Comparative study of comedic elements in two plays

Chekov Comedy

A Comparison of Comedy in Two Plays by Anton Chekov: The Seagull and the Cherry Orchard

When one thinks of the Russian theatre around the turn of the nineteenth into the twentieth century, a barrel of laughs is probably not the first cliched metaphor to spring to mind. This was Russia as it roiled its way towards revolution, where the old class system was already dying and the poor were beginning to see glimmers of hope that some wealth and power could be theirs, while at the same time prosperity at large was faltering. This left an aristocracy that was increasingly seeing itself as a hollow shadow of its generations of progenitors, and that was also increasingly less financially capable of sustaining itself and its way of life. This led to issues in the servant class, who were finding themselves without employment, and also led to new forms of greed in the merchant and former serf classes that -- perhaps with a large degree of righteousness -- felt it was there turn to be on top.

All in all, then, the contemporary settings of Anton Chekov's major plays was not exactly humorous, on the surface, but rather was deeply chaotic and in many ways degrading. Of course, hard and confusing times are often the sources of the greatest comedy, and the conflicts that arose in this period between classes and between persons were certainly ripe for dramatic and even comedic reflection. While it is tempting to read Chekov's plays as though they are fully tragic -- and while it is impossible to ignore the tragic elements that this dramatist's plays contain -- it is more intriguing o discover how the playwright derived so much comedy in these settings.

Neither the Seagull nor the Cherry Orchard can be called full comedies in the modern sense of the word; they are not laugh-out-loud funny throughout nor are they concerned with generally light-hearted and ultimately inconsequential material. Death is seen in both plays, as is the destruction of relationships and the loss of happiness based on certain ways of life. It is possible to imagine how a production might give even these elements a comic twist, however, without damaging the honesty or complexity of Chekov's texts and characters, and in fact there are certain elements in both of the plays that almost demand to be seen as comic rather than tragic. The method by which action is presented in these two plays, namely through narrative dialogue and the use of off-stage action that is only reported to the audience/reader, is one of the primary comedic aspects in each of these plays, allowing Chekov to blend the comic with the tragic with a great deal of success.

What Isn't There

There are many important moments in the action of both the Seagull and the Cherry Orchard that do not actually take place in front of the audience, but that rather occur offstage and that the audience only learns of after the fact, and sometimes long after the fact. The specific events that Chekov decides not to include in the onstage action of each play can often be seen as directly supporting the comedy of the plays. This removal of action serves both to stave off a confrontation with the truly tragic by removing certain events from the audience's direct view, wile other instances of absence are conspicuously humorous for this absence.

As an example of the former -- that is, of the use of offstage action to prevent a confrontation between the audience and the truly tragic elements of the play -- one need look no further than Konstantin's second suicide attempt. This comes at the very end of the play, and Konstantin is successful now whereas he failed in his first attempt -- he ends his life after a downward cycle of depression that goes ultimately unexplained by Chekov's text. Had the audience actually witnessed Konstantin's death, it would be difficult to regard much in the pay as truly comedic, as this act of senseless destruction would doubtless have become central to an experience of the play. By keeping this instance offstage, the audience is free to draw stronger associations with other elements that are more comedic without, it must be noted, being necessarily more light-hearted than a depressive suicide.

The death that occurs at the end of the Cherry Orchard -- that of the serf-turned-servant, Fiers -- is far more comic than the death of Konstantin, however, and that is why this death occurs onstage rather than out of sight of the audience. Much of the Cherry Orchard is focused on the inability of many of the characters to see beyond the ends of their own noses and immediate interests; with better foresight and acknowledgement of others, many of the bad things that befall the characters could have been averted. This is definitely a dark form of comedy, but the repeated nature of this trope throughout the play makes it ultimately comedic. The idea that Fiers decides to curl up on a couch in an old house and die, having been forgotten by his family and former masters, is the final punch-line of the play and must be seen onstage.

Other examples of what is seen and what is unseen as elements of both forestalling true tragedy and embracing full comedy can be seen in both plays. The actual chopping down of the cherry orchard in the Cherry Orchard takes place offstage because, like Konstantin's death, this would become the full focus of the audience's experience if it were actually shown rather than merely suggested through offstage action and sounds. Nina's brief and largely inexplicable appearance in the final act of the Seagull actually allows her breakdown and degradation to become more comedic, as it is seen to be more nonsensical than a truly tragic loss -- she is flighty, disconnected, and an ultimately comedic character because the tragedies in her life occur offstage, while her brief triumphs are directly exposed to the audience as empty and meaningless to everyone except her. The fact that Nina isn't in on the joke again makes this very dark yet very humorous comedy.

Gaps in Time

Putting Chekov's plays in a context that includes more literary and dramatic history, there is another striking element in the narrative development and the progression of action in the Seagull and the Cherry Orchard that adds to their comedy and detracts from their level of tragedy. Plays that were part of a similar trend towards realism and a true dissection of interpersonal issues such as the major plays of Ibsen and Strindberg had an immediate quality, taking place over only a few days or sometimes even a single day at the culmination of the tragedy. Chekov's plays include long gaps in time that show the monotony of this tragedy.