The term “new drama” combines a number of fundamentally different, innovative approaches to stage art. The works of Meterlink, Ibsen, Shaw were created in contrast to the "well-made plays", the dominance of which was observed on the stages of Western European theaters. With a masterfully twisted plot, they carried away the audience who came to rest, but were unable to leave any tangible mark in art.
As for Russian literature, a different picture is observed in it thanks to such a wonderful phenomenon as the Ostrovsky Theater. However, at the turn of the century, his realistic aesthetics somewhat exhausted themselves, giving way to a “new drama." Alexander Blok, Leonid Andreev and Maxim Gorky created its unique samples, although a change in the type of conflict, a modification of the plot are already observed in the dramaturgy of their senior contemporary, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
From vaudeville to the tragedies of everyday life
Researchers who analyzed Chekhov's plays distinguish several periods in his dramatic work. His early works (with the exception of Ivanov) were created in the vaudeville genre and are distinguished by an unstable artistic system. At the same time, Chekhov’s plays such as The Bear and The Wedding are conceptually close to his late, lyrically sad The Seagull and The Cherry Orchard. Their central motives are vulgarization of man and an attempt to impede this process. With one difference: in vaudeville, the playwright focuses on philistines - people whose being merged with everyday life and thereby turned into everyday life.
Type of conflict
Published in 1896, Chekhov's play The Seagull fully complies with the principles of the “new drama”, primarily due to a new type of conflict. Ever since the time of Shakespeare, it has been customary that a conflict unfolds between the characters: Claudius and Hamlet, King Lear and his daughters. They weave intrigues, conspire against each other, in a word, act. Chekhov's plays (especially The Seagull) can be interpreted as the struggle of generations: the eldest, represented by Arkadina, Trigorin, and the youngest, Konstantin Treplev and Nina Zarechnaya.
But is it really so? Chekhov himself indirectly answers this question, making remarks about the "Petty Bourgeois" Maxim Gorky: "Just do not oppose him (the working Neil) to Peter and Tatiana, let him be on his own, but they are on their own ..."
This statement is also applicable to "The Seagull": in fact, does Trigorin or Arkadin somehow interfere with the acting career of the protagonist? Are there any objective reasons, due to the actions of other characters, why Andrei Prozorov abandoned science and got used to provincial life? A negative answer to these questions proves that the conflict in the "new drama" does not appear between the character and other characters. The main antagonist in Chekhov’s plays is the Wall (the image is taken from the work of the same name by Leonid Andreyev), Someone in Sery, Fate itself, unpredictable and capricious.
Lyrical plot
Chekhov's plays are distinguished by a special plot construction. The fire near the Prozorovs' estate, the duel between Tuzenbach and Solyony, Treplev's suicide - all these incidents are reported as if in passing, and, in fact, they have no effect on the course of events.
However, it would be an exaggeration to say that in the plays of the playwright the plot is absent as such. He goes into subtext, becomes lyrical. All the most important is hidden from the viewer and only sometimes makes itself felt in absurd phrases (remember at least “Tarara Bumbia ...” by Chebutykin) or inappropriate actions. They reveal the ongoing thought process of each of the characters. However, this stream of consciousness is objectified, delivered detachedly, thereby allowing researchers to talk about a new type of drama - synthetic, in which the epic and lyrical elements are combined.
Space and time
“Blooming cherries, a solid white garden ... And ladies in white dresses” - something like this was described to Stanislavsky by Chekhov's new plan. The play “The Cherry Orchard” (which the writer has in mind) testifies to the importance of landscape as a unit of the objective world of Chekhov’s dramatic works. Nature is spiritualized, it is “not a cast”, “not a soulless face”, but is filled with the emotions of heroes, becomes psychological.
As for time, for the heroes of Three Sisters and other works, it acts as a destructive force, destroying hopes for a better life. The future in Chekhov’s plays is always uncertain; often the writer resorts to the open finale, so characteristic of the "new drama".
Characters
The heroes of Chekhov’s plays are mostly talented people. Moreover, their talent is not limited to professional activities. Much less common are mediocrities like Professor Serebryakov or teacher Kulygin. This feature is explained by the worldview of Chekhov, who believed that the presence of talent is an integral feature of every person, the crown of the universe. There is a presumption of innocence in jurisprudence. The writer would use a different term - the presumption of talent, according to which each of us can show the lurking talent inside, would be only the right time for this.
Value
Among the works of Strindberg, Ibsen and Shaw, Chekhov's plays found their rightful place. They recorded a new type of conflict, which has an existential character, relevant for subsequent Russian and world literature.