Oncle Vania / Les Trois Soeurs

by Anton Chekhov, Anton Tchekhov

En quoi consiste le bonheur Est-il notre porte Dans Oncle Vania (1897), les personnages s'interrogent. Aux lans d'espoir et de joie succdent l'abattement et la dtresse. Le dgot d'tre laid, vieux, malade. L'ennui d'habiter en province, o jamais rien ne se passe ; de travailler comme un forcen, sans reconnaissance aucune. La douleur d'aimer sans retour. La fadeur de ne pas aimer. Ailleurs, une autre poque, dans d'autres circonstances, peut-tre, ils auraient pu tre heureux... Bien sr, il y a la rvolte, la tentation du meurtre, celle du suicide. Mais en vain. La vie est l, amre et crue : on s'y enlise. a Vous dites que la vie est belle. Oui, mais si ce n'tait qu'une apparence ! Pour nous, les trois sueurs, la vie n'a pas encore t belle, elle nous a touffes, comme une mauvaise herbe ", affirme Irina dans Les Trois Surs (1901). Son rve le plus cher, partir Moscou, restera inaccompli. Que nul ne vienne chercher, dans ces pices de Tchekhov, un hros classique, ou un geste grandiose ; car ainsi que l'affirmait le dramaturge : 4 Dans la vie, les hommes ne se tuent pas, ne se pendent pas, ne se font pas des dclarations d'amour tout bout de champ. Ils ne disent pas tout instant des choses pathtiques. Ils mangent, ils boivent, ils se tranent et disent des btises. Et voil, c'est cela qu'il faut montrer sur scne. "

276 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Antón Chéjov (Spanish)

Dramas, such as The Seagull (1896, revised 1898), and including "A Dreary Story" (1889) of Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, also Chekov, concern the inability of humans to communicate.

Born ( Антон Павлович Чехов ) in the small southern seaport of Taganrog, the son of a grocer. His grandfather, a serf, bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught to read. A cloth merchant fathered Yevgenia Morozova, his mother.

"When I think back on my childhood," Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." Tyranny of his father, religious fanaticism, and long nights in the store, open from five in the morning till midnight, shadowed his early years. He attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog from 1867 to 1868 and then Taganrog grammar school. Bankruptcy of his father compelled the family to move to Moscow. At the age of 16 years in 1876, independent Chekhov for some time alone in his native town supported through private tutoring.

In 1879, Chekhov left grammar school and entered the university medical school at Moscow. In the school, he began to publish hundreds of short comics to support his mother, sisters and brothers. Nicholas Leikin published him at this period and owned Oskolki (splinters), the journal of Saint Petersburg. His subjected silly social situations, marital problems, and farcical encounters among husbands, wives, mistresses, and lust; even after his marriage, Chekhov, the shy author, knew not much of whims of young women.

Nenunzhaya pobeda , first novel of Chekhov, set in 1882 in Hungary, parodied the novels of the popular Mór Jókai. People also mocked ideological optimism of Jókai as a politician.

Chekhov graduated in 1884 and practiced medicine. He worked from 1885 in Peterburskaia gazeta.

In 1886, Chekhov met H.S. Suvorin, who invited him, a regular contributor, to work for Novoe vremya, the daily paper of Saint Petersburg. He gained a wide fame before 1886. He authored The Shooting Party , his second full-length novel, later translated into English. Agatha Christie used its characters and atmosphere in later her mystery novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . First book of Chekhov in 1886 succeeded, and he gradually committed full time. The refusal of the author to join the ranks of social critics arose the wrath of liberal and radical intelligentsia, who criticized him for dealing with serious social and moral questions but avoiding giving answers. Such leaders as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, however, defended him. "I'm not a liberal, or a conservative, or a gradualist, or a monk, or an indifferentist. I should like to be a free artist and that's all..." Chekhov said in 1888.

The failure of The Wood Demon , play in 1889, and problems with novel made Chekhov to withdraw from literature for a period. In 1890, he traveled across Siberia to Sakhalin, remote prison island. He conducted a detailed census of ten thousand convicts and settlers, condemned to live on that harsh island. Chekhov expected to use the results of his research for his doctoral dissertation. Hard conditions on the island probably also weakened his own physical condition. From this journey came his famous travel book.

Chekhov practiced medicine until 1892. During these years, Chechov developed his concept of the dispassionate, non-judgmental author. He outlined his program in a letter to his brother Aleksandr: "1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of political-social-economic nature; 2. total objectivity; 3. truthful descriptions of persons and objects; 4. extreme brevity; 5. audacity and originality; flee the stereotype; 6. compassion." Because he objected that the paper conducted against [a:Alfred Dreyfu

Reviews

[Marc Lamot · Rating 2 out of 5]

In tegenstelling tot zijn kortverhalen lijkt het toneelwerk van Chekhov met niet te bekoren, veel te zwaar op de hand;

[Aimée Verret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je n'avais pas d'attentes particulières, et j'ai finalement beaucoup aimé ma lecture. Le travail sur les niveaux de discours, les personnages entretenant souvent un dialogue et ce qui semble un monologue à la fois, tentait de faire transparaître une intériorité divisée. Même si les deux pièces m'ont plus, ma préférence va à Oncle Vania, dont certaines tirades écologistes et philosophiques (sur la solitude humaine, notamment) pourraient être copiées-collées sur Facebook et paraître tout à fait contemporaines. #vaniasays

[Ani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ay, Chejov! Infelices, suicidas, inconformistas, motivados por las apariencias. Acá si que no vuelvo.

[Coremi · Rating 4 out of 5]

He disfrutado de la obra, de lectura ágil...con unos personajes que van cambiando su modo de pensar entre acto y acto. Las hermanas con sus vaivenes, anhelos y cambio de planes (algunos sin buscarlos), los devaneos filosóficos de algunos personajes, todo ello compone una historia muy humana.

[Ainhoa Verdú · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lectura obligatòria de 1r d'Estudis Anglesos

[Camille Morin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Première fois depuis le Cégep que je relis du théâtre. Ça m’a donné envie de m’y replonger.

Je dois dire que j’ai hâte à mon cercle de lecture de ce soir pour analyser l’oeuvre plus en profondeur.

[Helohoneyy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je me suis perdue avec tous les prénoms…

[Delphine Pernot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonne immersion dans la Russie 19e