---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do you really think that Chekhov is…"
description: "\"Do you really think that Chekhov is Chekhov because he wrote about social phenomena, readjustments of a new industrial middle class, kulaks and rising ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/vladimir-nabokov-198_middle-class_do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chek_2185498.jpg"
---

#  Do you really think that Chekhov is Chekhov because he…

![“Do you really think that Chekhov is Chekhov because he wrote about social phenomena, readjustments of a new industrial middle class, kulaks and rising serfs (which sounds like the seas)? I thought he wrote of the kinds of things that gentleKing Lear proposed to discussin prison with his daughter.” quote by Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/vladimir-nabokov-198_middle-class_do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chek_2185498.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/vladimir-nabokov-198_middle-class_do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chek_2185498.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/vladimir-nabokov-198_middle-class_do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chek_2185498.jpg)

> “Do you really think that Chekhov is Chekhov because he wrote about social phenomena, readjustments of a new industrial middle class, kulaks and rising serfs (which sounds like the seas)? I thought he wrote of the kinds of things that gentleKing Lear proposed to discussin prison with his daughter.”

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Nabokov critiques superficial readings of Chekhov, urging deeper literary analysis beyond social context.

**In simple terms:** Chekhov’s value lies beyond social topics.

Key Takeaway

Read beyond surface.

Themes

literature analysis interpretation

Mood

thoughtful analytical

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- book clubs
- academic courses
- personal study

Key Concepts

critical theory authorial intent

Questions to Reflect On

- What deeper themes does Chekhov explore?
- How can we avoid reducing art to its historical context?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [Things happen for a reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-happen-for-a-reason/)

## Related quotes

> [It's very important to set your place in a concrete environment. I think Chekhov said that the important thing when you have a play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-polanski/it-s-very-important-to-set-your-place-in-a-concrete-environment-i/)

[Roman Polanski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-polanski/)

> [“Tolstoy described boredom as “a desire for desires,” while the working-class Chekhov wrote about it primarily as a desire for escape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mann/tolstoy-described-boredom-as-a-desire-for-desires-while-the-working/)

Mary Mann

> [No author has created with less emphasis such pathetic characters as Chekhov has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/no-author-has-created-with-less-emphasis-such-pathetic-characters-as/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [Reading Chekhov was just like the angels singing to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/reading-chekhov-was-just-like-the-angels-singing-to-me/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [Chekhov said: let's put God - and all these grand progressive ideas - to one side. Let's begin with man; let's be kind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/chekhov-said-let-s-put-god-and-all-these-grand-progressive-ideas-to/)

[Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/)

> [If we're lucky, writer and reader alike, we'll finish the last line or two of a short story and then just sit for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/if-we-re-lucky-writer-and-reader-alike-we-ll-finish-the-last-line-or/)

[Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/)

> [As Michael (Chekhov)'s pupil, I learned more about acting. I learned psychology, history, and the good manners of art - taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/as-michael-chekhov-s-pupil-i-learned-more-about-acting-i-learned/)

[Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/)

> [Chekhov will seek out the key situation in the life of a cabman or a charwoman, and make them glow for a brief moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/chekhov-will-seek-out-the-key-situation-in-the-life-of-a-cabman-or-a/)

[Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/)

> [“Any idiot can face a crisis, it is day to day living that wears you out. —Anton Chekhov”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-idiot-can-face-a-crisis-it-is-day-to-day-living-that-wears-you/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I don't think my looks are modern. I always imagined I'd end up doing Chekhov, Ibsen and Shakespeare all my life and never play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-kingston/i-don-t-think-my-looks-are-modern-i-always-imagined-i-d-end-up-doing/)

[Alex Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-kingston/)

> [“He keeps going, going, going on; his people groan and fall one after the other, but he keeps on going, going and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/he-keeps-going-going-going-on-his-people-groan-and-fall-one-after-the/)

[Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/)

> [Chekhov is this poet of melancholy and isolation and of wishing you were somewhere else than where you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/chekhov-is-this-poet-of-melancholy-and-isolation-and-of-wishing-you/)

[Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/)

> [“He did not want to be original; he made superhuman efforts to be like everybody else: but there is no escaping one's destiny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/he-did-not-want-to-be-original-he-made-superhuman-efforts-to-be-like/)

[Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/)

> [There are no whys in a person's life, and very few hows. In the end, in search of useful wisdom, you could only come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/there-are-no-whys-in-a-person-s-life-and-very-few-hows-in-the-end-in/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“Art, science, love, inspiration, ideals—choose out all the words with which humanity is wont, or has been in the past, to be consoled or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/art-science-love-inspiration-ideals-choose-out-all-the-words-with/)

[Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/)

## More by Vladimir Nabokov

> [And the rest is rust and stardust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-the-rest-is-rust-and-stardust/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [There is no science without fancy and no art without fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-is-no-science-without-fancy-and-no-art-without-fact/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“My solemn exasperation was to her the silence of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/my-solemn-exasperation-was-to-her-the-silence-of-love/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [ “...under no circumstances would he \[Humbert Humbert\] have interfered with the innocence of a child, if there was the least risk of a row.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/under-no-circumstances-would-he-humbert-humbert-have-interfered-with/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“Ami azt illeti, Vannak kezdtek nagyon tetszeni a fák is, a csodák is meg az Adák is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/ami-azt-illeti-vannak-kezdtek-nagyon-tetszeni-a-f-k-is-a-csod-k-is/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things. Words without experience are meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/we-live-not-only-in-a-world-of-thoughts-but-also-in-a-world-of-things/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“As palavras sem a experiência não teriam qualquer significado.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/as-palavras-sem-a-experi-ncia-n-o-teriam-qualquer-significado/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“It isn’t possible. I cannot imagine it. Come on over here, you foolish little doe, and tell me on what day I shall die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/it-isn-t-possible-i-cannot-imagine-it-come-on-over-here-you-foolish/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“Precautions to be taken in the case Of freak reincarnation: what to do On suddenly discovering that you Are now a young and vulnerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/precautions-to-be-taken-in-the-case-of-freak-reincarnation-what-to-do/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [And this is the only immortality you and i may share, my Lolita.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-this-is-the-only-immortality-you-and-i-may-share-my-lolita/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“Be true to your Dick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/be-true-to-your-dick/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“It is indeed a tricky name. It is often misspelt, because the eye tends to regard the "a" of the first syllable as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/it-is-indeed-a-tricky-name-it-is-often-misspelt-because-the-eye-tends/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“(T)here exist friendships which develop their own inner duration, their own eons of transparent time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/t-here-exist-friendships-which-develop-their-own-inner-duration-their/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“She was all rose and honey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/she-was-all-rose-and-honey/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

[Explore all 883 Vladimir Nabokov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

## More Chekhov quotes

> [“Art, science, love, inspiration, ideals—choose out all the words with which humanity is wont, or has been in the past, to be consoled or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/art-science-love-inspiration-ideals-choose-out-all-the-words-with/)

[Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/)

> [There are no whys in a person's life, and very few hows. In the end, in search of useful wisdom, you could only come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/there-are-no-whys-in-a-person-s-life-and-very-few-hows-in-the-end-in/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“He did not want to be original; he made superhuman efforts to be like everybody else: but there is no escaping one's destiny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/he-did-not-want-to-be-original-he-made-superhuman-efforts-to-be-like/)

[Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/)

> [Chekhov is this poet of melancholy and isolation and of wishing you were somewhere else than where you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/chekhov-is-this-poet-of-melancholy-and-isolation-and-of-wishing-you/)

[Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/)

> [“He keeps going, going, going on; his people groan and fall one after the other, but he keeps on going, going and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/he-keeps-going-going-going-on-his-people-groan-and-fall-one-after-the/)

[Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/)

> [I don't think my looks are modern. I always imagined I'd end up doing Chekhov, Ibsen and Shakespeare all my life and never play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-kingston/i-don-t-think-my-looks-are-modern-i-always-imagined-i-d-end-up-doing/)

[Alex Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-kingston/)

> [“Any idiot can face a crisis, it is day to day living that wears you out. —Anton Chekhov”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-idiot-can-face-a-crisis-it-is-day-to-day-living-that-wears-you/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Chekhov will seek out the key situation in the life of a cabman or a charwoman, and make them glow for a brief moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/chekhov-will-seek-out-the-key-situation-in-the-life-of-a-cabman-or-a/)

[Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/)

> [As Michael (Chekhov)'s pupil, I learned more about acting. I learned psychology, history, and the good manners of art - taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/as-michael-chekhov-s-pupil-i-learned-more-about-acting-i-learned/)

[Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/)

> [If we're lucky, writer and reader alike, we'll finish the last line or two of a short story and then just sit for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/if-we-re-lucky-writer-and-reader-alike-we-ll-finish-the-last-line-or/)

[Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/)

> [Chekhov said: let's put God - and all these grand progressive ideas - to one side. Let's begin with man; let's be kind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/chekhov-said-let-s-put-god-and-all-these-grand-progressive-ideas-to/)

[Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/)

> [Reading Chekhov was just like the angels singing to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/reading-chekhov-was-just-like-the-angels-singing-to-me/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [When we remove the snowdrift piled up over Chekhov in recent years, we uncover a man profoundly agitated by social problems; a writer whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/when-we-remove-the-snowdrift-piled-up-over-chekhov-in-recent-years-we/)

[Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/)

> [Read the great stuff, but read the stuff that isn't so great, too. Great stuff is very discouraging. If you read only Beckett and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/read-the-great-stuff-but-read-the-stuff-that-isn-t-so-great-too-great/)

[Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/)

> [I'll never forget reading Chekhov's "A Doctor's Visit" on a train to Hawthorne, New York, and I got to the end - the scene…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ross/i-ll-never-forget-reading-chekhov-s-a-doctor-s-visit-on-a-train-to/)

[Adam Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ross/)

Browse all 132 Chekhov quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Do you really think that Chekhov is Chekhov because he wrote about social phenomena, readjustments of a new industrial middle class, kulaks and rising serfs (which sounds like the seas)? I thought he wrote of the kinds of things that gentleKing Lear proposed to discussin prison with his daughter.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Vladimir Nabokov"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chekhov-because-he-wrote-about/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Chekhov"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chekhov-because-he-wrote-about/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/vladimir-nabokov-198_middle-class_do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chek_2185498.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/vladimir-nabokov-198_middle-class_do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chek_2185498.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/vladimir-nabokov-198_middle-class_do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chek_2185498.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Do you really think that Chekhov is Chekhov because he wrote about social phenomena, readjustments of a new…” — Vladimir Nabokov",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Vladimir Nabokov",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Do you really think that Chekhov...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chekhov-because-he-wrote-about/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/do-you-really-think-that-chekhov-is-chekhov-because-he-wrote-about/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```