چکیده:
This research work points out the importance of Chekhov's Ivanov, among his other literary
and dramatic works, for it comprises the seeds of his later dramatic development. His
achievement in this play lies in the creation of a genuine dramatic type that combines two
different literary traditions: the Russian character of the superfluous man, and the Hamletic
protagonist manifested in the long series of nineteenth century literary productions. More
specifically, Ivanov is in the tradition of Turgenev's conception of Hamlet, as reflected in his
famous essay "Hamlet and Don Quixote" (1858). The work endeavours to trace the main features
of Chekhov's first type that represents the Russian intellectual of the 1880s and his version of the
Russian Hamlet. Consideration of the relationship between Chekhov's and Shakespeare's
protagonists is carried out through allusions, themes, echoes, images and other attributes
reminiscent of Hamlet in the Russian play. In this context, Ivanov is taken, as a typical character
of his time, a time of political repression and stagnation in the Russian intellectual life, when not
only heroism but also little deeds seemed impossible. The topic is investigated through a
comparative and analytical outlook resorting to history and other critical works of literature and
drama whenever they appear pertinent to discussion.