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.