A.P. Chekhov's stories of 1885-1890: features of finals

The article analyzes the features of A.P. Chekhov’s early stories in the aspect of the poetics of the finals. Particular attention is paid to defining the artistic specificity of the finals of Chekhov’s stories from the period 1885-1890, identifying the systemic connections of the finals of these stories with other components of the artistic structure. The choice of stories from this chronological period is due to the fact that during this period a turning point occurred in the creative life of A.P. Chekhov (1886-1887), so the works written during these years clearly reflect the dynamics of the writer’s artistic method. The problem of the research boils down to the fact that being one of the key components of the artistic structure of Chekhov’s works, the finals of A.P. Chekhov reflect the dynamics of his artistic method throughout his entire career. It is important for the authors of the article to determine what role the stories of the 1885-1890s played. in the formation of the main artistic and conceptual solutions to this aspect of A.P. Chekhov. Based on the results of the study, the authors’ typology of A.P. Chekhov’s finals of the investigated period of time was created. Seven criteria have been identified according to which A.P. Chekhov’s finals can be divided into types, including in relation to the problem of the story (the final answer to the problem posed and the final statement of the problem), according to the artistic and semantic content (the final author’s assessment, the final generalization and the final solution), change of the hero’s consciousness (finals in which a change in the hero’s consciousness occurs / does not occur: after the discovery of a new truth or idea in front of the hero, he takes actions and is able to bring this to life / does not act, as well as finals in which the hero’s consciousness does not change), depending on the one who assesses the hero (finalself-assessment, final-author’s assessment), by style (happy, tragic, unexpected), by plot (closed, open), by expressiveness (final-assessment, neutral final). Further research of the authors of the article is aimed at studying the poetics of the finals of A.P. Chekhov’s stories of other periods of creativity.