Uncle Vanya

Late at night, Serebrakoff and Helena are dozing in armchairs in the dining room. Serebrakoff wakes up agitated, and Helena soothes him while rewrapping him in his shawl. Serebrakoff complains that he has intolerable pain in his legs, and he says he feels as though he’s suffocating. He fears that the pain is from rheumatism rather than the diagnosed gout, and he worries that the gout may have caused him to develop angina in his heart. Helena suggests that his difficulty with breathing is probably because this is the second night in a row he’s gone without proper sleep, and Serebrakoff lashes out at her in anger. He says she cannot understand the pains of old age and that he will soon relieve them all by dying. Helena cries and accuses him of torturing her, but he continues his tirade.

Sonia enters and chastises Serebrakoff for wasting Astroff’s time by calling for him and then refusing to see him. Serebrakoff calls Astroff a madman and then snaps at Sonia, who tells him she has too much work to do the next day and cannot indulge him by enduring his temper. Marina and Voitski arrive, and though Voitski offers to keep Serebrakoff company so that the women can go to bed—much to Serebrakoff’s horrified refusal—it is Marina who manages to coax Serebrakoff to bed with sympathy, memories of Sonia’s mother, and commiseration over their shared pains.

Helena and Voitski are left alone. They are both exhausted, and Helena declares that there is something wrong with the house. They are all at each other’s throats all the time and are destroying themselves with spite. She asks Voitski to help keep the peace, but he has spent the night drinking with Astroff and is intoxicated. He once again declares his love for Helena. He raves about his misery, his regret over his wasted years, and his feelings for her. Helena leaves in irritation, drained and angry beyond endurance at Voitski’s unwelcome advances. Alone, Voitski soliloquizes about the life he could have had if he’d married Helena in her youth when they first met. He laments that he spent the best years of his life working diligently to support the professor out of a sincere belief in the man’s genius, only to realize that the man is a fraud. Now, Voitski has nothing to show for all of his and Sonia’s hard work.

Astroff enters with Telegin, intoxicated and disheveled, pressing Telegin to play his guitar. He admires Helena’s beauty and indelicately talks of Voitski’s unrequited love for her. Voitski tells him that drinking makes him vulgar, and Astroff agrees, saying that he always feels magnanimous and powerful while intoxicated. Astroff and Telegin quickly leave when Sonia reappears, lest she be offended by Astroff’s state of undress. Sonia chides Voitski for drinking so much, and she complains that while he has been idle, she has been working herself to exhaustion. Voitski weeps and kisses her hands, telling her tenderly how much she resembles her mother. He then goes to bed, and Sonia approaches Astroff to beg him not to let her uncle drink so much.

Astroff is resolved to return home before morning, but Sonia insists on sharing some food with him before he leaves since he has not eaten all day. Astroff asks that he not be called to treat her father’s illness anymore since Serebrakoff doesn’t listen to him anyway. He’s comfortable speaking frankly with Sonia, confessing that he could not bear to live in their house because of how miserable all the members of her household are. He does acknowledge, however, that his own discontentment might be making him unduly harsh in his assessment.

Astroff says he is deeply unhappy because, although he likes life itself, he despises having to work himself to death in the countryside with no pleasant company among the peasants or upper classes. He has no hope that his life will ever improve. Sonia begs him not to drink so much anymore, and Astroff agrees. Sonia—who has been in love with Astroff for many years and suffers from his obliviousness to her feelings—asks him if there is really no one whom he loves, and he says there isn’t. After Astroff leaves, Sonia speaks in a monologue about how happy Astroff makes her, even though he has never said a word about his feelings for her. She knows that she isn’t beautiful, and she recalls overhearing neighbors call her likable and noble but unattractive.

Helena enters and asks Sonia how long she plans to be cold toward her since Helena would prefer to be friends. Sonia immediately embraces her and says that she has long desired to reconcile but was too ashamed to do so. They share a glass of wine, and Helena says that she knows Sonia resented her because she believed Helena married Serebrakoff for his money. However, she says she really believed she loved Serebrakoff when she married him, even though she now knows better. Helena admits that she’s deeply unhappy and would prefer a younger husband. Sonia confides her admiration of Astroff, and Helena agrees that he is handsome and intelligent. She says that his flaws are inevitable consequences of living in rural Russia under the crushing weight of decades of hardship and poverty. Helena then says she wishes Sonia happiness despite her futility and misery. Helena proposes that she play some music for them both, but Sonia goes to get permission from her father since music irritates him when he’s ill. Helena is happy at the prospect of playing music and releasing her emotions, but Sonia returns and tells her that Serebrakoff says that he doesn’t want to be disturbed by music.