Chekhov (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: V. S. Pritchett
- First Published: 1988
- Type of Work: Literary biography and criticism
- Time of Work: 1860-1904
- Setting: Primarily Russia; occasionally France, Germany, and Italy
- Principal Characters: Anton Chekhov, Pavel Chekhov, Aleksey Suvorin, Olga Knipper
- Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction, Biography
- Subjects: Authors or writers, Nineteenth century, Literature, Russia or Russian people
- Locales: France, Germany, Italy, Russia
V. S. Pritchett begins his biographical and critical study with an emphasis—fortunately, free from the jargon of psychoanalysis—upon the influence on Anton Chekhov of his father, Pavel, an intolerant and sometimes violent patriarch about whom Pritchett has this insight: He “had much in common with the classic self-made Victorian puritan . . . a fierce believer in Self-Help and the work ethic, a despot in the family.” The miracle of Chekhov's life, and the reference of Pritchett's subtitle, A Spirit Set Free, is that Pavel's violence—engendered and justified, he said, by...
[The entire page is 2167 words long]
See Also:
V. S. Pritchett (Cyclopedia of World Authors)V. S. Pritchett (Long Fiction)V. S. Pritchett (Short Fiction)
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