Monologue

Astroff Monologue from Uncle Vanya

From Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov

male · anguished · 1:20 min

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No. During the third week of Lent I went to the epidemic at Malitskoi. It was eruptive typhoid. The peasants were all lying side by side in their huts, and the calves and pigs were running about the floor among the sick. Such dirt there was, and smoke! Unspeakable! I slaved among those people all day, not a crumb passed my lips, but when I got home there was still no rest for me; a switchman was carried in from the railroad; I laid him on the operating table and he went and died in my arms under chloroform, and then my feelings that should have been deadened awoke again, my conscience tortured me as if I had killed the man. I sat down and closed my eyes--like this--and thought: will our descendants two hundred years from now, for whom we are breaking the road, remember to give us a kind word? No, nurse, they will forget.

About this piece

Astroff reflects on his harrowing experiences during an epidemic, grappling with feelings of guilt and the futility of his efforts in the face of human suffering.

30s · sadness · death · isolation · sacrifice · legacy

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Run it out loud with a spotlight that follows your voice, line by line, until it's off the page. Free to start, no credit card.

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