Swan Song | Page 6

into the pictures of the life in which he took such immense interest.
In "The Sea-Gull" we see clearly the increase of Tchekoff's power of
analysis, which is remarkable in his next play, "The Three Sisters,"
gloomiest of all his dramas.
"The Three Sisters," produced in 1901, depends, even more than most
of Tchekoff's plays, on its interpretation, and it is almost essential to its
appreciation that it should be seen rather than read. The atmosphere of
gloom with which it is pervaded is a thousand times more intense when
it comes to us across the foot-lights. In it Tchekoff probes the depths of
human life with so sure a touch, and lights them with an insight so
piercing, that the play made a deep impression when it appeared. This
was also partly owing to the masterly way in which it was acted at the
Artists' Theatre in Moscow. The theme is, as usual, the greyness of
provincial life, and the night is lit for his little group of characters by a
flash of passion so intense that the darkness which succeeds it seems
well-nigh intolerable.
"Uncle Vanya" followed "The Three Sisters," and the poignant truth of
the picture, together with the tender beauty of the last scene, touched
his audience profoundly, both on the stage and when the play was
afterward published.
"The Cherry Orchard" appeared in 1904 and was Tchekoff's last play.
At its production, just before his death, the author was feted as one of
Russia's greatest dramatists. Here it is not only country life that
Tchekoff shows us, but Russian life and character in general, in which
the old order is giving place to the new, and we see the practical,
modern spirit invading the vague, aimless existence so dear to the
owners of the cherry orchard. A new epoch was beginning, and at its
dawn the singer of old, dim Russia was silenced.
In the year that saw the production of "The Cherry Orchard," Tchekoff,

the favourite of the Russian people, whom Tolstoi declared to be
comparable as a writer of stories only to Maupassant, died suddenly in
a little village of the Black Forest, whither he had gone a few weeks
before in the hope of recovering his lost health.
Tchekoff, with an art peculiar to himself, in scattered scenes, in
haphazard glimpses into the lives of his characters, in seemingly trivial
conversations, has succeeded in so concentrating the atmosphere of the
Russia of his day that we feel it in every line we read, oppressive as the
mists that hang over a lake at dawn, and, like those mists, made visible
to us by the light of an approaching day.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF
ANTON TCHEKOFF
PLAYS
"The Swan Song" 1889 "The Proposal" 1889 "Ivanoff " 1889 "The
Boor" 1890 "The SeaGull" 1896 "The Tragedian in Spite of Himself"
1899 "The Three Sisters" 1901 "Uncle Vanya" 1902 "The Cherry
Orchard" 1904
NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
"Humorous Folk" 1887 "Twilight, and Other Stories" 1887 "Morose
Folk" 1890 "Variegated Tales" 1894 "Old Wives of Russia" 1894 "The
Duel" 1895 "The Chestnut Tree" 1895 "Ward Number Six" 1897
MISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES
"The Island of Saghalien" 1895 "Peasants" 1898 "Life in the Provinces"
1898 "Children" 1899

The Swan Song
CHARACTERS

VASILI SVIETLOVIDOFF, a comedian, 68 years old
NIKITA IVANITCH, a prompter, an old man
THE SWAN SONG
The scene is laid on the stage of a country theatre, at night, after the
play. To the right a row of rough, unpainted doors leading into the
dressing-rooms. To the left and in the background the stage is
encumbered with all sorts of rubbish. In the middle of the stage is an
overturned stool.
SVIETLOVIDOFF. [With a candle in his hand, comes out of a
dressing-room and laughs] Well, well, this is funny! Here's a good joke!
I fell asleep in my dressing-room when the play was over, and there I
was calmly snoring after everybody else had left the theatre. Ah! I'm a
foolish old man, a poor old dodderer! I have been drinking again, and
so I fell asleep in there, sitting up. That was clever! Good for you, old
boy! [Calls] Yegorka! Petrushka! Where the devil are you? Petrushka!
The scoundrels must be asleep, and an earthquake wouldn't wake them
now! Yegorka! [Picks up the stool, sits down, and puts the candle on
the floor] Not a sound! Only echos answer me. I gave Yegorka and
Petrushka each a tip to-day, and now they have disappeared without
leaving a trace behind them. The rascals have gone off and have
probably locked up the theatre. [Turns his head about] I'm drunk! Ugh!
The play to-night was for my benefit, and it is disgusting to think how
much beer and wine I have poured down my throat