In this review of Uncle Vanya, MacCarthy appraises Chekhov's work as a unique dramatic achievement in the sense that, while its subject matter is not sensational or thrilling, it is nevertheless a griping, "violently interesting" example of theatrical craft.

Uncle Vanya was called by Tchekov "scenes from country life." He wished to make it perfectly clear from the outset that he was not writing a Scribe, a Sardou, or even an Alexandre Dumas fils play. He was writing a Middlemarch, only he was writing it for the theatre. He went so far as to steal one of George Eliot's characters (vide Landmarks of Russian Literature), Mr. Casaubon, who appeared in the flesh in this play. It is not undramatic because it is violently interesting; and it is dramatic, not because there is any sustained plot or any dexterity of move and countermove between the characters, but because...