In The Court Flashcards
by Anton Chekhov — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: In The Court
Where does the story take place?
In a circuit court housed in a decrepit, "cinnamon-coloured" government building in the district town of N., where multiple boards and courts share the same oppressive space.
What crime is Nikolay Harlamov charged with?
The murder of his wife, whose skull was found broken on the evening of June 9th, with a bloodied axe lying beside her body.
How does Harlamov plead when asked about the murder?
He pleads not guilty, standing up and holding his gown over his chest.
Where was Harlamov during the three days after the murder?
He claims he was wandering the fields, neither eating nor drinking, and says he hid because he was afraid he would be judged guilty.
How does Harlamov explain the bloodstain on his coat sleeve?
He claims he got smeared with blood three days before the murder while helping his neighbor Penkov bleed a horse, though Penkov does not remember Harlamov being present.
What does Harlamov say when shown the murder weapon?
He denies the axe is his, claiming he has not had an axe of his own for years because his son Prohor lost it before going into the army.
What is the shocking revelation at the climax of the story?
When Harlamov calls out "Proshka, what did you do with the axe?" and turns to the soldier escorting him, the court realizes the armed guard is his own son Prohor -- potentially implicating the son in the murder.
How does the court respond to the revelation about the escort soldier?
Everyone refuses to acknowledge what happened. The guard is quietly replaced, and the court proceeds as if nothing occurred, suppressing the potentially exonerating truth.
Describe Nikolay Harlamov as a character.
He is a tall, thick-set, bald peasant of about fifty-five with a big red beard and an apathetic, hairy face. He is initially anxious but becomes soothed by the court’s indifference.
What is the president of the court doing during the trial?
He sits exhausted and disengaged, screening his eyes with his hand, chatting about lodging arrangements, and wondering why the doctor wears a long jacket instead of a short one.
What is the assistant prosecutor doing instead of paying attention to the murder trial?
He sits motionless reading Byron’s "Cain," absorbed in the literary work rather than the case before him.
How does Chekhov characterize the defence counsel?
As a bored young graduate whose face shows "frigid, immovable boredom," who views his role as mere routine -- fire off a speech, then ride to the next district to deliver another.
Who is Prohor, and what is his dual role in the story?
Prohor is Harlamov’s son who went into the army. He appears in the courtroom as the armed soldier escorting his own father, a fact revealed only at the climax.
How does the secretary’s reading style contribute to the atmosphere?
His low, droning bass voice, combined with the whirring ventilation wheel, creates a "drowsy, narcotic" atmosphere that makes the murder trial feel routine and sleep-inducing.
What is the central theme of the story?
Bureaucratic indifference to human suffering -- the justice system operates as a mechanical process where no one truly engages with the life-or-death drama before them.
How does the story explore the gap between justice and legal procedure?
The court officials are so dulled by routine that they ignore potentially exonerating evidence (the son’s connection to the axe), prioritizing procedural comfort over truth.
What does the story suggest about truth in institutional settings?
That truth can be collectively suppressed when acknowledging it would disrupt institutional routine. The entire court witnesses the revelation but chooses to pretend nothing happened.
How does Chekhov use the decrepit courthouse as a symbol?
The crumbling, oppressive building with its filthy walls and whirring ventilators symbolizes a justice system that is decayed, mechanical, and indifferent to the human lives it processes.
What is ironic about Harlamov being calmed by the court’s indifference?
The very apathy that soothes his anxiety is what makes his situation hopeless -- the officials are too disengaged to properly examine his case or notice evidence that might save him.
What dramatic irony builds throughout the trial?
The reader gradually pieces together that the escort soldier may be Harlamov’s son Prohor, while the court officials are too bored and distracted to notice or care about this connection.
How does Chekhov use the simile comparing the court to a hospital?
He compares the court officials to hospital attendants "blunted by the sight of death," suggesting that constant exposure to human tragedy has made them numb to it.
What is the significance of the assistant prosecutor reading Byron’s "Cain"?
It is deeply ironic -- "Cain" is about the first murder (brother killing brother), yet the prosecutor reads it as literature while ignoring the actual murder case before him, and the story may involve a family killing.
What does "narcotic" mean in the context of the secretary’s droning voice?
Sleep-inducing or numbing -- Chekhov uses it to describe how the monotonous reading, combined with the ventilation wheel, drugs the courtroom into torpor during a murder trial.
What is a Zemstvo, as mentioned in the opening paragraph?
A form of local self-government institution in pre-revolutionary Russia, responsible for rural administration, one of several bodies sharing the overcrowded government building.
What does "Croesus" refer to when the prosecutor points out a man in the audience?
An allusion to the ancient Lydian king famous for his wealth. The prosecutor uses it to mean "a very rich man," gossiping about spectators instead of focusing on the trial.
What is the significance of the line: "horror passed over the hall unseen as in a mask"?
It captures the collective, unspoken realization that the escort is Harlamov’s son -- everyone feels the horror but no one dares acknowledge it openly, so it passes through the room like something hidden behind a mask.
What does the narrator mean by: "as though he were not being judged by living men, but by some unseen machine"?
It encapsulates the story’s central critique: the court functions as an impersonal mechanism rather than a human institution, processing cases without genuine engagement or concern for justice.
What is revealed by the line: "All raised their heads and, trying to look as though nothing had happened, went on with their work"?
It shows the court’s deliberate suppression of the truth. Rather than investigate the implications of the son’s presence, everyone collectively pretends the revelation never occurred.