Swan Song

Anton Chekhov
The expression swan song refers to farewell appearance, a final act or statement or last works of
artist
Vasili Svetlovidov enters the deserted and darkened theatre. He regrets drinking a lot of wine in the
party organized in his honor. 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 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 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 distrust his audience. He regrets having no wife or children to share his
life with. He laments his 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 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 meaningless. 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 year 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 great fortune but at
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 in agony. That’s
what happens with Svetlovidov in this story.
Also, human is 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 disaster full of agony.
Also, I come to understand young love can both destroy and make any one's life. As in story
Svetlovidov loses hope 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 his rest of 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. The central character is a man who has worked in the theater for 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 theater. 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 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 in 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 theater by showing the departure of an immensely talented actor.