Previous
Azdak
A renowned singer who has been brought to entertain the members of the dairy farm and the fruit farm as they gather together to celebrate the triumph of reason in their deliberations over which farm should be assigned dominion over a lush and fertile valley. Arkadi narrates the story of The Chalk Circle for the farmers, creating the play-within-a-play framework of The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Arkadi’s story of the Chalk Circle is essentially an extended parable which celebrates the decision the farmers came to—the moral being that things should be given to those who will take the best care of them. The fruit farmers would be the best stewards of the valley, and would cause it to flourish even further, just like Grusha, the peasant-girl who is the protagonist of the Chalk Circle myth, would be the best mother to the noble child Michael, whom she adopted after he was abandoned by his biological mother. Arkadi frequently relays the inner thoughts of the characters he sings about, and his songs create a direct link between the inner lives of the characters and his audience.
Arkadi Tscheidse Quotes in The Caucasian Chalk Circle
The The Caucasian Chalk Circle quotes below are all either spoken by Arkadi Tscheidse or refer to Arkadi Tscheidse. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1 Quotes
“O blindness of the great! They go their way like gods, great over bent backs, sure of hired fists, trusting in the power which has lasted so long. But long is not forever. O change from age to age! Thou hope of the people!”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this quotation, as Arkadi introduces the noble, wealthy, and powerful Abashwilis, he poetically laments the “blindness of the great,” alluding to the ways in which the powerful cannot see the unrest and discontent that surround them because they are so narcissistically involved in their own lives of privilege and luxury. “The great” walk through the world like “gods,” Arkadi says, feeling themselves to be both elevated and revered. They are great only because of the “bent backs” on which their privilege rests—that is, all the servants, beggars, and downtrodden poor who work tirelessly in their service. “The great” are Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atq
“Know, woman, he who hears not a cry for help but passes by with troubled ears will never hear the gentle call of a lover nor the blackbird at dawn nor the happy sigh of the tired grape-picker.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Arkadi is describing Grusha as she looks upon the abandoned baby Michael in the Governor’s palace courtyard and hears him, in a way, speaking to her. Although Michael is an infant, and is not literally saying these things, Grusha’s moral compass is warning her of the ramifications of turning a blind eye to injustice and not taking action to right the wrong. Michael’s crying is thus a warning to Grusha that if she ignores him and leaves him to die, she will never again know peace—her ears will be forever troubled, and will only hear his cries Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aper
“Fearful is the seductive power of goodness!”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, as Grusha somewhat reluctantly decides to pick up the infant Michael Abashwili and take him into her care, the singer Arkadi, narrating Grusha’s innermost thoughts, describes the “seductive power of goodness.” Grusha is afraid of the “seduction” Michael has engaged her in; over the course of the night, as she has considered whether or not to abandon him in the palace courtyard, she has heard “the child” calling to her and warning her of the unhappiness and regret that will haunt her if she should abandon him. Really, this is Grusha’s inner moral compass speaking to her, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. A
Act 2 Quotes
“She who carries the child feels its weight and little more.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
At the start of act two, Grusha has taken Michael into her care out of guilt and fear, and sees him mostly as a burden. Here, Arkadi describes the “weight”—both literal and figurative—which Michael has imposed onto Grusha’s life. Grusha can feel hardly anything other than the pressing reminder of the burden she has willingly lifted onto her own shoulders, and as she treks farther and farther into the mountains the weight of the child grows heavier and heavier. She has nothing to feed or clothe the child, and only the faint promise of a place where she might find Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provi
Act 3 Quotes
“While you fought in the battle, soldier, the bloody battle, the bitter battle, I found a helpless infant. I had not the heart to destroy him. I had to care for a creature that was lost. I had to stoop for breadcrumbs on the floor. I had to break myself for that which was not mine, that which was other people’s. Someone must help! For the little tree needs water. The lamb loses its way when the shepherd is asleep and its cry is unheard!”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Arkadi narrates Grusha’s thoughts. While washing linens in the stream, she has been approached by Simon Shashava, her betrothed, who has very recently returned from war. During the years they were apart, Grusha has adopted a child and married another man in order to provide shelter for herself and her new son. It is too difficult for either Simon or Grusha to share with one another what they are really feeling after so much time apart, and so Arkadi intervenes to narrate their thoughts. Grusha wishes she could describe the events of the past several years to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo mi
Act 5 Quotes
AZDAK: “I’ve noticed you have a soft spot for justice. I don’t believe he’s your child, but if he were yours, woman, wouldn’t you want him to be rich? You’d only have to say he wasn’t’ yours, and he’d have a palace and horses in his stable and beggars on his doorstep and soldiers in his service. What do you say—don’t you want him to be rich?”
Grusha is silent.
ARKADI: “Hear now what the angry girl thought but did not say: Had he golden shoes to wear, he’d be cruel as a bear. Evil would his life disgrace. He’d laugh in my face.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Arkadi once again does the work of narrating aloud the things that the main character, Grusha, wishes she could say but does not dare speak out loud. Azdak, during a brief recess in the court’s proceedings, asks Grusha why she would not want her child to grow up with every privilege and luxury. Grusha, aware of the ways in which power and wealth corrupt people, wants to explain that if she did surrender Michael to Natella’s care, he would grow up to be cruel and evil just like Natella, and would no longer love Grusha or remember Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. O
“You, you who have listened to the story of the Chalk Circle, take note of what men of old concluded: That what there is shall go to those who are good for it. Children to the motherly, that they prosper, carts to good drivers, that they be driven well, the valley to the waterers, that it yield fruit.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In the last lines, the play and the prologue which framed it come full circle, as Arkadi reveals the moral of the fable of the Chalk Circle. Arkadi has chosen to perform this story for the farmers in order to congratulate them on the triumph of reason in a potentially divisive and difficult situation. Reason won out in the prologue when two divided groups reached the conclusion that the fruit farmers would use the land best, and that it should therefore be given to them. Similarly, reason and justice prevail in the fable of the Chalk Circle when the peasant Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Volu
Get the entire Caucasian Chalk Circle LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Arkadi Tscheidse Character Timeline in The Caucasian Chalk Circle
The timeline below shows where the character Arkadi Tscheidse appears in The Caucasian Chalk Circle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
...says that in honor of their shared guests—the delegation—they will hear a singer that evening, Arkadi Tscheidse. The girl tractorist leaves to retrieve him. The woman from the fruit farm assures...
(full context)
Arkadi Tscheidse, accompanied by the girl tractorist and four musicians, enter the gathering. They are all...
(full context)
Act 1: The Noble Child
Arkadi the singer sits on the floor with a notebook in his hand. A group of...
(full context)
Arkadi turns the focus of the story to a kitchen maid and a solider from the...
(full context)
Arkadi turns his focus back to the Governor’s palace, where he says a trap has been...
(full context)
Arkadi begins to sing of the “blindness of the great,” and the ways in which those...
(full context)
...from the palace in chains, led by two Ironshirts who are “armed to the teeth.” Arkadi sings tauntingly of the Governor’s fall from power. He does not need an architect now,...
(full context)
...gathers her things and prepares to leave, but suddenly she is “rooted to the spot.” Arkadi begins to sing. He describes in poetic words how Grusha hears the infant Michael calling...
(full context)
Act 2: The Flight into the Northern Mountains
Arkadi and his chorus sing about Grusha’s journey. The Fat Prince’s soldiers are after her, and...
(full context)
Arkadi and his chorus sing a small song expressing Grusha’s competing happiness and sadness at having...
(full context)
Act 3: In the Northern Mountains
Arkadi sings of Grusha’s journey across the glacier. She traverses its icy surface and makes her...
(full context)
Arkadi changes the scene to the cottage of a peasant woman and her dying son. Grusha’s...
(full context)
While Jussup eats cake, Arkadi sings about the awkwardness of the situation. Grusha is newly married, even as her lover,...
(full context)
Arkadi, signaling the passage of even more time, sings a song in which he describes Grusha...
(full context)
Arkadi sings the things that Simon and Grusha cannot say out loud to one another. He...
(full context)
Arkadi sings again, narrating that, as the Ironshirts take the child back to the city, Grusha...
(full context)
Act 4: The Story of the Judge
Arkadi calls upon the audience to listen to the story of Azdak the judge and learn...
(full context)
...does not trust the old man, but still he allows him to stay the night. Arkadi intervenes to sing of how Azdak, over the course of the evening, came to realize...
(full context)
Arkadi sings of how Azdak remained the judge for two years, ruling justly as “cockroaches crawled...
(full context)
Arkadi and his chorus sing of Azdak’s continuing travels throughout the countryside. He gains renown as...
(full context)
Arkadi and his chorus sing of how Azdak “broke the rules” to save the local populace,...
(full context)
Arkadi reveals that eventually the Grand Duke returned to Nuka, as did the Governor’s wife, Natella....
(full context)
Act 5: The Chalk Circle
...hers, Azdak says, Michael can live in the lap of luxury and want for nothing. Arkadi intervenes to sing Grusha’s thoughts aloud. She knows that if Michael grows up rich, he...
(full context)
Arkadi intervenes one final time to announce that after that night Azdak was never again seen...
(full context)
