Fathers and Sons

Fathers and Sons is Brian Friel's adaptation of Turgenev's novel. The play follows Bazarov, a nihilistic, unsentimental revolutionary, as he comes into conflict with the older generation of Russian liberals of the 1830s and 1840s. Bazarov's friend, Arkady Kirsanov, brings him to the family estate. Arkady, dazzled by Bazarov's commitment to his ideals, clashes with his father and his uncle Pavel. Their nihilism is challenged, however, when they both fall in love with Anna, a beautiful widow who doesn't return their love. Bazarov is confused by the pain he feels at her rejection. After an ultimate conflict with Pavel, Bazarov leaves to return home. He dies in the typhus epidemic, feeling, in an appropriately nihilistic way, that his life has had no meaning. Arkady, free from Bazarov's influence, goes on to have a happy life with Anna's sister, Katya.