This paper defines the specific character of A. P. Chekhov’s oeuvre by comparing a series of his “discovery stories” (a term coined by V. B. Kataev) with the thematic line of “resurrection” characteristic of Russian realism in general, and the works of L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky in particular. Drawing upon contemporaneous literary critiques, the study reveals that Chekhov’s attempts to depict moral regeneration in characters (Laevsky in “The Duel,” Asorin in “The Wife,” Yakov Terekhov in “The Murder”) were invariably regarded as unpersuasive by reviewers. At the same time, the “discovery stories” did not evoke such rejection. In Chekhov’s universe, no change that affects a character is assuredly permanent: his characters are typically not marked by resolute determination, keen intellect, strong conviction, or even reliable memory. The endings of “The Lady with the Dog” and “The Bishop,” masterpieces in which researchers typically find the author’s unconditional assertion of the possibility of “resurrection,” are similarly not devoid of pessimistic overtones. These observations, viewed through historical and literary lenses, substantiate the thesis of literature’s independent evolution: the shift from a religious, moral “resurrection” to a secular, epistemological “discovery” at the end of the nineteenth century is not consistent with the simultaneous rise of God-seeking and mysticism. However, this phenomenon, while not fully validated as a literary-historical fact pending corroboration with various instances, including secondary and tertiary literature, continues to be a highly plausible theory.
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