Russian Writers

Question 1

What did Chekhov write? What themes did he include?

Answer 1

• The Cherry Orchard.
• Satirised the old-world gentry.
• Exposed ‘the cult of rural Russia’.

Question 2

What did Dostoyevsky write? What social themes did he explore?

Answer 2

• Crime and Punishement. The Brothers Karamazov.
• Explored the injustice of the legal system.
• Believed in the strength and uniqueness of the Russian soul.

Question 3

What did Gorky write? What social themes did he explore?

Answer 3

• My Childhood (1913).
• He took up with populist revolutionaries in the 1870s.
• Wrote very popular stories with characters with which many people related.
• Became a personal friend of Lenin when he joined the Marxist Social Democrats.
• Played an important role in the 1917 revolution.