Flies purify the air, and plays -- the morals.
ANTON CHEKHOV, letter to A.P. Chekhov, April 11, 1889
In all the universe nothing remains permanent and unchanged but the spirit.
ANTON CHEKHOV, The Seagull
Try to be original in your play and as clever as possible; but don't be afraid to show yourself foolish; we must have freedom of thinking, and only he is an emancipated thinker who is not afraid to write foolish things.
ANTON CHEKHOV, letter to A.P. Chekhov, April 11, 1889
One usually dislikes a play while writing it, but afterward it grows on one. Let others judge and make decisions.
ANTON CHEKHOV, letter to Maxim Gorky, September 24, 1900
It's curious that we can't possibly tell what exactly will be considered great and important, and what will seem paltry and ridiculous. Did not the discoveries of Copernicus or Columbus, let us say, seem useless and ridiculous at first, while the nonsensical writings of some wiseacre seemed true?
ANTON CHEKHOV, The Three Sisters
When one sees one of the romantic creatures before him he imagines he is looking at some holy being, so wonderful that its one breath could dissolve him in a sea of a thousand charms and delights; but if one looks into the soul -- it's nothing but a common crocodile.
ANTON CHEKHOV, The Boor
Brevity is the sister of talent.
ANTON CHEKHOV, letter to A.P. Chekhov, April 11, 1889
Wherever there is degeneration and apathy, there also is sexual perversion, cold depravity, miscarriage, premature old age, grumbling youth, there is a decline in the arts, indifference to science, and injustice in all its forms.
ANTON CHEKHOV, letter to A.S. Suvorin, Dec. 27, 1889
We need new forms of expression. We need new forms, and if we can't have them we had better have nothing.
ANTON CHEKHOV, The Seagull
Write only of what is important and eternal.
ANTON CHEKHOV, The Seagull
I thought famous people were proud, unapproachable, that they despised the crowd, and by their fame and the glory of their name, as it were, revenged themselves on the vulgar herd for putting rank and wealth above everything. But here they cry and fish, play cards, laugh and get cross like everyone else!
ANTON CHEKHOV, The Seagull
There should be more sincerity and heart in human relations, more silence and simplicity in our interactions. Be rude when you’re angry, laugh when something is funny, and answer when you’re asked.
ANTON CHEKHOV, letter to A.P. Chekhov, Oct. 13, 1888
Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now, he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, the climate's ruined, and the land grows poorer and uglier.
ANTON CHEKHOV, Uncle Vanya (* I THOUGHT THIS QUOTE IN PARTICULAR WAS INTERESTING BECAUSE IT IS SORT OF PARALLELING THE IDEAS NINA SPEAKS OF IN KONSTANTIN'S PLAY)
All I wanted was to say honestly to people: "Have a look at yourselves and see how bad and dreary your lives are!" The important thing is that people should realize that, for when they do, they will most certainly create another and better life for themselves. I will not live to see it, but I know that it will be quite different, quite unlike our present life. And so long as this different life does not exist, I shall go on saying to people again and again: "Please, understand that your life is bad and dreary!"
ANTON CHEKHOV, letter to Alexander Tikhonov
Time will pass, and we shall go away for ever, and we shall be forgotten, our faces will be forgotten, our voices, and how many there were of us; but our sufferings will pass into joy for those who will live after us, happiness and peace will be established upon earth, and they will remember kindly and bless those who have lived before.
ANTON CHEKHOV, The Three Sisters(* MY FAVORITE QUOTE FROM THREE SISTERS)
Monday, November 10, 2008
You say 'Gorsky', I say 'Gorky'...
I came upon an article written by Maxim Gorsky(1868-1936) about some of his encounters with Anton Chekhov. Gorsky was also a popular short story writer at the time,was the first Russian author to write sympathetically of villains and thieves, and it was Chekhov who introduced his plays to the MAT (Moacow Art Theatre). After his death in 1936, Gorky left behind a body of work that helped to found socialist realism. His other plays include The Zykovs (1914), The Old Man (1919), The Counterfeit Coin (1926), Yegor Bulychov (1931), and Dostegayev and Others (1933). In addition to his plays, novels, and short stories, he also wrote an autobiographical trilogy consisting of My Childhood (1914), In the World (1916), and My Universities (1923).
Here is a link to the article in it's entirety, http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc6w4.html.... but here are the points I thought told a lot regarding Chekhov's personality through the eyes of a dear friend.
think that in Anton Chekhov's presence every one involuntarily felt in himself a desire to be simpler, more truthful, more one's self; and I often saw how people cast off the motley finery of bookish phrases, smart words, and all the other cheap tricks with which a Russian, wishing to figure as a European, adorns himself, like a savage with shells and fish's teeth. Anton Chekhov disliked fish's teeth and cocks' feathers; anything "brilliant" or foreign, assumed by a man to make himself look bigger, disturbed him; I noticed that whenever he saw any one dressed up in this way, he had a desire to free him from all that oppressive, useless tinsel and to find underneath the genuine face and living soul of the person. All his life Chekhov lived on his own soul; he was always himself, inwardly free, and he never troubles about what some people expected and others --coarser people--demanded of Anton Chekhov. He did not like conversations with which our dear Russians so assiduously !
comfort themselves, forgetting that it is ridiculous to argue about velvet costumes in the future when in the present one has not even a decent pair of trousers.
Beautifully simple himself, he loved everything simple, genuine, sincere, and he had a peculiar way of making other people simple. Once, I remember, three luxuriously dressed ladies came to see him; they filled his room with the rustle of silk skirts and the smell of strong scent; they sat down politely opposite their host, pretended that they were very much interested in politics, and began "putting questions":
"Anton Pavlovitch, what do you think? How will the war end?"
Anton Pavlovitch coughed, thought for a while, and then gently, in a serious and kindly voice, replied:
"Probably in peace."
"Well, yes ... certainly! But who will win? The Greeks or the Turks?"
"It seems to me that those will win who are the stronger."
"And who, do you think, are the stronger?" all the ladies asked together.
"Those who are the better fed and the better educated."
"Ah, how clever!" one of them exclaimed.
"And whom do you like the best?" another asked.
Anton Pavlovitch looked at her kindly, and answered with a meek smile:
"I like candied fruits ... don't you?"
"Very much," the lady exclaimed gayly.
"Especially Abrikossov's," the second agreed solidly. And the third, half closing her eyes, added with relish: "It smells so good." And all three began to talk with vivacity, revealing, on the subject of candied fruit, great erudition and subtle knowledge. It was obvious that they were happy at not having to strain their minds and pretend to be seriously interested in Turks and Greeks, to whom up to that moment they had not given a thought. When they left, they merrily promised Anton Pavlovitch: "We will send you some candied fruit."
"You managed that nicely," I observed when they had gone.
Anton Pavlovitch laughed quietly and said: "Every one should speak his own language."
Chekhov and the enemy of Banality:
"No one understood as clearly and finely as Anton Chekhov, the tragedy of life's trivialities, no one before him showed men with such merciless truth the terrible and shameful picture of their life in the dim chaos of bourgeois every-day existence. His enemy was banality; he fought it all his life long; he ridiculed it, drawing it with a pointed and unimpassioned pen, finding the mustiness of banality even where at the first glance everything seemed to be arranged very nicely, comfortably, and even brilliantly--and banality revenged itself upon him by a nasty prank, for it saw that his corpse, the corpse of a poet, was put into a railway truck "For the Conveyance of Oysters."
That dirty green railway truck seems to me precisely the great, triumphant laugh of banality over its tired enemy; and all the "Recollections" in the gutter press are hypocritical sorrow, behind which I feel the cold and smelly breath of banality, secretly rejoicing over the death of its enemy.
and Chekhov's thought on Actors? (this relates well to Arkadina and Nina as well)
"An actor, having taken taken two or three parts tolerably, no longer troubles to learn his parts, puts on a silk hat, and thinks himself a genius. Russia is a land of insatiable and lazy people: they eat enormously of nice things, drink, like to sleep in the day-time, and snore in their sleep. They marry in order to get their house looked after and keep mistresses in order to be thought well of in society. Their psychology is that of a dog: when they are beaten, they whine shrilly and run into their kennels; when petted, they lie on their backs with their paws in the air and wag their tails."
Here is a link to the article in it's entirety, http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc6w4.html.... but here are the points I thought told a lot regarding Chekhov's personality through the eyes of a dear friend.
think that in Anton Chekhov's presence every one involuntarily felt in himself a desire to be simpler, more truthful, more one's self; and I often saw how people cast off the motley finery of bookish phrases, smart words, and all the other cheap tricks with which a Russian, wishing to figure as a European, adorns himself, like a savage with shells and fish's teeth. Anton Chekhov disliked fish's teeth and cocks' feathers; anything "brilliant" or foreign, assumed by a man to make himself look bigger, disturbed him; I noticed that whenever he saw any one dressed up in this way, he had a desire to free him from all that oppressive, useless tinsel and to find underneath the genuine face and living soul of the person. All his life Chekhov lived on his own soul; he was always himself, inwardly free, and he never troubles about what some people expected and others --coarser people--demanded of Anton Chekhov. He did not like conversations with which our dear Russians so assiduously !
comfort themselves, forgetting that it is ridiculous to argue about velvet costumes in the future when in the present one has not even a decent pair of trousers.
Beautifully simple himself, he loved everything simple, genuine, sincere, and he had a peculiar way of making other people simple. Once, I remember, three luxuriously dressed ladies came to see him; they filled his room with the rustle of silk skirts and the smell of strong scent; they sat down politely opposite their host, pretended that they were very much interested in politics, and began "putting questions":
"Anton Pavlovitch, what do you think? How will the war end?"
Anton Pavlovitch coughed, thought for a while, and then gently, in a serious and kindly voice, replied:
"Probably in peace."
"Well, yes ... certainly! But who will win? The Greeks or the Turks?"
"It seems to me that those will win who are the stronger."
"And who, do you think, are the stronger?" all the ladies asked together.
"Those who are the better fed and the better educated."
"Ah, how clever!" one of them exclaimed.
"And whom do you like the best?" another asked.
Anton Pavlovitch looked at her kindly, and answered with a meek smile:
"I like candied fruits ... don't you?"
"Very much," the lady exclaimed gayly.
"Especially Abrikossov's," the second agreed solidly. And the third, half closing her eyes, added with relish: "It smells so good." And all three began to talk with vivacity, revealing, on the subject of candied fruit, great erudition and subtle knowledge. It was obvious that they were happy at not having to strain their minds and pretend to be seriously interested in Turks and Greeks, to whom up to that moment they had not given a thought. When they left, they merrily promised Anton Pavlovitch: "We will send you some candied fruit."
"You managed that nicely," I observed when they had gone.
Anton Pavlovitch laughed quietly and said: "Every one should speak his own language."
Chekhov and the enemy of Banality:
"No one understood as clearly and finely as Anton Chekhov, the tragedy of life's trivialities, no one before him showed men with such merciless truth the terrible and shameful picture of their life in the dim chaos of bourgeois every-day existence. His enemy was banality; he fought it all his life long; he ridiculed it, drawing it with a pointed and unimpassioned pen, finding the mustiness of banality even where at the first glance everything seemed to be arranged very nicely, comfortably, and even brilliantly--and banality revenged itself upon him by a nasty prank, for it saw that his corpse, the corpse of a poet, was put into a railway truck "For the Conveyance of Oysters."
That dirty green railway truck seems to me precisely the great, triumphant laugh of banality over its tired enemy; and all the "Recollections" in the gutter press are hypocritical sorrow, behind which I feel the cold and smelly breath of banality, secretly rejoicing over the death of its enemy.
and Chekhov's thought on Actors? (this relates well to Arkadina and Nina as well)
"An actor, having taken taken two or three parts tolerably, no longer troubles to learn his parts, puts on a silk hat, and thinks himself a genius. Russia is a land of insatiable and lazy people: they eat enormously of nice things, drink, like to sleep in the day-time, and snore in their sleep. They marry in order to get their house looked after and keep mistresses in order to be thought well of in society. Their psychology is that of a dog: when they are beaten, they whine shrilly and run into their kennels; when petted, they lie on their backs with their paws in the air and wag their tails."
Chekhov's Early Writings
I decided to dig up some stuff on Chekhov’s early short stories. Interestingly enough, I found a story called the Reed Pipe that bears an uncanny resemblance to Konstantin’s play in Act I of The Seagull. Before I get into that, here is some stuff I learned about Chekhov the short story writer:
• many of his early stories are highly absurdist, decidedly comical
• he satirizes the Tsarist bureaucracy in numerous stories
• not really concerned with the underdog but moreso with the absurdity of human behavior
In The Reed Pipe (1887) the bailiff of a farm is wandering through the woods and comes across an old shepherd who talks to him about nature. The language is so similar to the text that Nina performs that I could not help but wonder whether Chekhove was making fun of himself, or using this earlier work as a template for Konstantin’s unsuccessful play. Here are some direct quotes:
• “Cows, sheep, and hobbled horses were wandering among the bushes and snuffing the grass in the wood, crackling branches underfoot,” (163).
• Later, the shepherd says, “ ‘Twenty odd years back, I remember there were geese here, cranes, duck and black grouse—it was teeming with them! The gents would go out hunting and all you’d hear was “Bang-bang! Bang-bang!...Eagles, falcons, the big eagle owls—they’ve all gone…” (164).
• “[The bailiff] stared before him in a reverie. He was trying to think of a single area of nature that had not yet been touched by the all-consuming disaster…the rising sun was trying to break through the clouds and catch a glimpse of the earth,” (166).
• “One could sense the proximity of that cheerless time which nothing can avert, when the fields become dark and the earth is muddy and chill; when the weeping willow seems to be sadder than ever and the tears trickle down her trunk; when only the cranes can flee from the all-pervading disaster and even they, as though afraid of offending morose nature by declaring their happiness, fill the skies with mournful, melancholy song,” (169).
• “[The bailiff] felt full of the bitterness and the disorder manifest in nature,” (169).
Wow! Konstantin’s “People, lions, eagles, and partridges…” seems to be a parody of Chekhov’s own work!
Chekhov, Anton. Chekhov: The Early Stories, 1883-1888. Trans. Patrick Miles and
Harvey Pitcher. New York, NY: MacMillan Co., 1982.
--Alborz
• many of his early stories are highly absurdist, decidedly comical
• he satirizes the Tsarist bureaucracy in numerous stories
• not really concerned with the underdog but moreso with the absurdity of human behavior
In The Reed Pipe (1887) the bailiff of a farm is wandering through the woods and comes across an old shepherd who talks to him about nature. The language is so similar to the text that Nina performs that I could not help but wonder whether Chekhove was making fun of himself, or using this earlier work as a template for Konstantin’s unsuccessful play. Here are some direct quotes:
• “Cows, sheep, and hobbled horses were wandering among the bushes and snuffing the grass in the wood, crackling branches underfoot,” (163).
• Later, the shepherd says, “ ‘Twenty odd years back, I remember there were geese here, cranes, duck and black grouse—it was teeming with them! The gents would go out hunting and all you’d hear was “Bang-bang! Bang-bang!...Eagles, falcons, the big eagle owls—they’ve all gone…” (164).
• “[The bailiff] stared before him in a reverie. He was trying to think of a single area of nature that had not yet been touched by the all-consuming disaster…the rising sun was trying to break through the clouds and catch a glimpse of the earth,” (166).
• “One could sense the proximity of that cheerless time which nothing can avert, when the fields become dark and the earth is muddy and chill; when the weeping willow seems to be sadder than ever and the tears trickle down her trunk; when only the cranes can flee from the all-pervading disaster and even they, as though afraid of offending morose nature by declaring their happiness, fill the skies with mournful, melancholy song,” (169).
• “[The bailiff] felt full of the bitterness and the disorder manifest in nature,” (169).
Wow! Konstantin’s “People, lions, eagles, and partridges…” seems to be a parody of Chekhov’s own work!
Chekhov, Anton. Chekhov: The Early Stories, 1883-1888. Trans. Patrick Miles and
Harvey Pitcher. New York, NY: MacMillan Co., 1982.
--Alborz
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Happy Birthday Nina
happy birthday to daisy! our nina! for your birthday here are some cool things i found in essays about nina:
"Nina, innocent of the ways of the world and saturated with the false romanticism of Trigorin's works, does not see the man but the celebrated artist. She is carried away by his fame and stirred by his presence; an infatuation with him quickly replaces her affection for Constantine. To her Trigorin embodies her dream of a brilliant and interesting life."
"Nina and Alienation/Lonlieness: Another example is Nina, who is alienated from her father and stepmother, background characters who have a disapproving, puritanical suspicion of their artistic neighbors."
"The Seagull reflects Chekhov's aesthetic concern with his art. Several of the characters in the play are to some degree interested in the nature and theory of literary and dramatic arts. Two of them, Boris Trigorin and Konstantine Treplyov, are writers, while two others, Irina Arkadina and Nina Zaryechny, are actresses. Others, like Dorn and Shamreyeff, offer critical judgments on these arts. In fact, Sorin's estate serves as a kind of retreat for artists and intellectuals, and much of the play's dialogue, rich with allusions and topical references, concerns artistic matters. From the vantage point of Nina's puritanical father and stepmother, who remain offstage, those who gather there are self-indulgent and immoral. Nina's parent's view reflects the traditional attitudes still dominant in Russia at the time."
OKAY, and this was the coolest thing i found....this teacher assigned this project to his students after they read "The Seagull" and its called "The Nina Variations" and they had to write monologues and scenes of what could have happened to Nina during those years between the acts. this was one i really liked:
"NINA. You see, I’m mot crying anymore. Trigorin walks ahead of me on the street.
He turns corners as I rush to keep up with him. He is already seated in a room as I
pass through its door. There is a way a man walks when his lover means nothing to
him. When she has faded into something as ineffectual as his shadow. I am not
introduced. I stand on the edge of crowds, laughing stupidly at the jokes which I
can’t quite hear. He takes his coat from the hook, leaving mine undisturbed. I lift my bag and carry it … his footsteps growing softer … distant … ahead of me. The light is
off when I reach him. The door is shut. I drape my scarf over a chair. I take the pin
from my hat. And, as I hang my coat next to his … I am close to him for the first
time. So, you see, I am not crying anymore."
the rest are here: http://www.viennatheatreproject.at/education/teachermaterial/Teacher_Material_-_THE_NINA_VARIATIONS.pdf
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! -caitlin
"Nina, innocent of the ways of the world and saturated with the false romanticism of Trigorin's works, does not see the man but the celebrated artist. She is carried away by his fame and stirred by his presence; an infatuation with him quickly replaces her affection for Constantine. To her Trigorin embodies her dream of a brilliant and interesting life."
"Nina and Alienation/Lonlieness: Another example is Nina, who is alienated from her father and stepmother, background characters who have a disapproving, puritanical suspicion of their artistic neighbors."
"The Seagull reflects Chekhov's aesthetic concern with his art. Several of the characters in the play are to some degree interested in the nature and theory of literary and dramatic arts. Two of them, Boris Trigorin and Konstantine Treplyov, are writers, while two others, Irina Arkadina and Nina Zaryechny, are actresses. Others, like Dorn and Shamreyeff, offer critical judgments on these arts. In fact, Sorin's estate serves as a kind of retreat for artists and intellectuals, and much of the play's dialogue, rich with allusions and topical references, concerns artistic matters. From the vantage point of Nina's puritanical father and stepmother, who remain offstage, those who gather there are self-indulgent and immoral. Nina's parent's view reflects the traditional attitudes still dominant in Russia at the time."
OKAY, and this was the coolest thing i found....this teacher assigned this project to his students after they read "The Seagull" and its called "The Nina Variations" and they had to write monologues and scenes of what could have happened to Nina during those years between the acts. this was one i really liked:
"NINA. You see, I’m mot crying anymore. Trigorin walks ahead of me on the street.
He turns corners as I rush to keep up with him. He is already seated in a room as I
pass through its door. There is a way a man walks when his lover means nothing to
him. When she has faded into something as ineffectual as his shadow. I am not
introduced. I stand on the edge of crowds, laughing stupidly at the jokes which I
can’t quite hear. He takes his coat from the hook, leaving mine undisturbed. I lift my bag and carry it … his footsteps growing softer … distant … ahead of me. The light is
off when I reach him. The door is shut. I drape my scarf over a chair. I take the pin
from my hat. And, as I hang my coat next to his … I am close to him for the first
time. So, you see, I am not crying anymore."
the rest are here: http://www.viennatheatreproject.at/education/teachermaterial/Teacher_Material_-_THE_NINA_VARIATIONS.pdf
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! -caitlin
Those names...
hello all...erika talked a bit about this in her presentation, but i think this is helpful reminder to us...why do we call each other by either one name or their first and second? how is that showing our relationship to that character? Are we calling them a nick-name? Our our conversations formal? Trying to figure out the process behind calling Trigorin: Boris Alexeevich Trigorin, and not shortening it.
-caitlin
Every Russian name consists of three names: a first (given) name, a patronymic name and a surname:
First name
The first name is given by parents shortly afer the child's birth. Accordingly to Russian laws child can change the name after majority. The first name is the main name of Russian people. Most of Russian names have a variety of forms. For example, name Mikhail (the first name of the First President of Russian Federation). The full form Mikhail is used in formal relationships, in official documents (passport, birth certificate, contracts). The short nameMisha is used by friends and family members. Affectionate form Mishenka, Mishunya is used by parents, grandparents. And rude form Mishka is impolite.
Patronymic name
Russian patronymic name is derived from father's name according to rule:
Russian male patronymic name forms by adding ending -evich, -ovich. (Nikolaevich, Mikhailovich). For example, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Tha name of Lev Tolstoy's father was Nikolay, so the Lev Tolstoy's patronymic name is Nikolaevich.
Russian female patronymic name forms by adding ending -ovna, -evna. (Nikolaevna, Mikhailovna). For example, Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva. Tha name of Raisa Gorbavheva's father was Maxim, so the Raisa's patronymic name is Maximovna.
Russians used First and Patronymic Name in formal relationships, with unfamiliar people, with doctors, teachers, lecturers, older members of family, directors, leaders and other respected people (ex. Vladimir Vladimirovich, Lev Nikolaevich, Fedor Mikhailovich).
-caitlin
Every Russian name consists of three names: a first (given) name, a patronymic name and a surname:
First name
The first name is given by parents shortly afer the child's birth. Accordingly to Russian laws child can change the name after majority. The first name is the main name of Russian people. Most of Russian names have a variety of forms. For example, name Mikhail (the first name of the First President of Russian Federation). The full form Mikhail is used in formal relationships, in official documents (passport, birth certificate, contracts). The short nameMisha is used by friends and family members. Affectionate form Mishenka, Mishunya is used by parents, grandparents. And rude form Mishka is impolite.
Patronymic name
Russian patronymic name is derived from father's name according to rule:
Russian male patronymic name forms by adding ending -evich, -ovich. (Nikolaevich, Mikhailovich). For example, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Tha name of Lev Tolstoy's father was Nikolay, so the Lev Tolstoy's patronymic name is Nikolaevich.
Russian female patronymic name forms by adding ending -ovna, -evna. (Nikolaevna, Mikhailovna). For example, Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva. Tha name of Raisa Gorbavheva's father was Maxim, so the Raisa's patronymic name is Maximovna.
Russians used First and Patronymic Name in formal relationships, with unfamiliar people, with doctors, teachers, lecturers, older members of family, directors, leaders and other respected people (ex. Vladimir Vladimirovich, Lev Nikolaevich, Fedor Mikhailovich).
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Doctor, doctor
In preparation for Dorn I started looking into 19th century medicine and the advances made, as well as the practices of physicians and apothecaries of that time. This is an article I found that relays some interesting information of the topic.
19th-Century Medicine
Many discoveries made in the 19th century led to great advances in diagnosis and treatment of disease and in surgical methods. Medicine's single most important diagnostic tool, the stethoscope, an instrument used to detect sounds in the body such as a heart beat, was invented in 1819 by French physician René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec. A number of brilliant British clinicians studied and described diseases that today bear their names. British physician Thomas Addison discovered the disorder of the adrenal glands now known as Addison's disease; Richard Bright diagnosed the kidney disorder, Bright's disease; British physician Thomas Hodgkin described a cancer of lymphatic tissue now known as Hodgkin's disease; British surgeon and paleontologist James Parkinson described the chronic nervous system disease called Parkinson disease; and the Irish physician Robert James Graves diagnosed the thyroid disorder exophthalmic goiter, sometimes called Graves' disease.
Medicine, like all other sciences, is subject to influences from other fields of study. This was particularly true during the 19th century, renowned for its great scientific innovations. For instance, the evolutionary theory proposed by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) revived interest in the science of comparative anatomy and physiology. And the plant-breeding experiments of the Austrian biologist Gregor Johann Mendel in 1866, although initially overlooked, eventually had a similar effect in stimulating studies in human genetics.
German pathologist Rudolf Virchow pioneered development of pathology, the scientific study of disease. Virchow showed that all diseases result from disorders in cells, the basic units of body tissue. His doctrine that the cell is the seat of disease remains the cornerstone of modern medical science. In France, physiologist Claude Bernard performed important research on the pancreas, liver, and nervous system. His scientific studies, which emphasized that an experiment should be objective and prove or disprove a hypothesis, were the basis for the scientific method used today. Bernard's work on the interaction of the digestive system and the vasomotor system, which controls the size of blood vessels, was developed further by the Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, who developed the theory of the conditioned reflex, the basis of human behaviorism.
A milestone in medical history occurred in the 1870s when French chemist Louis Pasteur and German physician Robert Koch separately established the germ theory of disease. Important in the development of this theory was the pioneering work of the American physician and author Oliver Wendell Holmes and of the Hungarian obstetrician Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, who showed that the high rate of mortality in women after childbirth was attributable to infectious agents transmitted by unwashed hands.
Soon after the germ theory was recognized, the causes of such age-old scourges as anthrax, diphtheria, tuberculosis, leprosy, and plague were isolated. Pasteur developed a way to prevent rabies using a vaccine in 1885. In the last decade of the 19th century, German physician Emil von Behring and German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich developed techniques for immunizing against diphtheria and tetanus.
New understanding of infectious diseases made surgery safer. Until the 1800s, surgeons operated in their street clothes, often without even washing their hands. Operating rooms, like other parts of hospitals, were filthy. About half of all surgery patients who survived the actual surgery typically died of infections that developed after the operation. The era of aseptic surgery, in which physicians used sterilized instruments and techniques to avoid infecting patients, was heralded by British surgeon and biologist Joseph Lister. With his introduction of an effective antiseptic, carbolic acid, Lister was able to successfully reduce mortality from wound infection. Rubber gloves were first worn during surgery in 1890, and gauze masks in 1896. Another great advance in surgery came with the discovery of anesthesia. Until the 19th century, doctors used alcohol, opium, and other drugs to relieve pain during surgery. These medications could sometimes dull pain but could never completely mask it-patients often suffered from shock and died during surgery. In the United States, physician Crawford Long discovered the anesthetic effects of ether in 1842, and the dentist William Morton used ether in a tooth extraction in 1846. Ether and other anesthetics reduced surgical mortality and enabled surgeons to perform longer, more complicated operations.
A new tool for diagnosing internal diseases became available in 1895 when German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X rays. The Danish physician Niels Ryberg Finsen developed an ultraviolet-ray lamp, which led to an improved prognosis for some skin diseases. In 1898 in France, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, which was later used to treat cancer.
In 1898 British physician Ronald Ross proved the role of the mosquito as a carrier of the malarial parasite, a disease that has been widespread and sometimes fatal for most of human history. In 1900 United States Army physician Walter Reed and his colleagues, acting on a suggestion made by the Cuban biologist Carlos Juan Finlay, demonstrated that the mosquito is the carrier of yellow fever. This finding lead to better sanitation and mosquito control, resulting in the virtual elimination of this disease from Cuba and other areas.
19th-Century Medicine
Many discoveries made in the 19th century led to great advances in diagnosis and treatment of disease and in surgical methods. Medicine's single most important diagnostic tool, the stethoscope, an instrument used to detect sounds in the body such as a heart beat, was invented in 1819 by French physician René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec. A number of brilliant British clinicians studied and described diseases that today bear their names. British physician Thomas Addison discovered the disorder of the adrenal glands now known as Addison's disease; Richard Bright diagnosed the kidney disorder, Bright's disease; British physician Thomas Hodgkin described a cancer of lymphatic tissue now known as Hodgkin's disease; British surgeon and paleontologist James Parkinson described the chronic nervous system disease called Parkinson disease; and the Irish physician Robert James Graves diagnosed the thyroid disorder exophthalmic goiter, sometimes called Graves' disease.
Medicine, like all other sciences, is subject to influences from other fields of study. This was particularly true during the 19th century, renowned for its great scientific innovations. For instance, the evolutionary theory proposed by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) revived interest in the science of comparative anatomy and physiology. And the plant-breeding experiments of the Austrian biologist Gregor Johann Mendel in 1866, although initially overlooked, eventually had a similar effect in stimulating studies in human genetics.
German pathologist Rudolf Virchow pioneered development of pathology, the scientific study of disease. Virchow showed that all diseases result from disorders in cells, the basic units of body tissue. His doctrine that the cell is the seat of disease remains the cornerstone of modern medical science. In France, physiologist Claude Bernard performed important research on the pancreas, liver, and nervous system. His scientific studies, which emphasized that an experiment should be objective and prove or disprove a hypothesis, were the basis for the scientific method used today. Bernard's work on the interaction of the digestive system and the vasomotor system, which controls the size of blood vessels, was developed further by the Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, who developed the theory of the conditioned reflex, the basis of human behaviorism.
A milestone in medical history occurred in the 1870s when French chemist Louis Pasteur and German physician Robert Koch separately established the germ theory of disease. Important in the development of this theory was the pioneering work of the American physician and author Oliver Wendell Holmes and of the Hungarian obstetrician Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, who showed that the high rate of mortality in women after childbirth was attributable to infectious agents transmitted by unwashed hands.
Soon after the germ theory was recognized, the causes of such age-old scourges as anthrax, diphtheria, tuberculosis, leprosy, and plague were isolated. Pasteur developed a way to prevent rabies using a vaccine in 1885. In the last decade of the 19th century, German physician Emil von Behring and German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich developed techniques for immunizing against diphtheria and tetanus.
New understanding of infectious diseases made surgery safer. Until the 1800s, surgeons operated in their street clothes, often without even washing their hands. Operating rooms, like other parts of hospitals, were filthy. About half of all surgery patients who survived the actual surgery typically died of infections that developed after the operation. The era of aseptic surgery, in which physicians used sterilized instruments and techniques to avoid infecting patients, was heralded by British surgeon and biologist Joseph Lister. With his introduction of an effective antiseptic, carbolic acid, Lister was able to successfully reduce mortality from wound infection. Rubber gloves were first worn during surgery in 1890, and gauze masks in 1896. Another great advance in surgery came with the discovery of anesthesia. Until the 19th century, doctors used alcohol, opium, and other drugs to relieve pain during surgery. These medications could sometimes dull pain but could never completely mask it-patients often suffered from shock and died during surgery. In the United States, physician Crawford Long discovered the anesthetic effects of ether in 1842, and the dentist William Morton used ether in a tooth extraction in 1846. Ether and other anesthetics reduced surgical mortality and enabled surgeons to perform longer, more complicated operations.
A new tool for diagnosing internal diseases became available in 1895 when German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X rays. The Danish physician Niels Ryberg Finsen developed an ultraviolet-ray lamp, which led to an improved prognosis for some skin diseases. In 1898 in France, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, which was later used to treat cancer.
In 1898 British physician Ronald Ross proved the role of the mosquito as a carrier of the malarial parasite, a disease that has been widespread and sometimes fatal for most of human history. In 1900 United States Army physician Walter Reed and his colleagues, acting on a suggestion made by the Cuban biologist Carlos Juan Finlay, demonstrated that the mosquito is the carrier of yellow fever. This finding lead to better sanitation and mosquito control, resulting in the virtual elimination of this disease from Cuba and other areas.
"Art in Society: Arkadina vs. Konstantin Part 1"
I have really interested in the opposing views of art between Arkadina and Konstantin. Some things I have found. (my thoughts and more to come later...)
-caitlin
"Through his various characters, Chekhov studies the conflict arising from the resistance of tradition to that change. Clearly, Madame Arkadina, a denizen of the existing theater, embodies the views of the establishment. Standing against her is her own son, Konstantine, who preaches the need for a new art, one of ‘‘new forms,’’ an art of forward-looking ideas, not one that merely entertains with timeworn conventions and hackneyed ideas that no longer have any social relevance. As his play indicates, the new art should have prophetic insights into humankind's destiny. His would be a theater light years away from the theater that, for example, Shamreyeff favors, a theater of brick bats and pratfalls."
"Konstantine's art is dismissed by his unsympathetic mother as the ravings of his ‘‘bad temper,’’ while he sees in hers a mindless art that merely continues to pander to the bumptious fools making up the traditional theater audience. Meanwhile, as members of the artistic community spar on these issues, the philistines try to isolate them, dismissing them, as Nina's father and stepmother do, as immoral bohemians."
"The Role of an Artist in Life and in Love
Chekhov does not simply write about artists and love, he creates the embodiment of art and love on stage. Through his characters' particular personalities, Chekhov portrays the various manners of being an artist and particularly, an artist in love. All four protagonists are artists in love. Arkadina, Trigorin, Treplev, and Nina have divergent relationships with their craft and their lovers. Arkadina and Nina romanticize acting, placing it on a pedestal higher than the everyday affairs of life. Arkadina places herself on this same pedestal using her identity as an actress to excuse her vanity. Nina exalts acting as well, but, contrary to Arkadina, she endows acting with nobility, sacrifice, and privilege. In writing, Treplev compulsively paralyzes himself in the pursuit of perfection, while Trigorin obsessively gathers details from his life and the lives around him for his work without allowing the work to affect his life.
Chekhov does not present an opinion about the artist or the artist's role in life and in love. No one character is all good or all evil, and Chekhov depicts these protagonists so that we sympathize and question their actions and words. He presents several takes on love and the artist, allowing his audience to take what they will from the examples that may or may not mirror their own lives and those of their loved ones. All four characters pursue art to some degree because it boosts their ego to be admired and respected for their work. Treplev in particular longs equally for admiration for his talents and for his self. His ego is wounded by his mother and by Nina. Success in love and in writing are equally important to him though he is successful in neither arena. Trigorin has the satisfaction of success in his writing, though he is never satisfied, and as he says, always starts a new story once the old one is finished. In love, Trigorin pursues Nina because he feels he might substitute the satisfaction and sense of completion that he lacks in his work with a love that would fulfill the void he felt as a youth. In some sense the satisfaction these characters obtain from being artists becomes equivalent with their feeling of being loved."
-caitlin
"Through his various characters, Chekhov studies the conflict arising from the resistance of tradition to that change. Clearly, Madame Arkadina, a denizen of the existing theater, embodies the views of the establishment. Standing against her is her own son, Konstantine, who preaches the need for a new art, one of ‘‘new forms,’’ an art of forward-looking ideas, not one that merely entertains with timeworn conventions and hackneyed ideas that no longer have any social relevance. As his play indicates, the new art should have prophetic insights into humankind's destiny. His would be a theater light years away from the theater that, for example, Shamreyeff favors, a theater of brick bats and pratfalls."
"Konstantine's art is dismissed by his unsympathetic mother as the ravings of his ‘‘bad temper,’’ while he sees in hers a mindless art that merely continues to pander to the bumptious fools making up the traditional theater audience. Meanwhile, as members of the artistic community spar on these issues, the philistines try to isolate them, dismissing them, as Nina's father and stepmother do, as immoral bohemians."
"The Role of an Artist in Life and in Love
Chekhov does not simply write about artists and love, he creates the embodiment of art and love on stage. Through his characters' particular personalities, Chekhov portrays the various manners of being an artist and particularly, an artist in love. All four protagonists are artists in love. Arkadina, Trigorin, Treplev, and Nina have divergent relationships with their craft and their lovers. Arkadina and Nina romanticize acting, placing it on a pedestal higher than the everyday affairs of life. Arkadina places herself on this same pedestal using her identity as an actress to excuse her vanity. Nina exalts acting as well, but, contrary to Arkadina, she endows acting with nobility, sacrifice, and privilege. In writing, Treplev compulsively paralyzes himself in the pursuit of perfection, while Trigorin obsessively gathers details from his life and the lives around him for his work without allowing the work to affect his life.
Chekhov does not present an opinion about the artist or the artist's role in life and in love. No one character is all good or all evil, and Chekhov depicts these protagonists so that we sympathize and question their actions and words. He presents several takes on love and the artist, allowing his audience to take what they will from the examples that may or may not mirror their own lives and those of their loved ones. All four characters pursue art to some degree because it boosts their ego to be admired and respected for their work. Treplev in particular longs equally for admiration for his talents and for his self. His ego is wounded by his mother and by Nina. Success in love and in writing are equally important to him though he is successful in neither arena. Trigorin has the satisfaction of success in his writing, though he is never satisfied, and as he says, always starts a new story once the old one is finished. In love, Trigorin pursues Nina because he feels he might substitute the satisfaction and sense of completion that he lacks in his work with a love that would fulfill the void he felt as a youth. In some sense the satisfaction these characters obtain from being artists becomes equivalent with their feeling of being loved."
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