ESCHATOLOGICAL MOTIVE IN A. P. CHEKHOV’S LATE DRAMATURGY (“THREE SISTERS” (1900), “UNCLE VANYA” (1896), “THE CHERRY ORCHARD” (1903), “THE SEAGULL” (1895- 1896))

The article considers the philosophical content of A. P. Chekhov’s four plays (“Three Sisters” (1900), “Uncle Vanya” (1896), “The Cherry Orchard” (1903), “The Seagull” (1895-1896)). The plays written at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries are filled with keen anticipation of coming social and cultural changes and tackle the issues, which are in tune with philosophical discourse of the end of the century. Decline of the European civilization became one of the key problems of the European and Russian philosophical thought; this problem surely attracted Chekhov’s attention and substantially influenced artistic aesthetics of the turn-of-the-century works. Diversity of eschatological and millenarianist motives of the mentioned plays allows considering them as a particular theme within Chekhov’s discourse.