Character representation: Yury Zhivago

Title: “Demon Seated”

Artist: Mikhail Vrubel           

            A set of works used repeatedly in this project are the Demon paintings of Mikhail Vrubel. My personal favorite of the series is “Demon Seated,” painted in 1890, at the very start of the Silver Age of Russia. The painting contrasts the demon sitting in the center of the piece with the garden and sunset around him. The demon wants to do good, and is tired of doing evil, yet he cannot escape the evil that makes up his very core, his very existence. (Tanais Gallery).

            When looking for a representation of Yury Zhivago, I looked in particular for some piece of art that represented the duality of Yury- that is, the struggle he seems to face throughout the entirety of the novel between being faithful to Tonya and his family and indulging in the ‘cosmic love’ between him and Lara. This painting gave me just that.            

Like the demon trying to avoid evil, Zhivago does not want to abandon Tonya. He does not want to give in to his feelings for Lara. This is evident in Yury’s response to Tonya’s letter during the summer of 1917, telling him to go with Lara and leave her. Referring to Tonya’s suggestion of abandoning his family, he writes, “You must be out of your mind, Tonya! How could you imagine such a thing?” He continues, “If I really gave you cause to write in such a way, my behavior must have been ambiguous, and I am at fault.” This struggle of being caught between Tonya and Lara persists through much of the novel.

            What’s more, the colors and style of painting can be used to further represent Yury. The colors used to paint the demon are primarily dark and muted blues, blacks, grays, and browns. The fragmented or shattered look of the painting seems to emphasize the heartbreak and tragedy that Yury endures. Just as this demon will surely face a tragic fate as he attempts to do good in vain, Yury comes to a tragic end, losing both Tonya and Lara by the end of the novel.

Character representation: Lara Antipova

Title: “Element of Fire”

Artist: Arthur Brahinskiy

            In looking through Russian artwork that could serve as a representation of Lara, I was largely disappointed by what I found. Nothing seemed to contain, the passion, beauty, mystique, and above all, cosmic magnitude that embodied Lara throughout Dr. Zhivago. Then I stumbled on the contemporary piece, “Element of Fire.” It was created in 2006 by Arthur Brahinskiy and proved to be a more than suitable match.

            With her eyes closed and head tilted to the sky, she exudes grace and dignity, which were qualities that Lara seemed to possess without ever trying to do so. This dignity is particularly meaningful given her humble beginnings as the daughter of a sweatshop owner and in her young adult life, as a sort of courtesan of Komarovsky in payment for his support of her mother financially. Fire’s bare body also represents the destruction of Lara’s innocence in her young life at the hand’s of Komarovsky and the erotic aspect that Pasternak connects with Lara throughout the novel.

            What I love most about this piece of art is the cosmic quality that it has, bringing Lara to life. Her fiery hair, spilling over her shoulders and down her back, swirls around her in cosmic whirlwind. Streams of wind or long trailing veils wrap themselves around her body and throughout the scene. The colors are so exotic, warm, and brilliant, it enhances her cosmic beauty even more.

Character representation: Victor Komarovsky

Title: “Demon Prostrate”

Artist: Mikhail Vrubel

            This piece, created in 1902, comes again from the Demon collection of Mikhail Vrubel. His dark scenes and ominous subjects seem to match many aspects of the novel, Dr. Zhivago. In “Demon Prostrate,” I found another portrayal of a demon that seemed to contain even less goodness than “Demon Seated,” calling to mind images of my least favorite character of the novel, Komarovsky.

            In this piece, the demon has not hesitations about his nature, about doing evil. He face is dark, contorted, contemptuous. On top of this, the demon is laying down, body spread out, reclining, as if to relax or demonstrate his carefree attitude about his actions. As I describe the painting, it seems that I am describing Komarovsky directly. To describe his relationship to her mother in Chapter 2, Lara says, “Mama is his- what’s the word? … He is Mama’s… They’re bad words, I won’t say them.” She later becomes distressed at his control over her life and her mother’s life. Lara regrets her lack of treachery, described as “his [Komarovsky] greatest asset in dealing with the weak.” He seems to have no regret, no remorse, and no intention of changing his ways.

            As I mentioned earlier, the composition adds to the representation of Komarovsky. In addition to the position and image of the demon itself, the dark, somber colors add to the impression of Komarovsky, and the cold, snow-covered, mountainous scene reflects his cold, insensitive nature.

Character representation: Tonya Gromeko

Title: “Lisa in the Sun”

Artist: Robert Falk

            Tonya is a very different character compared to Yury, Lara, and Komarovsky. The cosmic, exotic beauty of “Element of Fire,” the somber, thoughtful, tragic feeling of “Demon Seated,” and the brooding, ominous unremorseful attitude of “Demon Prostrate” seem far out of place in the context of describing the somewhat passive, down-to-earth wife of Yury Zhivago. “Lisa in the Sun,” painted in 1907 by Robert Falk provided a quiet, simple, and meditative image that was appropriate for Tonya Gromeko.

            In “Lisa in the Sun,” a woman is sitting on the grass, with her long, simple dress lying around her. She is casting her eyes to the ground, as if patiently waiting. This waiting reflects much of the waiting that Tonya did for Yury in the novel as he served in the revolution and was forced to travel outside of Moscow. The image in the painting is not, assuming, not pretentious, not dramatic, or self-serving. Tonya demonstrates her quiet, reserved nature, even to a self-sacrificing degree as she urges Yury to leave her and their son and go with Lara to the Urals.

            Just as Tonya seems to patiently waiting for Yury’s return, or even Yury’s love, the woman in this piece is quietly waiting as well. Comparing the simple quiet of “Lisa in the Sun,” with the erotic energy of “Element of Fire,” gives a further look into the feelings of inadequacy and frustration that Tonya feels as she makes herself accept the feelings that Yury has for Lara.

Advent of the Inevitable

Title: Nutcracker Suite - Russian Dance Trepak

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

 

This moment in the novel is a very short one, but momentous nonetheless. The moment can best be taken from the last lines of Chapter 4, The Advent of the Inevitable. As Lara is working in the hospital during the First World War, and Yury is recovering from being knocked unconscious by an explosion, the patients begin hurrying around. Chapter 4 ends with, “All the patients who were not bedridden rushed in from the other rooms, hobbling noisily on crutches, or running, or walking with sticks, shouting: ‘Street fighting in Petersburg! The Petersburg garrison has joined the insurgents! It’s the Revolution!’”

This moment is filled with only celebration and hopes for a better future. They are not concerned with the pain that they will endure or the hardships that will come with a long revolution, or the death and suffering and horrors that millions will experience at the hands of both sides of the war.

The excitement and energy of this moment is illustrated in the short piece of the Russian Dance Trepak by Tchaikovsky. The pride that Tchaikovsky has for Russia that he puts into this piece matches the pride that so many people in Russia felt at the start of the Revolution. It is a jubilant, fast paced piece that reflects the scene succinctly. The quick violins that play in the piece even mimic the hustle and bustle of all the patients scurrying around the hospital shouting about the revolution. As Zhivago so well describes the feeling in Chapter 5, “The revolution broke out, willy-nilly, like a breath that’s been held in too long. Everyone was revived, reborn, changed, transformed.” Everyone was affected by this revolution, and at it’s beginning, the people saw only reason to celebrate.

Gintz ignored: On with the Revolution!

Title: “1812 Overture”: Finale

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The finale of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture illustrates the start of the revolution, particularly with regard to Commissar Gintz. The beginning of the finale starts with a buildup of the emotion and power of the music, reflecting Gintz’s speech in the town square of Melyuzeyevo. He has been sent by the White Army, or in other words, by the Czar supporters to chastise Malyuzeyevo for their disorganization and for letting themselves be so affected by the Bolsheviks. He begins with much momentum, but just as the energy of the piece slows, almost to a halt, so too, the momentum of his speech loses favor with the people of the town. As bells begin to sound in the finale, so too, during Gintz’s speech, “The crowd began to heckle.” He lost most support for this speech in this instance, but it was not the only time.

Later in the chapter, Gintz takes the Cossacks to the town of Zybushino. This same piece can be used once more to represent this encounter as well. He has arrived to take prisoner or punish the rebels of Zybushino and deserters of the army. He gives a lofty speech about the duties of soldiers, the importance of their motherland, and other topics, but there were no sympathizers in this crowd. The Cossacks even begin to abandon him, sheathing their swords and dismounting from their horses.

He makes one last attempt to grab their attention, jumping on to a water barrel to address the indifferent or hostile members of the crowd. As he spoke, he stepped forward and fell into the barrel, with one leg awkwardly sticking out of the barrel. With this, the Revolution “explodes” just as the piece once again explodes into its grand finale, with the deep drums imitating such an explosion. Gintz is shot in the neck as others rush forward to stab their bayonets into his helpless body.

It may be in part because of the revolutionary context of the film V for Vendetta in which the 1812 overture is used, but I cannot separate this piece from those feelings of passion, change, and revolution. This scene was one of the first in Dr. Zhivago that really brought the cold reality of the revolution to life. Pasternak continues to build on the tragedy and destruction of the war throughout the rest of the novel.

Why We Fight

Description: Church of Katherine’s palace in Tsarskoye Selo

Artist: Victor Potoskuev

This photograph first took me because of its elaborate design and opulence. It is an image of wealth and royalty, everything from the ornate crosses to the gilded golden roofs to the carved roof rails to the elaborate carvings above every window. This is the very symbol of what the Bolshevik Revolution was fighting against. In Chapter 6, when Yury reads that the Soviet power has taken over, this is what people would have thought about. They would have been familiar with the unnecessary opulence and luxury of the Czar and the ruling elite. It would not have been a difficult choice to choose to overturn a power like this in the hopes of bringing about equality for the lower classes.

The message of the Bolsheviks and of the revolution may have been most spurred on by images of royal luxury such as this, but it soon spread to engulf anyone considered to be in the upper class. Yury and Tonya encounter this as they move to Varykino to find unused land and establish themselves. They must go to the Mikulitsin’s to find out about available land, and as they are being questioned, the Mikulitsin’s discover the relation of Tonya to the Krueger’s, wealthy, landowners who used to live in the town. Upon discovering this information, they exclaim, “How can you even bring yourself to admit such a thing at a time like this?”

The targets of the revolution have become so drastic, that Mikulitsin feels in danger simply by helping Yury and Lara. He feels trapped between the proverbial ‘rock and hard place.’ His son is a Bolshevik, so he can get in trouble with any opposition to the revolution, and then on the other hand, he could get in serious trouble with the Bolsheviks for helping someone with relation to the upper class. He even goes so far as to worry about facing a firing squad on account of the Zhivagos.

Zhivago's Reservations

Title: “Flying Demon”

Artist: Mikhail Vrubel

While much of the country was enthralled in the mission of the Bolsheviks and the Revolution, there were some with their doubts or hesitations. Yury Zhivago was one of these intellectuals who did not give himself whole-heartedly to the revolution. For instance, when speaking with the deaf-mute on the train, they are talking about the twisted sorts of ‘social experiments’ that the deaf-mute is performing, as with Zybushino. Yury is against these sorts of experiments. When talking about the chaos and disintegration that comes with these experiments, Zhivago states, “The country has to get over one upheaval before plunging into another.”

            In Chapter 6, when Yury returns to Moscow, he feels alienated from many of his old friends. “How effortlessly, how happily that had given up independent thought.” They seem to have abandoned all originality and individuality in light of the revolution, and Yury is greatly troubled by this.

            Similarly, this painting (the last from Vrubel’s Demon Series) holds feelings of uncertainty, doubt, and foreboding. The dark colors along with the snow-capped mountains in the background again represent the cold atmosphere of the revolution in Russia. The most important aspect of the painting is the face of the demon, which gazes ahead with a look of uncertainty, reflecting Yury’s reservations about the Bolshevik revolution.

Summer of 1917

Title: “Birch Grove”

Artist: Isaak Levitan

     

The Summer of 1917 is a monumental moment in the novel, even though it is a relatively very short moment that happens early in the story. Yury and Lara’s time working together during the war was a time of happiness, despite the chaos of the war around them. It was exciting time not just Yury, but Russia as a whole. The future looked bright and full of opportunities for change.

When looking through artists, I came across Isaak Levitan, famous for his landscape paintings. When I found the painting “Birch Grove,” it reminded me of the birch tree under which Pasternak would write poetry in his own personal ‘Summer of 1917.’ While this is a grove of trees rather than just one tree, it still gives me the impression of a peaceful, soothing place where worries seem to vanish. You can imagine the sweet fresh air and the cool shade on a warm summer day. When I first looked at it, it called to mind the happiness of Yury’s Summer of 1917.

Title: “Thou and You”

Author: Aleksandr Pushkin

Translated by: Yevgeny Bonver

She substituted, by a chance,

For empty "you" -- the gentle "thou";

And all my happy dreams, at once,

In loving heart again resound.

In bliss and silence do I stay,

to maintain my role:

"Oh, how sweet you are!" I say –

"How I love thee!" says my soul.

            This poem by Aleksandr Pushkin represented the Summer of 1917 to me as well. In substituting the “empty ‘you’ – the gentle ‘thou,’” it recalls the interaction of Yury and Lara during their time together. For much of their time there, Lara would refer to Yury simply as ‘Zhivago.’ This seemed like a mechanism for Lara to avoid growing feelings for Yury. But then, near the end of their time together, she calls him Yury. Lines 3 and 4 seem to describe how he could have felt at this change, seemingly “by a chance.”

            The last 4 lines sum up the end of their summer together. Through the bliss and silence of their sweet, short time together, he must stay, that is he must stay with his family, with Tonya, and with his son. He must maintain his role as father and husband, even though he wants to go with Lara. While he can only say, “Oh, how sweet you are!” his soul cries out, “How I love thee!” It captures the reality that Zhivago must face of not being able to pursue this cosmic love between Lara and himself. Though he does pursue her later, that was not his intention in the summer of 1917, which is what makes this poem so appropriate. It captures the innocence of this point in the novel.

Yury and Lara: A cosmic and tragic love

Title: “The Nutcracker: Pas de Deux”

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

            After seeing The Nutcracker very recently, one piece of music caught my attention, immediately reminding me of Lara and Yury’s love. It was the “Pas de Deux” between the Prince and the sugarplum princess (I believe), and it seemed reminiscent of these two characters in so many ways.

            The harp and violin at the beginning of the piece seem to put to music the dignified and reserved beginning to their relationship in the novel: they’re meeting on various occasions, such as at the Christmas party of the Sventitskys’. The music beautifully crescendos helping to represent their ups and downs, or times together and times apart. The flutes join the violins and harps, which brought to mind images of the summer of 1917 shared by them both.

            As the piece progresses the passion builds as horns and drums join in. The cosmic love between Yury and Lara is almost uncontrollable. With the mighty crash of the symbols, Tchaikovsky brings to life the magnitude and very nature of their love. Soon after this build up, it quickly quiets, taking a slightly more tragic note. This is as if to tell about the sad separation of the two, as Lara must leave Yury at Varykino with Komarovsky after Strelnikov is captured and shot. It is such a let down to all of us who had become so emotionally invested in the two, just as the decrescendo is a let down from the powerful surge before it.

            With a last sudden jolt in the music, followed by a quick succession of flute notes, the piece recalls Yury’s death, building one last time, as Lara comes to his funeral. Ending, at last, with 4 resounding notes, the “Pas de Deux” reflects the end of this tragic, yet cosmic relationship.

Title: “Their Love Was So Gentle”

Author: Mikhail Lermontov

Translated by: Yevgeny Bonver

Their love was so gentle, so long, and surprising, 

With pining, so deep, and zeal, like a crazy uprising! 

But, much like foes, they shunned their meetings, confessions… 

And were cold and empty their short conversations.  

They left each other in suffering, wordless and proud, 

And only in dreams, saw the image beloved, farther. 

Death had come and commenced their date in the world, that is out... 

But they didn't discern in this new world each other. 

            Since My Sister—Life was dedicated to Lermontov, it seemed only appropriate that one of his poems be used to describe the love of Lara and Yury. In “Their Love Was So Gentle,” I found the right balance of love and tragedy that was necessary for their love story. In the first two stanzas, we can read about the beginning of their love, which really blossomed in the summer of 1917 and grew and strengthened over time. The last part of the first stanza describes confessions and cold conversations, such as the conversation between Lara and Yury while Lara is ironing. After Yury hints at his feelings for Lara, she tells him to go off and find Mademoiselle Fleury and leave her to herself for a while.

            A week after the conversation at the ironing board, Lara left Yury just as the poem describes, “wordless and proud.” As progress through the novel, being together or seeing each other occasionally, the dreams they must have of each other only are only suitable for their brand of cosmic love. As death takes Yury, and then later Lara in some forgotten labor camp, we can refer to the last line of the poem. “They didn’t discern in this new world each other.”  It’s a beautiful way to sum up the tragedy between them. In this new world created through the revolution, they never got to truly be together without something breaking them apart again. They were doomed to live this tragedy as a result of their decision to pursue the love between them. As we learn though, their love is carried on in the form of Tanya, their daughter. How sad, that this is one last aspect of their love, that they are never able to fully know.