# Art vs. Life in Futility

> Theme guide for Futility by William Gerhardie.

The narrator's initial attempt to treat life as a novel is abandoned when he realizes 'real life' is messier and more vital than art, a theme echoed in Fanny Ivanovna's plea for writers to capture 'real drama' rather than neat fiction.

## Where it surfaces

- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/ii): The narrator contrasts the 'careless and free' Bursanov sisters with the hopeless characters in Chekhov's 'Three Sisters,' only to realize that life imitates art as family tensions surface.
- [The Narrator's First Intervention](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/x): The narrator explicitly compares the family to Chekhov characters and himself to an artist-creator, blurring the line between life and literary material.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/chapters/i): The narrator contrasts his abandoned novel (art) with the vitality of real life, embodied by Nina.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/themes/art_vs_life
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/futility_se/themes