Chekhov's short play "The Bear"

Anton Chekhov's short play "The Bear" is subtitled "A Joke in One Act," clearly identifying the work as a comic piece and one that hinges on a particular point of humor, the joke of the title. Chekhov uses various comic devices in this short play not merely to evoke laughter but to contribute to the serious themes underlying the work, and the use of farce should not cover the fact that the playwright has much to say about human nature, human relations, and the psychology of his characters.

The two main characters in the play are opposites brought together at a point of conflict, and from this conflict develops not only the angry exchange that takes place between them but also the seemingly incongruous love that also grows between them. Chekhov sees human beings as mixtures of opposing forces, and human actions also involve a duality. On the one hand, there is the sense of the social graces, of social requirements, of living up to what society wants, while on the other there are the personal desires and needs which may conflict with the strictures of society. Human life is something of a balancing act between these forces. Even on the personal level alone, people may find that they experience two emotions at the same time and must find a way to balance these, as these characters do as they first conflict and then are attracted to one another.

The structure of the play emphasizes the changeable nature of human existence. At the beginning of the play, Mrs. Popov is in

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n. The servants--especially Luka--stand as observers of this drama as it takes place, and they are bewildered by the conclusion. It is their reaction which emphasizes the incongruity of what is taking place. Luka reacts from the beginning of the play. He reacts first to Mrs. Popov's self-imposed imprisonment. He reacts to the man who forces his way into the house. He ineffectually threatens the man with removal. Ultimately, he stands in awe as Mrs. Popov and Smirnov kiss. Mrs. Popov is a woman who was wronged by her husband, and when he dies she allows him to wrong her more by dedicating her life to getting even instead of to living for herself. In the comic structure of the play, she is released from this by having her anger shifted from her dead husband to this intruder, and anger and love are for her always close together. The poem "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" is a poem about the creative process and about the nature of the relationship between the artist and his or her art. Aunt Jennifer is the artist who produces the tigers on a woven panel, and long after Aunt Jennifer has died, the expression of her art through these tigers will continue to live, will continue prancing across the panel just as they did when she w

Category: Literature - C