Chekhovs Bear in the Light of Farce - Essay Example

The notion farce simply refers to the literary piece that creates humor out of the stupid and ridiculous acts performed by the characters related to that piece of literature. Hence, the term concentrates upon the stories that produce ridiculous state of affairs with the help of the gathering of idiot characters and their silly dialogues and foolish actions just to create fun and entertain the readers or spectators; the same could be observed by going through the play under investigation. The Bear is a wonderful comic play by nineteenth-century Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, which hilariously portrays the domestic life of Mrs Popov in a funny way, who appears to be mourning the death of his husband died some seven months back.

The play concentrates upon one of the protagonists Luka, who is the footman of Mrs Popov, a silly and idiot old person that maintains the habit of giving vent to his ideas without making any analyses of the remarks he is going to deliver. Since he has been serving Mrs Popov, Luka also feels sorry for the death of her husband. Consequently, he tries to console his crying mistress in such a stupid manner that looks irksome to her and invites the laughter of the audience subsequently. Mrs Popov recalls the sweet memories of the moments she had spent with her deceased husband, while Luka interrupts her by stating that since other members of the house, including servants and animals, have overcome their grief, she should also imitate them and hence should participate in other activities of everyday life.

Moreover, instead of sharing the grief-stricken lady, Luka laments on the loss of his uniform eaten by the mice. He blames the army for this act of the mice, which could not control their mischief altogether. Another character, Mr Smirnov, is also dealt with by Luka in the same manner, which invites his anger to a great extent. Additionally, the expressions of love and affection demonstrated by the old Smirnov also disturb Mrs Popov, and she looks for the expulsion of the rich stupid fellow in one way or the other.

However, the play maintains some flaws that do not match with the farces. For instance, farce plays simply mean to create humor in a pleasant situation. Nevertheless, the Bear is actually a tragedy, where everyone appears to be taking advantage of the loneliness and helplessness of a beautiful widow. Moreover, farces carry many characters, in which some are sane, while others were insane. Somehow, in this play, everyone, including Luka, Smirnov, gardener and others, is fool and idiot and performs without consulting his brain altogether.

In addition, the Shakespearean Comedy of Errors and Henry Fielding’s Joseph Andrews present only one or two comic characters, which accidentally create humor, though they do not intend to do the same.