FREE ESSAY ON ANTON CHEKHOV

ANTON CHEKHOV

Anton Chekhov
Life and Influences
Anton Chekhov was born on January 29, 1860 in Taganrog, Russia, the third of six
children. His father, Pavel, was a grocer and his mother, Yevgeniya, was the daughter of
a cloth merchant. In1875 Pavel's business failed and, threatened with imprisonment, he
fled to Moscow. Yevgeniya remained behind with Anton and his younger siblings, but soon
lost the house to a local bureaucrat. At this point, she joined Pavel in Moscow taking
all the children, with the exception of Anton whom she left behind to attend school and
support himself. 
After completing his early studies, Anton received a scholarship to study medicine at the
Moscow University and at this point reunited with his family. During this time, the
family continued to be plagued by financial hardship. In an effort to help support them,
Anton began to write humorous short stories for comic magazine. As time went by, Chekhov
developed a love of writing, preferring this to the practice of medicine, and devoted
himself to his craft. After 1880, his work shifted toward more serious subject matter and
is filled with realistic views of the suffering of the poor, no doubt in memory of the
struggles his own family had endured.
Comments and Concepts
An Upheaval is classified as a short story, but does not follow the traditional short
story structure as defined by Freytag's Triangle. The story begins in medias res as
Mashenka enters a household already in turmoil. Rather than at the beginning, the
exposition takes place throughout the story as Mashenka's thoughts and actions reveal her
background and place within the household. At the end of the story, the reader is left
without resolution. This abrupt end to the action without an resolving the conflict is
known as a zero ending.
The story An Upheaval is a slice-of-life narrative. Chekhov offers a dispassionate
observation of life within an upper-class household. There is no deep psychological
profiles within the story; all the characters are merely stereotypes. The view is
naturalistic, with the socioeconomic background of the characters influencing their every
action. The lady of the house believes she is well within her rights to search her
servant's quarters when her brooch has gone missing. When Mashenka is upset by the
search, the maidservant Liza reminds her somewhat delicately of her place by stating
still you are... as it were... a servant.
An Upheaval displays a rite of passage. At the beginning of the story, Mashenka is a
simplistic child. She believes herself to be more than a mere servant within the
household. Mashenka feels personally violated when she discovers a search of her room has
been made without her knowledge. Mashenka leaps into adulthood when she realizes that
although she is hired help and is, therefore, in a lesser position she is still a person
within her own right. Rather than allow them to violate her sense of personal integrity,
Mashenka decides to leave.
Key Quotations
Mashenka went into her room, and then, for the first time in her life, it was her lot to
experience in all its acuteness the feeling that is so familiar to persons in dependent
positions, who eat the bread of the rich and powerful, and cannot speak their minds.
Mashenka begins to recognize her place within the household and within society. She
acknowledges that her life is controlled by others.
Though you are a young lady, still you are...as it were...a servant...
Liza forces Mashenka to acknowledge that she is a servant like the rest of them, nothing
more.
I don't say she took the brooch, but can you answer for her? To tell the truth, I haven't
much confidence in these learned paupers.
The lady of the house removes all humanity from her servants. They are nothing more to
her than beasts of burden.
Forgive me, Nikolay Sergeitch, but I cannot remain in your house. I feel deeply insulted
by this search!
Mashenka reveals her new sense of self and personal integrity.
Half an hour later she was on her way.
The story ends without any true sense of closure.
Relation to Current Culture
Today a search without permission or warrant is a criminal offense. Even as a hired
servant living within someone else's household, a person is entitled to his own personal
space and privacy. One would like to believe that the justice system would stand by the
violated individual, but with the exorbitant price of good legal representation the
wealthier person might well triumph, regardless of guilt or innocence. Maybe things have
not changed too much after all.
Personal Reflections
I feel that it is no longer the wealthier individuals, but the large corporations that
hold people in subservient positions and treat them like numbers. When I worked at GTE, I
gave birth to my second child and he had some serious health issues. Needless to say, I
missed quite a few days of work and this was well before the government had authorized
the family leave act. When I asked the CEO of the company if there was any possibility of
GTE declaring a family leave policy on their own he replied, You can be replaced with
another good employee who does not have a sick child. I felt violated like Mashenka and
eventually left GTE to stay home with my children.
The Story Continues...
Mashenka returns home with a new sense of inner-strength. She organizes the people in her
town and leads them to revolt. They tear down the old systems in place and form a new
world order in which all people are treated as equals. No more searches of servants
quarters were ever tolerated again.
Parallels with Visual Arts
Delacroix's An Orphan Girl in the Graveyard reminds me of the character of Mashenka from
An Upheaval. Although her youthfulness is obvious, her face portrays maturity and
understanding beyond her years. There is strength within; she will not be a victim.