Andrey Vasilyevich Kovrin
Andrey Vasilyevich Kovrin is a contemporary of Chekhov. Through this image the author tries to show us that a man rushing to his goal, having his idea and his priorities in life, is condemned to death. Chekhov highlights his main character from the rest of the crowd. While the people who surround Kovrin are quite simple and primitive, he himself has a fine nature, love for art, the inner beauty. He works hard and is faithful to his business - philosophy. And he knows how to enjoy what he is doing. It is the feature which Chekhov calls “talent”. Kovrin is an easy and interesting man. That's why Yegor Semenovich Pesotsky and his daughter, Tanya like him.
Pesotskiy
Pesotskiy is a known gardener, and his garden is the meaning of his life. In fact, he had only three joys in the life: the garden, the daughter and his pupil Kovrin.
Pesotskaia Tania
Pesotskaia Tania – a young, sophisticated, beautiful – has to live her best years in the country because of her father. She actually dies of boredom, because the old man talks only about his garden. So Kovrin’s visit becomes a breath of fresh air in the provincial stuffiness. When Kovrin and Tanya saw each oher the last time, she was still a gangly teenager. Now she has grown up into a beautiful young woman. Liking for each other immediately flushes between them. Pesotskiy old man cannot get enough - he could not even dream about better son-in-law!
The Black Monk
The Black Monk is a mirage, a ghost, visible by Kovrin. Chekhov’s monk voices everything that Kovrin thought about, but could not give his secret thoughts a verbal form. Mysterious ghost convinces Kovrin that he is a genius, he is better, superior than others. Moreover, the monk makes Andrew Vasilyevich believe that a person with normal consciousness is a herd, primitive animal.
