Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends with biographical sketch“new men,” i.e., the exploiters and sons of our age, painted by themodern playwrights. He has stored it all up, and so much so, thatwhen he reads “Rudin” he is sure to be asking himself, “Is Rudin ascoundrel or not?” Literature and the stage have so educated himthat he approaches every character in real life and in fiction withthis question …. It is not enough for him that all men are sinners.He wants saints and villains!He was prejudiced before he came to the district. He at once classedall the rich peasants as exploiters, and Ivanov, whom he could notunderstand, as a scoundrel. Why, the man has a sick wife and hegoes to see a rich lady neighbour—of course he is a scoundrel! It isobvious that he is killing his wife in order to marry an heiress.Lvov is honest and straightforward, and he blurts out the truthwithout sparing himself. If necessary, he will throw a bomb at acarriage, give a school inspector a blow in the face, or call a man ascoundrel. He will not stop at anything. He never feels remorse—itis his mission as “an honest worker” to fight “the powers of darkness”!Such people are useful, and are for the most part attractive. Tocaricature them, even in the interests of the play, is unfair and, indeed,unnecessary. True, a caricature is more striking, and thereforeeasier to understand, but it is better to put your colour on too faintthan too strong.Now about the women. What do they love Ivanov for? Sarra loveshim because he is a fine man, because he has enthusiasm, becausehe is brilliant and speaks with as much heat as Lvov does (Act I.,Scene 7). She loves him so long as he is excited and interesting; butwhen he begins to grow misty in her eyes, and to lose definiteness ofoutline, she ceases to understand him, and at the end of Act III.speaks out plainly and sharply.Sasha is a young woman of the newest type. She is well-educated,intelligent, honest, and so on. In the realm of the blind a one-eyedman is king, and so she favours Ivanov in spite of his being thirtyfive.He is better than anyone else. She knew him when she was achild and saw his work close at hand, at the period before he wasexhausted. He is a friend of her father’s.She is a female who is not won by the vivid plumage of the male,108