SOURCE: "The Farce-Vaudevilles," in Chekhov and the Vaudeville: A Study of Chekhov's One-Act Plays, Cambridge University Press, 1982, pp. 46-109.

In the essay below, Gottlieb closely examines several of Chekhov's short comic plays, including "The Bear, " "The Proposal, " and "The Anniversary, " uncovering dramatic techniques similar to those employed in the author's full-length works.

Chekhov's language is as precise as 'Hullo!' and as simple as 'Give me a glass of tea'. In his method of expressing the idea of a compact little story, the urgent cry of the future is felt: 'Economy!'

It is these new forms of expressing an idea, this true approach to art's real tasks, that gives us the right to speak of Chekhov as a master of verbal art.

Behind the familiar Chekhovian image created by the Philistines, that of a grumbler displeased with everything, the defender of 'ridiculous people' against society, behind Chekhov...