MIRE

Mire
Mire is a good title for this story. I felt I was mired in the mud of negative stereotypes of Jews.  Did Chekhov really write such a loathsome piece? I researched what might have prompted him to write this story and what I found out was that Chekhov was engaged to an independent minded Jewish woman and the relationship ended -- very likely not to Chekhov's liking and hence this attack on Jewish culture and in particular, Jewish women. 

It is really a great dissapointment to see that a great artist like Chekhov reduced his art to create this story. It is not much of a story. To me, it sounds like another warning issued by Chekhov -- except this one is not an inspiring one -- not one we should take to heart -- but rather Chekhov revealing his fears, his anger, and his hatred. To be fair, I also read that Chekhov defended Dreyfus and spoke out against Anti-Semitism and actually reconciled himself with his former fiancé. 

Maybe Chekhov was able to progress in his thinking but this story doesn't come with footnotes and reading it at face value -- it can't be cleansed of what it is.