Biblical Subtexts and Religious Themes in Works of Anton Chekhov by Mark Stanley s> Swift Anton Chekhov (review)

Abstract

312 SEER, 84, 2, 2006 landscape. Chekhov: Scenes from a Lifeis an oblique, tangential or alternative biography, a discursivecommentarywhich serves to complement and enrich a more traditionalchronologicalaccount. Bartlett's scholarly, yet readable, monograph is only slightly marred by a number of errors and misprints, such as Ykaterinburg(pp. xi, i68, 395), Stretenka(pp. xi, 62, 393),moved to back (P. 25),playright's(p. 9I), confessed that felt (p. 120), being for prepared for (p. I42), Sibera (p. 173), told go to (p. i87), meeet (p. I99), when was creating (p. I99), the the (p. 285), Chekhov be stuck (p. 285), the The(p. 291), who also were also (p. 306), Federov (for Fedorov, pp. 355, 359, 378), kravedcheskii (pp. 356, 376), Nevadnee (p. 356), parakhode(pp.363, 377),tsenu(p. 375),tridsati (p. 376),o Chekhov(p. 379),and Stanislavksy's(p. 385). Mikhail Petrovich Gromov wrongly appears as Pavel Gromov (pp. 6i, 358, 388) and M. P. Gromova (pp. 355, 359, 378), and A. I. Kuzicheva (pp. 365, 379) should be A. P. Kuzicheva. Ol'ga Knipper played Arkadina,not Nina, in Chaika (p. 229). The wordsmalinovyi zvon(the'raspberry' sound, p. 294) are a set phrase for soft, pleasant chimes. Some chapter headings appear perhaps unnecessarilyarch -'Dr Chekhov's Casebook', 'The Gentleman with the Little Dog', 'The Actressand the Bishop'. Passingreferencesto Chekhov's 'misogyny'(p. 84) and to 'his naturalmisanthropictendencies '(p. 258)requirefurthersubstantiation,as does the claim that 'Chekhovsuspectedwith somejustificationthat his wife was not pregnant by him' (pp.303, 372).There are too many conjecturalsuppositionsof the type 'he must have known deep down' (p. 329), 'He would have been disgruntled' (p. 333), 'he would have enjoyed' (p. 334), 'He would have probably found' (p. 338), 'he would surely have despaired' (p. 339). 'Chekhov might indeed have laughed had he known' (pp. 338-39). Bristol GORDON MCVAY Swift, Mark Stanley. BiblicalSubtexts and Religious7Themes in Worksof Anton Chekhov. Middlebury Studies in Russian Language and Literature.Peter Lang, New York and Oxford, 2004. xi + I96 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. C45.00. BETWEEN the extremes of 'God exists' and 'there is no God', Chekhov occupied what he called the 'enormous field' of the 'middle ground' (p. 3) from where he observed a broad spectrum of humanity. Chekhov was a declared atheist, whose scientific and medical training predisposed him to objectivity and an aversionto extremism.At the same time, his Christianupbringinggave him a sympatheticunderstandingof the importance of religious experience, and a respectfor the ethical teachingsof the Bible. MarkStanley Swift'sthesis is that the Bible informs the themes and subtexts of a number of Chekhov's classic storieswhich address 'the quintessentialreligiousquest [...] the quest for meaning' (p. 5I). Following his discussion of the themes in a dramatic monologue Chekhov composed for Solomon, Swift devotes a chaptereach to three famous stories in which he elucidates their thematic correspondences REVIEWS 313 with the universalthemes of Ecclesiastesand Hebrew wisdom literature.Swift findsthat Chekhov sharedthe radicalscepticismof the authorof Ecclesiastes, his questioning of conventional belief, his realistic awareness of the world's tribulationsand injustices,and his conviction that we cannot know the ultimate truth.These ideas find thematicreflectionin Happiness where, depending on the mood of the viewer, the contemplation of the beauty, immensity and indifferenceof nature can be either oppressive,leading to pessimisticreflections on mortality,the transitorynature of life and the purpose of existence, or consolatory, inducing hope and rapture. In TheSteppe, Chekhov's use of biblicalname-sakes,imagery,teachingson the value of learningand the perils of loneliness, among others, underline the story's thematic affinities with Ecclesiastes.The darkerside of Ecclesiastesemerges in 7he Seizure where the hero's longing for an ideal is frustratedby the evil he encountersin reality. Swift's method is to introduce a passage from Chekhov and then cite a biblical phrase that expresses an analogous thought which he takes to be the subtext or theme for Chekhov's text. This results in some persuasive interpretations.However, when Swiftturnsto the New Testament, mythology and demonology, his thematic parallelsand subtextsare pushed beyond what they can bear. Thus, discussing the ferryman's admonitions to the young Tatar in In Exile, he lists on one page (p. I24) eight 'allusions'to the New Testament, including Satan's temptation...