Chekhov’s landscapes: Building story structure with descriptions of the natural world

While there are myriad lenses through which we can examine Anton Chekhov’s mastery of the short-story form, one of the clearest is his use of the natural world. The writer often uses descriptions to build story structure and transmogrify the protagonist’s experience, all the while highlighting a theme pervasive throughout his work – that of humankind’s damaging effect on the natural world and the implications of reciprocal damage. A close look at two of Chekhov’s later stories – ‘Peasants’ and ‘In the Ravine’ – reveals his ability to paint, in simple, evocative language, landscapes that do far more than serve as mere backdrops.