Matryona's House Themes

The film Circus is a 1936 Soviet melodramatic comedy musical film. Marion Dixon (played by actress Lyubov Orlova) plays and American circus artist who gives birth to a black child. Soon after, she becomes a victim of racism and it forced to stay in the circus but finds refuge, love and happiness in the USSR. In the movie, Dixon slowly comes to accept the Stalinist ideology and sees that the Soviet Union is an accepting, inclusive nation. Though out the film, Dixon is kept in a subordinate position by her “protector” the corrupt theatrical agent, Franz von Kneishitz (played by actor Pavel Massalasky). He continuously threats to expose the fact that she gave birth to a black child. With this threat always in the back of her mind, she soon meets

However, the central theme of “Matryona’s House” is focused on Matryona herself. She is presented by the protagonist-Vysokoe Polye- a guy who wanted to abandon the city to a place where trains do not run; somewhere beyond the boarder of recognizable urbans. He states, “I wanted to efface myself, to lose myself in deepest Russia… if it was still anywhere to be

Matryona is the little old lady of the village, where people don’t really respect her. He living conditions are shabby- with its wooden shingles and weathered logs, its withered garden and potted plants, its Russian tile stove and icons in the corner and its nanny goat, large cat, mice and cockroaches- but they did not change the kind and generous, unselfish person she was. The dismantling of the outbuilding symbolizes or anticipates the death of the old woman; more than that, it warns of the death of rural Russia, of its ancient, time-tested ways that must not be forgotten. Ultimately, the symbolism and the interconnection of Matryona and here house is used to convey the unnatural ideas of communistic ideology. In communist government, there is no one person but a group of people in power. This type of government does all in its power to destroy independence in a person. Greed, corruption and selfishness are words that are normally associated with capitalism. This story displays the exception for a communistic society, in that the selfishness and greed of the other characters are able to destroy Matryona. The corruption displayed in this story focuses on “the higher up get the peat and the people don’t get anything, so they are subjected to steal. The system forces people to be immoral, they have to steal. In the end, Matryona willingly gave herself, part of her house, to the greed of others to be