"The Violin of Rothschild": a summary and analysis

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's creativity, accessible to the reader thanks to the multivolume editions of complete collections, individual books and collections, has been of interest for more than a century, refuting the author's opinion of the fragility of his heritage. "They read about eight years, and they will forget," he told his friends, but, fortunately, he was mistaken. All over the world appreciate the talent of the great Russian writer, put his plays, publish books and monographs dedicated to his work. "Seagull", "Cherry Orchard" or "Uncle Vanya" is known to many, but a very small story "The Violin of Rothschild" is less familiar to the mass reader.

Evolution of Chekhov's creativity

Chekhov died an old man, but for a brief life he managed to understand a lot. The older he became, the sadder and kinder the works were, and they acquired ever deeper meaning. If we compare the Letter to the Academic Neighbor of the Young Antoshi Chekhonte with the Cossack or the Bishop, the metamorphosis of the outlook felt by the author becomes clear. The story "Rothschild's Violin" refers to the late period of the great writer's work. It was written in 1894, some literary critics believe that in Chekhov's tales of this period the influence of Leo Tolstoy's creative work is felt. Perhaps they are right, although this is not so important.

Plot

The story about which Anton Pavlovich relates in this small work is simple and at the same time requires considerable spiritual effort for understanding.

It is like a beautiful and sad song, which, with all the accessibility and melody of the melody, it is very difficult to sing well, and even more so to compose.

This is the story "Rothschild's Violin", the summary of which does not take much space. An elderly man named Yakov works, he, as they would say today, "own business", he is an undertaker. Things are not going very well, the small town, all the dead, including promising, all the way. Therefore, Yakov, nicknamed Bronze, has to work part time playing the violin in a small local orchestra. There he is known and respected for the talent of the musician, although the character of the undertaker is complex. Especially goes to Rothschild, a flutist colleague whom Bronze can not stand for a dull look and equally "cheerful" manner of execution. And here the elderly master falls ill, and then the legal wife Martha dies. This event takes place quite quickly, but for a short period of sickness the main character learns a lot of new things. Rather, he knows all this for a long time, just the stingy facts are hidden under a heavy layer of everyday worries about daily bread. And suddenly memories, together with unusual thoughts burst into the soul of Jacob. He also falls ill and quickly dies, but before that he manages to do two things: to compose a beautiful melody and to bequeath his instrument to the hated Jewish flutist. That's the whole plot of the story "Rothschild's Violin". Analysis of it, however, can be more voluminous than the product itself.

The national question

First of all, the modern reader can be confused by the frequent use in the story of the word "Jew" and its derivatives. This in no way indicates the antisemitism of AP Chekhov, among whose friends the Jews were many. The fact is that this definition, which for some time has become a symbol of chauvinism and perceived as an insult to national dignity, in the described years had a wide circulation and simply denoted religion and nationality together. It is consonant with the German Jude, English Jew and translations of the word "Jew" into many other languages. In the story "The Violin of Rothschild," Anton Pavlovich uses the provincial phraseology of his age, which gives him vitality and credibility. Especially interesting is the reaction of children on the street at the sight of passing characters. Rothschild they tease "Jew", and Yakov - "Bronze".

Yakov-musician

In those days, high-quality sound-reproducing apparatus had not yet been invented, and as a musical accompaniment of all the celebrations, a "live" performance was used. The orchestras were different, but more often they had two main national colors: Gypsy and Jewish. Residents of different peoples inhabiting the Russian Empire loved both of these genres. About the fact that he worked as a main character in one of the musical collectives of the then "show business", and wrote A. P. Chekhov. "Rothschild's Violin" does not talk about national relations, the latter, rather, are of a business nature.

The conjugal life of Bronze

Undertaker Jacob is a harsh man, the very craft contributes to it. But he lived most of his life as a consumer and a drive. To his wife, he treated rather like a working animal than a man. Only when she was sick, Jacob thought about how much the husband did during their life together. Even numb, Marfa continues to perform difficult economic duties, but forces soon leave her. The wife calls her husband, she lies with a clear and some joyful expression on her face in anticipation of the long-awaited eternal rest, called Berthold Brecht "the day of Saint ever". They talk, Marfa reminds Yakov of a short-lived parental happiness. The girl, their child, died. About this sad moment of common destiny, the words of the dying elderly woman are laconically told by A. P. Chekhov in the story "Rothschild's Violin". Analysis and comparison of time intervals gives grounds to conclude that the child was only two years old. For all the time of marriage, Yakov never showed tenderness to his wife, on this thought he catches himself. Repentance, however, at this moment does not feel.

Losses

Jacob is annoyed by the financial losses that are following him. Every day that passed without order, any deceased citizen, whom his relatives decided to bury in his coffin not his work, and any unnecessary expenditure, in his opinion, is perceived by him as a loss to be fixed in a special book. Even the coffin for his wife fell into this mournful list.

A fracture of consciousness comes after a funeral. Jacob goes home sad, he does not react to the tempting offer of the leader of Moses Ilyich Shahkes, transferred by the same Rothschild. The flutist does not immediately catch the change in the mood of the violinist and is afraid of conflict, but he meets the Jew with a kind word.

Yakov suddenly came up with a simple idea about the purpose of his birth. She, in fact, is dedicated to the whole work "Rothschild's Violin". The meaning of the story is that the whole destiny of each person is a combination of losses, which are partially compensated by brief moments of happiness. And only death stops a series of losses.

Art

Jacob plays the violin well. This is indirectly confirmed by the attitude to the tool of his wife. She carefully hung the violin on a nail every time after the arrival of her husband from the wedding, where he received his fee (fifty dollars plus a treat). He loved to play at home, and sometimes he just had to touch the strings to find inner peace. The undertaker, apparently, was the talent of a musician, which he opened really only shortly before his death. It happens, a person treats his hobby as a secondary skill, but in fact it is his true vocation. One of such cases is described in the story of A. P. Chekhov "Rothschild's Violin". The composition of a beautiful sad melody, from which both the author and the first casual listener flow from the eyes of tears, 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 is small. Usually such places in the central strip of Russia are very picturesque. But there are almost no descriptions of the beauties of the surrounding world in the story "Rothschild's Violin". There is a memory of the time when Jacob and Martha, still young, spent their time in the shadow of a willow on the shore. She also stood here that day, only grew old, but much has changed around. On the opposite bank, instead of birch-trees, flood meadows were formed, a birch grew, a pine forest on the mountain disappeared. There were fewer geese, about the breeding of which (with a considerable profit) was recently pondered by Jacob. Kind of native places suddenly moved the old man, he remembered what he was trying to forget.

Bronze did not like making coffins for children, calling them "nonsense." In fact, behind professional hardness to the grief-stricken customers hid their own pain, they tormented memories of the deceased daughter.

Phonetics

Today digests, ridiculed yet by Marty Larney, are in vogue. Read the work completely do not want everything, it's a long time, even if it's quite small, such as "Rothschild's Violin". The summary, however, is not able to convey the entire charm of the story.

Chekhov is the master of conveying the features of the sound of voices. His characters speak each in his own way. Yakov is taciturn, at least out loud. He thinks a lot, but his thoughts are practical and concrete. Perhaps this is how he protects himself from the outside world, who is dissatisfied, receiving only losses from him. Sometimes the words of the undertaker are ridiculous, as in the scene of a visit to the hospital, where he brought the sick Martha. Yakov behaves as if he had been guilty, and in his intonations guessed a note of apology. The paramedic also speaks very brightly, his speech is filled with self-admiration, he enjoys full power over the patients and their relatives in the absence of a doctor. The speech of a Jew, accustomed to speak Yiddish - a favorite topic for many writers, could not resist the temptation to portray her and Chekhov. "Rothschild's Violin" - a phonetically verified symphony of words, like other works of Anton Pavlovich.

The ironic ending

Mature Chekhov at times shows no less malice than Antosh Chehonte, although it has a qualitatively different level. The new violin Rothschild causes curiosity around, the whole town knows the poverty of the flutist, and the instrument is good. The irony lies in the name of this character, both in his clothes, and in the way he ordered the inheritance.

Rothschild is sad in its essence, his whole appearance embodies the universal sorrow, he performs any musical work in such a way that listeners want to cry. He threw his flute, playing now on the instrument that was bequeathed by Yakov, trying to reproduce the melody composed by him in a fit of inspiration. It is possible that she remembered not quite reliably, but something remained of her that touched the souls of merchants, and the new master of the violin performed it ten times a day.

Itself suggests a parallel with modern pop culture, trying to reproduce the traditions of great Russian art in a simplified, more accessible form for the mass consumer. She also likes modern merchants.