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A Study Guide for Anton Chekhov's "Gusev"
A Study Guide for Anton Chekhov's "Gusev"
A Study Guide for Anton Chekhov's "Gusev"
Ebook43 pages32 minutes

A Study Guide for Anton Chekhov's "Gusev"

By Gale and Cengage

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A Study Guide for Anton Chekhov's "Gusev," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 15, 2016
ISBN9781535824347
A Study Guide for Anton Chekhov's "Gusev"

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    A Study Guide for Anton Chekhov's "Gusev" - Gale

    08

    Gusev

    Anton Chekhov

    1890

    Introduction

    Gusev is by the Russian short story writer, dramatist, and novelist Anton Chekhov. Checkhov is widely considered to be a master of the modern short story. Gusev was first published singly in the St. Petersburg daily newspaper Novoe Vremia (New Times) in 1890. It was subsequently published in 1893 by A. S. Suvorin in the short story collection Palata No. 6 (i drugie rasskazy). As of 2007, the story is available in The Steppe and Other Stories, which was published in 1998.

    Chekhov gained the inspiration for Gusev from the experiences he gathered on a voyage he made in 1890 to the prison island of Sakhalin, a remote Russian territory in the North Pacific. The story is set in a ship's sick-bay, which is filled with sick and injured soldiers and sailors who are returning to Russia after serving in the Far East. It contrasts the approaches to human suffering displayed by two sick men, the discharged soldier Gusev, who is from the peasant class, and Paul Ivanovich, a revolutionary member of the intelligentsia (in Russia, this term was applied to the intellectual elite). The story is told from a humane, compassionate, and non-judgmental point of view (which is typical of Chekhov's work), and exemplifies the author's ability to evoke realistic situations and emotion through close observation of detail.

    Author Biography

    Anton Chekhov was born in the South Russian seaport of Taganrog on January 29, 1860. (Some sources give his birth date as January 16.) This is because until 1918, Russia followed the Julian calendar, which was several days behind the Gregorian calendar used in Europe and America (and still used today). The Julian calendar dates are often referred to as Old Style and the Gregorian calendar dates as New Style. (Dates given here are New Style.) Chekhov grew up surrounded by peasant life but became a member of the intelligentsia, and his writings reflected this dual viewpoint.

    Chekhov's father went bankrupt in 1876. The Chekhovs moved to Moscow, leaving Anton in Taganrog to finish his schooling. In 1879, Chekhov earned a scholarship to Moscow University to study medicine, and went to live with his family in their damp and crowded basement apartment. He wrote pieces for the popular press for money, and soon overtook his father's earnings as breadwinner for the family.

    After graduating in 1884, Chekhov went into medical practice in Moscow. The experiences that Chekhov gained while practicing medicine found their way into his writings. Also in 1884, he began to show symptoms of tuberculosis, which afflicted him for the rest of his life.

    Between 1883 and 1885, Chekhov published numerous short stories, including Smert chinovnika (The Death of a Government Official, 1883), and Ustritsy (Oysters, 1884).

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