Anton Pavlovich Chekhov and his "Antonovki": the habit of not getting married

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Outwardly very attractive, talented and witty, Chekhov has always enjoyed great success with women, the writer's friends jokingly called his many female fans “Antonovka”. And although Chekhov tried not to start a serious romance and in every possible way avoided talking about marriage, many of his love stories left a significant mark on the writer's life. In this review about some of them …

Having conceived somehow to write a novel "On Love", Chekhov conscientiously worked on it for several months - he wrote, crossed it out, trying to make it shorter. And as a result, only one phrase remained from all that was written: "". Actually, such were his ideas about marriage. Most of all, Chekhov valued freedom and independence.

Many ladies loved Chekhov, sought his attention in every possible way, were ready to run to him at the first call. He, without promising them anything serious, nevertheless, did not let their hopes fade away. In the meantime, he himself could easily start a new romance. And the women in love with him, having resigned themselves, agreed to maintain a romantic relationship with him, without demanding any promises in return. That was his game. And what Chekhov was looking for was not love at all, but love, which, illuminating his life, would give him inspiration, but did not interfere with the creative process. That was precisely his relationship with Lydia Mizinova.

Lydia Mizinova

At the age of 28, Chekhov was seriously carried away by one of his sister's friends, 19-year-old Lidochka Mizinova. Lydia, whom everyone affectionately called Lika, was very beautiful, "". At the beginning of their acquaintance, they often spent time together - they went to visit, to exhibitions, to concerts. Feeling that Lika liked him too, Chekhov gushed with witticisms and jokes. In letters Chekhov called her "Beautiful Face", "hellish beauty".

But he did not go further than semi-confessions in letters to Lika and always adhered to a joking tone. This went on for about ten years. Lika was passionately in love and openly demonstrated her love, while Chekhov did not even think about marriage. He seemed to be playing with Lika - now he was moving away from her, then again he was near. Lika, already realizing all the perniciousness of this relationship, was unable to cope with her feelings. She began to annoy Chekhov with letters, tried to flirt with others in front of him in order to arouse jealousy in him, but this did not help.

Finally, she still realized that she could not wait for offers from Chekhov, he liked the very game with her, and he did not need anything more. And then their relationship ended.

Lydia Avilova

Lydia, being a writer herself, was very fond of Chekhov's stories, many of them she knew almost by heart. And when she met, she, of course, fell in love with him, although she was married at that time, and Chekhov drew attention to her. Their next meeting took place three years later, by that time Lydia already had three children. They tried to hide their love not only from prying eyes, even to each other they did not openly talk about their feelings. Only in the story "Forgotten Letters" Lydia confessed: "". Chekhov, after reading this story, understood who these lines were addressed to, and also wrote a confession story “About Love”: “”.

By order of Lydia Avilova, a keychain was made in a jewelry store in the form of a book with an engraved inscription: "". And on the indicated page of this book it is written: "". She sent this keychain to Chekhov. Apparently, it was not for nothing that Bunin called Lydia Avilova "". Their romance, which they were forced to hide, lasted more than ten years.

Elena Shavrova

Elena met Chekhov when she brought him a story she had written for review, and immediately fell in love with him. She was then only 15 years old, while Chekhov was at that time fascinated by Lika Mizinova. Realizing perfectly well that she should not count on reciprocity, Elena tried to forget about Chekhov, and five years later she got married. But three years after the wedding, having arrived to visit relatives in Moscow, they met again, and this time they had an affair.

They fled to Yalta, where they spent some time together. After that, Elena returned to the family, and their romance continued in letters. Chekhov wrote them to Elena about seventy. The result of this novel was the wonderful story "The Lady with the Dog".

Maria Drozdova

The artist Maria Drozdova was a close friend of Chekhov's sister, she was also in love with Chekhov. But knowing about his romance with Lika Mizinova, she did not hope for reciprocity. Nevertheless, she made attempts to get to know him better. And yet she achieved her goal.

Nina Korsh

Nina was in love with Chekhov from the age of 12 - when Chekhov's play Ivanov was staged in her father's theater. Chekhov drew attention to the girl and became interested in her 11 years later, at the premiere of The Seagull at the Moscow Art Theater.

But their relationship was destroyed by the beginning of Chekhov's romance with Olga Knipper.

Olga Knipper

And now she appeared in Chekhov's life - Olga Knipper, a woman who was able to convince Chekhov to change his principles and get married. Their acquaintance took place in 1898 in Moscow, at a rehearsal of Chekhov's "The Seagull". At first, Chekhov drew attention to Olga as a talented actress, praised her play, and soon became carried away by her.

At first, he tried to play a game with her, as he had done earlier with others with other women. He walked with her, invited her to visit, wrote letters with humorous confessions, while trying to keep some distance.

But Clipper turned out to be much more practical than other women, and acted much more decisively. And she achieved what she wanted - she became Chekhov's wife.

Although Chekhov did not want to marry - at that time he was already seriously ill and understood that, having married, they were unlikely to live together. And so it happened.

Chekhov had to live in Yalta for health reasons, while Olga, being the leading actress of the Moscow Art Theater, lived and worked in Moscow. She rarely managed to come to the Crimea to her husband. So their love story with Olga Knipper, starting with passionate feelings and beautiful courtship, ended with a novel in letters and rare meetings. And Chekhov remained a lonely person, in many respects contradictory and incomprehensible to the end.