Often in his works, Anton Pavlevich Chekhov mixes
comedic and tragic elements. The purpose of this is to not allow things
to get too drab or life to appear to be too gloomy. He uses his characters as mediums for this
comedic relief. Another one of Chekhov's trademarks is the use of off-stage events and
actions. These events and actions may appear to be things that deserve the center of attention, but Chekhov purposely places them off-stage so as to draw attention to something else and pulls it off quite well. This paper analyzes several of Chekhov's plays, including, "Uncle Vanya", "The Cherry Orchard", and "Three Sisters" to show how he successfully makes use of comedy and off-stage action.