A Chekhov Circus

A guide to the short stories of Anton Chekhov

Category: First appeared in print in 1897

  • No. 10 – The Schoolmistress

    This is a beautiful, concise tale of a lonely and loveless woman, a teacher in a rural school. Her work is largely unappreciated, if not completely ignored, by the local government and population. On a regular basis she must travel to town to collect her pay, and on one of these trips she meets a…

  • No. 30 – Peasants

    From a modern perspective, “Peasants” is problematic, and it’s worth digging into why that is before looking at the novella itself. First of all, the title. Using a title like “Peasants” is like calling a story set in the Hasidic community “Jews,” or one set in Kentucky “Rednecks.” Obviously you can’t apply modern sensibilities to…

  • No. 41 – At Home

    You could easily fill a book of Chekhov stories set on the steppe, the dreary, endless grasslands that stretch across much of Russia. “At Home” is the tale of a young woman, Vera, who after receiving an education in a distant city, returns to her family’s decaying property on the steppe. There’s nothing for her…

  • No. 71 – The Petchenyeg

    A traveler spends the night at a stranger’s home, and is kept up all night by his host’s incessant talking.