A Chekhov Circus

A guide to the short stories of Anton Chekhov

Category: Short story

  • No. 142 – The Lottery Ticket

    A man fantasizes about winning the lottery, but even in fantasy there seems to be sufferingn and unhappiness.

  • No. 143 – The Orator

    A voluble young writer agrees to eulogize a man he barely knew.

  • No. 144 – Children

    A group of boys and girls play cards, bicker and wait for their parents to arrive home after a party.

  • No. 145 – Terror

    A man falls into bed with the wife of his friend.

  • No. 167 – Mari D’elle

    A self-involved opera singer feuds with her self-important husband.

  • No. 7 – The Schoolmaster

    This is an amazing story, certainly among Chekhov’s best.  The plot: An aged principal attends his school’s annual dinner despite his ill health and general weakness. The schoolmaster, Sysoev, is not, it seems, a terribly nice man: Tetchy and volatile, he rejects any suggestion that he may not be strong enough to attend the festivities.…

  • No. 23 – A Lady’s Story

    This is an unusual entry in the Chekhov library, written in the first person and narrated by a woman. It’s a good story, maybe even great. In any case, it’s very tight, just seven pages long, with a breathless, thrilling opening: Natalya and Pyotr are riding through the fields as a storm approaches. The rains…

  • No. 26 – Champagne

    This is (for Chekhov) an unusual, foxy little story narrated by a bad man. The narrator works at a godforsaken railway station, where “for fifteen miles around there was not one human habitation, not one woman, not one decent tavern.” The station constitutes a tiny world unto itself: “My wife and I; a deaf and…

  • No. 28 – The Student

    This is a lovely, unironic portrait of religious belief. A clerical student, walking home through the woods, comes upon a mother and daughter having dinner. As he warms himself at their fire, he is reminded of the way the apostle Peter similarly warmed himself on the evening of the last supper.  The student recalls the…

  • No. 33 – At the Barber’s

    The setting is a filthy barbershop rural village. It is tended by a filthy barber, Makar Kuzmitch. Into the shop comes Erast Ivanitch. As it happens, Erast is Makar’s godfather. He is also the father of a daughter. Makar is in love with the daughter, and she with him. For all these reasons, Makar is…