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A Visit to Friends

A Visit to Friends. Some things to consider…. Integrates the personal and the professional Podogorin sheds his subjectified younger self and becomes more detached, objective and professional

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A Visit to Friends

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  1. A Visit to Friends

  2. Some things to consider… • Integrates the personal and the professional • Podogorin sheds his subjectified younger self and becomes more detached, objective and professional • The protagonist stays several steps removed from his friends: emotionally and psychologically, as he doesn’t want to get caught up in their affairs • He is forced to choose a course of action and a way of behaving.

  3. Chekhov uses flashbacks in the form of Podogorin’s reminiscence in order to contrast the past and present • Memories of the past – happy, romantic, are contrasted to the harsh reality of the present He was very fond of them, but more as a pleasant memory than in actuality… …those rendezvous on quiet moonlit nights…it enchanted him only as a memory…

  4. He can now see the flaws in his friends, and their current facades You’re simply a frivolous, indolent man… • He has changed from an idealist to a realist

  5. Imagery Imagery is used throughout to develop tone and imply change. Consider the scenes where they are happy and having fun – they are both true and false pp. 96, 99, 106, 111, p. 105 Shadows were moving on the terrace…watching him Implies social expectations? The sun’s rays did not penetrate the lowered blinds…gloomy…all the roses looked the same Look at the evocation of the derelict garden at the end of the narrative p 110

  6. Chekhov explores man’s journey of seeking the ‘real truth’ – a painful journey as ‘illusion after illusion is shattered and rejected and the falsity of various general and individual ideas is revealed’ • He explores the constant testing of mankind by the hard truths of life • Human indifference – moral/psychological, social

  7. The motif of man causing his own unhappiness and trapping himself is evident This was a case of stupidity, or of deep rooted bad habits that had eaten away at his organism like an illness… • Reality and Illusion – characters fooling themselves Quite unaccustomed to any kind of hard work…a life where she would be working…struck her as so beautifully poetic…

  8. Hoping for others to save them Tell us what to do. What shall we do?

  9. Consider Chekhov’s vocab choicesThink about what meaning they convey • Surrendering • Recalled • Memory • Actuality • Enchanted • conjured • Ethereal • Prevented • Idealist • Cage • Monotonous • Perpetual

  10. Change of society Chekhov utilises the change in Podgorin’s behaviour, interactions and hopes with the Losev family to expose his own ideals for the development of society. The abrupt ending of the story, ten minutes later…at his desk…he didn’t give Kuzminki another thought, conveys his desire to break from the constraints from the past. When he contemplated being with another woman he imagined a conversation about something absolutely fascinating…new, lofty, rational aspects of existence… His comment that we are on the threshold of this existence, and have premonitions, shows his belief that it is within us, but we need to grasp it.

  11. Podgorin now saw the estate as a miserable place, acknowledging it was the memory which enchanted him, not the actuality. Instead of feeling a sense of connection with the family, he felt he needed to discharge his duty towards them, again revealing his disconnect from his old way of life, as well as his frustration with their constrained lives. He felt their personal and social entrapment as Tatyana’s torment prevented her from being happy, symbolised by the sun’s rays not penetrat[ing] the lowered blinds, where even the roses looked the same colour.

  12. Whilst Sergey questioned if a leopard could change its spots, eliminating any need to implement his own change, the protagonist deliberately tried to alter his life. He realised his memories of the past were conjured, and were no longer a reality. In contrast, his hosts were happy to hang onto the past, as Varavara questions But what can one do…nothing is accidental, everything has its final purpose…

  13. Choose 3 key ideas. Write a paragraph on what you think Chekhov is implying. Youth – age – experience: p. 96 , 109 Past present: p. 95, 96 Idealism/Realism: p. 102, 3 Illusion – reality: p. 102, 103, 106, 108, 111, 112 Happiness:p. 98, 104, 107 Morality:p. 102, 103 Fall of the middleclass: p. 96, 104 Fate – Action: p. 104 Action/inaction: 107, 109, 110 Change: 112, 113

  14. Key words Motif Implying Imagery Inferring Representation Exploring Context Critiquing Juxtaposition Endorsing Contrast Questioning Characterisation Links Contradicts Emphasises

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