The Bear (Chekhov)

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Data
Title: The bear
Original title: Medved ( Russian Медведь )
Genus: Comedy
Original language: Russian
Author: Anton Chekhov
Publishing year: 1888
Premiere: October 28, 1888
Place of premiere: Moscow
Place and time of the action: Rural area in 19th century Russia
people
  • Helene Iwánowna Pópow , widowed landowner
  • Grigórji Stepánowitsch Smírnow , a not yet old landowner
  • Luká , Lackey Popova in old age
  • Popówa's gardener, coachman and servants (silent roles, extras)

The bear ( Russian Медведь / Medved ) is a play in one act by Anton Chekhov . The poet himself described his work as a "joke". It premiered on October 28, 1888 in the Korsch Theater in Moscow . The title role was played by actor NN Solowtzow, who was very well known in Russia at the time, who was friends with Chekhov and to whom he had dedicated his play. In Germany, the "bear" first appeared on the stage on November 12, 1900 in Berlin.

action

The play takes place in the salon of a manor in 19th century Russia.

The widowed landowner Jeléna Popówa is a woman in her prime, whose beauty has not yet faded. Although her husband died a year ago, she still puts on mourning clothes every day and rarely goes out. Your old servant Luká cannot understand this behavior. When his "old woman" died, he gave her to understand, he mourned for a month, and that was enough. Jeléna Popowa emphasizes, however, that for her life has lost all value since Nikolayevich's death. She had therefore vowed not to take off this mourning clothing until her grave and not to see the world anymore, although she knew very well that she had often treated the deceased cruelly and was even unfaithful to her.

There is a high-pitched bell at the door. The mistress of the house doesn't want to see anyone, but the intruder doesn't care. A coarse fellow comes in in dirty boots, unwashed, uncombed, straws on his vest, and poses as an artillery lieutenant a. D., landowner Grigórji Stepánowitsch Smírnow. The deceased husband owed him 1,200 rubles, and he wants to collect this sum today. Even today? - Jeléna thinks this is impossible. Your manager will be back from town the day after tomorrow and he'll get the money. But now Smírnow is getting rough. When he bombarded the widow with numerous expletives from the bottom drawer, she refuses to listen to him any longer and leaves the salon.

Smírnow decides to stay here until he has his money. He calls his servant out of the window to relax and prepare for a longer stay. He orders Luká to bring him a schnapps. The loud shout makes Jeléna return to the salon. She urges the uninvited guest not to disturb her rest. Moreover, he does not know how a man should behave towards a woman. But this statement makes Smírnow even more angry. He, who had dueled three times in his life over women, he left twelve women and nine him, shouldn't he know about women?

Now both shout at each other and each tries to outdo the other. The dispute culminates in the fact that Smírnow challenges Popowa to a duel. When she immediately responds and even fetches two pistols left by her husband, Smírnow is deeply impressed, because he didn't expect that. What a woman! She has that certain something! But Luká is appalled. He can no longer stand it in the house, but wants to get help quickly.

Jeléna demands that the brute give her a first lesson in shooting, after all, she has never had a pistol in her hand. While this is happening, a profound change of heart is taking place in Smírnow. This woman becomes more and more the object of his desire. Soon he forgets why his path brought him here. He now only has eyes for this female creature and makes a declaration of love for her. When he takes her in his arms, she struggles a little at first, but soon melts away.

In the meantime Luká has called for help. He armed with an ax, the gardener with a rake, the coachman with a pitchfork and farmhands with wooden clubs enter the drawing room. But all they see is a couple kissing hard. The servant can only stammer “Almighty God!”.

Literary precursors

The one-act act undoubtedly refers to the novella of the widow of Ephesus in the satirical novel Satyricon by Petronius (Petron. 110.6-113).

literature

  • Anton Chekhov: “The Bear / The Marriage Proposal / The Wedding”, three one-act plays, Reclam-Heft No. 4454, ISBN 3-15-004454-5 .

Arrangements for musical theater

  • The Bear - An Extravaganza in one act . Libretto by Paul Dehn and William Walton, music by William Walton, lyrics by Paul Dehn, composed from October 1965 to October 1966, world premiere on June 3, 1967 by the English Opera Group in Aldeburgh.
  • The bear . Cheerful, grotesque chamber opera in one act, libretto and music by Peter Freiheit , based on the play of the same name by Anton Chekhov in the translation by Johannes von Guenther , world premiere on October 31, 1982 during the Hallische Musiktage in Halle / Saale.
  • The Boor . Comical opera in one act, libretto and music by Donald Grantham , composed in 1988, premiered on February 24, 1989 at the University of Texas Opera Theater.

Radio plays

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Margaret Ross Griffel: Operas in English . Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2013, ISBN 978-0-8108-8272-0 , pp. 64 .