Anton Chekhov was born in January of 1860 in Taganrog, Russia. He lived his adolescent life in poverty. His grandfather was born a serf and later bought his and his family’s freedom. His father, named Pavel, was also born a serf. After Anton’s grandfather bought their freedom, his father became a merchant. Anton’s mother was born a merchants daughter. She taught herself to read and write. She loved literature and passed this quality onto her children. Throughout his adolescent life, Anton attended a school for Greek boys and later a grammar school. In 1876, his family went bankrupt and his father moved the family to Moscow to find a better living, leaving Anton behind. He was tasked with selling all the family possessions that were also left …show more content…
He was elected as a member of The Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. He wrote several plays including the one acts entitled The Proposal and The Wedding. He also wrote, The Wood Demon, a four act play. The first production of The Wood Demon did poorly and this was disheartening to Chekhov. Later that year, his brother passed away from tuberculosis. In an effort to focus on science rather than literature, Anton traveled to an island penal colony, Sakhalin, where he observed thousands of men sentenced to life on the island. For the next two years, he continued his travels. He visited places in Asia, India, and the Middle East. Soon he grew weary of travel, as is health kept declining further. In 1892, Anton bought a country home in the village of Melikhovo. He would live there for the next six years. This time is referred to as Chekhov’s Melikhovo Period. In this time he wrote several of his popular works including Neighbors, Ward No. 6 (1892), and The Black Monk …show more content…
Two years later, Anton wrote more stories including The Murder and Ariadne, and started playwriting again. It was in this year, 1895, that he wrote the four act play, The Seagull. It was a drama about an assortment of characters who dealt with issues such as unrequited love, adultery, suicide, and artistic struggles. In 1896, The Seagull opened in St. Petersburg at the Alexandrinksy Theatre. It was mistakenly produced as a comedy and ended up a disaster. It was booed off of the stage. This had Chekhov vowing to never write for the theatre again. Just a year before, the Moscow Art Theatre opened for business (this theatre later built a strong partnership with Chekhov). In the coming years, Anton would come to terms with the fact that he was a longtime sufferer of tuberculosis which had, by this time, caused consumption. He wrote the story Peasants in