It feels like Chekhov took a temptress out of a fairy tale and added a pair of cousins who go up to visit her mansion separately. While there are elements that feel the a little fantastical, the rest of the story is grounded in the psychological way people (or this case men) are intrigued and ultimately attracted to unusual behavior of the opposite sex. Susanna Moiseyevna has inherited her family’s vodka distillery. In many ways this is different from most the other wealthy characters we’ve met who have inherited land or earned money through government work. (The Requiem is the only exception that comes to mind.) Chekhov through Susanna keeps reminding us that she is a Jew, pushing the image of somebody different or foreign than the regular Russian folk.
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian writer and playwright, considered by many to be one of the best writers of short stories in the history of literature. Chekhov was also a successful physician, but writing was his true passion. He was quoted as saying "Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress."
