Comparative Study of Offstage Action in The Cherry Orchard and Miss Julie

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Comparative Study of Offstage Action in The Cherry Orchard and Miss Julie

"The most important events in Chekhov's plays do not necessarily occur on Chekhov's stage; often the audience experiences some of the most pivotal and dramatic action not by seeing it, but by hearing about it from the characters" ("ClassicNotes: Anton Chekhov").

In the plays, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov and Miss Julie by August Strindberg, despite the vast difference in subject matter, plot, and setting, there is an underlying similarity in how each author creates his desired effects, especially through the use of action that does not take place onstage. Strindberg uses offstage action, while Chekhov has utilized a technique that has been dubbed "indirect action." A second technique that both authors employ is character reflection: a technique wherein a character narrates about an event that has already passed. Through these two techniques, the authors demonstrate that offstage action and character reflection, when used effectively, bring forth the most in a play.

In Strindberg's play, the culmination of drama occurs at the end of the play, when "the Count's back" (Strindberg 447). Instantly the mightiness of Jean crumbles to weakness. Both Jean