This is For Me, This is For Me and This is For You --Vanya III

“But I understand so little of all this …” (201). Elena to Astrov said this when he was explaining her about his forest projects. Astrov then gets annoyed at the fact that Elena apparently doesn’t pay much attention to what he says. This seemed weird due to the fact that ever since the play started, I have noticed that the characters react to what other characters say in odd ways, as if they weren’t listening to their dialogue partner. In act one for example, Astrov begins speaking to Marina about his life, but Marina, instead of commenting about it, she simply keeps on offering the doctor something to eat or drink. She seems uninterested by what Astrov has to say about his life as a doctor. Naturally, people react more interested and excited to what others have to say when they have been absent for such long periods of time, like the doctor and the nurse. Eventually, still during the same conversation, Marina, when the fact that Astrov wants nothing to drink or eat, responds to what the doctor said about him killing a patient due to the fact that he was drunk in a calm serene way. She even offers him Vodka later in the play knowing that he is an alcoholic who has come to treat her employer Aleksandr. As a reader, if I had been in the same situation, I would have tried to keep Astrov from the booze while he is in the estate. The fact that the characters apparently pay little attention to what the others have to say is a very similar situation to the communication between humans in the present. Messages are constantly manipulated or miscarried from mouth to mouth. This event has been perfected as time has passed; however it is still not perfect. Back in Chekhov’s days, communication issues may have been even greater to the extent that he saw pertinent to illustrate this through the use of words in this play, Uncle Vanya.

Unequal distribution of land is probably the biggest aspect treated in this act by the author. Uncle Vanya tolerates the fact that he has absolutely nothing to do, but when he is told that Aleksandr planned to sell the estate in which he had worked his chops off to maintain, he explodes in violence: “The estate is free from debt and in good condition only because of my personal efforts. And now that I’ve grown old, I’m to be kicked out!” (208). This is basically an allusion made by the author about the apparent inequalities that the capitalistic society in which we live has built. He demonstrates how people, do everything to conserve what land is theirs to the extent that they are willing to commit murder to salvage what they have. This violent reaction is seen throughout the history of mankind, where revolutions are created as a consequence of the inequalities of society (the French Revolution for example). This revolution was created by the despotism of the king towards his people. To a certain extent, it can be interpreted as a consequence of the inequalities that the king held in comparison to his people, and how he did nothing to narrow down this gap.