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Ten Plays
Ten Plays
Ten Plays
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Ten Plays

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Here in one compact and modestly priced edition are the celebrated Russian playwright's most popular works. In addition to five full-length plays—The Sea Gull, Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, and Ivanov—this anthology features five of Anton Chekhov's one-act comedies: The Anniversary, An Unwilling Martyr, The Wedding, The Bear, and The Proposal.
Chekhov's taste for vaudeville shows and French farces influenced his comic one-acts, which are widely regarded as masterpieces of the genre. His greatest fame rests upon his full-length tragedies, which focus on mood and characterization rather than plot. Chekhov considered his famous tragedies a form of comic satire—with the bleakness of life in czarist Russia at the turn of the twentieth century as their central joke. "All I wanted was to say honestly to people: 'Have a look at yourselves and see how bad and dreary your lives are!'" explained the playwright. In addition to their enduring emotional and intellectual appeal to audiences, Chekhov's modern realist dramas continue to influence theatrical literature and performance.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 13, 2012
ISBN9780486122649
Ten Plays
Author

Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian doctor, short-story writer, and playwright. Born in the port city of Taganrog, Chekhov was the third child of Pavel, a grocer and devout Christian, and Yevgeniya, a natural storyteller. His father, a violent and arrogant man, abused his wife and children and would serve as the inspiration for many of the writer’s most tyrannical and hypocritical characters. Chekhov studied at the Greek School in Taganrog, where he learned Ancient Greek. In 1876, his father’s debts forced the family to relocate to Moscow, where they lived in poverty while Anton remained in Taganrog to settle their finances and finish his studies. During this time, he worked odd jobs while reading extensively and composing his first written works. He joined his family in Moscow in 1879, pursuing a medical degree while writing short stories for entertainment and to support his parents and siblings. In 1876, after finishing his degree and contracting tuberculosis, he began writing for St. Petersburg’s Novoye Vremya, a popular paper which helped him to launch his literary career and gain financial independence. A friend and colleague of Leo Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, and Ivan Bunin, Chekhov is remembered today for his skillful observations of everyday Russian life, his deeply psychological character studies, and his mastery of language and the rhythms of conversation.

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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    This collection includes the most famous plays of the Russian master, along with a handful of lesser known one-act comedies. The one-acts (most of them subtitld "a jest in one act") are highly forgettable and often just silly jokes. Chekhov's true genius tended to show through in his tales of bored, beaten down Russian nobility or middle-classes. He creates characters who are unforgettable, and even when they are not particularly nice people, he persuades us to care about them. These works are highly recommended.

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Ten Plays - Anton Chekhov

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