The Wife and Other Stories

What It's About

This volume gathers nine of Chekhov's short stories, including the title story "The Wife," "A Dreary Story," "Gooseberries," "About Love" and "The Lottery Ticket." Rather than dramatic plots, these are quiet studies of ordinary people: a dying professor reflecting on a life that no longer makes sense to him, a wife trapped in a loveless marriage, a couple's daydreams of sudden wealth curdling into resentment, and the small, telling moments in which a person's true character is revealed. Chekhov's focus throughout is less on what happens than on the gap between how his characters see themselves and how they actually behave.

Key Concepts

A recurring theme across the collection is self-deception: characters who believe themselves generous, principled or content, while their actions suggest otherwise. Chekhov is also preoccupied with the isolation of provincial life, the compromises of marriage, and the way illness or age forces people to confront how they have actually lived. He treats these subjects with a characteristic lack of moral judgement, presenting flawed people sympathetically rather than condemning them.

About the Author

Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian physician, playwright and short story writer, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of short fiction. Born in the port town of Taganrog to a family of modest means, he trained and briefly practised as a doctor while writing fiction to support himself and his family. He went on to transform both the short story and the modern stage.

About This Edition

This is a 1918 translation by Constance Garnett.