Creativity of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, accessible to the reader thanks to multi-volume editions of complete collections, individual books and collections, has been of interest for more than a century, refuting the opinion of the writer himself about the fragility of his heritage. âThey honor them for about eight years, and they will forget them,â he told his friends, but, fortunately, he was mistaken. All over the world they appreciate the talent of the great Russian writer, put on his plays, publish books and monographs dedicated to his work. Many people know âThe Seagullâ, âThe Cherry Orchardâ or âUncle Vanyaâ, but the general reader is less familiar with the very small story âThe Rothschild Violinâ.
The evolution of Chekhov
Chekhov died an old man, but during his brief life he managed to understand a lot. The older he got, the sadder and kinder the work turned out, and they took on a deeper meaning. If we compare the "Letter to the learned neighbor" of the young Antosha Chekhonte with the "Cossack" or "Bishop", the metamorphosis of the attitude that the author has experienced becomes clear. The story "Rothschild's Violin" refers to the late period of the great writer. It was written in 1894, some literary critics believe that the influence of Leo Tolstoyâs work is felt in Chekhovâs stories of this period. Perhaps they are right, although this is not so important.
Plot
The story that Anton Pavlovich narrates in this short work is simple and at the same time requires considerable mental effort to understand.
It is like a beautiful and sad song, which, with all the accessibility and melody of the melody, is very difficult to sing well, and even more so to compose.
Such is the story âRothschild's Violinâ, the summary of which does not take up much space. An elderly man named Jacob works for him, as they would say today, âhis business,â he is an undertaker. Things are not going very well, the town is small, all the dead, including promising ones, are in vain. Therefore, Jacob, nicknamed Bronze, has to earn extra money by playing the violin in a small local orchestra. There he is known and respected for his talent as a musician, although the undertakerâs character is complex. Especially goes to Rothschild, a fellow flutist, whom Bronze can not stand for the dull appearance and the equally "cheerful" manner of performance. And then the elderly master gets sick, and then the legal wife of Martha dies. This event takes place quickly enough, but in a short period of ailments the protagonist will learn a lot. Rather, he knows all this for a long time, just mean facts are hidden under a heavy layer of everyday worries about daily bread. And suddenly, memories, along with unusual thoughts burst into Jacob's soul. He also becomes ill and quickly dies, but before that he has time to do two things: compose a beautiful melody and bequeath his instrument to the hateful Jewish flutist. Thatâs the whole plot of the story âRothschildâs Violinâ. An analysis of it, however, may be more voluminous than the work itself.
National issue
First of all, the modern reader may be confused by the frequent use in the story of the word "Jew" and its derivatives. This in no way indicates the anti-Semitism of A.P. Chekhov, among whose friends there were many Jews. The fact is that this definition, which for some time has become a symbol of chauvinism and perceived as an insult to national dignity, has been widely used in the years described and simply denoted religion and nationality together. It is consonant with German Jude, English Jew and translations of the word âJewâ into many other languages. In the story âThe Rothschild's Violin,â Anton Pavlovich uses the provincial phraseology of his century, which gives him vitality and authenticity. Of particular interest is the reaction of children on the street at the sight of characters passing by them. They tease the Rothschilds with the "Jew" and Jacob with the "Bronze."
Jacob the musician
In those far days, high-quality sound-reproducing equipment was not yet invented, and âliveâ performance was used as musical accompaniment for all the celebrations. The orchestras were different, but most often they had two main national colors: gypsy and Jewish. Residents of different peoples inhabiting the Russian Empire loved both of these genres. About how he worked in one of the musical groups of the then "show business" the main character, and wrote A.P. Chekhov. The Rothschild Violin is not about national relationships; the latter are more likely to be businesslike.
The married life of the Bronze
Undertaker Jacob is a stern man, the craft itself contributes to this. But he lived most of his life as a consumer and accumulator. He treated his wife more as a working cattle than a man. Only when she got sick, Yakov thought about how much everything the spouse did during their life together. Even sick, Martha continues to carry out difficult economic duties, but the forces soon leave her. The wife calls her husband, she lies with a clear and somehow joyful expression in anticipation of the long-awaited eternal rest, called by Bertolt Brecht "Holy Day never." They talk, Martha reminds Jacob of a short parental happiness. The girl, their child, has died. A.P. Chekhov succinctly tells about this sad moment of a common fate in the words âRothschild's Violinâ in the words of a dying elderly woman. Analysis and comparison of time periods gives reason to conclude that the child was only two years old. For all the time of the marriage, Jacob never showed tenderness for his wife, on this thought he catches himself. Repentance, however, does not feel at this moment.
Loss
Jacob is annoyed by the financial loss pursuing him. Every day that passed without an order, any deceased city dweller whose relatives decided to bury his work not in the grave, and any unnecessary waste, in his opinion, is perceived by him as a loss to be recorded in a special book. Even the coffin for his wife was on this mournful list.
A fracture of consciousness occurs after a funeral. Jacob goes home sad, he does not respond to the tempting offer of the leader Moses Ilyich Shahkes, transmitted by the same Rothschild. The flautist does not immediately catch the change in the violinistâs mood and fears conflict, but he greets the Jew with an affectionate word.
Suddenly, a simple thought occurred to Yakov about the purpose of his birth. She, in fact, is devoted to the entire work âRothschild's Violinâ. The meaning of the story is that the whole fate of each person consists in the totality of losses, which are partially offset by brief moments of happiness. And only death stops the series of losses.
Art
Jacob plays the violin well. This is indirectly confirmed by the attitude to the instrument of his wife. She carefully hung the violin on a nail every time after her husband came from the wedding, where he received his fee (fifty dollars and refreshments). He loved to play at home, and sometimes it was enough for him to simply touch the strings to find inner peace. Undertaker, apparently, had the talent of a musician, which he really discovered only shortly before his death. So it happens, a person treats his passion as a secondary skill, but in fact it is in him that his true calling is made. One of such cases is described in the story of A.P. Chekhov âRothschild's Violinâ. Composing a beautiful sad melody, from which both the author and the first random listener shed tears from their eyes, crowns the talent of Bronze.
Nature
In which city the events took place, the narrative is not very clear. It is known that he was small, and his population was small. Usually such places in central Russia are very picturesque. But there are almost no descriptions of the beauties of the world in the story âRothschild's Violinâ. There is a memory of the time when Jacob and Martha, still young, spent time in the shade of a willow on the shore. She also stood here that day, only got old, but a lot has changed around. On the opposite bank, instead of a birch forest, water meadows formed, a birch tree grew, a pine forest on the mountain disappeared. There are fewer geese, the breeding of which (with considerable profit), most recently, Jacob was thinking. The sight of the native places unexpectedly touched the old man, he remembered what he was trying to forget.
Bronze did not like to make coffins for children, calling them "nonsense." In fact, behind professional callousness in relation to customers who were heartbroken, their own pain hid, memories of the deceased daughter tormented.
Phonetics
Today, digests ridiculed by Marty Larney are in fashion. Not everyone wants to read the work, itâs long, even if itâs very small, such as the Rothschildâs Violin. The summary, however, cannot convey the whole charm of the story.
Chekhov is a master in conveying the features of sounding voices. His characters speak each in their own way. Jacob is laconic, at least out loud. He thinks a lot, but his thoughts are practical and concrete. Perhaps this is how he defends himself from the world around him, which he is not satisfied with, receiving only losses from him. Sometimes the undertakerâs phrases are ridiculous, as in the scene of a visit to the hospital where he brought the sick Martha. Jacob behaves as if he was guilty, notes of apology are guessed in his intonations. The paramedic is also very colorful, his speech is filled with narcissism, he enjoys the full power over patients and their relatives in the absence of a doctor. The speech of a Jew, accustomed to speaking Yiddish - a favorite topic for many writers, could not resist the temptation to depict it and Chekhov. âRothschild's Violinâ is a phonetically verified symphony of words, like other works by Anton Pavlovich.
Ironic finale
Mature Chekhov sometimes shows no less malice than Antosha Chekhonte, although it has a qualitatively different level. The new Rothschild violin arouses the curiosity of others, the whole town knows the flutist's poverty, and the instrument is good. The irony lies in the surname of this character, and in his clothes, and in how he disposed of the inheritance.
Rothschild is inherently sad, his whole appearance personifies universal sorrow, he performs any piece of music so that listeners want to cry. He abandoned his flute, now plays the bequeathed Jacob's instrument, trying to reproduce the melody composed by him in a fit of inspiration. It is possible that she was not completely reliably remembered, but there was still something left of her that touched the souls of the merchants, and the new master of the violin performed it ten times a day.
The parallel with modern pop culture, trying to reproduce the traditions of the great Russian art in a simplified, more accessible form for the mass consumer, suggests itself. Modern merchants also like it.