I have been trying to live a stoic life as much as I can for about 2 years. I read Seneca's Letters From a Stoic and it made a huge impact on me. I never questioned Stoicism, I just accepted it. However, Anton Chekhov's story Ward No. 6 made me question a lot of things about Stoicism.
Anyone out there who has read the story?
For some, the greatest burden they carry is their past. They become farcical characters, ignoring the present world around them. How can one use this burden to change his or her future? Are you actively making choices to better yourself? We all have a past to deal with. Not all of us choose a future.
Existential meaning can be found in your past. It just depends on how you apply the burden of your past to your future. I believe this concept can be seen in Anton Chekhov's play the The Cherry Orchard. He wanted his play presented as a comedy, but his producer chose to make it a tragedy. How are you treating your life? Have you accepted it as a tragedy or are you aiming to make it a comedy? Tragic situations without further meaning just result in sadness. If you are able to use the situations successfully, you can find meaning in your life and turn your tragedy into a comedy. You can read more here.
Symbolism in The Cherry Orchard Introduction "We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are.โ Our feelings towards certain objects are individual, as everyone associates different things in a different manner. Insofar they can mirror our past, pains, hopes and our ideals.
https://www.eng-literature.com/2021/11/symbolism-in-the-cherry-orchard.html
Hi! I'm a Chinese person studying in the US. I can't read Russian, but I really wish to know what does Anton Chekhov mean by
>ะะพะทะดัะฐะฒะปัั ะะฐั ั ะะพะฒัะผ ะณะพะดะพะผ, ั ะฝะพะฒัะผ ััะฐัััะตะผ ะธ ะถะตะปะฐั ะทะดะพัะพะฒัั, ะฟะพะบะพั ะธ ััะผั-ััะผัััั ะดะตะฝะตะณ.
in his letter to Suvorin. Would really appreciate it if anyone would like to explain it to me!
(I tried Google Translate, but it didn't make much sense :P I also tried searching for the English/Chinese version of the sentence on Google, but still no luck)
Thanks in advance!
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Edit:
A little more background here: I saw a few people sharing the following quote during the Chinese New Year:
>็ฅๆจๆฐๅนดๅฟซไน๏ผ็ๆดปๅนธ็ฆ๏ผ็ฅๆจๅฅๅบท๏ผๅฎๅฎ๏ผๅพๅฐไธ่ฎกๅ
ถๆฐ็้ฑใโ ๅฅ่ฏๅคซใ่ด่ๆฒๆใ
>
>(Translate: I wish you a happy New Year, a happy life, good health, peace, and get countless money. -- Chekhov's To Suvorin)
I liked it so much, but after I sent it to one of my friends, my friend was curious, "Wow, did Chekhov really say that?"
So I Googled it in Chinese and couldnโt find a credible source in support of that. Then I re-Googled in English, still no luck.
I finally (after a few months) came up with the idea of translating a few keywords into Russian, and this time Google search gives me the original document in Russian. According to Google Translate, the first sentence looks similar to the Chinese version I saw online, but not exactly the same. So I posted here to double check.
Now I can finally convince myself (and my friend) that this sentence was indeed said by Chekhov! I feel so excited and relieved. Thank you all so much for your help!
Hi, I am currently reading a collection of his short stories and came across to this short story titled "Reading". I can't see any analysis about it on the web, so I came here to ask on what are your thoughts about this short story.
