Generation of the 1880s in A.P. Chekhovs prose: motif representation and plot dynamics

Statement of the problem. The article deals with motifs and anthropology problems of the 1880s generation based on A.P. Chekhov’s prose (“Excellent People”, “On the Road”, “Verochka”, “Lights”). The purpose of the article is to reveal the main Chekhov’s motifs to describe the generation, and then to investigate Chekhov’s plot dynamics from 1886 to 1888. Research results. The characters of “Excellent People” are determined by false activity, boredom, doubt, leaving home and changeable/unchangeable motifs. The inner event is outlook searches for a female character, forming Chekhov’s “opening” short story genre. The motif markers of the 1880s generation in “On the Road” are enthusiasm, aimlessness, recurrence, and empathy. The main hero is looking for his credo during all his life, so he may be called the “searching” hero. The hero of “Verochka” is a kind of a “weak man” type. The author’s interpretation of the type is represented by misunderstanding, loneliness, eligible bachelor runaway and old aged soul. Finally, the male character turns into an “ordinary man” literary type. The plot moving in “Lights” is provided by pessimism, skepticism, disillusion, guilt, real life and the common idea motifs. The last motifs are connected with the main hero rejecting philosophic reflection and his acceptance of life in its variety. The change in the combinations of motifs in Chekhov’s stories about the “eighties” during the critical period of the writer’s work allows us to trace the development of the author’s concept of the generation.