Features Chekhov dramatic short: "Cherry Orchard", "Seagull", "Uncle Vanya"

Features of Chekhov's drama were noted as innovative by many artists. VI Nemirovich-Danchenko and KS Stanislavsky were the first to see in the dramatic movement of Anton Pavlovich's plays "the underwater current", which behind the external routine of what is happening is hidden by a continuous inner intimate lyric flow. It was they who made every effort to bring the fresh interpretation of Chekhov's plays to the viewer. On the example of the drama "The Cherry Orchard", "The Seagull", "Uncle Vanya" we will consider the artistic originality of the works of this author.

Description of life

Features of Chekhov's dramaturgy are well seen in one of his most famous plays - "The Cherry Orchard". Its main principle was overcoming the theatrical convention, traditional for theatrical works of the XVIII century. It is known that Anton Pavlovich aspired to ensure that everything on the stage was the same as in life. For example, the basis of "Cherry Orchard" is the most ordinary event - the sale of a country estate for debts, and not the choice between duty and feeling, tearing the soul of a character, not a fatal clash of peoples and kings, villains and heroes. The playwright completely abandoned the external attraction of the plot in favor of simple and uncomplicated events, trying to prove that the hero's everyday state is no less controversial.

Ambiguous heroes

Features of Chekhov's dramaturgy (the 10th grade studies this topic in detail) are also observed in the description of the characters. For example, in the play "The Cherry Orchard" there is not one convinced scoundrel or villain. The merchant Lopakhin, who buys the owner's estate for his debts, is a sincere and sensitive man. He did not forget how warmly Ranevskaya had treated him since childhood. From the bottom of his heart, he offers her and Gaeva help to save the estate - offers to split the garden into separate dachas. Also, without any thought behind him, he gives Lyubov Andreyevna a loan, probably knowing that she will not return it. However, it is Lopakhin who buys an estate and gives the order to cut down the cherry trees, without waiting for the departure of the old owners. At the same time, he does not even realize what pain Ranevskaya and Gaev inflict on them. The merchant, however, recalls with admiration the beauty of the poppy fields, on which he managed to earn 40 thousand. In the character of this hero, the low and the high get along, the desire for beauty and the thirst for profit, noble impulses and cruelty. Attitudes toward him from viewers are controversial. But even in life there are absolutely no bad or good people. The maximum authenticity of characters is another feature of Chekhov's drama.

"Underwater Current"

In his works Anton Pavlovich completely refuses some theatrical techniques. For example, excludes voluminous monologues, because people in everyday life do not pronounce them. Features of Chekhov dramaturgy in the story "The Cherry Orchard" vividly demonstrate this. Instead of deliberate replies "aside" the author applies a special psychological method, which Nemirovich-Danchenko and dubbed subtext or "underwater current." First of all, this is the "double sounding" of each character, that is, the ambiguity of its character. An example of such a "sound" can serve as the above description of Lopakhin's character. In addition, Chekhov in a special way builds a dialogue of his characters, that is, makes it so that the audience can understand what the characters are thinking about during the discussion of household issues. The conversation between Lopakhin and Vary in the fourth act is a sample of such an ambiguous explanation. They want to talk about their feelings for each other, but they talk about extraneous things. Varya is looking for an object, and Lopakhin shares plans for the coming winter. As a result of an explanation of love between the heroes does not happen.

Significant pauses

Features Chekhov drama can be listed endlessly. If in most dramatic works the heroes are revealed through the performance of actions, then they show themselves in Anton Pavlovich's experiences. Therefore, it is so important to trace the "underwater current" in his plays. Normal pauses are filled with deep content in them. For example, after the failed explanation between Varya and Lopakhin, the heroine remains alone and cries. When Ranevskaya enters the room, she asks her a single question: "What?" After all, tears can be caused both by joy and sorrow. There is a pause between the companions. Lyubov Andreevna understands everything without explanation and begins to hurry with her departure. Or, in the last act of Trofimov, Petya starts out in his arguments about his happy destiny and says that "Mankind goes to the highest truth, to the highest happiness possible on earth, and I'm in the forefront!" On Yermolai Alekseevich's sarcastic question: " Petya says with conviction: "I'll get it. (Pause) I'll reach or tell others how to get there. " This silence between the phrases indicates that the hero does not feel the irony of his interlocutor and reasoning quite seriously.

Remarks

Features Chekhov dramaturgy (brief, of course, to describe all the nuances quite difficult) are also in the active application of seemingly secondary theatrical techniques - author's remarks, sound recordings, symbols. For example, in the first act of the "Cherry Orchard", the author describes in detail the decor - a room where everyone expects the arrival of Lyubov Andreyevna. Particular attention in this remark is given to the garden, which can be seen from the window - its trees are covered with snow-white flowers. The viewer and the reader immediately have a sad feeling that all this splendor will soon perish. And in the remark anticipating the second action, there is a remark that the outskirts of the city and telegraph poles are seen from the garden. In addition to the direct meaning, this decoration has a symbolic meaning - the new century dictates its own order, and there is no place for the cherry orchard. The "noble nest" of Ranevsky-Gayev will certainly be destroyed.

Sounds

Sounds play an important role in the works of Anton Pavlovich. Features of Chekhov's dramaturgy on the example of the play "The Cherry Orchard" directly point to this. A sad waltz playing at a ball, which, contrary to all logic, suits Love Day on the day of the auction; The clatter of billiard balls, reminiscent of Gayev's favorite pastime; Gnashing of a bursting string, irrevocably violating the charm and peace of a summer evening. He so amazes Ranevskaya that she immediately begins to get ready to go home. Although Gaev and Lopakhin immediately give a reliable explanation for the unpleasant sound (the cry of a bird, the breakage of a tub in a mine), Lyubov Andreevna perceives it in her own way. She believes that the gnashing of a broken string indicates the end of her former life. Of course, symbolic is the knocking of the ax at the end of the play: the beauty of the earth - the cherry garden - will be destroyed by order of Lopakhin.

Details

In particular, the features of Chekhov's dramaturgy are especially expressive. On the stage, Varya always appears in a dark dress with a bunch of keys at her waist. When at the ball Yermolai Alekseyevich announces that he bought the estate, she demonstratively throws her keys at Lopakhin's feet. Thus, she shows that she gives him all the household. The final of the play is also a sad symbol of the completion of the era of the country estate: everyone leaves the house, Yermolai Alekseyevich locks the front door until spring, and from the back room appears the old sick servant Firs, who lies on the sofa and freezes. It becomes clear to everyone that together with its last guardian, local Russia is gradually disappearing.

"Weakened" plot

Not all contemporaries of the author were able to appreciate the features of the drama of Anton Chekhov. Particularly critical was the insufficiently expressive plot in his works. Before Anton Pavlovich, the plot of the play was built, as a rule, on one external conflict. A cross-event, built on the clash of several heroes, determined the essence of the work. For example, in "Woe from Wit" action is built on the contradictions between Chatsky and the surrounding "FAMUSOV SOCIETY". Traditional conflict decides the fate of actors, demonstrates the victory of some heroes over others. Quite different is the case in Chekhov's plays. The main event (the sale of the estate for debts) here is generally pushed into the background. The inexpressive plot of this work is hardly divided into the usual supporting elements (culmination, denouement, etc.). The pace of action is constantly slowing down, and the drama consists of scenes that are very weakly interacting with each other.

Features of the dramaturgy of A. P. Chekhov (10 class at the literature lessons thoroughly acquainted with the writer's work) are the deep psychology of his creations. The author does not seek to show the external clash of the characters, replacing him with an internal conflict of the situation, unpleasant for his characters. Contradictions develop in the souls of actors and are not in the battle for the estate (it almost does not happen), but in the incompatibility of dreams and reality, the dissatisfaction of the characters with themselves and the world around them. Therefore, in the final of the play we see not the triumphant Lopakhin, but the unfortunate man who exclaims in sorrow: "Oh, rather, all this would pass, but rather our awkward, unhappy life would have changed somehow." In Chekhov's works there are no main characters, and the blame for what is happening lies on each of them. In the plays of Anton Pavlovich equally important are the central characters, and the secondary ones.

Unusual genre

In the genre peculiarity are also features of Chekhov's dramaturgy. "The Cherry Orchard" is a lyrical work, but the author also managed to weave comic elements into it. M. Gorky called this play a "new drama", in which both tragic pathos (regret about the death of the cherry orchard and the ruin of the fate of certain heroes) were combined, and the comic overtones (explicitly - in describing the images of Charlotte, Simeonov-Pishchik, Epikhodov, etc. Veiled - in the characters Lopakhin, Gaeva, Ranevskaya, etc.). Externally, the heroes are passive, but behind their inertia lies an inner complex action-meditation.

"Gull"

All the features of Chekhov dramaturgy were briefly described by us on the example of only one work - the drama "The Cherry Orchard". This is the last play of Anton Pavlovich, in which he summarized his creative achievements. However, all of the above applies to other works of the author. For example, Chekhov, for some reason called his anxious, permeated with the yearning of the spirit "Seagull", a comedy. This mystery dramatist still worries the minds of researchers, but who will argue with the fact that he is the master of creating sad comedies? Anton Pavlovich was able to extract poetry from the very unsettledness of life and to compose works unusual for their genre. Just like in the "Cherry Orchard", in the play "The Seagull" there are no central characters. All the heroes in it are equal, side and main destinies do not exist, therefore the main character in it is not. The name of this work is very symbolic. The seagull, in the author's opinion, represents an alarming flight, a rush into the distance, an incentive for the movement. In this drama there is no banal plot, it reveals a wide theme of bitter dissatisfaction with one's destiny, a dream of a better share. But the meaning of this play comes to the audience through everyday, everyday details that have a deep meaning, the very "underwater current". These are the features of Chekhov's dramaturgy. "Seagull" is a typical work of this author.

"Uncle Ivan"

This is another innovative work by Anton Pavlovich. It also clearly shows the features of Chekhov's dramaturgy. "Uncle Vanya" is a play in which the author does not focus on the external contradictions between the characters, but on their inner experiences. Everyday life here is the only source of conflict. Nothing tragic in the fate of Chekhov's characters, indeed, does not happen, but all of them are not satisfied with their lives. Some spend their days in lazy idleness, others - in impotent rage, the third - in despondency. The established way of life makes people worse than it could be. Dr. Astrov mocked, Vynytsky angered the whole world, Serebryakov - ingloriously degraded. All of them became stale and indifferent to each other and, most importantly, to themselves. Their life is meaningless and useless. And who is to blame for this? As always, Anton Pavlovich - all at once. Responsibility rests with every hero.

Conclusion

Summarizing all of the above, I want to outline all the features of Chekhov's dramaturgy in terms of points:

1. Almost all of the author's works are based on a detailed description of everyday life, through which the characters, feelings, moods of heroes are conveyed to readers and spectators.
2. There are no dramatic dramatic events in the plot of Chekhov's plays, the main source of the conflict is the inner experiences of the characters.
3. Heroes in the works of Anton Pavlovich are ambiguous, in each of them there are negative and positive features.
4. Dialogues in the author's works often consist of fragmentary meaningful phrases, through which the vital well-being of the characters is transmitted.
5. Remarks, sounds, symbolic details are of great importance in Chekhov's plays.
6. The dramaturgy of Anton Pavlovich differs genre singularity. The dramatic events in it are intertwined with comic overtones, which makes the image of events in it more lively and authentic.

Now you know everything about the peculiarities of the dramatic art of A.P. Chekhov. His work is rightfully included with the golden fund of world classics.