An Unsuccessful Quest for the Meaning of Life: Uncle Vanya, Act I

Throughout the ages, many people of different cultures and places have wondered about the purpose of life. Humans’ increased rational capacity has led them to question mankind’s role here on Earth. Some individuals argue that life is a quest for happiness, and therefore each one of us must struggle until we accomplish the ultimate goal that will completely satisfy us and eliminate the urge to want more. Others, like Martin and the Turk in Candide, believe that suffering and hard work are the sole purpose of life. In the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, the character Astrov, a doctor, contradicts both of these views by complaining about hard work and the people that surround us. The fact that Astrov is a doctor is greatly significant in the sense that not only is he a very learned man, but is also an expertise in the study of humans. “And the life in itself is tedious, stupid, dirty… This life swallows one up completely. There are none but queer people about one - they are a queer lot, all of them - and when one has lived two or three years among them, by degrees one turns queer too, without noticing it.” (Act I, p. 194). By saying that life is “tedious” and “stupid,” Chekhov is implying that our existence here on Earth is completely fruitless and monotonous. There is nothing deep or transcendental about life and there are no secrets behind our creation. Life simply is. The adjective “dirty” adds a sense of misery and distaste to every person’s lifestyle. This pessimistic and somewhat realistic view almost makes us wish for death. The second part of the fragment says that everyone, including ourselves, is queer. Although the reason for our strange and odd behavior is not stated, the previous descriptions of life make it possible to imply that mankind’s bizarre conduct is the product of a fruitless quest to make life pleasurable and worthwhile. We are permanently looking for reasons that do not exist, trying to find meaning inside a shallow existence. We make life a quest for happiness, but we will never be able to find it because “life in itself is tedious, stupid, dirty.” (Act I. p. 194).

Suffering and hard work, unlike the search for happiness, will someday yield fruitful and worthy results. Astrov, however, also deems this practice as a waste of time. “I sat down, shut my eyes like this, and thought: those who will live a hundred or two hundred years after us, for whom we are struggling now to beat out a road, will they remember and say a good word for us? Nurse, they won’t, you know!” (Act I, p. 194). We are breaking our backs and sacrificing ourselves in order to achieve the betterment of future generations. Those who will live after us will reap the fruit of our hard toil, but will never even take the time to thank us for improving their lifestyles. This reasoning undermines the philosophy of Martin and the Turk in the sense that suffering and hard work will only bring exhaustion and oblivion to our lives. This reminds me about the actual debate on global warming and the Kyoto Protocol, in which highly industrialized nations such as the United States refuse to cooperate in an effort to reduce the emissions of global warming because of the increased production costs this effort would imply. This is a perfect example of “Astrovian” philosophy, in which private energy need not be sacrificed for the public good.

This type of negative view towards life is also present in many other characters, such as Voynitsky or Uncle Vanya. When Yelena exclaims that it is a beautiful day, Voynitsky merely responds by saying “A fine day to hang oneself!” (Act I, p. 200). These contending points of view reflect the opposite extremes of the human mind. When faced with an objective, unchangeable fact, everyone tends to react in a different manner. Some, like Yelena, are prone to observe the beauty and good side of every situation; however, there exist others like Uncle Vanya who are only able to see the pessimistic and unfavorable side of things. Both positive and negative views towards life shape our beliefs and actions towards the experiences we encounter. Our personality is the main factor in shaping our reactions to certain events in life. This play showed the reader how, in exactly the same time and context, different characters were able to perceive different things when faced with exactly the same situation. This proves how ourselves and not the burdens we are forced to carry are the most important component in determining the way each one of us leads their life.