Swan Song
- Anton Chekhov
The expression swan song refers to farewell appearance, a final act or statement or last works of an artist
Vasili Svetlovidov enters the deserted and darkened theatre. He regrets drinking a lot of wine at the party organized in his honour. This is the first time in his life that he has slept on the stage following the play and the party. He repents how he has wasted forty-five years on the stage. He grumbles that his profession is a bottomless pit like the tomb with death hiding in it. He ponders upon the ravages of vodka and old.
He tells Nikita, the prompter, his litany that he was a dashing young fellow when he was in the army. He loved an elegant, graceful and innocent lady. But she denied marrying him for his being an artist. This failed love affair led to a distrust of his audience. He regrets having no wife or children to share his life with. He laments the direction his life has taken and his declining health and talent.
Then he gradually slides into reciting passionate excerpts from three troubled heroes of Shakespeare- King Lear, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Nikita willingly is acting the part of the secondary persona in each respective dialogue. His spirit lifts when he recreates each scene and his confidence as an artist is briefly restored.
But it is only passing fancy. The final moments of the play show Svetlovidov's admittance that both Nikita and he are too old and too significant to continue the profession. They are melting icicles whose song is sung. The play ends with Othello's recitation in which Othello senses his own doom. This recitation also suggests Svetlovidov's acceptance of old age, decline and meaninglessness. He feels that he has come to the swan song stage of his life and art.
Swan song is a drama written by famous Russian writer Anton Chekhov. Concerning the literal understanding of this drama, it deals with an actor Svetlovidov, 68 years old and his swan song. Svetlovidov had spent 68 years of his life. Here he evaluates his life and expresses his agony to Nikita.
Actually, life is full of expectations. We all expect that our next move will bring us a great fortune but in the end, the result may be different. Then another move is made and another result is received. Life goes on and at last in old age when all our energy is fading, we want to be with our family or relatives. When such hope is faded then we start remembering our past and burst into agony. That’s what happens with Svetlovidov in this story.
Also, human is a social animal. We like to be in family and spend our time with family at old age. Love, care and devotion are very expected things by everyone. When we cannot achieve any one of these we may be lost in pain. As here with the Svetlovidov, life without support is a disaster full of agony.
Also, I come to understand young love can both destroy and make anyone's life. As in the story, Svetlovidov loses hope in another woman after rejection from one mentioned in the drama. He changed his mind toward the drama. He misunderstood the meaning of joy and happiness onward and spent the rest of his life alone in agony.
Swan song is a play by Anton Chekov. It resembles a soliloquy but the presence of the character Nikita makes it a play. A central character is a man who has worked in the theatre for the most part of his life and who just gave his last show. After the show, everyone leaves and as Svetlovidov, the main character, was asleep he is left alone in the theatre. He wakes up and then finds no one around.
Then, the dramatic sequence of his reflection on his life begins, his swan song. Svetlovidov seems satirical to the world and its function. The way it works. He expresses his regret. Nikita, the prompter caters for his history and with this, he transcends to a stage of nostalgia.
He recalls his life in the army and then his subsequent transfer to the field of art. Svetlovidov had been proposed by a lady but she had asked him to leave the world of acting. This shattered his positive attitude towards his work. The author succeeds in minutely showing the consequences of being denounced here.
This is the psychological aspect of the story. Svetlovidov then recalls the dialogues he had spoken and the character he had played. Nikita assists him in doing so. There is a drama within a drama in this part. In the end, the drama succeeds in criticizing the development going on in the theatre by showing the departure of an immensely talented actor.