A Chekhov Circus

A guide to the short stories of Anton Chekhov

Tag: Fathers

  • No. 58 – The Head of the Family

    This is a brief, searing portrait of an ill-tempered father and his cowering family. Doubtless it was inspired by Chekhov’s own ill-tempered father, Pavel. Chekhov did not write from life, exactly, and the circumstances of the Zhilin family in this story are different from that of the Chekhovs, but the character of the father in…

  • No. 97 – In the Ravine

    A family saga of a thieving, conniving clan of merchants in a factory town.

  • No. 22 – The Requiem

    This is an extremely economical tale of a man who is so deeply troubled that his daughter became an actress that, even after her death, he cannot stop himself from referring to her as a “harlot.” The man, a simple shopkeeper named Andrey Andreyitch, submits a note to his priest, asking that his daughter be…

  • No. 31 – Difficult People

    Chekhov’s father was a petty tyrant who immiserated his wife and children, but only rarely did Chekhov portray cruel, overbearing fathers in his fiction. “Difficult People,” like “The Head of the Family,” is one of those rare cases. The title, “Difficult People,” would probably better be, “A Difficult Person.” It is a portrait of a…

  • No. 66 – Oysters

    A recollection of a painful moment of childhood poverty.

  • No. 75 – A Father

    A drunken father receives far better treatment from his diligent son than he deserves.

  • No. 79 – On the Road

    In a modest country inn, a man traveling with his young daughter recalls the errors he has made in his life, and hopes to rectify them in a new job on the steppe.

  • No. 111 – The Album

    A rich man is touched when his staff at work present him with an album, but he is unconcerned the next day when his children rip it to pieces.

  • No. 184 – Home

    A father tries one trick and another to get his son to promise not to smoke cigarettes.

  • No. 141 – Shrove Tuesday

    A portrait of a family on a holiday.