Sound and Dark Imagery in “The Witch” by Anton Chekhov

605 Words2 Pages

“The Witch” by Anton Chekhov, is about a couple who is visited by the postman and his companion during a harsh storm. The wife, Raissa, is unhappy with her husband and enamoured with the young postman. The husband, Savely, accuses his wife of being a witch because of all the young men who keep disappearing and accuses her of using her witchcraft on the postman. Raissa tries to remain calm with her husband, but she eventually refuses to hold in her feelings. In the beginning passage of the story, Chekhov uses sound imagery, dark imagery, and similes to convey Raissa’s misery of being in a loveless marriage.

Like many of Chekhov’s works, this story also employs the use of sound imagery, While describing the atmosphere of the night, he mentions that “a plaintive lament sobbed.” He later goes on to describe it as a “cry of misery” from someone who consciously realized that “there is no salvation.” That entirely described Raissa’s situation. The cry of misery is from her because she is not content with her marriage, if anything, the complete opposite of it. To add to that, she knows ...

Show More
Related

  • The Devil In The Form Of A Woman By Carol Karlsen

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    . She claims that the proceeding force connected with lady as-witch in this combination creative ability handles the problem on the power that surpasses embellishment and design the particular discernment connected with witches and witchcraft throughout. Looking at these kind of queries could encourage selection that the mention of their imagination and prejudices attached to the particular "lady as-witch" idea that the current strain on females building in popularity can easily trigger anger these days. She slyly evaluates having less adequate traditional beliefs with regards to the part women performed inside creating our community, at a variety of instances.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in Chapter 17 of Chopin’s The Awakening

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    “It was a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque in the soft, dim light which the maid had turned low. She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mourning notes without promise, devoid even of hope. She turned back into the room and began to walk to and fro, down its whole length, without stopping, without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief, which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and flung from her. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw it lying there she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the glittering circlet.

    Read More

  • I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the story of Tituba unfolds, it reveals a strong and kind hearted young woman, very different from the Tituba we meet in The Crucible. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem unveils for the reader, Tituba's life, loves, and losses. Her long and arduous journey through life is inspired by her many female counterparts, yet also hindered by her insatiable weakness for men, who also press upon her the realities of life.

    Read More

  • Comparing Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market and William Wordsworth’s The Thorn

    1707 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...seful miscommunication between men and women. Lastly, when looking through the imagined perspective of the thoughtless male tricksters, the reader is shown the heartlessness of men. After this reader’s final consideration, the main theme in each of the presented poems is that both authors saw women as victims of a male dominated society.

    Read More

  • The History of the Salem Witchcraft Trials

    2587 Words  | 6 Pages

    Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe.

    Read More

  • The Crucible: Hysteria And Injustice

    1618 Words  | 4 Pages

    The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late

    Read More

  • Trifles And A Doll House Comparison Essay

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell and “A Dollhouse” by Henrik Ibsen, the authors use symbolism to shed light on the way woman were once looked down upon by men. In both plays the woman face similar derisive attitudes from the men in their lives. Women are treated as property, looked down upon and only useful in matters pertaining to cooking, taking care of children, housework and sexual objects. The women’s marriages, socioeconomic and social status are completely different, but both women reach their emotional breaking point, and grow so discontent with their situations they are willing to take drastic actions.

    Read More

  • Roman Polanski's Interpretation of the Witches in Macbeth

    1728 Words  | 4 Pages

    wrote the play circa 1603 (for king James) the play is set in the Dark

    Read More

  • The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    The crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is about the Salem witch trials and how people react to hysteria created from the fear of witches. In the play, after hysteria breaks out, the Salem government starts persecute and hang people it believes are witches. This prompts people to start to accusing people of witchcraft. Some people who accuse others of committing witchcraft are Abigail Williams and Thomas Putnam. They do not accuse people of witchcraft to stop witchcraft, but for personal gain or to hurt others. Thomas Putnam, one of the many characters who takes advantage of the witch trials, is able to use the fear of witches to bend the court to his will. Hysteria causes people to believe claims that are clearly false. This allows Putnam to persecute his enemies. He and many other are able to get away with this because hysteria driven persecutions are not run like regular courts and the fact that witchcraft is an invisible crime allows evidence to be made up. The theme of The Crucible is when any persecution is driven by fear and people can and will manipulate the system so they can gain and hurt another.

    Read More

  • Sound Analysis: Psycho By Alfred Hitchcock

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sound is an incredibly relevant part of filmmaking. Although often misunderstood, it helps to generate a more realistic episode by recreating the sonic experience the scene needs. Its main goal is to enhance the emotions that each section is trying to convey by adding music and effects alongside moving images. Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960), is one of the most popular films of the XX Century (Thomson, 2009). Commonly recognised as a masterpiece for its cinematographic, editing and musical values, it changed cinema forever by “playing with darker prospects (…) of humanity such as sex and violence (Thomson, 2009)”. This paper will analyse the sound effects used in the shower scene and its repercussions

    Read More

  • Lovers’ Declarations in Shakespeare’s Richard III and Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

    1344 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare uses hyperbolic language and melodrama in order to exaggerate the supposed love that Richard feels for Anne as he declares that “[Anne’s] beauty, ...did haunt me in my sleep” which can also be described as a cliché as it is often said that someone can be so in love that they have restless nights constantly thinking about the one that they love. The use of the word “haunt” could perhaps also be taken further to suggest both the magic and mystery of love as because it is so difficult to comprehend or explain it is almost as if it is something that is other-worldly , on the other hand we could also interpret it as, Richard being haunted by his desires as he is constantly trying to think about how to gain power and although it could be true that he is thinking of Anne it may not be because he loves her but rather so that he might use her in order to gain power thus he is “haunt[ed]” by his lust for power not love. Similarly, Austen’s Mr Collin is trying to convince the recipient of his declaration that they should get married however unlike Richard III, she doesn’t use bold hyperbolic statements to do this but rather presents Mr Collins as a man with a “solemn composure”, structuring his proposal quite eloquently; clearly expressing each of...

    Read More

  • The Birthday Party

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    Immediately, the narrator stereotypes the couple by saying “they looked unmistakably married” (1). The couple symbolizes a relationship. Because marriage is the deepest human relationship, Brush chose a married couple to underscore her message and strengthen the story. The husband’s words weaken their relationship. When the man rejects his wife’s gift with “punishing…quick, curt, and unkind” (19) words, he is being selfish. Selfishness is a matter of taking, just as love is a matter of giving. He has taken her emotional energy, and she is left “crying quietly and heartbrokenly” (21). Using unkind words, the husband drains his wife of emotional strength and damages their relationship.

    Read More

  • Trifles Henrik Ibsen Analysis

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the late 19th century and early 20th century, idea for the equality of women began to ignite a fire within the world. Women wanted to fight oppression and have a chance to experience the same rights as men. However, although suffragettes would not fight fire with fire until a couple of decades later, the idea of escaping societal roles and gain freedom within society and marriage possibly inspired literary works during this time period. These issues of the inequality between men and women in marriage and society plays strong roles in literary works. In “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman all have something in common: the women are oppressed by the men and society, and ultimately pull away from their societal roles and break free.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Anton Chekhov's Anna Round The Neck

    1640 Words  | 4 Pages

    It seems as though Pyotr and Alexeich both represent different aspects of Chekhov’s father, and Chekhov himself is Anna. Chekov’s father was aloof from his family and came from a lower class background; like Modest Alexeich, Chekhov’s father also fawned at the feet of his social superiors. Chekhov, in contrast, was an unconventional boy. He eventually broke from his family’s lower class position and became a doctor; however, throughout his school and career he performed additional odd jobs to earn money he could send to his father. Also like Anna, Chekhov loved to be with people (Payne xiii, xvii-xxi). Comparing the two, then, it would seem as if Chekhov identifies with Anna as she struggles to find her social identity and wrestles with her desires and the needs of those she loves. This tone gives the story a melancholy mood and leads to a bittersweet conclusion. The ending seems happy for Anna, yet the reader is left to wonder what the ending represents. Did her father and husband receive the dues for their behavior? Are Anna’s actions a normal product of the transformation from youth to adulthood, or did she come to completely discard respect and

    Read More

  • A Doll's House Marriage Analysis

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ibsen’s play is set up in the first act to present to the readers a happy marriage. The house is well furnished with a piano, Christmas is around the corner, and Nora has just arrived home after an afternoon of shopping. Nora and her husband exchange flirty and friendly introductions,

    Read More

More about Sound and Dark Imagery in “The Witch” by Anton Chekhov

Open Document