"The Man in the Case" (russian: Человек в футляре, translit=Chelovek v futlyare) is an 1898 short story by
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
, the first part of what has been later referred as ''The Little Trilogy'', along with "
Gooseberries
Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance. The berries of those in the genu ...
" and "
About Love".
Publication
The story was written in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. On 15 June 1898 Chekhov sent it to ''
Russkaya Mysl''s editor
Viktor Goltsev
Viktor Alexandrovich Goltsev (russian: Ви́ктор Алекса́ндрович Го́льцев, — ) was a Russian writer, lawyer, journalist, literary critic, publisher, and editor. He was an editor of "Russian Courrier", ''Russkiye Vedom ...
. It was first published in a No.7, July 1898 issue of this magazine. In a slightly revised version it made its way into Volume 12 of the 1903 second edition of the Collected Works by A.P. Chekhov, and then into Volume 11 of the 1906 third, posthumous edition.
[Rodionova, V.M. Commentaries to Человек в футляре. The Works by A.P. Chekhov in 12 volumes. Khudozhestvennaya Literatura. Moscow, 1960. Vol. 8, pp. 535-536]
Background
According to the author's brother
Mikhail Chekhov, the prototype for Belikov, the story's main character, was A.F. Dyakonov, the inspector of the
Taganrog City Gymnasium which Chekhov was a graduate of. Other sources mentioned Dyakonov in this context too, including
V.G. Tan-Bogoraz and P. Surozhsky. There were apparently other candidates. There is an entry in Chekhov's 1896 notebook that reads: "From 15 till 18 August M.O. Menshikov guested with me... Menshikov even in dry weather wears caloches, carries with him an umbrella so as not to perish from sunstroke and avoids washing his face with cold water"
Plot
The story, narrated by Burkin, a gymnasium teacher, to his friend Ivan Ivanych Chimsha-Gimalayski after a long day spent hunting in the countryside, tells the story of his colleague Belikov, a teacher of Greek and the antagonist of the story.
Suffering from paranoia (he wears a pair of galoshes and a heavy coat even in the warmest weather) Belikov clings to official regulations and insists that others do so as well, being suspicious and wary of everything, because "one can never tell what harm might come from it". He terrorizes not only his school, but the whole town with his petty demands, protests against all sorts of real or imagined disorder. Everybody is scared of this man whose habit is visiting people and sitting silent for an hour by way of "maintaining good relations with his colleagues".
Then a new teacher named Mikhail Kovalenko is assigned to Belikov's school, and he brings with him his lively and cheerful sister Varenka. Instantly all the ladies at school decide that Belikov should marry her, and she seems not to mind. Belikov, like everybody else, is fascinated with this woman who arrives at the scene 'like Aphrodite', but is dogged by his usual fear of some unforeseen complications.
Things start to get wrong for Belikov when somebody draws a caricature of him in galoshes, with Varenka on his arm. By this he is horrified and totally thrown off his balance. Then one day he spots Varenka and her brother, cycling. Disgusted and frightened with how low teachers can fall in giving bad examples to pupils, he goes to visit Kovalenko to warn him of dire consequences of such behaviour. The latter tells him off, calling him 'a sneak', and, after Belikov threatens to report on him to the school authorities, promptly sends him rolling down the stairs. Belikov lands safely at the bottom, but, by chance, Varenka is there and, finding the scene terribly funny, she bursts with wild laughter. Belikov returns home, removes the portrait of his beloved from the table, goes to bed, falls ill and in a month's time, dies.
The teachers return from the cemetery in a good humour, hoping that things will now start to change for the better, but life goes on "...as in the past, as gloomy, oppressive, and senseless—a life not forbidden by government prohibition, but not fully permitted, either", according to Burkin.
Reception
The story divided the contemporary critical opinion. The right-wing press in general reacted negatively, one particularly hostile review (titled "Some Things on Chekhov and his Cases") coming from K. Medvedsky, in ''
Moskovskiye Vedomosti''.
Nikolai Minsky
Nikolai Minsky and Nikolai Maksimovich Minsky (russian: Никола́й Макси́мович Ми́нский) are pseudonyms of Nikolai Maksimovich Vilenkin (Виле́нкин; 1855–1937), a mystical writer and poet of the Silver Age of R ...
in ''Birzhevaya Gazeta'' interpreted the story as a mild, 'decadent' quasi-social etude, making much of Chekhov's perceived 'indifference' to his characters.
Akim Volynsky
Akim Lvovich Volynsky (Аким Львович Волынский, real name Khaim Leybovich Flekser, Хаим Лейбович Флексер; 3 May 1861 – 6 July 1926) was a Russian literary (later theatre and ballet) critic and historian, one ...
in ''
Severny Vestnik'' interpreted the story as a self-conscious hymn to 'a little man'.
In retrospect, the first truly insightful analysis of the Belikov character in relation to the political and social atmosphere in Russia at the time, came from
Angel Bogdanovich
Angel Ivanovich Bogdanovich (russian: А́нгел Ива́нович Богдано́вич, October 14 .s. 2 1860, Haradok, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire (modern Belarus) - April 6 .s. March 24 1907, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was ...
who (in the October 1898 issue of ''
Mir Bozhy'') praised Chekhov for discovering a new, and yet totally realistic social type. Still, Bogdanovich saw the story as utterly pessimistic and complained about its author 'morbid' mindset that prevents him from becoming a truly great realist.
Highly positive was the review in ''
Syn Otechestva''
[Сын отечества, 1898, №238, 4 сентября] by
Alexander Skabichevsky who credited Chekhov with being not only a fine artist but also shrewd social commentator. He rated the Belikov character right up there with the most memorable creations by
Gogol and
Goncharov.
References
Further reading
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External links
Человек в футляре the original Russian text
the English translation by
Constance Garnett
Constance Clara Garnett (; 19 December 1861 – 17 December 1946) was an English translator of nineteenth-century Russian literature. She was the first English translator to render numerous volumes of Anton Chekhov's work into English and the ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Man In The Case
Short stories by Anton Chekhov
1898 short stories
Articles containing video clips
Short stories adapted into films