Enemies [short story]
by Anton Chekhov
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Description
Late one evening, tragedy strikes when the town doctor, Kirilov, is unable to save his dying son from diphtheria. As he and his wife mourn their only son's death, a stranger, Abogin, arrives at the doctor's home, begging him to come save his dying wife. The doctor, who is still shocked from his son's death of five minutes ago, declines Abogin's pleas. However, Abogin refuses to give up, trying desperately to save his wife. After Abogin promises to have the doctor back home in an hour, the show more doctor agrees, and they set off to help Abogin's wife. When they arrive at Abogin's home, though, Abogin is surprised to find that his wife is not there, which threatens to change the relationship between Abogin and the doctor forever. show lessTags
Member Reviews
Une belle nouvelle de Tchekhov, où deux douleurs s’affrontent. Celle d’un médecin de campagne qui vient de perdre son fils mort d’une diphtérie et celle d’un petit notable dont la femme semble être vient de tomber subitement malade, mais cela se révèlera vite un subterfuge pour pouvoir s’enfuir avec son amant . Deux douleurs, deux façons de l’exprimer, deux murs qui ne peuvent communiquer. Pas de sentence, pas de morale dans cette nouvelle, un amer constat sur la solitude de la souffrance et de notre condition humaine. Du beau Tchekhov.
Feb 24, 2015French
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Author Information
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in the provincial town of Taganrog, Ukraine, in 1860. In the mid-1880s, Chekhov became a physician, and shortly thereafter he began to write short stories. Chekhov started writing plays a few years later, mainly short comic sketches he called vaudvilles. The first collection of his humorous writings, Motley show more Stories, appeared in 1886, and his first play, Ivanov, was produced in Moscow the next year. In 1896, the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg performed his first full- length drama, The Seagull. Some of Chekhov's most successful plays include The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya, and Three Sisters. Chekhov brought believable but complex personalizations to his characters, while exploring the conflict between the landed gentry and the oppressed peasant classes. Chekhov voiced a need for serious, even revolutionary, action, and the social stresses he described prefigured the Communist Revolution in Russia by twenty years. He is considered one of Russia's greatest playwrights. Chekhov contracted tuberculosis in 1884, and was certain he would die an early death. In 1901, he married Olga Knipper, an actress who had played leading roles in several of his plays. Chekhov died in 1904, spending his final years in Yalta. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Enemies [short story]
- Original title
- Враги
- Alternate titles
- Enemies
- Original publication date
- 1887-01-20
- Original language
- Russian
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 891.733
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 7
- Popularity
- 2,742,131
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- Belarusian, English, Russian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 2
