Uncle Vanya Guilt/Blame Quotes

All the lovey-dovey back-and-forth between Astrov and Yelena has been completely deniable up until this point. But Astrov has decided to bring it out into the open, naming the feelings they have for each other, and, while he's at it, blame Yelena for everything. By calling her a "predator" and himself a "sparrow," he compares them to the wild, animal kingdom, where she's hunting his poor, innocent self. It's one more way of taking the blame off them: if their love is somehow in the natural order of things, then they can't very well resist it, right?

Everyone seems to have a beef with at least one other person in this play: Vanya with Serebryakov, Astrov with Yelena, Sonya with Yelena… but Serebryakov is oblivious. In this exchange, Vanya has called him by his last name, "Serebryakov," instead of being informal and using his first name. By calling him the informal "Vanya" in return, Serebryakov shows just how unaware he is of how much Vanya blames him for his failures. This could also be read as insolence on Serebryakov's part, because it's totally normal for a subordinate (like a student) to use a formal name and a powerful person (like a teacher) to use the informal name in return. It's like Serebryakov is asserting his own authority over Vanya, even if that's not what Vanya was trying to get at in the first place.

We beg to differ. Vanya's going nuts, screaming at Serebryakov for destroying his life. But, really, what did Serebryakov do? Give Vanya clues to his crimes before he committed them, like the Signaler? Sure, Serebryakov's a selfish jerk, but why didn't Vanya take some responsibility and live his life? Oh, wait: because nobody in this play does that.