Anton Chekhov

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“Wisdom.... comes not from age, but from education and learning” (Good Reads”). Through his extensive life of knowledge and perseverance, Anton Chekhov is not only considered one of the most recognized Russian playwrights, but also the master of the modern short story. He is a literary genius who hides secret motives within his characters. In his literature, Chekhov describes Russian life during the time period he grew up in. Towards the later years in his life, Chekhov stopped producing short stories and stressed a greater importance on drama. His last two plays, The Cherry Orchard and The Three Sisters, were both written for the Moscow Art Theatre (“Britannica”). In the play The Three Sisters, Chekhov describes the dreams of three provincial young sisters. In a similar way, he describes a Russian family in decline in The Cherry Orchard. Through these two plays, Anton Chekhov demonstrates the themes of love, memory of the past, and defeat. In The Cherry Orchard and The Three Sisters, love is a major theme represented in both plays. Many love triangles are present in The Cherry Orchard. By acting upon their love, the characters tend to make poor decisions. Their affection for another person makes them act in a way they normally wouldn’t. The main characters fall in and out of love with each other, and it is hard for them to find happiness in their lives. They don’t know exactly what they want, and this leads to much confusion and chaos. “I don't know what to do about it. He's a nice young man, but every now and again, when he begins talking, you can't understand a word he's saying. I think I like him. He's madly in love with me. He's an unlucky man; every day something happens” (The Cherry Orchard” 1.19). While saying this quote, ... ... middle of paper ... ...The Cherry Orchard and The Three Sisters, both families ultimately fail in the end. Their biggest dreams are defeated and neither receives the lives they all hoped they would one day achieve. Through the plays The Cherry Orchard and The Three Sisters, Anton Chekhov demonstrates the themes of love, memory of the past, and defeat. Both the Ranevskaya and Prozorov families have endeared great hardship in different ways in their life. Unfortunately, how they dealt with these situations is very similar, both ending in defeat. Anton Chekhov wrote these two tales in a way that leaves both of these pieces to be considered literary masterpieces. Through trial and error with his writing, Chekhov is now considered the best Russian playwright. As Anton Chekhov once said, “One must be a god to be able to tell successes from failures without making a mistake” (“BrainyQuote”).

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