The End of the Day: Act 2 Voyage: The Coast of Utopia

The second act of Voyage, is still filled with philosophies and conflicts within the family, but there is a slight change in the way that some of the characters discover things about their nature that they didn’t know. They are more passionate and not only are there changes in their love life but in the urge of some of them for revolution.

In the first pages of the second act, a new character called Natalie appears in the story. She is a very desperate girl that is searching for a man, and that tries to seduce Michael various times until she achieves it. This woman is only desperate but she has very low self esteem and when she is rejected she answers in the following way, “Don’t you think I’m pretty?”(76) When she says this, she argues that she has been rejected because she is ugly, making of herself a victim. She’s probably thought she was pretty but then with one rejection she thought the worst. This character is very similar to Sonya, in Uncle Vanya. They are both desperate in their own way, looking to fall in love and after a man. They also suffer a lot with their looks. While Sonya sees herself as simply ugly, Natalie thinks that she is being rejected because she is not pretty enough. The way both of these characters are structured shows a pattern in the way that apparently Russians see women. Both of those plays have a woman that is weak and desperate, especially for men. This may represent the image that some people had during those times about women and their roles in society, or maybe it is just an element used in literature about Russia. It is not very surprising to notice that women were seen as inferior and unable to perform important functions within their intellectual and academic world.

The other topic that appears many times in this act is revolution. Michael is very motivated to make part of a revolution with the help of Belinsky. His ideas are based on the different philosophies that he has been studying and under the influence of his friend. “He’s discovered revolution. Now he knows where he was going wrong.”(114) When Tatiana says the quote above, she is referring to Michael and to his final decision of what he wants to do with his life. After studying so many philosophers and changing his mind on who had the right ideology, he decided to stick to revolution. He had finally knew where he went wrong and was beginning to aim towards a clear goal. As I had said before, this is very contradicting because Michael wants revolution when he is a person that represents a tyrant due to the fact that his family owns so many serfs. The topic of revolution is very constant in these types of plays, especially if they are about Russia, because of the importance that the Russian Revolution had over the rest of the world.

Finally, the ending of the play has a last scene that impacts the reader. Alexander goes blind and he insists to go and “watch” the sunset. This is apparently a scandal, especially for his wife, but as they talk of Michael and how he rebelled and dropped the army, he begins to ask about the sunset. When they are done speaking he says, “I saw it go down.”(119) This may be a metaphor that he is using to express his feelings about what happened with Michael. When he mentions that he did see when it went down, he may be referring to Michael and how he was blind at first when he didn’t see as a father that his son didn’t want to do all those things that were expected of him, but that now he saw how it all fit into place. He realized that Michael was now where he wanted to be, although it was degrading for his family and its dignity. A sunset at the end showed how his hopes faded away and how he did notice it when it happened.

Imperfect Attempts of an Utopia: Voyage Act 1

Voyage, the first play of the Coast of Utopia, is very different from all of the plays that I have read. Its characters are in a way, undeveloped, as they are truly simple and even idiotic. Their conversations are completely egocentric as they do not have any interests beside their own.

The first act of Voyage, introduces to the reader a traditional Russian family that struggles constantly to be perfect, but that in reality is nowhere near perfection. The sisters are all in conflict for they do not think for themselves, and therefore act under the influence of other members of the family, such as their brother Michael. This character is always jealous his sister’s suitors and he ends up destroying all of their relationships at the beginning of the play. Michael is a young man that likes to defy authority, and in a way this is very contradicting because he thinks as a liberal but he lives under the conditions of his father, which includes being part of the army. In his various attempts to try to find his own ideology, Michael changes hi mind about the philosophers he admires very often. This shows his lack of self confidence, because he can’t even choose what to think. “I got led astray by Schelling. He tried to make the Self just another part of the world- But now Fichte shows that the world doesn’t exist except where I meet it-there is nothing but Self. Now I know where I was going wrong.” (33) The quote above shows how Michael changes his mind so drastically about the philosophers he decides to read. Every time he talks about them, he mentions the “Self” which indicates that he is really trying to understand himself and to find his true vocation in life, because he can’t really do it on his own. If you think about it, this is very pathetic. A person that doesn’t have ideas of his own and has to use ideas from others is definitely very sad.

When Michael talks about revolution and change, it is also very hard to believe him because the ideal that he fights for are not exactly his own. This is obvious when he supports the cause of his friend that fights for the servant population and their rights. When doing this, he is clearly contradicting himself. His father owns hundreds of servants and Michael also controls them as he is the son and therefore future heir. Belinsky is Michael’s friend and he has a lot of liberal ideas, His influence over Michael is great because he manages to convince him to supporting his causes. “He wrote a play against serfdom, that’s why.”(43) Belinsky writes articles and plays about serfdom and stats that there is no literature in their country. The fact that Michael supports his friend in this ideologies is very hypocritical of his part because by trying to create this Utopia out of his life with philosophy and the rights of slaves, he is contradicting himself because he still own hundreds of “souls” and he does use them for his personal benefits.

This play addresses many topics that are very common with other works related to Russia, such as Uncle Vanya. The constant attempts for revolution and change in the Russian society show in this literary works are actually an effort to reach a Utopia. In Uncle Vanya, the family wants to have an equal distribution of land and to receive what they deserve for their hard work. In Voyage, the characters want to fight for the rights of the serfs and for what corresponds for them to have. It is possible to think that this theme of Utopia is common in a country such as Russia because in a way, its various political, economical and social movements have led to revolutions and therefore to systems such as communism, which is a way of saying Utopia, as it tries to have a perfect or equalitarian society.

Vanya and Sonya: A paradox

The final act of Uncle Vanya brings the whole conflict to an end. Uncle Vanya is seen by his family as crazy and they all decide to leave the house after the shooting. The fact that Vanya shot the professor twice and he also missed him both times is truly embarrassing and pathetic. He seats down and cries completely humiliated. When the fourth act begins, he is still very ashamed.

As soon as the act begins, Uncle Vanya realizes that he has been treated as a mentally unstable person by his family. “Strange. I attempt to commit a murder, and they don’t arrest me, they don’t bring me to trial, which means that they consider me insane.” (216) When he sees it, he begins to argue with them and tries to confront the. His sarcasm is always present and he tries to up set them so that they let him to what he wishes. This is definitely an attempt of manipulation, and at the end he accomplishes his goal, because they all leave the house. When he has to confront them directly, he says the following, “Well, I’m insane, I’m not responsible, I have a right to say silly things.”(216) Although he feels embarrassed over what happened with the shooting, Uncle Vanya is not mature enough to deal with his problems and so he tells his family that because he is insane, he can’t be held responsible for anything, and therefore they have to take care of any troubles he may cause. Uncle Vanya is not even capable standing up for his ideals which position him once again to be the victim of the story. He never does anything right, not even murder. When he is treated as insane he reacts as one, although he knows he is perfectly normal. In every single opportunity, Uncle Vanya finds the time to victimize himself in front of everyone.

The attitude that Vanya takes before life is a very tragic one. He finds the negative aspects to everything and he doesn’t want to look for anything that may bring him some happiness. Sonya on the other hand, tries to find some positive aspects to her life, although she is also a pessimist and a victim, just as Vanya. Both of these characters are very similar, but at the end of the play, Sonya demonstrates to be more hopeful. It seems as of she were the person that complement Vanya, not only in personality but in state of mind. They are so similar, but at the same time very different. They are like a paradox, but less contradictory. When the final act is about to end, Sonya tells Uncle Vanya the following, “What’s to be done, we must go on living... You have had no joy in your life, but wait Uncle Vanya, wait... We shall rest...We shall rest! (227) We shall rest? What does that really mean? Is she referring to death? Is she talking about forgetting all their problems and leaving their frustrations behind them?

At the end, it is hard to understand both of this characters, but in a way it is not as difficult to see that what they wanted to have was actually nothing. They didn’t want anything, because in the beginning, having all those things and being responsible for them was what ruined their lives. Even though they did victimize their selves too much and try to appear as if everything in their life was empty, they knew that when they were left alone, there would be no temptations and no reasons at all for them to be desperate as they once were.

Desperate Boredom: Uncle Vanya

In Act three, of Uncle Vanya, the characters begin to express their feelings and some of them loose control. The romances within the house flourish and as the situation develops, the tension increases between all of them. At the end of the act, there is a huge crisis in the house and most of the characters have a meltdown.

At the beginning of the act, Sonya confesses to Elena that she is deeply in love with the doctor. Elena promises that she will ask the doctor if he feels the same way. When they plan all of this, Elena tells her that it is better to find out the truth than to be uncertain, and Sonya answers in the following way, “No, uncertainty is better... at least there is hope...” (199) In this quote, it is obvious how desperate this young women is to have be loved back and to be married. She lacks a lot of self confidence and she feels that she couldn’t be uglier. She knows she is ugly, but when people such as Elena tell her that she has nice hair, she responds in the following way, “When a women is not beautiful they always say: ‘You have beautiful hair, you have beautiful eyes..’.” This shows how she has no appreciation for herself, and therefore she is so desperate in finding someone that will be “merciful” enough to be with her. In a way, Sonya is very similar to Uncle Vanya as she feels worthless and depressed. She hates her life because she finds no love, and for her, that is the worst thing that can happen to anyone. Her state of depending on other to be happy is the same as the one of Uncle Vanya, who depends on the rest of his family, and especially the doctor and the decision he takes on the future of the country house. As I continued to read, I realized that each one of the characters in this play depend on another person. Elena depends completely on the professor, the Doctor on Elena and off course the professor, the nurse on the professor and on the family, Maria on Vanya, and so on. At the end of the day, it seems that they all depend on Vanya because he is the one that decides what to do with the house, not only because he is Sonya’s uncle and therefore the elder that has to decide, but because he is so crazy at the end of the scene, that everyone is scared of what he might do, and therefore they will follow his instructions.

After reading further into the play, I realized that throughout the text there are various comments that refer to the boredom and lack of interest that the members of the family feel towards the life in the countryside. The professor is one of them, and he says the following on the third act, “One can reconcile oneself to ill health, but what I can not endure is this regimen of country life. I feel as if I had fallen off the earth and landed on another planet.”(205) The direct and indirect comments that most of the characters of the play make against their rural life’s seems to be constant. They hate it, but at the same time they can’t escape it. What is the author trying to teach us about the countryside? Is Chekhov trying to show us that people from rural areas depend on their land but at the same time are attached to it? The doctor said he wanted to live in the city because he was tired of his present life, but that he couldn’t do it because the expenses would not be covered by the production of their land. When he proposed to sell it, Vanya refused to accept as he was attached to it due to all of the years of hard work he had invested in those crops and that house. One of the messages that this play attempts to convey is that the rural life is very hard and it slaves the people that were born inside it. Almost all of the members of Uncle Vanya’s household are desperate living in the country and they want to go away to the city. This migration of these people is a perfect example of the discontent with that type of life, and it is evident that the urbanizations in many nations have been constructed and organized due to this kind of movements.

Age, Drinks, and Fiction: Uncle Vanya

Uncle Vanya’s second act is full of interesting quotes that guide the reader towards understanding the conflicts that take place throughout the play. The characters are opening up to each other, revealing their secrets and inner thoughts, showing the readers that they behave the way they do because of what has happened to them in their life’s.

The first issue that is discussed in the second act is the troubles that old age brings on a person. The first one to talk about this is the professor who is in a lot of pain and is bored with life. He feels as if everybody feels discussed by his presence, and he even states that he himself feels the same way towards his present state of decadence. “Even my voice is repulsive. Well, let us suppose that I am repulsive, that I am an egotist, a despot-haven’t I the right to be selfish in my old age?”(179) In this quote he begins to tell the people that surround him that he is tired and that because he is so old, he can do whatever he pleases. His attitude demonstrates being old is a very delicate condition and the elders should be respected and allowed to do everything they like. This ideology reflects the desperation of the people when they reach an old age and don’t want to do anything else that to die soon. They are very depressed and want everyone to focus on them. The professor is already old and tiered, but Vanya is still young and what he is experimenting is a typical mid-life crisis that makes him feel as if he were as old as the professor although he is really not. Vanya is very negative and complains all day long about things that are not even worth complaining about. He hates the professor because he sees him as the person that he will become in the future. Uncle Vanya used to admire the professor, but now he sees him as a failure and he doesn’t want to resemble him at all. The most contradicting aspect of Vanya’s attitude is that he is very similar to the professor, as he complains a lot and is disappointed of life.

Another activity that is very common within the characters of this play is drinking. Most of the people that live in that house, be it men or women are driven to alcohol when they feel stressed or tiered. In this act, the ones that get drunk are the men, and more specifically, Uncle Vanya and the doctor. The scene were they get drunk is full of depressing comments that show their negative attitudes. When they drink, they feel as if they were living the life’s they would of wanted to have. “Elena: So you’ve been drinking today? What is that for?...Vanya: At least it seems like life...Don’t prevent me, Hélène!”(183) Uncle Vanya lives his fantasies when he is drunk, and probably one of them is to be happy. When he is drunk he confuses the momentary joy for the ultimate happiness he so desires to have. When Sonya confronts Uncle Vanya about his excessive drinking he answers in the following way, “Age has nothing to do with it. When one has no real life, one lives on illusions. It’s better than nothing.” As we can see in this quote, Vanya likes to drink because he lives the life that he wants to have. This quote may also relate to fiction, not only in literature, but in life. As Vanya said, sometimes it is better to pretend to have a good life, than to face reality. Apparently alcohol helps the characters of the play to overcome their fears, only if it is during a short period of time. In a way, fiction has the same effects on the readers, as it distracts them from their reality, and for a moment, involves them in a fictional story, with invented characters and fantastical plots. When you read a work of fiction you try to understand the nature of the people that are inside the book, and how you as an individual could be similar to them, and therefore have an exciting life as these characters. Maybe, in a way Vanya wants to make part of a fictional novel, where he doesn’t feel as old and useless as he does in his present life.

Contradicting Uncle: Uncle Vanya

The first act of Uncle Vanya is a perfect demonstration of what Russia’s rural society was during that period in history. The characters of this play are very well defined, and each one completely different from the rest.

The first image that is presented to the reader is that of the countryside and the family having tea in the garden. The “social pyramid” of the house is shown at the beginning when they introduce characters such as the old nurse, the doctor, the professor and his young wife, Sonia their daughter, Maria who is the professor’s former mother in law, and Vanya his son, and therefore Sonia’s Uncle. This pyramid is based more on the influence that the members of the household have on others, than on the power or money they may have. Although it is not logical, Uncle Vanya, who is supposed to be somewhat important, is actually the victim. He is never taken into account, and when he is, he second doubts himself, throwing away the opportunities that the family gives him to stand up for himself. When he speaks of society and its problems, he speaks as if he wasn’t part of it, trying to avoid by all means any social or political responsibility. He is constantly criticizing and his comments are very pessimistic. “...twenty-five years lecturing and writing about what intelligent people already know, and stupid people aren’t interested in- which means twenty-five years of milling the wind.”(168) In these lines, Vanya attacks the professor’s accomplishments and talks about how his lessons were completely worthless. These comments are full of envy and hate, which shows that Vanya actually wants to be like the rest of the people that surround him, but that instead he tries to make them feel useless, so that he appears to be stronger. I believe that what the author meant to teach us when creating Uncle Vanya, was that part of our human nature involves having an Uncle Vanya inside us. At the end of the day we are all pessimists, envious of others and judges of society. Chekhov shows us that humans are not positive and that characters such as Candide and Felicity don’t really convey the nature of humanity.

Further on in the first act, Vanya makes the following statement, “Oh, yes! An enlightened personality who never enlightened anybody.”(171) This paradox is actually a making a criticism on Vanya himself. His mother tells him that he used to be an “enlightened personality” and he responds with that sarcastic paradox. It is really sad how this man hates life so much that he even despites his own accomplishments. He doesn’t grant others or himself any merits.

Another character that was very interesting and to some point completely different from Vanya was the doctor. In a short monologue he talks about the barbarian behavior of people and how those acts of selfishness have destroyed nature. “When I hear the rustling of young trees which I have planted with my own hands, I realize that the climate is somewhat in my power, and that if, a thousand years from now, mankind is happy, I shall be responsible for that too, in a small way.” (174) The social and environmental responsibility that the doctor has is definitely impressive for that period of time. Today there is more conscience about those topics because we humans are living the effects that this is bringing to the planet. Chekhov, as an author was really ahead of his time and he did have a futuristic vision when creating a character such as the doctor. It is weird to think that Russians would have those ideologies, as they saw that the destruction of some natural resources would be beneficial for the overall development and growth of their Empire, which involved the construction of railroads and great cities. The main idea of this part of the play is to show how Russians think and how they act accordingly to their thoughts, therefore reveling a little of Uncle Vanya’s essence.

Destiny's Fate: Last Reaction to Macbeth

After I finished reading Macbeth, I realized that it had been a while ago since I last read it because I had forgotten how it ended. The Weird Sisters warn Macbeth about Macduff and about the different events that will take place before his death. Macbeth is very arrogant and he is convinced that none of those things will happen to him.

Shakespeare was very clever when writing the resolution for Macbeth. He uses the weird sisters once again, reminding the reader that these characters also appeared at the beginning of the play and therefore are truly important. The role of the witches represents the superstition of those times as well as destiny. They know everything as if Macbeth’s life were written somewhere. All of their predictions came true, which meant that destiny can’t be changed and that even though people may try to prevent it, at the end, it will happen anyway.

The warnings that the Weird Sisters gave to Macbeth were essential to the final twist of this play. The fact that the woods come to Macbeth is very unreal, but as the army cuts the trees off and carries them towards Macbeth, there is a certain symbolism that represents fate and destiny. The fact that the woods come to Macbeth shows that those things that were supposed to happen will always occur, even if it means that they will take place in different ways. According to this play, fate is meant to happen, but it may do so in various ways, not precisely how it was supposed to occur, but at the end the result will be the same. Macbeth would die if the woods came to him and if a man not born of a woman attempted to murder him. These events did take place and this man did exist, not as precise, but valid. “Tell thee Macduff was from his mother’s womb ultimely ripped.”(Act 5 scene 8 line 19)

The death of Lady Macbeth was one of the scenes that shocked me the most. Her confession of killing Duncan and the regret that she feels is very creepy. The battle that she has against her conscience is very intriguing as begins to hallucinate and have a paranoid behavior. “Out damn spot, out I say!”(Act 5 scene 1 line37) In this line, Lady Macbeth struggles to wash an imaginary spot of her hand. The inner battle that she is having withy herself is what finally kills her. Shakespeare is stating that guilt can destroy a person’s conscience and therefore, their soul. Lady Macbeth is suffering because she can’t live in peace with herself, and the only solution is to die.

Finally, I concluded the Macbeth was an excellent play because it managed to transmit a message as well as to include many elements that at the end all connected to each other in a very innovative way. The characters in this play were also very well defined and their development throughout the story showed perfect examples of human nature. The behavior of us humans is very Machiavellian and the author managed to demonstrate it in this work of literature. Macbeth and his wife believed that “the end justifies the means,” and unfortunately for them, it didn’t last long. They both died and didn’t have the chance to enjoy all the wealth and status they had gained.

Corrections Logs Macbeth

assasinations: This is wrong word choice and it doesn't fit well into the sentence.
correction: perform the murders

belief: This is the wrong word to use. The correct one is believe. This word means to accept and recognize that something is true.
correction: he wanted to believe/ I personally don't believe Macbeth.

weird sisters: This is a proper name, so it should be capitalized.
correction: Weird Sisters

So who will kill Macbeth?: The sentence begun with So, and this is incorrect.
correction: Who will kill Macbeth?

Felicity the Unhappy: A Simple Heart

A Simple Heart is a short story full fictional elements, although it is supposed to reflect the reality of society. The main character, Felicity, is pictured as a victim of life and of the circumstances. She represents a humble woman who has no power whatsoever, not only in society, but in her personal life. She suffers continuously throughout the story, always getting severely affected by the tragedies of others. Not only is her presence in society completely invisible, but she also manages to show herself as an ignorant person that will never succeed in anything.

The dependence that Felicity shows towards other people is too exaggerated. It seems that she is totally hopeless and can’t do anything on her own. She depends on everyone and she can’t bear anything. “She missed not having her hair to comb, her boots to lace, to tuck her in her bed—and not seeing continually her pretty face, not having to hold her hand when they went out together. Not having enough work to do, she tried to make lace. Her fingers were too clumsy and broke the threads. She was good for nothing, could not sleep, to use her own expression was ‘a wreck’.”(Flaubert)

Felicity is very insecure, and full of fears. She is attached to people that most of the time doesn’t even show any interest towards her.

This dependability on other people extends to a more exaggerated point when we are introduced to Felicity’s affection towards a Parrot. She is so connected to this animal that she continues to adore it once it’s dead, and even confuses it with religious figures, such as the Holy Spirit. These are the kind of fictional elements that make the story very incredible, but at the same time realistic because they reflect an imperfect society, with unbalanced people, instead of aiming for a utopia. “It was the first time in their lives, Madame Aubain not being of an expansive nature. Felicity was grateful for it, as for a kindness, and henceforth cherished her with an animal devotion and a religious veneration.”(Flaubert)

At the end of the story we see the desperation shown by Felicity when she replaces religion for an animal. She becomes totally devoted to the corpse, which is very disturbing. She admires and idolatrizes this figure constantly, which may represent a criticism made by the author against the church and the business they have established throughout images and religious figures. “All creatures functioned in ghostly silence. One noise alone now reached her ears, the voice of the parrot.”(Flaubert) The fact that Felicity confused her parrot to the Holly Spirit can have a lot of interpretations. The one I gave it was based on Flaubert stating that the church and its dogmas, as well as its figures, are all made up. The members of the Clergy are all liars, and all they do is talk, as well as the parrot. “In her final moments, she thinks she sees the heavens open, and hovering above her head — like the Holy Spirit in a religious painting — a giant parrot.”(Flaubert) This quote reminds me of the movie Psycho. In this film, Norman, a total psychopath with a doubled personality, has a collection of dead birds that he keeps in his office to admire. His affection towards the dead birds is very awkward and as you see his interaction with them, especially when he looks at them, you can see that the man has an obscure mind. When Felicity has a similar behavior towards the Parrot, you also think of her as a mentally unbalanced person that probably lacked of affection from others, and now tries to fulfill it through her animal. Norman could be analyzed in a similar way, as he was never close with her mom and he killed her when he felt betrayed by her.

In A Simple Heart, Flaubert recreates the France of his time by using characters such as Felicity. She is a typical woman from the countryside that works as a servant. Her ignorance on some subjects, such as religion, makes it more credible that she is a humble person. In this story, the author tries to portray reality exactly as it is, without exaggerating it in any way. He shows how Felicity’s life is sometimes very simple and boring. When reading this story, it is natural to think that it really happened and that Flaubert was narrating it, due to his realistic style.