A Trifling Occurrence (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Anton Chekhov
- First Published: 1886
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The late nineteenth century
- Setting: St. Petersburg
- Principal Characters: Nikolay Ilyich Belyaev, Olga Ivanovna Irnina, Alyosha, Irnin
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: Children, Psychology or psychologists, Betrayal, Guilt, Emotions, Acrobatics or acrobats
- Locales: St. Petersburg, Russia
The Story
The setting for the entire story is the drawing room of Olga Ivanovna Irnina, a woman who is estranged from her husband and is currently involved with Nikolay Ilyich Belyaev. The story opens with a brief description of Belyaev: He is a “well-fed,” “pink young man of about thirty-two” years of age. He has three principal activities in life: He is a “St. Petersburg landlord,” he is “very fond of the race-course,” and he has a “liaison” with Olga.
This opening establishes that, as a landlord, Belyaev lives from the labor of others; that, as a...
[The entire page is 2585 words long]
