What exactly is dysfunctional? Who wrote the rules to proper family or societal behavior? How does one know exactly what the proper reaction is? Every family has its crazy members and every city it’s insane citizens, but many do a great job of covering it up. Especially when it comes to high in social standing. Many are very careful not to air their dirty laundry in public. There are times when it can get out of hand and the unthinkable may happen. Is it right for one person to automatically appoint themselves as head of the household such as, Orgon in Tartuffe? What about Ivan Ilyich? Would he have been considered the head of the house, because he allowed his wife’s attitude to predict the family’s social standing? These two stories are classic of situational irony not only from families, but in human nature. To analyze Tartuffe and The Death of Ivan Ilyich and then compare them, one must have an open mind to all sorts of behavior and believe that these situations are indeed a reality.
The play of Tartuffe really had many different personalities in it. Even though The Death of Ivan Ilyich really only had one main point of view, enough information was given on Ivan’s wife to make an assumption about her attitude. The first characters that come to mind to compare are Madame Pernelle and Ivan’s wife, Praskovya. Both women were raised high on the social scale and both seemed to have a sense of self entitlement. They also felt the need to call the shots and demanded to be heard. There are not many things that keep women like this off their course and it can either help or hurt people. It seems in both of these stories that they truly were a nuisance for other members of the family. Praskovya was not the caring wife for Ivan that sh...
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...ess of whose feelings are hurt or the actions of a dutiful daughter like Mariane who will obey her father, no matter her own feelings. The technology, time, location, situation and scenario has changed nothing over time. The only dwindling quality that we see less of today is the dedication and support like that of Dorine and Gerasim. Who knows what this world is truly coming to in the end, but who makes the rules for what is right and wrong?
Works Cited
Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. "Tartuffe." Norton Anthology of World Literature: 1650 to the present. 3RD ed. Volume D. Puchner, Akbari, Denecke, et al. New York, London: W. W Norton, 2012. 144-197. Print.
Tolstoy, Leo. "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." Norton Anthology of World Literature: 1650 to the present. 3RD ed. Volume E. Puchner, Akbari, Denecke, et al. New York, London: W. W Norton, 2012. 740-778. Print.
Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. "Tartuffe." The Norton Anthology Western Literature. 8th ed. Eds. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 2. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. 19-67. Print.
The nature versus nurture debate is one that has continued for years arguing over whether children are effected more by their innate personality or their personal experiences. Ivan and Charles are examples that both are factors in a person’s disposition. In what ways were Ivan IV and Charles VI’s upbringing similar and did this have a comparable effect on their leadership and later mental diagnosis? Ivan IV and Charles VI had a similar upbringing in relation to their lineage and throne inheritance which led to their analogous leadership styles and mental illnesses.
The readers discover that Tolstoy’s motivation for writing “Sevastopol in May” was to provide Russia with an honest war narrative, not a literary cornerstone or a piece of light reading material. This realization is the clean ending that gives readers the they closure desire. By including an explicit declaration of theme and purpose at the
Merriman, C.D.. "Leo Tolstoy." - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online . Discuss.. Jalic INC., 1 Jan. 2007. Web. 16 May 2014. .
7) Vernadsky, George. A History of Russia: Fourth Edition, Completely Revised. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.
Leo Tolstoy, author of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, suffered numerous tragic losses such as his parents and his aunt, Tatyana Ergolsky who created a tremendous impact during Tolstoy’s childhood. Overtime, Tolstoy was cultured and for Tolstoy it was common within his community. During the 1840, Tolstoy developed a strong, eager interest for the studies of moral philosophy. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy suggests that although people can find happiness in materialism, they need spirituality during a crisis.
Molière, Jean-Baptiste. “Tartuffe.” The Northern Anthology of World Literature. Gem. ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol F. New York; Northern, 2012. 144-97. Print.
not only a family but a society. In a play riddled with greed, manipulation and dishonesty,
Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Trans. Lynn Solotaroff. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.
Tolstoy, however, has a fatalistic approach to the subject. In The Death of Ivan Ilych, the chronological end of the story is placed at the beginning. From the very beginning, the reader is aware of the title character’s fate. The story then tells of the long and grueling battle with death that Ivan Ilych faces.
Immediately, the story sets off with Vera living under the rule of an autocratic mother who wants to have her marry the son of their tenement block owner. Although Vera has aspirations of her own, she is bound to a lifelong servitude to her family and a loveless marriage to which she does not want to commit. This shows how not only men contributed to women’s subordination in Russia, but the women had a social role in this as well. Vera’s mother wants her to marry rich in hopes of gaining money, power, and status. All of these motives show how Vera’s mother thinks in her own best interest before her daughter’s happiness, and even hints at how desperate not only women, but people of lower class were to escape their social stigma. However, arranged marriage and lifelong servitude is not unique in only...
Moliere, Jean-Baptise Poquelin. 'Tartuffe.' The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Maynard Mack. New York: W.W. Norton " Company, 1995. 307 -356.
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
The period is the early 19th century; those involved and discussed in this essay are for the most part Russian gentry. Increasingly relaxed social mores in the “developed” world, including the greater freedom to choose to whom one gets married to as well as increased women’s sexual rights, were much more uncommon during the time that War and Peace takes place. Tolstoy, an outspoken critic of arranged marriages, uses the characters in his novel as a way of exploring the various types of love, and in general the interactions between men and women of the time. This essay will attempt to focus on these relationships in an effort to get a better idea of Tolstoy’s views on the proper roles that men and women should play as friends, lovers, or spouses. By exploring the male/female relationships among the noble families, a detailed picture of both the expectations and realms of acceptable behavior will be established.
A. The Epic of Russian Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1950. 309-346. Tolstoy, Leo. "