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Anton chekhov essays
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Anton Chekhov’s short story “The Bishop” was written in 1902 and published in 1979 in “Anton Chekhov’s Short Stories” along with many of his other works, such as “The Betrothed” and “The Lady with the Dog”. While “The Bishop” is not a direct reflection of Chekhov’s life, the story does reflect elements of his life. His religious upbringing is most prevalent in this story, but being ill with Tuberculosis of the lungs during the time this story was written is shown as well through Bishop Pyotr’s sickness. Chekhov was born in Taganrog, Russia in 1860 to a woman named Yevgeniya and a man named Pavel. His father, who shares the name of the bishop, is described as being “severe” and sometimes went as far as to chastise Chekhov and his siblings (Letters …show more content…
Feeling ill and realizing that it is after eleven, he decides to go to his room and get ready for bed. He thinks of his mother and his childhood as he says his prayers before laying down with thoughts of his mother, deceased father, and his native village of Lyesopolye (237). He revisits memories of priests at his village; Father Demyan, who succeeded Father Semyon and was a hard drinker with the nickname of “Demian the Snake-Seer”, and also of memories including Matvey Nikolaich, a schoolmaster who also drank, but was “kind and intelligent” …show more content…
Although the bishop accepts and takes on the role of Bishop Pyotr, he desperately wants to regain the identity of Pavel. In “Studies in Short Fiction”, Peter Stowell reflects on the emotional damage the bishop has sustained by only being viewed as a bishop rather than a son by his mother: “his moments of most intense isolation occur when he senses his mother’s inability to respond naturally around him” (122). While it is not only his mother that makes him feel somewhat secluded, she is definitely the most powerful force of his isolated feelings. Stowell also makes a comparison between Mary, the mother of Christ, and the bishop’s mother, describing how Mary “was able to fuse the image of her son with that of a spiritual son of God and man” while the bishop’s mother cannot
Chekhov himself, a renowned actor, used the technique in blockbusters such as Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Spellbound’. The ‘psyco-physical’ approach innovated by Chekhov has been used by many actors such as the Marilyn Monroe, Clint Eastwood, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, and Jack Nicholson (Backstage.com). Actors such as Jack Nicholson, while accepting his Golden Globe Award in 1999 and Anthony Hopkins, during an interview have both admired Chekhov’s psychological Gesture. Currently, the Chekhov technique has started gaining popularity as many actors seem to be interested in approaching Chekhov’s psycho-physical
On September 9, 1828, their fourth son, Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, was born on the family’s estate of Yasnaya Polyana. The estate (also spelled as Iasnaia Poliana) was located in the province Tula, approximately one hundred miles south of the Russian capital, Moscow. At the age of two, the Tolstoy home had transformed after the death of his mother, and his father asked his distant cousin Tatyana Ergolsky to take charge of the children and act as a governess. When his father’s death eventually came at the age of nine, the legal guardianship of the five children were given to their aunt, Alexandra Osten-Saken. She was described to be a woman of great religious fervor from which the radical beliefs of Tolstoy’s wer...
Leon Trotsky was born on October 26, 1879 in the Southern Ulkaine. His real name was Lev Davidovich Bronstein. Leon's parents were simple Jewish farmers who lived better than most peasants at the time. At the age of 9, Leon moved to Odessa to live with some relatives and attend a prestigious private school. His father hoped that Leon would return home as an engineer, but instead he became attracte...
Leon Trotsky was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein to David and Anna Bronstein on November 7, 1879, in Yanovka, Ukraine (“Leon Trotsky Biography”). The first eight years of his schooling were completed in Odessa with subsequent education in Nikolayev in 1896 (“Leon Trotsky”). It was here that Trotsky was introduced
Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia on September 25, 1906, Shostakovich was the second of three children born to Dmitri Boleslavovich Shostakovich and Sofiya Vasilievna Kokoulina. His father was of Polish descent but both his parents were Siberian natives. Dmitri was a child prodigy as a pianist and composer. He began taking piano lessons from his mother at the age of nine. He displayed an incredible talent to remember what his mother had played at the previous lesson and would get caught pretending to read the music, playing the music from his last lesson instead of what was placed in front of him.
Known as one of the greatest Russian pianists of all time, Sergei Vasilievivh Rachmaninoff was born on the 1st of April 1873 near Novgorod . Rachmaninoff was born into an aristocratic family that had a strong musical background. His father, Vasily Arkadyevich, was an amateur pianist. Sergei’s mother, Lyubov Butakova, and her father encouraged the development of his musical talent, providing him with piano lessons at the age of four. Financial crisis hit the family when Rachmaninoff was nine years old. They had to action off their home and Rachmaninoff had to continue his musical studies at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory . During that same year, 1883, his sister passed away and his father moved to Moscow. His maternal grandmother took up the responsibilities of raising him and his four other siblings. His regular exposure to Russian chants and church bells is later seen to have majorly influences his compositions.
It seems as though Pyotr and Alexeich both represent different aspects of Chekhov’s father, and Chekhov himself is Anna. Chekov’s father was aloof from his family and came from a lower class background; like Modest Alexeich, Chekhov’s father also fawned at the feet of his social superiors. Chekhov, in contrast, was an unconventional boy. He eventually broke from his family’s lower class position and became a doctor; however, throughout his school and career he performed additional odd jobs to earn money he could send to his father. Also like Anna, Chekhov loved to be with people (Payne xiii, xvii-xxi). Comparing the two, then, it would seem as if Chekhov identifies with Anna as she struggles to find her social identity and wrestles with her desires and the needs of those she loves. This tone gives the story a melancholy mood and leads to a bittersweet conclusion. The ending seems happy for Anna, yet the reader is left to wonder what the ending represents. Did her father and husband receive the dues for their behavior? Are Anna’s actions a normal product of the transformation from youth to adulthood, or did she come to completely discard respect and
Sergei was born in Oneg, Russia, to an aristocratic family who was falling apart. His father was a gambler and a drinker and spent all of their family’s wealth on his addictions. Their family, which consisted of Sergei’s mother and five other siblings, were forced to move from their mansion to a small apartment in the city of Petersburg. But they moved just at the wrong time, for a sickness was spreading. Sergei’s sister Sophia died from the illness. Guilt heavy on his father’s shoulders, he abandoned his family, never to return. Sergei’s mother, Lubov, did her best to raise her children. She was a pianist, as was her father before her, and so she began to teach Sergei at the young age of four. He showed much talent for the piano, but when he was old enough to join school on a scholarship, Sergei began to show his father’s habits. He took up gambling and wasted his money, and his family members, including his cousin Alexander Siloti, were very concerned. Alexander was also a musician, and, to save ...
Sergei Rachmaninoff was born on April 1, 1873 in one of the oldest cities in Russia Novgorod. His father was an officer in the Army and his mother was born to a very wealthy family. The Rachmaninoff’s were part of an old aristocracy where the attitude was still there but the money was not. His family was very dysfunctional. His father was a strong alcoholic, which gambled regularly, eventually he lost all of his wife’s money. In 1882 Sergei’s father finally deserted the family Sergei was nine years old.
...l […] his passing from one world into another” (542). Without Raskolnikov’s relationship with Sonia it would have been impossible for him to become this new man, to convert to Christian existentialism and find happiness and meaning in life.
Chekhov often uses a particular season and time of day to set the atmosphere of the act. He uses pathetic fallacy to reflect the mood of different characters in the play. For example in The Seagull the opening two acts are in the spring, which symbolises growth, new birth and purity. It is a time of excitement as there is a homecoming as Arkadina is returning and Kostya finally has his time to show off his work as a playwright (although it doesn’t work out that way). In the fourth act two years have passed and a lot has changed in that time. Chekhov once again uses a homecoming to mirror the opening act, however this time it is a cold, wet, winter’s night. Winter is a complete contrast to Spring and this symbolizes a time of stagnation and hibernation, it is the dreaded month. There is no sense of growth or a new beginning anymore as Kostya has achieved his ambition and is still not content. So when Nina turns him down one final time, after there long duration apart, Kostya shoots himself. This is a clear example of how Chekhov meticulously uses the time of day and year to set the atmosphere of the act. This is also evident in the Cherry Orchard when the opening act is in May and the fourth act is in October. “Its October and its devilishly cold in here”, says Lopakhin in act four, this tells us that summer is now coming to an end and within that symbolizes the end of the Cherry Orchard.
When Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull premiered at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on October 17, 1896, critics condemned it as disastrous. However, a production mounted by the Moscow Art Theatre two years later, led to the acclaimed revival of The Seagull as well as the establishment of Chekhov as an accomplished playwright (Bristow, 1977). It is the goal of this essay to discuss the different techniques that Chekhov used in The Seagull, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the play; specifically focussing on the structure of the play and lastly, the representation of characters and their actions.
"The Bear," which is a classic one-act play written 1900, is one of the great works of Anton Chekhov, which is very much about a widowed woman. The Bear can be regarded as a comedy since it is to give the audience entertainment and amusement. This comedy reveals the fine line between anger and passion. The theme is about a strange beginning of love between Mrs. Popov and Smirnov. It demonstrated that love changes all things it touches. Dialogue of the characters, the action of the characters, and the characters themselves shape the theme. Unbelievable actions and change in mood on the part of the characters show that love can sometimes come from an odd turn of events.
Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author, one of the greatest authors of all time. Leo Tolstoy was born at Yasnya Polyana, in Tula Province, the fourth of five children. His parents died when he was young, and he was brought up by relatives. In 1844 Tolstoy started to study law and oriental languages at Kazan University, but he never earned a degree. Dissatisfied with the standard of education, he returned in the middle of his studies back to Yasnaya Polyana, and then spent much of his time in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Matlaw, Ralph E. Anton Chekhov¡¦s Short Stories: Texts of the Stories Bachgrounds Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1979.