The Twilight Zone

The end of the play was unexpected and dull. I expect anagnorisis and catharsis to be much more defined. It might be that I am not trained at recognizing the use of these techniques but I could barely make them out. The whole play started to build the viewers expectations but never climaxed. It grew gradually and suddenly stopped. Maybe it is a way to go even further into the monotony of life. At the end of the day nothing interesting really happens. It has, in a way, reminded me of the Twilight zone. The little I know about this different dimension is what I have been exposed to through Disney movies. Apart from Pishchik's new found riches, and a few other dull events nothing much happens. It might be my lack of understanding that leads me to believe that the end of The Cherry Orchard could have been better.

Extreme Makeover: Facebook Edition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROg82eSiFSw&playnext=1&list=PL174A820103D304E4

Ironic Tragic Different Comedy

Upon reaching the end of the Cherry Orchard I felt as if I wanted to touch upon the subject of the title it has been given. A tragic comedy, in my opinion, is something much more Shakespearian. Maybe it is my lack of experience with plays other than those from the famous Englishman, but I have classified this different tale into a different section. The first thing I did was re-live all the emotions it brought forth. Surprisingly, the most common was laughter. This made it clear that it was a comedy. My next step was to figure out if it was a tragic comedy, a normal comedy, or a weird comedy. Irony was also fundamental in the development of the plot: “Some misfortune happens to me every day. But I don't complain; I'm used to it, and I can smile” (Chekhov 1). Because the characters are all lost in their own little worlds, I have come to the conclusion that The Cherry Orchard is, among other things, an ironic tragic different comedy. I have added the different because it is, in no way, like any other play I have ever read.

Because the characters are all the epitome of monotony, and the ending can be considered normal. By normal I mean that it was not a tragedy. The play mocked human nature. It reminded me of a video I saw recently that also mocked how average people’s lives really are.

Inevitable Hardship

After reading Act II of The Cherry Orchard, my opinion towards satire has changed. Not only do I consider it a lot more serious than what I thought it was, but I also seem to think of it as a way to pass judgment on the reader. Chekhov is a specific satirist that I find criticizes the reader. After reading A Modest Proposal by Swift and the two acts of the play I experienced a “paradigm shift”. Both authors are hard on the reader and mock him explicitly: "there was probably nothing funny about it. Instead of going to see plays you ought to look at yourselves a little more often. How drab your lives are, how full of futile talk" (343). Although Chekhov is not referring to the reader directly, like Swift, the message is clear. He is telling the reader, who is viewing a play, to go take a look at himself. Out of the two options, what seems more likely is that the look implies a problem. One does not take a step back and look at the situation unless something is wrong. What these authors have tried to do is take a step back and look at society as a whole. They did not like what they found.

This weekend, I was watching a movie with my grandmother called The Good Shepherd. The reason why I mention it is because in a scene the characters act out a part of The Cherry Orchard. Although the scene is surprisingly short I was able to recognize the characters and the unique plot. It has proven to me that reading has made me a better viewer without me knowing it.

A Russian Inequality

The first thing that came to mind when I started reading The Cherry Orchard was Russia. I immediately gathered all of my memories that had anything to do with Russia. This list included movies, music, and art. Once I had a setting for the story I started reading with specific mindset. To my surprise, it was not what I expected. The characters seemed somewhat American and so did the social conditions. Being a communist country I could deduce that the play would give its audience some sot of feel for what it was like. It did. Social aspects are very important and the differences between characters are mostly economical: “There used t be only the gentlefolk’s and the peasants in the country, but now there are these summer visitors.” (Chekhov, 73) After reading this sentence my ideas about communist Russia were confirmed. The play would address the topic and tell the reader what the transition was like.

The other main aspect that came to my mind was the translation. The translator has inevitably touched all their creations. Little parts of his experiences are buried within the text. Not knowing whether this is a good translation or not I have to hope it will do the job. Every language is different and I can think of a lot of expressions in Spanish that do not exist in English. It is a fine line that the translator has to decipher. Hopefully he gets it right.