How did Anton Chekhov’s dramatic style differ from highly theatrical 19th-century drama?

Anton Chekhov’s dramatic style represented a significant departure from the highly theatrical, artificial conventions of 19th-century drama, such as the popular melodrama and the well-made play.1

While 19th-century theatre often relied on sensational effects, complex plots, and overblown, declamatory acting, Chekhov pioneered a style of realism characterized by the following shifts:

• Focus on the Ordinary: Chekhov moved away from exotic locations and high-stakes action, instead focusing on the "humdrum life" of inconspicuous people and the day-to-day existence of the landed gentry.23
• Undramatic Drama: Often termed the "theatre of inaction," his plays lack neat solutions or complex, overt plots, favoring an atmosphere of lyrical or haunting realism.45
• Naturalism: He rejected extravagant diction and artificial staging. In collaboration with the Moscow Art Theatre, he championed natural movements, gestures, and speech, emphasizing emotional complexity beneath a surface of everyday behavior.12
• Authenticity: Chekhov believed that life is lived in ordinary moments and that histrionics are a "dangerous lie," leading him to create works that probed the secret motives of characters rather than relying on theatrical artifice.45