An Unreasonable Drama

An Unreasonable Drama – The Bear Essay, Research Paper The Bear is a drama written by Anton Chekhov. It can be regarded as a comedy since it is to give audience entertainment and amusement. This is usually achieved by creating discrepancies among the characters and the audiences so that audiences may feel something strange and laugh. Although the conflict of this play is quite plain and straightforward, audience will not feel bored as such technique is applied smartly throughout the story. The theme is about a queerish beginning of love between Mrs. Popov, who views herself as a faithful, loyal and steadfast widow, and Smirnov, a loaner of Mrs. Popov s husband who are interested in money and women issues. In this play, discrepancies are created by utilizing human s

sophisticated feelings and emotions that may be far from their control. So the characters may act unreasonably which you may not understand. However, it does a good work for comedy since events may take part suddenly which are out of the expectation of the audiences. By providing no clues for the subsequence of the story, the effect of comedy is enhanced significantly. Actually, unpredictable result can give audiences surprise. There are a lot of unexpectednesses in this play that may be quite contrary to the preference of value of the audiences. The unreasonable actions and behaviors of the characters may entail amusement of the audience. In Scene 1, Mrs. Popov is very sad about her husband s death. She says, My life s finished. He lies in his grave, I ve buried myself inside

these four walls Xwe re both dead (1322) It seems that the couples love each other very much that Mrs. Popov wants to share death with her husband. Audiences may expect a good relationship between her and her husband. In fact, it is not the real situation. Her husband was actually cruel and K unfaithful (1323) to her when he was alive. It is no reason for Mrs. Popov to owe her loyalty to her husband. She can by no means take revenge from her dead husband. It is also nonsensical for her to take revenge in this way as her husband will not be ashamed of himself in the heaven. Nevertheless, her ridiculous act can give audience a deep impression. The behaviour of the servant, Luke, is also amazing. After the clash of money issue, Smirnov decides to stay until he can get his money

back. Being an unwelcome money collector, he orders the servant to bring [him] some kvass or water (1325). In fact, the host of the house is Mrs. Popov who wants Smirnov to leave. Without anything to eat or drink, Smirnov may leave. However, the servant does bring him some water. It is quite strange to treat an unwanted guest by satisfying his demand. Besides, when Luke gives him a glass of vadka, he shouts at him angrily. Luke is somehow frightened as he dares not to say anything that opposes him. He just say, I, er, it s all right, I just X (1326) There is no reason for him to be so fearful; there is also no reason for him to answer his request. His funny reactions make the story quite comical. Another interesting point is that being a money collector, it is expected that

Smirnov will only care about money issue. Nevertheless, he shifts his mind suddenly from money to woman. He cares about how Mrs Popov sees him. He recks about his appearance: dust over [him], [his] boots dirty, unwashed, hair unbrushed, straw on [his] waistcoat . [He] bet the little woman [takes] him for a burglar. (1326) He wants to catch the attention of the lady. It is quite inexplicable why he has such feeling. It is only his internal thought that comes out suddenly. It gives audiences a great surprise. After the battle of money, the two debate about who is more faithful to love among men and women. Both of them insist on their own view, so they cannot make a general consensus. They try to insult each other and Smirnov challenges Mrs. Popov with a duel. She accepts it with