All
I wanted to say honestly to people: 'Have a look at yourselves
and see how bad and dreary your lives are!' The important thing
is that people should realise that, for when they do, they will
most certainly create another and better life for themselves.
I will not live to see it, but I know that is will be quite different,
quite unlike our present life. And so long as this different life
does not exist, I shall go saying to people again and again: 'Please
understand that your life is bad and dreary.'
(Chekhov:
Reference: www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/)
I
sometimes think that I have failed my readers because I have answered
the important questions. The truth about life is by nature ironical
and it can easily happen that a writer who puts truth above everything
else is reproached by the world by lack of conviction, indifference
to good and evil, lack of ideals and ideas.
(Chekhov:
Reference: Gilman, R. 1987. The Making of Modern Drama, Da Capo:
N.Y)
Introduction
-
Born
in 1860 in the south of Russia, a seaport called Taranrog
-
Father
was a serf who was a brutal disciplinarian who believed
in rigid religious instruction.
-
Chekhov
was not a scholar and had little time for education but
in 1879 he enrolled in university to study medicine and
received his medical diploma in 1884
Medicine
is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress
-
Became
known as a brilliant young writer (about 800 tales, novellas
and plays winning the Pushkin prize in 1888 at the age of
28.
-
Fascinated
with the dramatic form and interested in presenting plays
which were different to the melodramatic and contrived realism
so dominate in Russian theatre at the time.
-
Championed
the work of Stanislavsky and Dantchenko who introduced the
method of acting which promoted realism and naturalism
The
demand is made that the hero and heroine should be dramatically
effective. But, after all, in real life, people don't spend
every minute shooting each other, hanging themselves and making
confessions of love..they are more occupied with eating, drinking,
flirting and talking stupidities - and these are the things
which should be shown on stage..
-
Mastered
the form of the one act play and produced a number of masterpieces
in this genre - 'The Bear' (1888), 'The Wedding' (1889)
-
Other
plays included 'Ivanov' (1887), 'The Wood Demon' (now known
as 'Uncle Vanya') - both of which were relatively unsuccessful
at the time
-
In
his play 'The Seagull' he claimed his first real theatrical
success
-
Other
notable successful plays include 'The Three Sisters' (1901)
and 'The Cherry Orchard' (1904)
-
During
his declining final years he lived in isolation from Moscow
intellectuals
-
Died
from TB in 1904 at the age of 44
Chekhov's
theatrical style
-
Wrote
of the disappointed gentry of the 80's and 90's who could
not adapt to the new repressive form of Russian life - those
isolated from their old grandeur and pessimistic about the
changing future
-
Despite
his push for realism, hidden elements of melodrama can still
be found in his work - often it is to be found in the sub-text
of his plays where the tension is an all important theatrical
element,
-
There
are tensions of the people of whom he writer - those dispossessed
of home, ideal, spirit, love and meaning; it is that which
underlies the seemingly boring life of these people which
gives force and power to the work.
-
One
of the most important methods used by Chekhov in his plays
is that of verbal counterpoint. Here characters spin off
into their own world of misery with conversations that noone
else listens to.
-
Importantly,
he often makes reference to other works and authors (Shakespeare
for one example
-
He
also used a variety of stage sound both on and off the stage
for effect - some sounds necessary for immediate action
whilst others create mood such as the sound of bells, music,
trees being felled etc.
-
Using
a great deal of nature to provide mood and atmosphere. In
'Uncle Vanya' for example, the debased forests in the provinces
are directly equated with the lives of the provincial people
-
Calls
on the seasons to add mood - their cycle is all important.
In particular, the cycle of the day is all important; as
the Acts move on, so does the day, adding melancholy or
lightness to the scenes. What is obscured however, is whether
or not months or years have passed.
-
Arrivals
and departures are important - people come and go throughout
the plays adding excitement, anxiety and other necessary
emotions.
Uncle
Vanya (1896)
-
Finally
opened at the Moscow Art Theatre on October 26 1899 to a
mixed reception.
-
Evolved
to become a huge success when both performers and audience
began to understand and appreciate Chekhov's new method
of realism.
-
Stanislavsky,
the director who first staged 'Uncle Vanya' faced difficulty
with understanding the character of Vanya. At first they
saw him as a member of the landed gentry who manages the
estate of the old Professor. He was costumed in high boots,
a cap, a horsewhip, but this infuriated Chekhov who argued:
Listen
- he has a wonderful tie; he is an elegant and cultured man.
It is not true that the gentry walk around in boots smeared
with tar. They dress well. They order their clothes in Paris.
-
Vanya
had been blinded by the Professors' brilliance over the
years. He has worked in the darkest corner of the provinces,
thriving on the so called fame and brilliance of his brother-in-law.
Vanya however, is a gifted man in his own right and also
a sensitive one who has now seen through the phony Professor
whom he now has to support. He has become bitter and cynical
but is in no way, foolish or ungracious.
-
Tension
and intolerance on the estate has reached fever pitch. Elena
is tired of those around her pitying her for marrying an
'old fool'. Marina, the old nurse, is frantic about the
household routine. Sonia, who secretly loves Astroff, is
fighting a losing battle in her attempts to placate the
antagonists. Only Serebriakoff (an egomaniac) and his stubborn
mother-in-law follow their old routines unaware if the tensions
raging around them/
-
In
the first Act, we see a glimpse of the household's estate
state of decay. The second Act reveals the totality of the
moral and physical collapse when Vanya realises he has sacrificed
his life for the Professor. He feels his life is truly meaningless
and worthless and to make matters worse, he has seen the
woman he loves in the arms of another man..
-
Vanya
knows his niece is hopelessly in love with the same man.
Overall he is desperate about the deception he thinks his
life has been:
For
twenty years with this mother here I sat like a mole inside
these four walls..you were to us a creature of the highest order
and your articles we knew by heart..all your works, that I used
to love, are worth a brass penny! You fooled us!
-
The
play is very much about recognition - those characters capable
of it have recognised that their lives are exactly what
they thought it would be and no miracle will change that.
Vanya, Astriff, Sonia and Elena have come to accept, with
resignation, the facts of their existence.
-
The
unthinking characters of Marina, Telegin, old Maria and
the Professor, return to the old order with no recognition.
They are glad everything is in its place.
-
The
sense of tragedy is heavy in the last scene as the death
of dreams is so apparent to those who have resigned themselves
to a life of futility.
(Reference:
'The Plays of Anton Chekhov' 1965. Monarch:N.Y)
|
|
