The elderly professor Serebryakov, who recently married the 27-year-old beauty Elena Andreevna, lives on income from the estate of his first, late wife. The estate is managed by his daughter from his first marriage, Sonya, and the brother of his first wife, Ivan Petrovich Voinitsky - "Uncle Vanya". [Cm. full text of the play on our website.]
Uncle Vanya is already 47 years old. All his life, without leaving the village, content with a small salary, he worked like an ox to support his son-in-law, a professor, whom he considered a prominent and useful scientific figure. However, recently Ivan Petrovich's eyes have been opened: he realized that his son-in-law had only chewed other people's thoughts about realism and naturalism in his articles and lectures for 25 years. Serebryakov is a pompous zero with a huge conceit, who also enjoys great success with women thanks to his inflated scientist halo.
Uncle Vanya is shocked and disappointed. He realizes that he ruined his own destiny for the sake of an empty chimera - he did not even arrange his personal life. Now, freed from illusions, he dreams of spending the rest of his life in a new way - happily. The soul of Ivan Petrovich yearns for love. He really likes the smart and young Elena Andreevna, who just arrived at their estate with Serebryakov. But Elena rejects Uncle Vanya's passionate outpourings, saying that she will not cheat on her husband. Ivan Petrovich convinces her not to keep false, rhetorical fidelity to a false idol and not to suppress a living feeling in herself.
"Uncle Ivan". Performance based on the play by A.P. Chekhov. Actions 1-2. Maly Theater
Chekhov "Uncle Vanya", act 2 - briefly
Arriving on vacation at the estate, the selfish Professor Serebryakov only burdens all its inhabitants with his late daily routine and incessant complaints of gout. Uncle Vanya continues to confess his love to Elena Andreevna, advising with bitter sarcasm that she, like himself, should not waste her life on trifles. However, Elena remains adamant.
A friend, Dr. Astrov, often visits Uncle Vanya and Sonya - an inspired, enthusiastic person. An ascetic of medical practice, in addition to it, he also gives a lot of strength to forest plantations. Kind, generous, but ugly Sonya is fond of Astrov, but he pays little attention to her. Sonya is embarrassed to talk to the doctor about love herself. Elena Andreevna undertakes to help her in this.
Chekhov "Uncle Vanya", act 3 - briefly
Elena Andreevna feels with trepidation that Uncle Vanya's convictions nevertheless had an effect on her. Once she married old Serebryakov out of admiration for his scholarship, but then she became very disappointed in a capricious, pretentious wife. Elena is unhappy in marriage, she wants true love. However, she is not attracted to Uncle Vanya, but to the bright, selfless Astrov.
Elena anxiously takes it upon herself to talk to Astrov about Sonya's feelings. An experienced female instinct tells her: the doctor is in love not with Sonya, but with her - that's why he has been frequenting the estate lately. During the conversation, Elena's assumptions are confirmed. Astrov says that Sonya is not attracted to him, but in a fit of passion he tries to hug and kiss Elena. In this position, Uncle Vanya accidentally enters them. In great embarrassment, in fear of falling morally, Elena tells Astrov that today she and her husband will leave the estate.
"Uncle Ivan". Performance based on the play by A.P. Chekhov. Steps 3-4. Maly Theater
Meanwhile, the mercenary, callous Serebryakov makes a plan for the future for himself. Immediately after the events described above, he gathers all the relatives in the living room and sets out this project of his to them. The income from the estate seems to Serebryakov insufficient. He wants to sell the estate, take the money he received, place some of it in bank papers and live on interest. The stunned uncle Vanya asks where to go after the sale of the estate to him and his old mother? The professor replies that this "will be discussed in due course." Sonya is also shocked: Uncle Vanya and she have been working without rest for many years, and now their father wants to throw them out into the street! Ivan Petrovich, in a fit of just rage, grabs a revolver, shoots Serebryakov twice, but misses.
Chekhov "Uncle Vanya", act 4 - briefly
Overwhelmed by longing from Elena's dislike and meanness of Serebryakov, Uncle Vanya decides to commit suicide. He steals a jar of morphine from Astrov's first aid kit. The doctor notices the loss and persuades Ivan Petrovich to give morphine. Uncle Vanya returns him only under Sonya's persistent begging.
Astrov makes one last attempt to convince Elena to stay with him, but she refuses, not daring to violate the book's moral prescriptions. For all the main characters of the play - Uncle Vanya, Sonya, Astrov, Elena Andreevna - due to tragic mismatches and false prejudices, hopes for a better new life are crumbling. They all experience severe mental anguish.
Elena warmly says goodbye to the doctor and uncle Vanya. Ivan Petrovich outwardly reconciles with Serebryakov. The professor leaves the plan to sell the estate, and Uncle Vanya promises to continue to send him the same amounts as before.
Serebryakov and Elena Andreevna leave the estate for the city. Astrov is also leaving for his small estate until next summer. Suppressed Sonya, wiping her eyes, urges Uncle Vanya to do something: otherwise neither he nor she will forget. The two of them sit down to their usual boring chores - they make up accounts for vegetable oil and buckwheat.
Cloudy autumn day. In the garden, on an alley under an old poplar, a table is set for tea. At the samovar - the old nanny Marina. “Eat, father,” she offers tea to Dr. Astrov. “I don’t want something,” he replies.
Telegin appears, an impoverished landowner nicknamed Waffle, who lives on the estate in the position of taking root: “The weather is charming, the birds are singing, we all live in peace and harmony - what else do we need?” But there is no agreement and peace in the estate. “It’s unfavorable in this house,” Elena Andreevna, the wife of Professor Serebryakov, who arrived at the estate, will say twice.
These fragmentary replicas, outwardly not addressed to each other, enter, echoing each other, into a dialogic dispute and highlight the meaning of the intense drama experienced by the characters in the play.
Earned for ten years lived in the county, Astrov. “I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything, I don’t love anyone,” he complains to the nanny. Voinitsky has changed, broken. Previously, he, managing the estate, did not know a free minute. And now? “I got worse because I got lazy, I don’t do anything and just grumble like an old horseradish ...”
Voinitsky does not hide his envy of the retired professor, especially his success with women. Voinitsky's mother, Maria Vasilievna, simply adores her son-in-law, the husband of her late daughter. Voinitsky despises Serebryakov's academic pursuits: "A person reads and writes about art, understanding absolutely nothing about art." Finally, he hates Serebryakov, although his hatred may seem very biased: after all, he fell in love with his beautiful wife. And Elena Andreevna reasonably reprimands Voinitsky: “There is nothing to hate Alexander for, he is the same as everyone else.”
Then Voinitsky exposes deeper and, as it seems to him, irresistible reasons for his intolerant, irreconcilable attitude towards the ex-professor - he considers himself cruelly deceived: “I adored this professor ... I worked for him like an ox ... I was proud of him and its science, I lived and breathed it! God, what about now? ...he is nothing! Soap bubble!"
Around Serebryakov, an atmosphere of intolerance, hatred, enmity is thickening. He irritates Astrov, and even his wife can hardly stand him. Everyone somehow listened to the stated diagnosis of the disease, which struck both the heroes of the play, and all their contemporaries: "... the world is dying not from robbers, not from fires, but from hatred, enmity, from all these petty squabbles." They, including Elena Andreevna herself, somehow forgot that Serebryakov is “just like everyone else” and, like everyone else, can count on indulgence, on a merciful attitude towards himself, especially since he suffers from gout, suffers from insomnia, is afraid of death. “Really,” he asks his wife, “I don’t have the right to a late old age, to people’s attention to myself?” Yes, one must be merciful, says Sonya, Serebryakov's daughter from her first marriage. But only the old nanny will hear this call and show genuine, sincere concern for Serebryakov: “What, father? Hurt? Old, that small, I want someone to feel sorry, but no one feels sorry for the old. (He kisses Serebryakova on the shoulder.) Let's go to bed, father... Let's go, little one... I'll give you linden tea to drink, I'll warm your feet... I'll pray to God for you..."
But one old nanny could not and could not, of course, defuse the oppressive atmosphere fraught with misfortune. The conflict knot is tied so tightly that there is a climactic explosion. Serebryakov gathers everyone in the living room to propose for discussion the “measure” he invented: sell the low-income estate, turn the proceeds into interest-bearing papers, which would make it possible to purchase a dacha in Finland.
Voinitsky is indignant: Serebryakov allows himself to dispose of the estate, which actually and legally belongs to Sonya; he did not think about the fate of Voinitsky, who managed the estate for twenty years, receiving beggarly money for it; I didn’t even think about the fate of Maria Vasilievna, who was so selflessly devoted to the professor!
Outraged, enraged, Voinitsky shoots Serebryakov, shoots twice and misses both times.
Frightened by the mortal danger that only accidentally passed him, Serebryakov decides to return to Kharkov. He leaves for his small estate, Astrov, in order, as before, to treat peasants, to take care of the garden and forest nursery. Love intrigues fade. Elena Andreevna lacks the courage to respond to Astrov's passion for her. When parting, she, however, admits that she was carried away by the doctor, but "a little". She hugs him "impulsively", but with an eye. And Sonya is finally convinced that Astrov will not be able to love her, so ugly.
Life in the estate returns to normal. “We will live again, as it was, in the old way,” the nanny dreams. The conflict between Voinitsky and Serebryakov also remains without consequences. “You will accurately receive the same that you received,” Professor Voinitsky reassures. “Everything will be the same.” And the Astrovs and Serebryakovs did not have time to leave, as Sonya hurries Voinitsky: "Well, Uncle Vanya, let's do something." The lamp lights up, the inkwell fills up, Sonya leafs through the account book, Uncle Vanya writes one account, another: “On the second of February, twenty pounds of lean butter ...” The nanny sits in an armchair and knits, Maria Vasilievna plunges into reading another brochure ...
It would seem that the expectations of the old nanny have come true: everything has become the old way. But the play is built in such a way that it constantly - both in big and small - deceives the expectations of both its heroes and readers. You are waiting, for example, for music from Elena Andreevna, a graduate of the conservatory (“I want to play ... I haven’t played for a long time. I will play and cry ...”), but Waffle plays the guitar ... The characters are arranged like this, the move plot events takes such a direction, dialogues and remarks are soldered by such semantic, often subtextual roll-calls that the traditional question “Who is to blame?” Is pushed to the periphery from the proscenium, giving way to the question “What is to blame?”. It seems to Voynitsky that Serebryakov ruined his life. He hopes to start a "new life". But Astrov dispels this “elevating deceit”: “Our position, yours and mine, is hopeless. There were only two decent, intelligent people in the whole county: me and you. For some ten years, the philistine life, the despicable life, has dragged us out; she poisoned our blood with her rotten fumes, and we became the same vulgar as everyone else.
At the end of the play, however, Voinitsky and Sonya dream of the future, but Sonya’s final monologue exudes hopeless sadness and a sense of a life lived aimlessly: “We, Uncle Vanya, will live, we will patiently endure the trials that fate will send us; we will die humbly, and there, behind the grave, we will say that we suffered, that we cried, that we were bitter, and God will take pity on us. We will hear the angels, we will see the whole sky in diamonds... We will rest! (The watchman knocks. Telegin plays softly; Maria Vasilievna writes in the margins of a pamphlet; Marina knits a stocking.) We'll rest! (The curtain is slowly lowering.)"
Which fully conveys its storyline, was written by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. He was not only a playwright and writer, but also practiced medicine throughout his life. Anton Chekhov created a new direction in literature, which was later adopted by many authors.
He believed that the main task of the writer is not to answer the questions of the reader in his works. And, on the contrary, to ask them yourself and along the way create a topic for reflection.
The beginning of the work. First action
The play "Uncle of which begins with a description of tea drinking in the estate, consists of scenes of village life. Under an old poplar tree there is a table that was laid especially for tea drinking. Cloudy autumn weather.
At the table sat an elderly nanny Marina, a wizened old woman Elena Andreevna, the wife of Professor Serebryakov, who owns the estate. Voinitsky, or Uncle Vanya. Astrov walks nervously around the table. Soon Telegin appears, who was given the nickname Waffle. This is a bankrupt landowner, he lives on the estate as a dependent.
Conversations of those present at the tea party
What are these people talking about, gathered at the tea party? The play "Uncle Vanya", the brief content of which only in general terms conveys the mood of all those present, does not seek to analyze their actions. The author only voices the thoughts of each of his characters, leaving the reader to judge for himself the correctness of their reasoning and actions.
Astrov is a doctor by profession, and while the old woman pours tea for him, he tirelessly tells her about the difficulties of his work. He complains about unsanitary conditions in peasant huts, various epidemics and because of this, frequent deaths. He worries about the Russian forests, which are cut down even without work. However, this person not only sympathizes with nature, but also finds time to plant new young trees.
Brother of the professor's first wife
Uncle Vanya, who is the brother of Serebryakov's first wife, grumbles that since the professor came to the estate with his second wife, the whole habitual way of life seemed to be turned upside down. Voinitsky does not even try to hide his envy of Serebryakov. Criticizes him for constant complaints. He scoffs at the fact that the professor has been writing about art for a quarter of a century, but in fact he does not understand anything about it.
Elena Andreevna, the second wife of the professor, who is much younger than her husband, is boundlessly bored in this estate. She complains about the lack of any entertainment. Fragmentary phrases and remarks of all those present are not connected with each other. There is no general dialogue at the table. But it is precisely from them that one can judge that the play "Uncle Vanya" (a brief description of it will continue to contain various dialogues) primarily emphasizes all the tension of the drama experienced by the characters of the play. There is neither prosperity nor tranquility in this estate.
Attitude towards the professor of others
Uncle Vanya's mother, Maria Vasilievna, is very warm towards her son-in-law and reprimands her son for expressing contempt for the professor. And Voinitsky envies Serebryakov not only because of his career success, but also because of his popularity among women. Moreover, he liked the young wife of the professor.
But Elena Andreevna does not reciprocate the confessions of Voinitsky, but only dismisses them. At first she does not understand what caused such an attitude towards her husband. It seems to her that he is the same as everyone else. So the play "Uncle of the first chapter of which has come to an end, describes its characters. Almost all negative emotions are concentrated around the professor.
Passions run high, or the Grumpy Professor
What does Chekhov tell about in his play "Uncle Vanya"? The summary is now completely devoted to Serebryakov. With every passing minute, one can feel how an atmosphere of hatred and enmity thickens around this person. It annoys literally everyone. And now even his own wife, who somehow forgot that he is the same as everyone else.
The professor constantly complains of various illnesses. Requires careful care. Voinitsky finally understands how petty his relative is. He recalls all the time that they, together with their niece Sonechka, who also lives on the estate, worked for him. Often denying themselves anything, they tried to send Serebryakov as much money as possible, earned on the estate.
Can't hide emotions
Boiling of feelings around the wife of Serebryakov
Sonya notices how Uncle Vanya, like a shadow, wanders after her stepmother, and Dr. Astrov abandoned his medical practice, even the forests that worried him so much. Elena Andreevna invites the girl to talk to Astrov about her feelings and even seeks to find out about his attitude towards her stepdaughter herself.
But the doctor does not notice this. He, on the contrary, begins to tell Elena about his love for her. Tries to kiss her. Voinitsky becomes a witness to this scene. Uncle Vanya is not only embarrassed, but to some extent even frightened. The woman wants to leave the estate. Thus, the summary of "Uncle Vanya" reveals all the secret feelings of the characters.
The estate will be sold, or to its inhabitants
The professor gathered all the inhabitants of the estate and announced that he was going to sell it. He will invest in securities, which will provide him and his wife with a further comfortable existence. What did Chekhov want to show by this in his play "Uncle Vanya"?
Although there is an important fact that the author mentioned. This is that the estate itself belongs to Sonya. She inherited from her mother. The summary of the book "Uncle Vanya" cannot fail to mention the reaction of the main characters to this statement by the professor.
The shot, or the final events of the work
Voinitsky just boiled over at Serebryakov's decision. He finally expresses to the professor everything that has accumulated over a long time. A huge scandal ensued. During which Uncle Vanya could not restrain himself and shot at Professor Serebryakov, who had bothered him. But, fortunately, he missed.
How does the work "Uncle Vanya" by Chekhov end? The summary comes to an end, and it remains to describe only the last scene, during which Astrov and Voinitsky talk about their lives. The professor and his wife are going to Kharkov. Everything remains the same on the property. Uncle Vanya and Sonya are engaged in neglected farming. The girl also dreams of a better life.
"UNCLE VANYA 01 Act One"
Characters
Serebryakov Alexander Vladimirovich, retired professor.
Elena Andreevna, his wife, 27 years old.
Sofya Alexandrovna (Sonya), his daughter from his first marriage.
Voynitskaya Maria Vasilievna, widow of the Privy Councilor, mother of the professor's first wife.
Voynitsky Ivan Petrovich, her son.
Astrov Mikhail Lvovich, doctor.
Telegin Ilya Ilyich, an impoverished landowner.
Marina, old nanny.
Worker.
The action takes place in the estate of Serebryakov.
Act one
Garden. Part of the house with a terrace is visible. In the alley, under an old poplar tree, a table set for tea, benches, chairs; there is a guitar on one of the benches. There is a swing near the table. - The third hour of the day. Mainly cloudy.
Marina (a damp, sedentary old woman, sitting by the samovar, lowering her stocking) and Astrov (walking around).
Marina (pouring a glass). Eat, dad.
ASTROV (reluctantly takes the glass). Something you don't want.
Marina. Maybe drink some vodka?
Astrov. No. I don't drink vodka every day. Plus, it's stuffy.
Nanny, how long has it been since we know each other?
Marina (thinking). How many? God bless your memory... You came here, to these parts... when?... Vera Petrovna, Sonechka's mother, was still alive. You visited us for two winters with her ... Well, that means eleven years have passed. (Thinking.) Or maybe more ...
Astrov. How much have I changed since then?
Marina. Strongly. Then you were young, beautiful, and now you are old. And the beauty is not the same. Also say - and drink vodka.
Astrov. Yes... At the age of ten he became a different person. And what is the reason? Got it, nanny. From morning to night, everyone is on their feet, I don’t know peace, but at night you lie under the covers and are afraid that they will drag you to the patient. For all the time that we have known each other, I have not had a single free day. How not to get old? Yes, and life itself is boring, stupid, dirty... This life is addictive. There are only eccentrics around you, all eccentrics; and you live with them for two or three years, and little by little, unnoticed by yourself, you become an eccentric. inevitable fate. (Twisting her long mustache.) Look, a huge mustache has grown ... Stupid mustache. I have become an eccentric, nanny ... I have not yet become stupid, God is merciful, my brains are in their place, but my feelings have somehow dulled. I don't want anything, I don't need anything, I don't love anyone... I only love you. (He kisses her on the head.) I had a nurse like that when I was a child.
Marina. Maybe you want to eat?
Astrov. No. During Great Lent, in the third week, I went to Malitskoe for an epidemic... Typhus... There were people side by side in the huts... Dirt, stench, smoke, calves on the floor, together with the sick... Piglets right there... Fumbling I didn’t sit down all day, there was no poppy dew in my mouth, but when I came home, they didn’t let me rest - they brought a switchman from the railway; I put him on the table to perform an operation on him, and he, take it and die with me under chloroform. And when it was not necessary, feelings woke up in me, and my conscience pinched, as if I had deliberately killed him ... I sat down, closed my eyes - like this, and I think: those who will live a hundred or two hundred years after us and for whom we are now paving the way, will we be remembered with a kind word? Nyanka, they won't remember!
Marina. People will not remember, but God will remember.
Astrov. Well, thank you. Well you said.
Voinitsky enters.
VOYNITSKY (leaves the house; he has had a good night's sleep after breakfast and has a wrinkled appearance; he sits down on a bench, adjusting his smart tie). Yes...
Astrov. Did you get enough sleep?
Voinitsky. Yes very. (Yawns.) Ever since the professor and his wife have been living here, life has gone out of whack... I sleep at the wrong time, eat different kabuls at breakfast and dinner, drink wine... all this is not healthy! Previously, there was no free minute, Sonya and I worked - my respect, but now only Sonya works, and I sleep, eat, drink ... Not good!
Marina (shaking her head). Orders! The professor gets up at 12 o'clock, and the samovar boils in the morning, everything is waiting for him. Without them, they always dined at the first hour, as everywhere with people, but with them at the seventh. At night, the professor reads and writes, and suddenly at two o'clock the bell rings... What is it, fathers? Tea! Wake the people for him, put on the samovar ... Orders!
Astrov. And how long will they stay here?
Voinitsky (whistles). A hundred years. The professor decided to settle here.
Marina. Here and now. The samovar has been on the table for two hours, and they went for a walk.
Voinitsky. They're coming, they're coming... Don't worry.
Serebryakov. Wonderful, wonderful... Wonderful views.
Telegin. Excellent, Your Excellency.
Sonya. We'll go to the forestry tomorrow, dad. Want?
Voinitsky. Gentlemen, drink tea!
Serebryakov. My friends, send me tea in the office, please! I have one more thing to do today.
Sonya. And in the forestry you will certainly like ...
Elena Andreevna, Serebryakov and Sonya go into the house; Telegin goes to the table and sits down next to Marina.
Voinitsky. It's hot, stuffy, and our great scientist is in a coat, in galoshes, with an umbrella and gloves.
Astrov. So, he takes care of himself.
Voinitsky. And how good she is! How good! I have never seen a more beautiful woman in my entire life.
Telegin. Whether I'm driving across the field, Marina Timofeevna, whether I'm walking in a shady garden, or looking at this table, I feel inexplicable bliss! The weather is charming, the birds are singing, we all live in peace and harmony - what else do we need? (Taking a glass.) Thank you very much!
Voinitsky (dreamy). Eyes... Wonderful woman!
Astrov. Tell me something, Ivan Petrovich.
Voinitsky (weakly). What can I tell you?
Astrov. Is there anything new?
Voinitsky. Nothing. Everything is old. I am the same as I was, perhaps, I have become worse, because I have become lazy, I do nothing and only grumble like an old horseradish. My old jackdaw, maman, is still babbling about women's emancipation; with one eye he looks into the grave, and with the other he searches in his smart books for the dawn of a new life.
Astrov. And the professor?
Voinitsky. And the professor, as before, from morning until late at night, sits in his office and writes. “Straining your mind, wrinkling your brow, we write all the odes, we write, and we don’t hear praises for ourselves or them anywhere.” Poor paper! He would have written his autobiography. What an excellent storyline! A retired professor, you know, an old cracker, a learned roach... Gout, rheumatism, migraine, a swollen liver from jealousy and envy... This roach lives on the estate of his first wife, lives involuntarily, because he cannot afford to live in the city . He always complains about his misfortunes, although, in fact, he himself is unusually happy. (Nervously.) Just think, what happiness! The son of a simple deacon, a student, achieved academic degrees and a chair, became his excellency, son-in-law of a senator, and so on and so forth. All this is unimportant, however. But take this. A person has been reading and writing about art for exactly twenty-five years, understanding absolutely nothing about art. For twenty-five years he has been chewing on other people's thoughts about realism, naturalism, and all sorts of other nonsense; for twenty-five years he has been reading and writing about what the smart have long known, but for the stupid it is not interesting, which means that for twenty-five years he has been pouring from empty to empty. And at the same time what self-conceit! What claims! He is retired and not a single living soul knows him, he is completely unknown; it means that for twenty-five years he occupied someone else's place. And look: he walks like a demigod!
Astrov. Well, you seem to be jealous.
Voinitsky. Yes, I'm jealous! And what a success for women! No Don Juan has known such complete success! His first wife, my sister, a beautiful, meek creature, pure as this blue sky, noble, generous, who had more admirers than his students, loved him as only pure angels can love, just as pure and beautiful, like themselves. My mother, his mother-in-law, still adores him, and still he inspires her with sacred horror. His second wife, beautiful, clever - you just saw her - married him when he was already old, gave him youth, beauty, freedom, her brilliance. For what? Why?
Astrov. Is she loyal to the professor?
Voinitsky. Unfortunately yes.
Astrov. Why, unfortunately?
Voinitsky. Because this loyalty is false from beginning to end. It has a lot of rhetoric, but no logic. To cheat on an old husband whom you cannot stand is immoral; to try to stifle poor youth and living feeling in oneself is not immoral.
Voinitsky (with annoyance). Shut the fountain, Waffle!
Telegin. Allow me, Vanya. My wife ran away from me the day after her wedding with her beloved because of my unattractive appearance. After that, I did not violate my duty. I still love her and am faithful to her, I help in any way I can, and I gave my property for the upbringing of the children, whom she adopted with her beloved. I lost my happiness, but my pride remained. And she? Youth has already passed, beauty has faded under the influence of the laws of nature, a loved one has died ... What did she have left?
Sonya and Elena Andreevna enter; a little later Maria Vasilievna enters with a book; she sits down and reads; they give her tea, and she drinks without looking.
Sonya (hurriedly, to the nanny). There, nanny, the men came. Go and talk to them, and I myself will tea... (Pours tea.)
The nanny leaves, Elena Andreevna takes her cup and drinks, sitting on a swing.
Astrov (to Elena Andreevna). I'm with your husband. You wrote that he was very ill, with rheumatism and something else, but it turns out he is healthy.
Elena Andreevna. Last night he was moping, complaining of pain in his legs, but today nothing ...
Astrov. And I rode headlong for thirty miles. Well, nothing, not the first time. But I will stay with you until tomorrow and at least get some sleep quantum satis 1.
Sonya. And great. It is such a rarity that you spend the night with us. You didn't have lunch, did you?
Astrov. No, I didn't have lunch.
Sonya. So, by the way, you will have lunch. We now have dinner at seven o'clock. (Drinks.) Cold tea!
Telegin. The temperature in the samovar has already dropped significantly.
Elena Andreevna. Nothing, Ivan Ivanovich, we'll have a cold drink.
Telegin. Guilty, sir... Not Ivan Ivanovich, but Ilya Ilyich, sir... Ilya Ilyich Telegin, or, as some people call me because of my pockmarked face, Waffle. I once baptized Sonechka, and His Excellency, your husband, knows me very well. I now live with you, sir, in this estate, sir ... If you deign to notice, I dine with you every day.
Sonya. Ilya Ilyich is our assistant, right hand. (Gently.) Come on, godmother, I'll pour you some more.
Maria Vasilievna. Oh!
Sonya. What's wrong with you, grandma?
Maria Vasilievna. I forgot to tell Alexander ... I lost my memory ... today I received a letter from Kharkov from Pavel Alekseevich ... I sent my new brochure ...
Astrov. Interesting?
Maria Vasilievna. Interesting, but somehow strange. He refutes what he himself defended seven years ago. It's horrible!
Voinitsky. There is nothing terrible. Drink, maman, tea.
Maria Vasilievna. But I want to talk!
Voinitsky. But we have been talking and talking and reading pamphlets for fifty years now. It's time to finish.
Maria Vasilievna. For some reason you don't like listening to me when I'm talking. Sorry, Jean, but in the last year you have changed so much that I don’t recognize you at all ... You were a person of certain convictions, a bright personality ...
Voinitsky. Oh yeah! I was a bright personality, from which no one was light ...
I was a bright person ... You can't joke more venomously! Now I am forty-seven years old. Until last year, just like you, I deliberately tried to cloud my eyes with this scholasticism of yours so as not to see real life - and I thought that I was doing well. And now, if you knew! I don’t sleep at night out of vexation, out of anger that I so stupidly missed the time when I could have everything that my old age now denies me!
Sonya. Uncle Vanya, boring!
Maria Vasilievna (son). You definitely blame your former beliefs for something ... But they are not to blame, but you yourself. You forgot that beliefs in themselves are nothing, a dead letter... It was necessary to do the deed.
Voinitsky. Case? Not everyone is capable of being a perpetuum mobile writer like your Herr Professor.
Maria Vasilievna. What do you mean by this?
Sonya (pleasantly). Grandmother! Uncle Ivan! I beg you!
Voinitsky. I am silent. I shut up and apologize.
Elena Andreevna. And the weather is good today ... Not hot ...
Voinitsky. It's good to hang yourself in this weather...
Telegin tunes the guitar. Marina walks around the house and calls chickens.
Marina. Chick, chick, chick...
Sonya. Nanny, why did the men come? ..
Marina. All the same, again all about the wasteland. Chick, chick, chick...
Sonya. Who are you?
Marina. Pestrushka left with the chickens ... The crows would not have dragged ... (Leaves.)
Telegin plays the polka; everyone listens in silence; worker enters.
Worker. Is the Doctor here? (To Astrov.) Please, Mikhail Lvovich, they have come for you.
Astrov. Where?
Worker. From the factory.
ASTROV (with annoyance). Thank you very much. Well, we must go... (Looking for a cap with his eyes.) Annoying, damn it...
Sonya. How unpleasant it is, really... Come from the factory for dinner.
Astrov. No, it will be too late. Where can I... Where can I be... (To the worker.) Here, bring me, my dear, a glass of vodka, really.
The worker leaves.
Where... where... (I found my cap.) Ostrovsky in some play has a man with a big mustache and little ability... So it's me. Well, I have the honor, gentlemen... (To Elena Andreevna.) If you ever come to see me, together with Sofya Alexandrovna, I will be sincerely glad. I have a small estate, only thirty acres, but, if you are interested, an exemplary garden and nursery, which you will not find for a thousand miles steep. Next to me is the state forestry ... The forester there is old, always sick, so, in essence, I am in charge of all affairs.
Elena Andreevna. I have already been told that you are very fond of forests. Of course, you can be of great benefit, but doesn’t this interfere with your true calling? After all, you are a doctor.
Astrov. God only knows what our real calling is.
Elena Andreevna. And interesting?
Astrov. Yes, it's interesting.
Voinitsky (with irony). Very!
Elena Andreevna (to Astrov). You are still a young man, you look ... well, thirty-six or thirty-seven years old ... and must not be as interesting as you say. All forest and forest. I think it's the same.
Sonya. No, this is extremely interesting. Mikhail Lvovich plants new forests every year, and they have already sent him a bronze medal and a diploma. He takes care not to exterminate the old ones. If you listen to him, you will agree with him completely. He says that forests adorn the earth, that they teach a person to understand the beautiful and inspire him with a majestic mood. Forests soften the harsh climate. In countries where the climate is mild, less energy is spent on fighting nature, and therefore a person is softer and more tender there; there people are beautiful, flexible, easily excitable, their speech is elegant, their movements are graceful. The sciences and arts flourish among them, their philosophy is not gloomy, their attitude towards women is full of elegant nobility ...
Voinitsky (laughing). Bravo, bravo! .. All this is nice, but not convincing, so (Astrov) let me, my friend, continue to heat stoves with wood and build barns out of wood.
Astrov. You can heat stoves with peat and build sheds with stone. Well, I admit, cut down forests out of necessity, but why destroy them? Russian forests are cracking under the axe, billions of trees are dying, the dwellings of animals and birds are being devastated, rivers are shallowing and drying up, wonderful landscapes disappear irrevocably, and all because a lazy person does not have enough sense to bend down and pick up fuel from the ground. (To Elena Andreyevna.) Isn't that true, ma'am? You have to be a reckless barbarian to burn this beauty in your stove, to destroy what we cannot create. Man is endowed with reason and creative power to multiply what is given to him, but so far he has not created, but destroyed. There are fewer and fewer forests, the rivers are drying up, the game has died out, the climate is spoiled, and every day the land becomes poorer and uglier. (To Voinitsky.) Here you look at me with irony, and everything I say seems not serious to you and ... and, perhaps, this is really an eccentricity, but when I pass by the peasant forests that I saved from chopping, or when I hear the noise of my young forest, planted by my hands, I realize that the climate is a little in my power, and that if in a thousand years a person is happy, then I will be a little to blame for this. When I plant a birch and then see how it turns green and sways from the wind, my soul is filled with pride, and I ... (Seeing a worker who brought a glass of vodka on a tray.) However ... (drinks) I have to go. All this is probably eccentricity, after all. I have the honor to bow! (Goes to the house.)
SONYA (taking his arm and walking together). When will you come to us?
Astrov. Don't know...
Sonya. Again in a month?
Astrov and Sonya go into the house; Maria Vasilievna and Telegin remain near the table; Elena Andreevna and Voinitsky go to the terrace.
Elena Andreevna. And you, Ivan Petrovich, behaved impossible again. You should have irritated Maria Vasilievna, talked about perpetuum mobile! And today at breakfast you again argued with Alexander. How petty!
Voinitsky. But if I hate him!
Elena Andreevna. There is nothing to hate Alexander for, he is the same as everyone else. No worse than you.
Voinitsky. If you could see your face, your movements... How lazy you are to live! Ah, what laziness!
Elena Andreevna. Oh, and laziness, and boring! Everyone scolds my husband, everyone looks at me with regret: unhappy, she has an old husband! This participation is for me - oh, how I understand it! This is what Astrov said just now: you are all recklessly destroying forests, and soon there will be nothing left on earth. In the same way, you recklessly destroy a person, and soon, thanks to you, there will be no loyalty, no purity, no ability to sacrifice yourself on earth. Why can't you see a woman with indifference if she is not yours? Because - this doctor is right - the demon of destruction sits in all of you. You have no pity for the forests, or the birds, or the women, or each other...
Voinitsky. I don't like this philosophy!
Elena Andreevna. This doctor has a tired, nervous face. Interesting face. Sonya obviously likes him, she is in love with him, and I understand her. He has been here three times already in my presence, but I am shy and have never spoken to him properly, have not been kind to him. He thought I was evil. Probably, Ivan Petrovich, that's why you and I are such friends, because we are both boring, boring people! Boring! Ile look at me like that, I don't like it.
Voinitsky. Can I look at you differently if I love you? You are my happiness, life, my youth! I know my chances for reciprocity are negligible, equal to zero, but I don’t need anything, let me just look at you, hear your voice ...
Elena Andreevna. Hush, you can be heard!
They go to the house.
VOYNITSKY (following her). Let me talk about my love, do not drive me away, and this alone will be my greatest happiness ...
Elena Andreevna. It's painful...
Both go into the house.
Telegin strikes the strings and plays the polka; Maria Vasilievna writes something in the margins of the pamphlet.
To the full extent (lat.).
Anton Chekhov - UNCLE VANYA 01 Act one, read text
See also Chekhov Anton - Prose (stories, poems, novels ...):
UNCLE VANYA 02 Act two
Dining room in Serebryakov's house. - Night. - You can hear the watchman knocking in the garden ....
UNCLE VANYA 03 Act three
Living room in Serebryakov's house. Three doors: right, left and middle.- ...
Chekhov's dramaturgy is a revolutionary breakthrough in the history of the Russian theater. The writer departed from the classical tradition and began to create in line with modernism, experimenting with the form and content of his works. One such example is a play dedicated to the bleak life and existential rebellion of Ivan Voinitsky.
In 1889, the playwright writes the comedy Leshy, but soon decides to radically remake the play. Although it had already been staged in this form, and the premiere was successful, the author was not satisfied with the result. Something "Leshy" was clearly missing. This is how the version known to us "Uncle Vanya" appears. Chekhov finally completed the work in 1896.
Excerpts from Chekhov's diary were widely used in the new text. He brought observations from life there, and then transferred them to artistic reality. In addition, he completely changed the structure of the play. So, the story of the creation of Uncle Vanya began with Leshy. "The First Pancake" seemed to him an unsuccessful work, so he immediately removed it from the repertoire after the premiere, and made something new, original out of it, what critics would later call "Chekhov's best work." But it won't be right away. The author's fresh look at the theater was scolded and not accepted in society: the production of The Seagull, for example, failed in the same 1896. After that, the writer decided to remake "Uncle Vanya" into a story, but hesitated, and it was already published in the form of a play. However, despite a resonant and controversial career as a playwright, offers began to flock to him to stage a new comedy.
In Sumy, they can point you to the heroes of Chekhov ... They will name Sonya, Professor Serebryakov, Waffle ...
MP Chekhov saw their sister Maria Pavlovna in Serebryakov's daughter. He reports his conjectures in the epistolary genre:
Oh, what an excellent play! As much as I don't like "Ivanov", I like "Vanya" so much. What a great end! And how in this play I saw our dear, poor, selfless Masheta!
V. Ya. Lakshin claims that Serebryakov is the spitting image of the populist S. N. Yuzhakov.
The meaning of the title of the work indicates the simplicity, ordinariness, ordinariness of the depicted tragedy. Ivan Petrovich remained "Uncle Vanya", realizing himself only as a family member and guardian of his niece. Only for Sonya did he exist as a person. Everyone else saw him solely as a clerk. The hero simply did not deserve to be called anything else in their eyes. In this non-recognition, the psychological drama of the protagonist is hidden, which was resolved by a shot, a miss and humility on the verge of despair.
Main issues
In the play "Uncle Vanya" the problem of ecology is especially acute. The author's views on it are conveyed to the reader by Astrov, a subtle connoisseur of nature and a romantic at heart. He is outraged that forests are cut down for profit, and not for the benefit of people. They do not get better from progress: typhus is still common, children live in poverty, their mothers get sick, and fathers overwork and die in overwork. The social problems of the population are not solved, but the financial interests of the masters are satisfied uncompromisingly.
The hero sincerely worries about the death of the charm of all living things and the inner beauty of the soul. Between them, he sees an indissoluble bond. Progress promises only the comfort of existence, but not the energy of life that people draw from nature.
Also obvious is the problem of disappointment in the ideal and vain service to a false goal. The realization of the futility of worship before an insignificant idol caught the hero by surprise, and at an age when nothing can be corrected. He could not throw off this ministry even in the extreme degree of disappointment. The imaginary chosenness enslaved his will, and he realized that life can no longer be turned back, which means that nothing should be changed. The hero lost faith in himself - and this is a psychological problem, a midlife crisis. Critically evaluating himself, he realized his insignificance and ... submitted to him.
The problem of spiritual poverty and practical inactivity, inherent in the nobility, also did not go unnoticed in the comedy Uncle Vanya. In the images of Elena and her husband, the author exposes sybaritism and inner emptiness, which are covered by one arrogance. In such tones, the “support of the state” and “pride of the country”, the nobility are depicted. Chekhov fears that such "supports" only undermine the foundations of statehood and cannot be useful to his country.
Subject
The semantic richness of Anton Pavlovich's drama is a unique feature of his work. Therefore, the range of topics covered by him in the work is extremely wide.
- The tragic self-sacrifice of a little man in the name of falsehood is the main theme of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. This expresses the continuity in Russian literature, where the authors continue to describe global and universal issues from generation to generation. Akaki Akakievich from The Overcoat, Samson Vyrin from The Stationmaster, and Makar Devushkin from Dostoevsky's Poor People gave their all. The unfortunate and underestimated destinies were defeated, but only Chekhov's Voynitsky dared to rebel. He became more relaxed than his predecessors, but still failed to bring the rebellion to its logical conclusion, since he could not overcome the natural timidity of the soul. This would be his moral downfall.
- Dying beauty and its special aesthetics envelop the entire book. The theme of ecology is also connected with it. Forests are ruthlessly cut down, all living things that found shelter there die irrevocably. People like Astrov understand the enormity of this barbarous extermination of nature, they suffer along with it, but they cannot do anything.
- The attitude to nature is an indicator of spiritual wealth for the author. The professor and others like him see nothing but themselves. Chekhov contrasts the indifference and selfishness of these blind men with the sensitivity, naturalness and softness of real people - Sonya, Ivan and Astrov. They hide true spiritual nobility, without which a person plunges into the abyss of selfishness and ceases to notice the world around. Losing the ability to love something other than himself, he sows only a destructive void around, comparable only to a cut down forest. After all, people also destroy nature from internal poverty.
Characters
Chekhov's list of characters is never accidental: conflict is already hidden in a dry list of names and positions, drama is already emerging. So in "Uncle Vanya" the professor contrasts with the "honest clerk" Ivan Petrovich.
The finale of the work can be called hopeless. Everyone leaves the estate, and everything returns to normal: Sonya and her uncle are left alone, their work is resumed in the previous mode. The heroine broke up with Astrov forever and resigned herself to her position following her guardian. His rebellion did not give any results; on the contrary, it became unbearable to live with the awareness of the meaninglessness of life.
What then did Chekhov want to convey to us? Why didn’t he help, didn’t he raise his positive characters above the cruel reality? Ivan's rebellion did not even give readers a sense of just revenge. But the essence of the finale of the play lies elsewhere: the mention of “a bright, beautiful, graceful life” should inspire us to look around and finally notice those who deserve it, and together with them to make the world around us better in order to come to this new life renewed people. A lot of inconspicuous workers who give all their energy for the happiness of others deserve a better share. This is a call to implement justice in life, before it's too late, and not in books, where the writer's punishment is too late anyway: it's too late for Voynitsky to start living differently.
Most of all, the author appreciates in a person the ability to create and the beauty of the soul, which are impossible without purity of thoughts. Only such a citizen can change the country for the better with his work, only such a family man is able to educate new people in joy and love, only such a person is able to develop harmoniously and inspire others to progress. This is what each of us should strive for.
Chekhov's innovation as a playwright
During his lifetime, the author was often reproached for violating the established canons of the theater. Then they blamed it, but now they praise it. For example, the innovative composition in "Uncle Vanya" - narration without dividing the play into phenomena - refers to Chekhov's discoveries. Previously, playwrights did not violate the compositional rules of design and conscientiously formed a list of characters participating in each phenomenon. Anton Pavlovich did the same, but over time he was not afraid to experiment with a conservative art form, introducing a wind of change into the Russian theater, the spirit of the era of modernism, corresponding to the times. Chekhov's innovation as a playwright was not appreciated on merit during the life of the writer, but was fully rewarded by his descendants. Thanks to him, Russian literature did not nearly lag behind the global cultural trend, even ahead of it in many ways.
As for the content, here Chekhov also reflects a new trend - the crisis of realism. In his dramas, the action dissolves into everyday life, the characters - into endless digressions from the topic, the meaning - into the deliberate absurdity of the life depicted. For example, "Uncle Vanya" - what is it about? The author depicts some kind of chaotic story without morality and ending, where a timid and meek hero, it would seem, for no reason at all, is trying to kill a relative and take possession of his wife. Logically, this is complete nonsense. But life is much broader than what we try to drive it into, and a person is sometimes driven by more subtle and less obvious mental processes, which we sometimes cannot understand.
Dialogues facing nowhere also do not contribute to understanding. Chekhov's heroes speak without hearing, responding only to their own thoughts. Their words should not be taken literally: what is important in them is what is not said. The real conflict is also hidden, because the characters do not have a black and white color. Thus, the playwright reveals the problems of the individual in the play "Uncle Vanya" in a new, non-trivial way, forcing us to perceive what is happening on the stage more sharply and think more about it.
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