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One of Chekhov's most penetrating works. The Duel deals fundamentally with ideas and ideologies and how they function in the real world. Chekhov’s tale plots the conflict between two characters: Von Koren and Laevsky, who support antithetical worldviews, and not to beat around the bush, they end up in duel. We begin with the Russian aristocrat Laevsky who is a drinker, a gambler and a bit of a moaner, complaining to a military doctor, Somoylenko, whom he befriends, that he has fallen out of love with his mistress, Nadezhda Fyodorovna, and here Chekhov writes with a sharpe view of seemingly irreconcilable mutual isolation between the two, and as the story progresses, and Laevsky discovers Nadezhda's unfaithfulness, the grounds for their isolation seem to grow. Yet, with a change of heart, the two have reconciled by the end of the story. But One is left to ponder, just how convincing is this reconciliation? Another character, the Decon, despite his frivolousness, plays a pivotal role in the story, but overall, I like to think of Von Koren, the scientist and strict moralist as the most important. He thinks with contempt in regards Laevsky that people like him shouldn't exist, but on philosophical grounds not personal ones. This was such a dramatic, vivid and interesting piece of storytelling, and even though it's short, it delivers great depth, and has you thinking deeply on the questions it raises.