Anton Chekhov

Background
Anton Chekhov was born in 1860 in Taganrog (a small port on the Sea of Asov), the grandson of a serf (slave) who had paid for his family’s freedom a generation before the formal emancipation of the serfs in Russia. Chekhov’s father was a merchant grocer but suffered financial problems which meant that his family was raised largely in poverty. In 1879 Chekhov left home to study medicine at the Moscow University, graduating in 1884. Whilst at university he supported his family by writing comic sketches for magazines and by working as a journalist. He wrote humorous anecdotes, making the writing of a short comic sketch of about 1,000 words into a minor art form.

Writing
Chekhov continued to practise as a doctor for most of his life, (often giving free medical treatment to peasants) and referred to medicine as his ‘lawful wife’ and to writing as his ‘mistress.’ Before he qualified as a doctor, Chekhov wrote a group of works which have been called his ‘Clinical Studies,’ which explored the experience of the mentally and physically ill.

Chekhov was a prolific writer of both plays and short stories (for which he is more well regarded in his native Russia). Chekhov began writing The Cherry Orchard in 1902, and it was first performed in 1904, directed by Konstantin Stanislavski. Stanislavski directed the play as a tragedy, contrary to Chekhov’s vision of the play as a comedy, and Chekhov famously concluded that Stanislavski had ‘runied’ his pl;ay, which he always had intended to be performed as a comedy.

Comedy vs Tragedy
Chekhov described many of his plays as comedies, a description which can cause confusion for directors and audiences. It is true that many of the events in the plays can be descirbed as farcical and many of his self absorbed characters can be viewed derisorily. Despite this, many interpretations focus on the tragedy of Chekhov’s characters, a diversion perhaps from Chekhov’s original intentions for them.

Later Life
After several intense affairs Chekhov married Olga Knipper in 1901. Knipper was an actress who had taken many of the most important female roles in several productions of Chekhov’s work, with Stanislavski often playing the male leads whilst also acting as producer and director of many productions.

Chekhov suffered with tuberculosis from 1884 and fought a lengthy and sometimes bloody battle with the disease; a battle which he finally lost in 1904 at the age of 44, not long after the first production of The Cherry Orchard.