnett, in Plays, 1929; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 1, 1968;  Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006) / The Wedding Reception (tr. Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997)
  - Häät (suom. Markku Lahtela, 1962)
• Leshii, 1889 (play, early version of Dyadyat Vanya)
  - The Wood-Demon (tr. Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 3, 1964) / The Wood Goblin (tr. Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Metsähiisi (suom. Markku Lahtela, 1971; Esa Adrian, 1983)
• Tragic ponevole, 1890 (play)
  - A Tragedian in Spite of Himself (tr. Julius West, in Plays, 1916) / A Tragic Role (tr.  Ronald Hingley, in the Oxford Chekhov, 1968) / A Reluctant Tragic Hero (Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997) / An Involuntary Tragedian  (tr. Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
• Noch' pered sudom, ca. 1891 (unfinished play, publ. 1914, based on a short story with the same title)
  - The Night Before the Trial (tr. Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 1, 1968)
  - Yö ennen oikeudenkäyntiä (suom. Markku Lahtela)
• 'Duel', 1891
  - The Duel (tr. Constance Garnett; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Complete Short Novels, 2005)
  - Kaksintaistelu (suom. Emil Mannstén, 1921; Juhani Konkka, 1960; Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja I, 1975; teoksessa Vaimoni ja muita novelleja, 1978)
• 'Poprygun'ia', 1892
  - The Grasshopper (tr. A. E. Chamot, 1926; David Magarshack, in The Lady with a Lapdog, 1964; Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979) 
  - Hepsakka (suom. Reino Silvanto & Erkki Valkeila, 1957)
• Iubilei, 1892 (play, based on the short story 'A Helpless Creature', revised 1902)
  - The Jubilee (tr. O. Murphy, in Poets Lore 31, 1920) / A Jubilee (tr. Elisaveta Fen, in The Seagull, and Other Plays, 1954); / The Anniversary (tr.  C.E.B. Roberts, in Five Russian Plays with One from the Ukrainian, 1916; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 1, 1968; Sergius Pomonorov, edited William-Alan Landes, 1992) / The Festivities (tr. Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997) / The Celebration (tr.  Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Riemujuhla (suom.  Reino Silvanto, 1914; Markku Lahtela, 1970)
• 'V ssylke', 1892
  - In Exile (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
• 'Palata No. 6', 1892
  - Ward No. 6 (translators: Robert Edward Crozier Long, in The Black Monk and Other Stories, 1915;  Constance Garnett, in The Horse-Stealers and Other Stories, 1921; David Magarshack, in The Lady with a Lapdog, 1964; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000) / Ward Number Six (tr.  Ronald Hingley, 1999)
  - Lääkärin kohtalo eli sairaala n:o 6 (suom. Emil Mannstén, 1900) / Kuudes osasto (suom. Vilho Elomaa, 1921) / Sairashuone n:o 6 (suom. V. Levänen, 1957) / Sali n:o 6 (suom. Juhani Konkka, Valitut novellit, 1960)
  -  FILMS: 1974, Krankensaal 6, dir. by Karl Fruchtmann1978; Paviljon VI, dir. by Lucian Pintilie
• Ostrov Sakhalin, 1893
  - The Island: A Journey to Sakhalin (tr. Luba and Michael Terpak, 1967)
  - Sahalin (suom. Valdemar Melanko, 1972)
• 'Rasskaz neizvestnovo cheloveka', 1893
  - The Story of an Unknown Man (tr. Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Complete Short Novels, 2005) 
  - Tuntemattoman tarina (suom. Marja Koskinen, teoksessa Tuntemattoman tarina ja muita novelleja, 1971; teoksessa Mestarinovelleja I, 1975)
• 'V rozhdestvenskyu noch', 1883
  - At Christmas Time (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Witch and Other Stories, 1918) / At Christmastime (tr. in  Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
• 'Bab'e tsarstvo', 1893
  - A Woman's Kingdom (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Party and Other Stories, 1921)
  - Naisten kuningaskunta (suom. Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• 'Chernyi monakh', 1894
  - The Black Monk (tr. R. E. C. Long, in Rothschild's Fiddle and Other Stories, 1917; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Musta munkki (suom. Juhani Konkka, Valitut novellit, 1960)
• 'Skripka Rotshil’da', 1894
  - Rothschild's Fiddle (tr. R. E. C. Long et al., in Rothschild's Fiddle and Other Stories, 1917; Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Rothschildin viulu (suom.: L. Holm, teoksessa Novelleja, 1960; Vaimoni ja muita novelleja, 1978)
• 'Uchitel slovenosti', 1894
  - The Teacher of Literature (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
  - Kielen ja kirjallisuuden opettaja (suom. L. Holm, Novelleja, 1960) / Kirjallisuuden lehtori (suom. Juhani Konkka, Valitut novellit, 1960)
• 'Student', 1894
  - The Student (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Ylioppilas (suom. Vaimoni ja muita kertomuksia, 1978)
• 'Tri goda', 1895
  - Three Years (tr. Roze Prokofeva, 1961; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Complete Short Novels, 2005)
  - Kolme vuotta (suom. Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• 'Ubijstvo', 1895
  - The Murder (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Bishop and Other Stories, 1919)
  - Tappo (suom. Marja Koskinen, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• 'Ariadna', 1895
  - Ariadne (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Darling and Other Stories, 1916;  David Magarshack, in The Lady with a Lapdog, 1964)
  - Ariadna (suom. Marja Koskinen, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• 'Moya zhizh', 1895
  - My Life (tr. S.S. Koteliansky and Gilbert Cannan, in The House with Mezzanine and Other Stories, 1917; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Complete Short Novels, 2005)
  - Elämäni (suom. Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• 'Anna na sheye', 1895
  - Anna on the Neck (tr.  Ralph E. Matlaw, in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, 1979; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Anna kaulassa (suom. L. Holm, Novelleja, 1960)
  -  FILM: 1954, Anna na shee, dir.by Isidor Annensky
• 'Dom s mezonimom', 1896
  - The House with the Mezzanine (translators: S. S. Koteliansky and Gilbert Cannan, in The House with Mezzanine and Other Stories, 1917; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Taiteilijan tarina (suom. Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• Chaika, 1896 (play, in P'esy, 1897)
  - The Seagull (tr: F. Eisemann, in Poet Lore XXIV, 1913; Elisaveta Fen, in The Seagull, and Other Plays, 1954; Fred Eisemann, 1963; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 2, 1967; Jean-Claude Van Itallie, 1974;  Michael Frayn, in Chekhov: Plays, 1993; Jean-Claude van Itallie, in The Major Plays, 1994; Tom Stoppard, 1997; Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997; Karl Kramer and Margaret Booker, in Chekhov's Major Plays, 1997; Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Lokki (suom.: Eino ja Jalo Kalima, teoksessa Neljä näytelmää, 1960; Lauri Sipari, 1995; Martti Anhava, 1999)
  -  FILMS: 1968, dir. by Sidney Lumet, starring James Mason, Vanessa Redgrave, Simone Signoret; 1970, dir. by Yuli Karasik; 2003, La Petite Lili, dir. by Claude Miller; 2007, Nachmittag, dir. by Angela Schanelec
• Dyadya Vanya, 1897 (play, based on Leshii, in P'esy, 1897)
  - Uncle Vanya (translators: Elisaveta Fen, in The Seagull, and Other Plays, 1954; Stark Young, in Best Plays by Chekhov, 1956; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 3, 1964; Michael Frayn, in Chekhov: Plays, 1993; Jean-Claude van Itallie, in The Major Plays, 1994; Karl Kramer and Margaret Booker, in Chekhov's Major Plays, 1997; Mike Poulton; Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997; Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Eno Vanja (suom. V. Tarkiainen, 1909) / Vanja eno (suom. Eino ja Jalo Kalima, teoksessa Neljä näytelmää, 1960) / Vanja-eno (suom. Jukka Voutilainen, 1982; Esa Adrian, 1989; Martti Anhava, 1999) / Vanja-eno: kohtauksia maalaiselämästä (suom. Esa Adrian, 2011)
  -  FILMS: 1957, dir. by John Goetz & Franchot Tone; 1970, dir. by Andrei Konchalovsky; 1990, Zio Vania di Anton Cechov, dir. by Antonio Salines; 1994, Country Life, dir. by Michael Blakemore, starring Sam Neill, Greta Scacchi; John Hargreaves; Kerry Fox; 1994, Vanya on 42nd Street, dir. by Louis Malle; 1996: August (based on the play), dir. by Anthony Hopkins
• 'Muzhiki', 1897
  - The Peasants (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Witch and Other Stories, 1918)
  - Venäläisiä talonpoikia (suom. J.G. Vuoriniemi, 1919) / Talonpoikia (suom. L. Helo, Novelleja, 1960; Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• 'Na podvode', 1897
  - A Journey By Cart (tr. Marian Fell, in Russian Silhouettes, 1915) / A Journey by Cart (in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979) - Rattailla (suom. L. Grönlund, Novelleja, 1960; Marja Koskinen, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• 'Kryzhovnik', 1898
  - Gooseberries (tr. S. S. Koteliansky and Gilbert Cannan, in The House with Mezzanine and Other Stories, 1917; Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
  - Karviaismarjat (suom. Reino Silvanto, teoksessa Kolme kertomusta, 1911) / Karviaismarjoja (suom. V. Levänen, Novelleja, 1960; Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• 'Ionych', 1898
  - Ionych  (tr. David Magarshack, in The Lady with a Lapdog, 1964)
• 'Sluchay iz praktiki', 1898
  - A Doctor's Visit (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories, 1917; Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979
  - Sairaskäynnillä (suom. L. Grönlund, Novelleja, 1960)
• 'Chelovek v futliare', 1898
  - The Man in a Case (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979)
  - Koteloitunut ihminen (suom. Reino Silvanto, teoksessa Kolme kertomusta, 1911;  Erkki Valkeila)
• 'Dama s sobachkoi', 1899
  - The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories (translated by Constance Garnett, 1917) / The Lady with a Lapdog (tr. David Magarshack, 1964) /  The Lady with the Dog (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979) / The Lady with the Little Dog (tr.  Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Rouva, jolla oli koira (suom. L. Holm. Novelleja, 1960) / Nainen ja sylikoira (suom. Ulla-Liisa Heino, Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
• 'Dushechka', 1899
  - The Darling (tr. Constance Garnett, in The Darling and Other Stories, 1921;  David Magarshack, in The Lady with a Lapdog, 1964; Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Kullanmuru (suom. Juhani Konkka, Valitut novellit, 1960)
• 'V ovrage', 1900
  - In the Ravine (tr.  Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Rotkossa (suom. L. Helo, 1957; Ulla-Liisa Heino, teoksessa Mestarinovelleja II, 1975)
  -  FILM: 1991, Kasba, dir. by Kumar Shahani
• Tri sestry, 1901 (play)
  - Three Sisters (translations: Constance Garnett, 1916; Stark Young, in Best Plays by Chekhov, 1956; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 3, 1964;  Brian Friel, 1992; Michael Frayn, in Chekhov: Plays, 1993; Jean-Claude van Itallie, in The Major Plays, 1994; Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997;  Karl Kramer and Margaret Booker, in Chekhov's Major Plays, 1997; Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Kolme sisarta (suom.: Eino ja Jalo Kalima, teoksessa Neljä näytelmää, 1960; Esa Adrian, 1977; Martti Anhava, 1985; Lauri Sipari, 1990)
  -  FILMS: 1964, dir. by Samson Samsonov; 1970, dir. by Laurence Olivier, starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Jeanne Watts, Louise Purnell, Derek Jacobi; 1987, dir. by Margarethe von Trotta, starring Fanny Ardant, Greta Sacchi, Valeria Golino, Peter Simonischek, Peter Castellito; 1992, A Három növér, dir. by Andor Lukáts; 1993, dir. by Boris Blank; 1994, dir. by Sergei Solovyov; 2005, dir. by Arthur Allan Seidelman
• 'Arkhierei', 1902
  - The Bishop (translations: Marian Fell, in Russian Silhouettes, 1915; Constance Garnett, in The Bishop and Other Stories, 1919; Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000)
  - Piispa (suom. Juhani Konkka, Valitut novellit, 1960)
• 'Nevesta', 1903
  - The Betrothed (tr. in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, selected and edited by Ralph E. Matlaw, 1979) / The Fiancée (tr. Ronald Wilks, in The Fiancée and Other Stories, 1986; Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky, in Stories, 2000) / The Bride (tr.  Robert Payne, in Forty Stories, 1991)
  - Morsian (suom. Juhani Konkka, Valitut novellit, 1960)
• Vishnyovy sad, 1904 (play)
  - The Cherry Orchard (translators: Constance Garnett, 1923; Jenny Covan, 1923; S.S. Kotelianskii, 1940; Stark Young, in Best Plays by Chekhov, 1956; Ronald Hingley, in The Oxford Chekhov: Volume 3, 1964; Elisaveta Lavrova, 1980; Michael Frayn, in Chekhov: Plays, 1993; Jean-Claude van Itallie, in The Major Plays, 1994; Karl Kramer and Margaret Booker; Paul Schmidt, in The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997; Laurence Senelick, in The Complete Plays, 2006)
  - Kirsikkapuisto (suom.: Eino ja Jalo Kalima, teoksessa neljä näytelmää, 1960) / Kirsikkapuutarha (suom. Markku Lahtela, 1969; Esa Adrian, 1984)
  -  FILMS: 1978, El Jardín de los cerez bos, dir. by Gonzalo Martínez Ortega; 1993, dir. by Anna Tchernakova; 1999, dir. by Mihalis Kakogiannis, starring Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, Katrin Cartlidge, Owen Teale, Tushka Bergen
• Pis'ma, 1909
• Pis'ma, 1912-16
• Zapisnye knizhki, 1914
  - The Notebooks (tr. 1921)
  - Muistikirjasta (valik. ja suom. Martti Anhava, 1979)
• Tales, 1916-22 (13 vols., translated by Constance Garnett)
• Neizdannaya P'esa, 1923 (ed. N.F. Belchikov)
• Letters on the Short Story, the Drama and other Literary Topics, 1924 (ed.  Louis S. Friedland)
• Letters to Olga Knipper, 1925
• Literary and Theatrical Reminiscences, 1927 (ed. S.S. Koteliansky)
• Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem, 1944-51 (20 vols., ed. S.D. Balukhaty and others)
• Personal Papers, 1948
• Kashtanka: rasskaz, 1949
• The Unknown Chekhov: Stories and Other Writings Hitherto Untranslated, 1954 (ed. A.Yarmolinsky)
• The Seagull, and Other Plays, 1954 (tr. Elisaveta Fen)
• The Selected Letters of Anton Chekhov, 1955 (edited and with an introduction by Lillian Hellman)
• The Oxford Chekhov, 1964-80 (9 vols., ed. Ronald Hingley)
• Letters of Anton Chekhov, 1973 (tr. Michael Henry Heim, ed. Simon Karlinsky)
• Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem, 1974-83 (30 vols.)
• Plays, 1977 (ed. and tr. Michael Frayn)
• The Kiss and Other Stories, 1982 (tr. Ronald Wilks)
• Chekhov, the Early Stories, 1883-1888, 1982 (tr. Patrick Miles and Harvey Pitcher)
• The Duel and Other Stories, 1984 (tr. Ronald Wilks)
• The Party and Other Stories, 1985 (tr. Ronald Wilks)
• The Fiancée and Other Stories, 1986 (tr. Ronald Wilks)
• The Chekhov Omnibus, 1986 (tr.  Constance Garnett)
• Anton Chekhov: A Life in Letters, 1994 (tr. and ed.  Gordon McVay)
• Dear Writer... Dear Actress...: The Love Letters of Olga Knipper and Anton Chekhov, 1996 (ed. and tr. Jean Benedetti)
• Chekhov's Major Plays, 1996 (tr. Karl Kramer and Margaret Booker)
• The Plays of Anton Chekhov, 1997 (tr. Paul Schmidt)
• The Complete Early Short Stories of Anton Chekhov, Vol. One (1880–82): 'He and She' and Other Stories, 2001 (tr. Peter Sekirin)
• The Prank: The Best of Young Chekhov, 2015 (translated from the Russian and with an introduction by Maria Bloshteyn; illustrated by Nikolay Chekhov)
  
• The Beauties: Essential Stories, 2017 (translated from the Russian by Nicolas Pasternak Slater)
  

BOOKS AND WRITERS