The Man in the Case
| "The Man in the Case" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anton Chekhov |
| Original title | "Человек в футляре" |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
| Published in | Russkaya Mysl (1898) |
| Publisher | Adolf Marks (1901) |
| Publication date | July 1898 |
"The Man in the Case" (Russian: Человек в футляре) is a 1898 short story by Anton Chekhov, the first part of what has been later referred as 'The little Trilogy', along with "Gooseberries" and "About Love".
Publication
The story was written in Nice, France. On 15 June 1898 Chekhov sent it to Russkaya Mysl's editor Viktor Goltsev. It was first published in a No.7, July 1898 issue of this magazine. In a slightly revised version it made its way into Volume 12 of the 1903 second edition of the Collected Works by A.P. Chekhov, and then into Volume 11 of the 1906 third, posthumous edition.[1]
Background
According to the author's brother Mikhail Chekhov, the prototype for the story's main character was A.F. Dyakonov, the inspector of the Taganrog City gymnasium which Chekhov was a graduate of. Other sources mentioned Dyakonov in this context too, including V.G. Tan-Bogoraz[2] and P. Surozhsky.[3] The were apparently other candidates. There is an entry in Chekhov's 1896notebook that read: "From 15 till 18 August M.O. Menshikov guested with me... Menshikov even in dry weather wears caloches, carries with him an umbrella so as not to perish from sunstroke and avoids washing his face with cold water"[1]
Reception
The story divided the contemporary critical opinion. The right-wing press in general reacted negatively, one particularly hostile review (titled "Some Things on Chekhov and his Cases") coming from K. Medvedsky, in Moskovskiye Vedomosti. Nikolai Minsky in Birzhevaya Gazeta interpreted the story as a mild, 'decadent' quasi-social etude, making much of Chekhov's perceived 'indifference' to his characters. Akim Volynsky in Severny Vestnik tried to present the story as a self-conscious hymn to 'a little man'.[4]
In retrospect, the first truly insightful analysis of the Belikov character in relation to the political and social atmosphere in Russia at the time, came from Angel Bogdanovich who (in the October 1898 issue of Mir Bozhy) praised Chekhov for discovering a new, and yet totally realistic social type. Still, Bogdanovich saw the story as utterly pessimistic and complained about its author 'morbid' mindset that prevents him from becoming a truly great realist.
Highly positive was the review in Syn Otechestva[5] by Alexander Skabichevsky who credited Chekhov with being not only a fine artist but also shrewd social commentator. He rated the Belikov character right up there with the most memorable creations by Gogol and Goncharov.
References
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- Человек в футляре, the original Russian text
- The Man in the Case, the English translation by Constance Garnett
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rodionova, V.M. Commentaries to Человек в футляре. The Works by A.P. Chekhov in 12 volumes. Khudozhestvennaya Literatura. Moscow, 1960. Vol. 8, pp. 535-536
- ↑ Чеховский юбилейный сборник. Изд. Учительского дома. Москва. 1910, стр. 496
- ↑ День, 1914, №177, 2 июля
- ↑ Северный вестник, 1898, октябрь-декабрь, №№10-12
- ↑ Сын отечества, 1898, №238, 4 сентября
