FRUITS OF CULTURE A COMEDY IN FOUR ACTS
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FRUITS OF CULTURE A COMEDY IN FOUR ACTS Details
GREGORY [looks at himself in the glass and arranges his hair, &c.] I am sorry about those moustaches of mine! “Moustaches are not becoming to a footman,” she says! And why? Why, so that any one might see you're a footman,—else my looks might put her darling son to shame. He's a likely one! There's not much fear of his coming anywhere near me, moustaches or no moustaches! [Smiling into the glass] And what a lot of 'em swarm round me. And yet I don't care for any of them as much as for that Tánya. And she only a lady's-maid! Ah well, she's nicer than any young lady. [Smiles] She is a duck! [Listening] Ah, here she comes. [Smiles] Yes, that's her, clattering with her little heels. Oh!Enter Tánya, carrying a cloak and boots.GREGORY. My respects to you, Tatyána Márkovna.
Reviews
This Tolstoy comedy in four acts is about a family of a well-to-do man that is in disarray. There are all kinds of ridiculous humorous discussions, about microbes, hypnotism, and marriage, among others. People make jokes repeatedly and the peasants speak in funny ways. There is even a hilarious discussion about the dangers of smoking and the need to wash hands to remove germs. The word "culture" in the play's title is obviously used ironically. But the key plots focus on the husband who believes in the existence of spirits and makes decisions based on séances and on one of his female servants who wants to marry a male servant. Three peasants come to the husband's house and beseech the husband to sell them land. He consults the spirits and, based upon what he understands is their reply, refuses. The peasants beg him saying that they need the land to sustain their life, but their plea does not help. One of the peasants is the father of the male servant. The female servant wants his permission for the marriage and says that she will try to persuade the master to sell the land. She devises a trick. She tells her master that her fiancée is a spiritualist, and the master believes her and decides to use the servant's supposed abilities to contact dead spirits. When he does so, the female servant intends to have her fiancée tell him to sell the land. Will the plan work? Who sees her manipulations? Does one observer help her? Does another observer try to ruin her efforts because she refuses his sexual advances? If the latter man reveals her manipulations, will the master believe him?