Gusev, The Bishop [Arkhierey], The Death of Ivan Ilyich [Smert’ Ivana Ilyicha]: comparing stylistic systems

Abstract

The author undertakes comparative analysis of A. Chekhov’s and L. Tolstoy’s stylistic systems in order to identify similarities and differences in their respective worldviews. The article quotes Chekhov’s repeated and unequivocal dismissals of Tolstoy’s ideas about progress, science, and the nation in his letters and notebooks, and references Chekhov’s covert polemic with Tolstoy in his short stories. For the purposes of the analysis, the author considers the stories dealing with the protagonist’s death (Gusev, The Bishop [Arkhierey], and The Death of Ivan Ilyich [Smert’ Ivana Ilyicha]). The study raises the issue of artistic means corresponding to the artistic agenda, and points out the writers’ contrasting attitudes to their characters: Tolstoy’s detachment as opposed to Chekhov’s self-identification. Another focus is on the tropes used to describe the characters’ inner life: Tolstoy’s specific and bodily, or ‘pagan’, imagery versus Chekhov’s lyrical motifs. Finally, the article disproves V. Nabokov’s criticism of Chekhov using ‘any odd’ word.