Why would Chekhov be called the greatest dramatist since Shakespeare?

[fajfall]

I'm reading a book on Shakespeare and the author makes this statement but without further explanation. I've seen some of Chekhov's plays but I don't see how he's better than any other playwright.

[OrphanPip]

I'm reading a book on Shakespeare and the author makes this statement but without further explanation. I've seen some of Chekhov's plays but I don't see how he's better than any other playwright.

Chekhov is generally regarded as the greatest of the realist playwrights. Some would give the title to Henrik Ibsen. If you restrict the category solely to English you'd probably end up with Shaw or later American playwrights like O'Neil or Williams but they were already influenced by modernism. In terms of influence and impact Chekhov is arguably most influential playwright since Shakespeare who is still influencing how plays are written and staged today, particularly the use of symbolism on stage.

[stlukesguild]

Looking outside of the English-speaking world I'd say that there are any number of playwrights that might arguably be put forth as the "greatest since Shakespeare":

Molière
Bertolt Brecht
Max Frisch
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Jean Racine
August Strindberg
Henrik Ibsen
Friederich Schiller
Federico Garcia-Lorca
Eugène Ionesco
Victor Hugo
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais
Jean Genet
Luigi Pirandello
Pierre Corneille
Samuel Beckett
Pedro Calderón de la Barca

etc...

Personally, I'd go with Molière, Racine, Samuel Beckett, and Schiller... and arguments could probably be made for Pedro Calderón de la Barca and other Spaniards by those fluent in Spanish and knowledgeable of Spanish literature.

[mortalterror]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Chekhov but people who are big fans of 19th century Russian literature or naturalism seem to have a thing for him. If I were going to pick a "best dramatist since Shakespeare" I think I'd go with Ibsen, Racine, or Calderon although Brecht, Goethe, Beckett, Wilde and O'Neill are all nice choices too.