A Critique of The Caucasian Chalk Circle

Introduction

The use of literature to pass a message to a specific group of people occurs through the adoption of literature materials. Literature challenges an individual's perception by creating themes that represent problems in a society indirectly, thus avoiding conflict. The book, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, presents a play to the readers about a Georgian village and the desire for two rivalling groups to control the activities as a form of governance after the vacuum created by the German exit in Russia during the Second World War. The translation of the book into different languages eased the performance in theatres as actors imitating performing in the book communicated conveniently to share the themes. This paper will critique the performance in The Caucasian Chalk Circle and evaluate the message in the play.

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The play focuses on the theme of political ideology in the administration of the village. The introduction of communist and capitalist ideas unravel at the beginning of the book when the expert asks the old farmer on their decision to utilize their land after the war that destroyed the neighborhood. The adoption of capitalism leads to the exploitation of resources for profits, while communism aims to improve the living conditions of a community. Therefore, the play focuses on the need for exploitation of the land to spread a political ideology through property ownership. However, the play indirectly shows the political ideologies through the land dispute.

The division between the collective goat farmers and the collective fruit farmers emerges as a result of land ownership. The fruit farmers represent the protagonists due to the need to increase productivity and improve the area infrastructure. However, the goat farmers act antagonistically as they claim to own the Rosa Luxemburg thus need the area to feed their livestock. Despite the claim that the land belongs to the farmer, the idea poses a threat to the economy of the region as the government would invest much. The fruit farmers, despite the uncertainty of the activity, show hope for better returns, which would reduce government expenditure on reconstruction.

The author portrays the ownership of property as the primary source of conflict among the two economic groups. The Rosa Luxemburg, before the war, belonged to the goat farmers. However, the war resulted in the migration of communities causing the expansion of the settlement belonging to fruit farmers. Therefore, the need for more land to increase the production led to the dispute between the collective fruit farmers and the collective goat farmers. However, the land dispute resulted in the intervention by the government expert to settle the conflict between the protagonist fruit farmers and the goat farmers leading to the allocation of the resource to the protagonists peacefully.

Grusha's character portrays the best qualities of a persona in the play. After the upheaval and murder of the governor by the fat prince, the city turns chaotic forcing the governor's wife to flee without her child. The author emphasizes the materialism of the governor's wife after she collected many belongings and escaped leaving her son. However, Grusha, despite her colleagues' plea to leave the child, takes Michael, the governor's child, with her to her home. Grusha endures severe moments and expresses concern to Michael by sacrificing her effort to ensure his safety. Therefore, the character shows honesty, courage, and obedience leading to the judge ruling in her favour when Michael's mother sues her for stealing the child.

The fat prince, Arsen Kazbeki illustrates the rot in the society by playing the worst character. Arsen pretends to favour the well-being of the governor and shows support for his ideas. However, Arsen plans to murder the governor and assume his position. The desire to kill Michael indicates the inhumanity that his authoritarian rule possesses. The fat prince brutally beheads the governor and displays the head, thus showing the cruel nature of the leader. Corruption in Arsen's administration appears when he appoints his nephew as the judge to manipulate the court, thus affecting the justice system. Therefore, the author portrays the fat prince as the worst character in the play.

The author introduces the play using a different act. The introduction focuses on the Rosa Luxemburg land that creates an ownership conflict between two communist groups and illustrates the peaceful process of justice to solve the dispute. In the following acts, the author develops the story about the rescue of a noble child by focusing on the nobles. Therefore, the play confused due to the change in the play sets in the prologue. However, the development of characters in the play through the different acts lead to the distinctions of personas that create the main themes in the play.

The prologue of the play begins in the discussion of a land matter, therefore, the presentation of actors in a public building with a specific arrangement. Thus, the setting helped to elaborate that the play focuses on the provision of justice to members of a community. The beggars and petitioners with malnourished children relayed the message that the community had a massive population of poor people with a few wealthy nobles in control of resources in the city with protection from soldiers. Natella Abashwili dresses in bright clothes and jewellery, while the servants wear dull clothes. This indicates the economic disparities among the classes. Therefore the costumes help to present the themes to the audience quickly.

The purpose of lighting in a theatre includes proper vision by the audience, controlling the audience view according to the play, develop a realistic, and set the mood necessary for an act. Therefore, the lighting used during the play comprised of dull bulbs to show the inside of the civic buildings, while the settings in the house had a lamp focused on the actors to show periods, such as night. Consequently, the development of the theme was convenient and fast for the audience to relate to the play. The actors' costumes in the lighting guaranteed the development of the theme, such as Natella Abashwili shining jewellery when she packed to escape thus avoiding the capture by the fat prince.

In act one, the score elaborates the authority by describing the Georgi Abashvili. The score also sets the mood of the play as it presents the struggle of the poor seeking justice. The singer uses the music to show the audience the miscalculation by the leaders while oppressing the poor. The singer illustrates the struggle by Grusha while tending to Michael. Therefore, the score elaborates the themes portrayed by the character. The score further demonstrates the controversy in expectations by setting the tone for Grusha's meeting with the brother as a hostile encounter to Grusha. Therefore, the use of the score develops the themes in the play and advances the mental picture to the audience about the characters.

Conclusion

The Caucasian Chalk Circle elaborates the societal problems experienced by the poor under the authority of brutal leaders. The hostility between the nobles shows the greed for power and resources for individual benefits, thus indicating the weaknesses of the leadership. The book presents its themes through the play, and the characterization in the theatre improves the understanding of the book. However, the book's prologue confuses the audience as it is different from the actual play. Therefore, the determination of presenting the play depends on the actors, but its presence in the book requires a performance.