20th Century Plays, the Three Sisters Chekhov

¶ … 20th century plays, The Three sisters Chekhov Happy Days Beckett. The theme essay, "How theatre address modern conditions loss, alienation futility human endeavor?" differences structurally stylistically? Tell realism absurdist plays.

Alienation and stasis: Three Sisters by Chekhov and Happy Days by Beckett

Both the Russian playwright and short story author Anton Chekhov and the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett are known for their serious plays that some audiences find 'depressing.' However, the playwrights fundamentally considered themselves comedic, rather than tragic writers. The discrepancy between the audiences' reactions and the playwrights' intentions may rest in the fact that both authors frequently portray people who are 'stuck' in some way, shape, or form -- either literally and metaphorically in Beckett's plays (such as Winnie in Happy Days) or psychologically and emotionally in Chekhov's work as can be seen in the plight of virtually all of the characters in Three Sisters. The playwrights use this stasis as a source of humor, not simply tragedy.

In the case of Winnie of Happy Days, a middle-aged woman is first shown in Act I giving a seemingly endless, stream-of-consciousness monologue about no particular subject matter. She talks on and on, oblivious to her surroundings. She is covered up to her waist in dirt and unable to move. Winnie seems to symbolize the condition of so many people: utterly entrapped by her social circumstances and seemingly totally unaware of this fact. In the second, final act, Winnie is covered up to her neck in mud. The only person she has to speak to in both acts is her husband Willie, who seems to hate her and only utters equally nonsensical replies to her chatter. In the first Act, when Winnie can still move, she takes comfort in a meaningless routine, arranging the items in her handbag, while in the second act she is denied even this comfort.

On the surface, the Three Sisters is a far more realistic play. It depicts three educated sisters who were born in Moscow who were relocated to a rural backwater when their father was a soldier. He is dead, and the two of them continually fantasize about returning there, but seem unable to take action to leave. In fact, despite the constant invocations of Moscow, the sisters make life decisions that simply result in them becoming more, rather than less attached to the place where they are located. Olga becomes headmistress of the school where she teaches; Masha has married a schoolmaster; and eventually the youngest girl, Irina, also decides to marry. As well as Moscow, all three sisters idealize aspects of other peoples' lives they cannot live: Olga wants to get married; Masha falls in love with a married man; Irina says she wants to live a life of work and useful service but becomes completely bored when she actually takes a job. Like Winnie of Happy Days, the sisters are literally mired and entrapped, but psychologically, not physically (although it could be argued that even by the time the play opens, the circumstances they have created for themselves are so dire, change seems impossible).

Despite the fact that Happy Days is absurdist and Three Sisters seems realistic in tone, both plays contain elements of realism and absurdism. Anyone who has known someone who is physically limited and older has seen the degree to which an obsession with trivialities can take over life; moreover, physical limitations can produce psychological limitations that can be very difficult to overcome. Although the play is an extended metaphor, many people find themselves quite literally in Winnie's circumstances as they age and it becomes more and more difficult to take action to make changes.