Ward No. 6 and Other Stories, 1892-1895

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The period 1892–5 was one of relative calm and considerable success in Chekhov’s life; the journey to Sakhalin was now receding into the past, although it served as the inspiration for several stories, as well as his account of the journey, published in Russian Thought in 1893–5. It was in 1892 that Chekhov purchased a modest but charming country estate at Melikhovo, outside Moscow. There he settled into the life of a country doctor and writer, with his parents Pavel Yegorovich and Yevgeniya Yakovlevna and his sister Masha. The role of doctor proved to be a demanding one, as the country was ravaged by the scourges of famine and cholera, and Chekhov was called upon to help in the struggle with these social disasters. His personal life was marked by numerous flirtations and affairs, especially fed by his acquaintance with the world of Muscovite actresses, but it was his sister Masha who was to prove the most stable female element in his life. Finally, Chekhov the doctor could not help but be aware of the signs of his intensifying tubercular infection; the disease had already carried away his brother Nikolay in 1889, and its continually more insistent presence lent urgency to all Chekhov’s plans, both literary and personal, however much he was to deny its importance in conversation. In Chekhov’s literary activity the years 1892–5 represent a period of transition. It was during this time that he spread his wings and, in response to readers’ demands, became sought after by different publishers. He ceased to publish in Suvorin’s New Times, although his personal relationship with that right-wing publisher was to continue, especially in the correspondence.

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