The setting of “The Bet” is incredibly vague. In the same way that the characters are not given names (but are merely referred to as “the banker” and “the lawyer”), the geographic location is also never referred to by name. All of these choices are intentional, as Chekhov is focusing in this story on universal philosophical concerns such as greed and the meaning of life rather than on analyzing the social or political dynamics of a specific town.
That said, because it is Chekhov, readers can assume that the story takes place in Russia. And it’s notable that he does make the choice to include the specific years that the lawyer is imprisoned in the garden wing of the banker’s house. As the narrator describes, the contract the two men sign “obliged the lawyer to remain exactly fifteen years from twelve o’clock of November 14th 1870 to twelve o’clock of November 14th 1885.”
This time frame is significant because it establishes that this bet takes place during the transition from the reign of Alexander II as Russia’s czar to Alexander III. While Alexander II was experimenting with developing democratic governance, reforming the school system, and eliminating serfdom, his son, upon taking power, immediately began to reverse these progressive policies. It’s possible that Chekhov was drawing a parallel between the waning idealism of the Russian state and the loss of idealism that the lawyer experiences over his 15 years of confinement.
