What is the main content of Chekhov's short stories?

Abstract of Chekhov's short stories: A considerable part of Chekhov's early works has profound social significance. These works can be divided into two categories: one is to write jokes about the daily life of Russian society on the surface, but in fact they are mercilessly mocking the autocratic police system and the slave psychology of ordinary citizens, such as The Death of a Civil Servant, The Chameleon and Priscilla. The other kind reflects the poor and painful life of working people, such as distress, hardship, sadness and so on.

The Death of a Civil Servant is about a young civil servant sneezing in the theater and spitting on the bald head of a general in the front seat. Although he repeatedly apologized to the general, he was afraid that the general would not forgive him and blame him. From then on, he was uneasy and trembling, and soon died. In that dark society, it is the arrogance of big officials that causes the fear and servility of humble little people. Another short story written by the writer in his early days, Distress, describes a lonely old coachman. During the whole week after his son died, he tried several times to talk to someone about his inner pain, but no one paid any attention to him, so he had to tell the old horse what had happened to him. This novel is an indictment of the ruthless society at that time.

By the 1990s of 19, Chekhov's novel creation was prosperous and mature, and many outstanding masterpieces were produced during this period, such as Ward 6, Anna Hanging Around the Neck, A House with an Attic, Gooseberry, and The Man in the Trap.

A House with an Attic criticizes the wrong social trend of thought "Trivia Theory". In my opinion, the important thing is not to be keen on the reform of "small things", but to solve the old stories that have been repeated for hundreds of years. However, due to the limitation of thought, the author can't point out the correct method to solve the problem.

The works of this period also strongly criticized the emptiness and inaction of intellectuals and the vulgarity and ugliness of ordinary citizens. Such as jumping woman, literature teacher, Eunice, etc.

In Chekhov's works in the 1990s, the issue of farmers is also an important theme. He is very concerned about the problems of farmers, especially after he moved to a farm not far from Moscow in 1892. He had more contact with farmers, had a deeper understanding of farmers, and created a number of works describing Russian countryside and farmers. For example, The Farmer reflects the poor life of Russian farmers after the serfdom reform, while The Canyon describes the development of Russian rural capitalism in the 1990s.