Simplify the following in point form
Each of his plays were set in rural Russia
His play, The Cherry Orchard, depicts how the landowning class of Russia’s monotonous and frustrating life
Characters want to have betters lives, but do nothing to change it, they either don’t know how or have the initiative to do anything
All action in his plays takes place in the background and emotional climaxes takes place off stage.
The onstage action is placed in insignificant everyday occurrences:
He arranges them carefully in order to come across as in random order to constantly reveal character, mood and ideas
His focus was not on the action but on the quality of life that surrounds and influences the character
The focus was placed on the psychological response of the character
Result: Dramatic action was hidden in the subtext and not in the dialogue.
There were no villains
Tall the characters were victims of “conflicting forces”. Therefore, what happened to every character is a result of what kind of person they were.
A character and his/her fate were inseparable – to him it was one
He stripped his characters’ illusions gradually in order to reveal their anxieties and short comings
There is an atmosphere of laziness
He never directly commented on Russian society but he implied quite a lot
In order to comment on society he made use of symbolism
Fluctuations of moods, one moment they are happy, then the other moment they are sad.
There is also the theme of “Nothing Happens.”
He avoids obvious struggles, the time-worn commonplaces and well-prepared climaxes that go to the making of most plays; he rather spreads out the canvas for our contemplation, not seeking to enlist our sympathies for individuals, but showing us merely the spectacle of humanity as he sees it.
- Plays set in rural Russia
- The Cherry Orchard focuses on monotonous life of landowning class
- Characters want better lives but do nothing to change it
- Action takes place off stage
- Onstage action in insignificant everyday occurrences
- Arranged carefully to reveal character, mood, and ideas
- Focus on quality of life surrounding and influencing characters
- Psychological response of characters
- Dramatic action hidden in subtext
- No villains, all characters are victims of conflicting forces
- Character and fate inseparable
- Characters' illusions stripped gradually to reveal anxieties and shortcomings
- Atmosphere of laziness
- Implied commentary on Russian society through symbolism
- Fluctuations of moods
- Theme of "Nothing Happens"
- Avoids obvious struggles and well-prepared climaxes
- Shows humanity as he sees it without seeking sympathy for individuals