A Study Guide for Anton Chekhov's "The Looking-Glass"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Anton Chekhov's "The Looking-Glass", excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Mar 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781410388674

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17

The Looking-Glass

Anton Chekhov

1885

Introduction

The Looking-Glass (1885) is a short story written by Anton Chekhov, a renowned Russian author and playwright, in the early years of his writing career. His earliest stories were mostly comic pieces that Chekhov sold to newspapers to help support his family, but around the time this story was written, he began writing stories with a more serious literary tone.

The story follows the daydream of a young woman, Nellie, who, while staring into a mirror on New Year's Eve, sees her future husband and all the trials of her married life from beginning to end. The life she sees is not a romantic idyll, but instead a long procession of hardships and worries that are in stark contrast to the privileged life she has lived so far. In this very short tale, Chekhov explores themes of disillusionment, death, and identity and leaves the reader wondering if the episode will affect Nellie's choices in real life after she wakes up from her disturbing dream.

The Looking-Glass is not included in many compilations of Chekhov's short stories, but it can be found in Short Stories: 1882–1885 (edited by Will Jonson and published by Create-Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2013). The full text of the story can also be found online courtesy of Eldritch Press, at http://www.eldritchpress.org/ac/jr/041.htm.

Author Biography

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in Taganrog, Russia, on January 29, 1860. His father, Pavel Chekhov, was a grocer and a devoutly religious man who conducted the church choir; Anton sang in the choir as a boy. His mother, Yevgeniya, was fond of storytelling, a trait she passed on to her son. Chekhov was one of six children, and the family was poor. In 1875 his father's business failed, and the family moved to Moscow in the hope of finding work, but Chekhov stayed behind to finish his studies. He did not join his family in Moscow until 1879, when he enrolled in medical school there.

While he was in medical school, Chekhov began writing humorous letters to his family in Moscow to help lift their spirits. These evolved into