Three Sisters Notes
Anton Chekov
“One must never lie. Art has this speculation.” Chekov is seen as absurd dramatist
Absurd Theatre
Theatre of the Absurd is a designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction in the late 1950s. Their work expressed the belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all
\communication breaks down. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion, silence. Explores the absurdity of attempting to control one's fate, seen by how the dream of the sisters is left unfulfilled and even a faint ray of happiness in the form of a marriage between Irina and Tusenbach is put out with the death of the Baron in a duel. At the end of the play the oldest, Olga, realizes: “of course, I’ll never get to Moscow….”
Plays within this group are absurd in that they focus not on logical acts, realistic occurrences, or traditional character development; they, instead, focus on human beings trapped in an incomprehensible world subject to any occurrence, no matter how illogical. Also, it presents change as but an unattainable illusion, while Chekov believes that the world would change after a few centuries, an optimism that seperates him from postmodern absurdist dramatists.
Techniques: broad comedy, mixed with horrific or tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense (Solynoly); plots that are cyclical (no discernable character growth), use of small talk and understatement, instability of characters; either a parody or dismissal of realism and the concept of the "well-made play".
The Absurd in these plays takes the form of man’s reaction to a world apparently without meaning, and/or man as a puppet controlled invisible, incomprehensible outside forces. This can be seen from Tusenbach expounding the view that human beings are fated to pine and grieve whatever the condition may be as
“One must never lie. Art has this speculation.” Chekov is seen as absurd dramatist
Absurd Theatre
Theatre of the Absurd is a designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction in the late 1950s. Their work expressed the belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all
\communication breaks down. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion, silence. Explores the absurdity of attempting to control one's fate, seen by how the dream of the sisters is left unfulfilled and even a faint ray of happiness in the form of a marriage between Irina and Tusenbach is put out with the death of the Baron in a duel. At the end of the play the oldest, Olga, realizes: “of course, I’ll never get to Moscow….”
Plays within this group are absurd in that they focus not on logical acts, realistic occurrences, or traditional character development; they, instead, focus on human beings trapped in an incomprehensible world subject to any occurrence, no matter how illogical. Also, it presents change as but an unattainable illusion, while Chekov believes that the world would change after a few centuries, an optimism that seperates him from postmodern absurdist dramatists.
Techniques: broad comedy, mixed with horrific or tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense (Solynoly); plots that are cyclical (no discernable character growth), use of small talk and understatement, instability of characters; either a parody or dismissal of realism and the concept of the "well-made play".
The Absurd in these plays takes the form of man’s reaction to a world apparently without meaning, and/or man as a puppet controlled invisible, incomprehensible outside forces. This can be seen from Tusenbach expounding the view that human beings are fated to pine and grieve whatever the condition may be as