Anton Chekhov the Iconoclast

Lee J. Williames views Anton Chekhov as a change agent and iconoclast in a manner similar to Zola and Darwin. This study shows that Chekhov was deeply influenced by the scientific method, that he was objective in his representations and that he carefully chose what he wrote about. It was his intention to explode stereotypes by clearly and objectively stating the problems of Russian society in his stories. He felt that his readers would be moved to accomplish change through individual initiative if they saw clearly what the problems were in Russia To demonstrate these points, this work presents an intellectual biography of Chekhov and then examines the objectivity and validity of his views on Russian society.