Places Discussed

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Sorin farm

Sorin farm. Setting for the entire play. Chekhov carefully crafts the setting of his play so that the action of the work gradually moves from the outside into the confined spaces of an interior room. The play begins on the back lawn of the Sorin farm. A small stage has been set up in the middle of a path leading down to a lake. The curtain is drawn so that the lake cannot be seen.

During the first act, a young aspiring writer named Konstantin puts on an avant-garde play which confuses the audience (particularly his mother, Irina Arkadina, a famous actress). He uses the natural setting of the moon rising over the lake to add a dramatic touch to the arid, overly intellectual verbiage of the play itself. A young woman named Nina Zarechnaya (her surname means “beyond the river”) delivers Konstantin’s words. She has spent her whole life by the lake and now yearns to become an actress.

In the second act, Konstantin presents her with the body of a seagull he has just killed, and this bird becomes an emblem of Nina’s future destiny. She is drawn to Arkadina’s lover, the writer Trigorin. He too finds Nina attractive, and he makes a note to write a story about a girl who loves the lake like a seagull, when along comes a man with nothing better to do but to destroy her life, just as the seagull was destroyed. Trigorin subsequently seduces Nina, but abandons her to remain with Arkadina.

The final act takes place in a parlor which Konstantin has converted into a study. Two years have passed, and the main characters have reassembled. Konstantin, however, has never left the farm. Nina arrives unannounced, drenched by a cold autumn rain. After she describes to Konstantin her difficulties, her nostalgia for her simple life by the lake, and her renewed determination to continue her acting career, she leaves him, and the young man kills himself out of despair. It is characteristic of Chekhov that the suicide occurs offstage while the other characters are engaged in mundane pursuits such as playing lotto.

Historical Context

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In 1896, the same year Chekhov's The Seagull premiered, Nicholas II of the Romanov dynasty ascended as the last czar of Russia, which then had a population of approximately 128 million. The vast nation was dominated by the Russian Orthodox Church, an inefficient bureaucracy, and a deeply rooted landed aristocracy. It appeared to be in a stagnant, twilight phase, resistant to political reform and social progress. Although many in the educated class saw the need for change, they were largely ineffective until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 brought significant transformation, ushering Russia into the modern era. Prior to this, despite occasional unrest like the failed 1906 rebellion, Russia remained a dormant giant, slow to embrace the industrial revolution that had already begun transforming its European neighbors into burgeoning industrial powers. However, despite its backwardness and isolation, Russia produced some of the era's most outstanding writers, composers, and artists, with Chekhov being a prominent figure. Russian cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg were significant cultural hubs and breeding grounds for new ideas among a growing number of disillusioned intellectuals. Yet, these cities also faced severe issues such as inadequate housing, healthcare, and transportation, along with rampant poverty and disease—including tuberculosis, the illness that was slowly claiming Chekhov's life as he wrote The Seagull.

While the modern age was advancing more swiftly in the United States and European countries like England, France, and Germany, rapid changes awaited inventions and discoveries that were...

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just beginning to emerge in 1896. That year, Henry Ford drove his first car through the streets of Detroit, and German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays. Additionally, the dial telephone and electric lamp were patented in America, and the first movie was shown in the Netherlands. In the same year, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, signaling the start of internationalism and the breakdown of national isolation in the postindustrial age.

Apart from the transformations brought about by science and technology, social and political shifts were also imminent. The influence of two prominent thinkers—Karl Marx and Charles Darwin—continued to resonate across various domains, including politics, religion, art, and literature. In the 1890s, a third influential figure, Sigmund Freud, began developing his psychoanalytic method, offering new and sometimes unsettling insights into human behavior. Freud's theories would profoundly impact both literature and art, which, during the same period, were already seeking new directions and the "new forms" referenced by Konstantine in The Seagull.

The fin de siècle artists of the 1890s, though diverse in their approaches, were united in their quest to replace the traditional with the novel and different, experimenting with form and technique. Although Chekhov was not prone to the personal excesses of many of his contemporaries, his later plays particularly reflect this drive to innovate and create anew.

Literary Style

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AllusionThe Seagull employs allusions to literary works that enrich the texture of Chekhov's play through their suggestiveness. A primary example is Shakespeare's Hamlet, from which Konstantine and his mother quote lines that help define their relationship. Konstantine resents his mother for her attachment to Boris Trigorin, whom he intensely dislikes, much like Hamlet's disdain for Claudius. Similar to Hamlet, Konstantine erupts in anger towards his mother, driven as much by her selfishness as by her attachment to Trigorin. The Seagull, like Hamlet, invites a Freudian, Oedipal interpretation of the relationship between Treplyov and his mother, a view supported by similar readings of the relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude.

Another allusion in The Seagull references a story by the French writer Guy de Maupassant, a highly successful proponent of realism in fiction—a relatively "new form" in Chekhov's era, though contemporary trends were already shifting away from it. There are also several allusions to the Russian theater of the time, which offer insights into the characters who make them. However, these references are more topical and less memorable than those to Shakespeare.

Comedy of MannersThe Seagull, though different in mood and theme, shares some similarities with a comedy of manners—those amoral drawing-room pieces of the English stage in the eighteenth century. In such plays, love intrigues are central for both the dramatists and characters, with adultery often condoned if not practiced. Characters, often libertines, find themselves in triangular relationships that require resolution through wit, clever strategies, or even character reform. Clever young rakes typically manage to satisfy their hearts while replenishing their empty purses.

Chekhov's comedy is much heavier, and its outcome starkly different. In The Seagull, the quest for love is thwarted, and triumph over financial adversity remains an unrealized dream. The potential for any form of self-fulfillment simply erodes over time. However, compared to much nineteenth-century melodrama, The Seagull shares with the earlier comedy of manners a complex intrigue plot, a degree of amorality, a focus on social mores, and a setting—a country estate—ideal for the various character encounters necessary for the intrigue. Like some of those earlier plays, The Seagull also exhibits an apparent shapelessness.

ConflictThe Seagull lacks a central conflict involving a protagonist battling an opposing force. Instead, it features minor conflicts stemming from characters' desires clashing with the needs or ambitions of others. These conflicts primarily revolve around love, which is often unreciprocated in the play. The narrative explores the frustrations of most main characters, their futile attempts to attain their desires, and in some instances, like Konstantine's, their disillusionment upon achieving a semblance of success, whether in love or fortune.

Some conflicts are familial, such as the tension between Konstantine and his mother, but more frequently, they arise from unrequited love. This leads to the pervasive unhappiness and misery affecting all but the more detached characters, like Dorn and the waspish Shamreyeff, who remain aloof from romantic entanglements. Ultimately, these conflicts are left unresolved, at best only fading or weakening with time.

FarceThe Seagull employs minimal low comedy, a contrast to the abundance of such elements in some of Chekhov's earlier one-act plays. However, there are farcical moments that remind the audience that the play is a comedy and that some character behaviors are mere posturing. For instance, Masha's expression of unhappiness in the opening dialogue, where she states, "I am in mourning for my life," and dons Hamlet's "inky cloak" as a symbol of her claimed inner sorrow, appears insincere, especially to Medvedenko.

How seriously should the audience take Masha or other sorrowful characters like Konstantine and Nina? The Seagull can be staged as a somber melodrama or, as Chekhov likely intended, more as a comedy. The play sometimes oscillates between these two moods, such as in Konstantine's failed suicide attempt. The serious nature of this act is comically undercut when he reappears with a comically oversized bandage on his head. By juxtaposing mundane observations or events with heartfelt expressions or serious actions, Chekhov reminds the audience that life is neither purely comedic nor tragic. He often employs comic bathos, contrasting the absurd with the profound.

Fin de siècle
In the realm of art, fin de siècle embodies both the concept of art for art's sake and, rightly or wrongly, a sense of decadence. This term described artists across various genres who were challenging traditional norms, creating works that defied conventional morality and avoided didactic purposes. Many of these artists led controversial lives, openly defying societal norms, much like the free-spirited Oscar Wilde. Konstantine, in his pursuit of "new forms," fits this bohemian archetype, full of disdain for tradition and eager to dismantle Russia's old theatrical conventions with his avant-garde art.

Foil
A common technique in drama to highlight character traits is the use of character foils. This method is particularly effective in plays, which are brief and transient experiences when performed. By presenting characters with stark contrasts, the playwright can emphasize their differences, making each character more distinct and memorable. In The Seagull, Sorin's ineffectualness is not merely a result of his age and increasing frailty; it is accentuated by the disobedience and surliness of his steward, Ilya Shamreyeff. Similarly, Konstantine Treplyov's imaginative yet volatile nature is made more pronounced when contrasted with Semyon Medvedenko, who is far more stable and rational and never succumbs to fits of rage. Irina Arkadina, who often protests excessively, finds a foil in Nina, a younger version of herself whose youthful beauty serves as a reminder of Arkadina's fading looks. Chekhov skillfully uses such contrasts to reveal deeper aspects of his characters.

Oedipus Complex
Much has been discussed about the relationship between Konstantine and his mother, Irina Arkadina. Drawing loose parallels and even references to Shakespeare's Hamlet, Chekhov creates an angry young man whose disdain for his mother's companion and lover, Boris Trigorin, goes beyond mere artistic jealousy fueled by his rebellious disdain for the older man's talent. Konstantine's hatred for Trigorin is intense, even to the point of wanting to kill him, suggesting more than just disgust at Trigorin's success as a writer. Although controversial, the Freudian explanation of a subconscious sexual jealousy holds weight. The Oedipus Complex involves a male's latent affection for his mother and corresponding animosity towards his father, whom he sees as a rival for his mother's love. This hatred can be redirected towards a surrogate figure, particularly if, like Boris Trigorin in Chekhov's play and King Claudius in Hamlet, that person takes the father's place in the mother's bed.

Soliloquy
Interestingly, Chekhov employs the soliloquy, a technique that seems contrary to realism. Traditionally used in theater, a soliloquy is a spoken monologue revealing a character's inner thoughts and emotions while they are alone on stage. Although hidden listeners might overhear it, as seen in Hamlet, it primarily exposes the character's inner self to the audience. Realists argue against this device, believing that people rarely speak their thoughts aloud unless they are mentally unstable. Chekhov uses soliloquy sparingly, possibly to hint at a character's mental and emotional turmoil. In act 4, Konstantine, briefly alone, discontentedly reflects on "slipping into routine" just before Nina appears and rejects his love again, leading to the play's enigmatic conclusion when Konstantine shoots himself once more.

SymbolThe Seagull features a central symbol, as suggested by its title. The seagull, which Konstantine shoots and places at Nina's feet in act 2, holds a special meaning for her, yet its significance in the play remains elusive and debatable. There is no straightforward explanation for its purpose. Chekhov seems to introduce it almost whimsically, challenging the reader or viewer to derive any meaning from it. Even Nina initially admits that the symbolic meaning of the seagull is beyond her comprehension. Symbols often provoke discussion without definitive answers because they can represent different things to different people. What is evident is that Konstantine is a skilled marksman, and his failed suicide attempt appears more like a bid for sympathy. He associates the bird's death, a beautiful creature, with his own depressive state. He recalls past events, including the failure of his play—aborted by his mother's harsh criticism, akin to the seagull's life being cut short. He also tells Nina that he has burned his play's manuscript, deliberately destroying what he considered a thing of beauty.

Other symbols in the play include the estate's lake, which, like the seagull, holds different meanings for different characters. Dorn views it as magical and dream-inducing, while Trigorin sees it practically as a place to fish, and Nina perceives it as a catalyst for her ambition to become an actress. Flowers also play a symbolic role in the play. Their fleeting beauty represents the fragile dreams of the characters, which, like the flowers, are either deliberately destroyed or succumb to the passage of time.

Compare and Contrast

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1890s: Long-distance travel is challenging, primarily relying on rail, horseback, or horse-drawn carts, carriages, and sleighs, often on roads that are impassable for half the year. Though the telephone is available in some European and American cities, it has yet to reach rural estates like Sorin's. While these estates may be relatively close to towns with railway connections to Moscow and other major cities, many people live their entire lives without venturing more than a few miles from their birthplace.

Today: Modern technology enables even the most isolated communities to stay connected, not only with the world's urban centers but also with each other. Nowadays, people in remote wilderness outposts or traveling through secluded regions can easily communicate with family or friends, with reunions only a few hours or, at most, a couple of days away.

1890s: Medicine, on the cusp of significant breakthroughs, remains a highly imperfect science. There is minimal understanding of the nature of most diseases or the bacteria and viruses causing them, so treatments focus on managing symptoms rather than addressing causes. Medicine is also unregulated, with many doctors, including some quacks, relying on homeopathy and herbal elixirs passed down through generations. Alcohol and opium derivatives are common painkillers, prescribed without awareness of their addictive properties. Patients are often sent to hospitals not to recover but to die. By the end of the nineteenth century, the average life expectancy in the United States is in the mid-forties, and even lower in Russia.

Today: While still not perfect, medicine has become far more precise and effective due to scientific advancements in the twentieth century. Many medical practices are now preventative. Immunizations help control diseases that were once deadly. Physicians and medical scientists now strive to identify the causes of illnesses, believing that isolating the cause can lead to a cure. The fact that life expectancy is set to double that of a century ago illustrates the tremendous progress medicine has made in the last hundred years.

1890s: Aside from entertainment provided by books, card games, and board games, most home entertainment is created by those residing or visiting. Upper and middle-class homes often feature pianos and other musical instruments, with some even having dedicated music rooms for family members to form small chamber-music ensembles. Plays and recitations are also common, involving a high level of participation from family members and guests in creating entertainment.

Today: With remarkable technological progress, family members and guests can access a vast range of entertainment options by simply "channel surfing" on TV or the Internet, or by playing various CDs or tapes on home entertainment systems. Interestingly, the largest audience for different arts now resides at home rather than attending live events. However, this home audience tends to be more passive and usually does not participate in creating entertainment.

1890s: Class distinctions remain deeply ingrained in the minds of the populace, despite the emancipation of serfs several years prior and the rapid emergence of a middle class.

Today: While many democratic societies still hold onto a residual sense of class differences, the power tied to class and hereditary rights has significantly waned. Modern class distinctions are generally based on wealth, education, or professional status, and they manifest more in aspects like country club memberships and cultural preferences rather than the size of one's property or the number of household servants.

Media Adaptations

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In 1968, Sidney Lumet directed a film adaptation of The Seagull. The movie featured an impressive cast, including James Mason as Trigorin, Alfred Lynch as Medvedenko, Ronald Radd as Shamraev, Vanessa Redgrave as Nina, Simone Signoret as Arkadina, David Warner as Konstantin, Harry Andrews as Sorin, Eileen Herlie as Polina (Pauline), Kathleen Widdoes as Masha, and Denholm Elliott as Dorn. This film is available on video from Warner Brothers.

In 1971, a Russian film version of The Seagull was directed by Yuri Karasik. The cast included Alla Demidova, Vladimir Chetverikov, Nikolai Plotnikov, Lyudmila Savelyeva, Valentina Telichkina, Yuri Yakovlev, Yefim Kopelyan, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Sofiya Pavlova, Sergei Torkachevsky, S. Smirnov, and Genrikas Kurauskas. This version, with English subtitles, can be obtained from Facets Multimedia, Inc.

The Seagull has also been adapted for television in both the United States and Europe. In 1968, the same year Lumet's film debuted, a British television adaptation was produced as a "Play of the Month" featuring Robert Stephens. In 1975, an American television version was produced, starring Blythe Danner as Nina, Olympia Dukakis as Polina, Lee Grant as Irina Arkadina, and Frank Langella as Treplev (Treplyov). Three years later, another British adaptation aired, with Michael Gambon leading the cast. Additionally, in 1977, an Italian version directed by Marco Bellocchio was broadcast in the United States, featuring Laura Betti, Giulio Brogi, Remo Girone, and Pamela Villoresi. Despite the renewed interest in Chekhov's plays demonstrated by these adaptations, the recordings have never been commercially released.

Bibliography and Further Reading

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SOURCES
Auden, W. H., "Musee des Beaux Arts," in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 2, edited by M. H. Abrams, 5th ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 1985, p. 2298.

Caputi, Anthony, Eight Modern Plays, Norton, 1991, p. 133.

Chekhov, Anton, Anton Chekhov: A Life, by Donald Rayfield, Henry Holt, 1997, p. 353.

Karlinsky, Simon, "The Seagull" in Letters of Anton Chekhov, translated by Michael Henry Heim, Harper & Row, 1973, p. 280.

Kirk, Irina, Anton Chekhov, Twayne Publishers, 1981, p. 133.

Lantz, K. A., Anton Chekhov: A Reference Guide to Literature, G. K. Hall & Co., 1985, p. xix.

Magarshack, David, Chekhov the Dramatist, Hill and Wang, 1960, pp. 17, 159-160, 163-164.

Magarshack, David, The Seagull, Barnes & Noble, 1972, pp. 21-23.

Moravcevich, Nicholas, "Chekhov and Naturalism: From Affinity to Divergence," in Anton Chekhov's Plays, edited by Eugene K. Bristow, Norton, 1977, pp. 294-295.

Styan, J. L., Chekhov in Performance: A Commentary on the Major Plays, Cambridge University Press, 1971, pp. 10, 13.

Valency, Maurice, "The Sea Gull," in The Breaking String: The Plays of Anton Chekhov, Oxford, 1966, p. 154.

FURTHER READING
Hahn, Beverly, Chekhov: A Study of the Major Stories and Plays, Cambridge University Press, 1977.

Although Hahn primarily focuses on The Cherry Orchard, her arguments against Chekhov's supposed flaws—such as lack of structure, dullness, and negativity—are insightful for appreciating his late plays.

Kirk, Irina, Anton Chekhov, Twayne Publishers, 1981.

This comprehensive overview of Chekhov and his work serves as an excellent starting point for further exploration. It provides concise yet perceptive interpretations of his plays and the underlying artistic principles.

Lantz, K. A., Anton Chekhov: A Reference Guide to Literature, G. K. Hall, 1985.

An essential resource for those conducting in-depth research on Chekhov. It includes a biography, a checklist of his works with both English and Russian titles, and an annotated bibliography of critical studies published before 1984.

Magarshack, David, Chekhov the Dramatist, Hill and Wang, 1960.

In this introduction to Chekhov's plays, Magarshack categorizes them into "plays of direct action" and "plays of indirect action," with The Wood Demon acting as a transitional piece. He connects The Seagull to Chekhov's personal life and his estate in Melikhovo.

Magarshack, David, The Real Chekhov: An Introduction to Chekhov's

Last Plays, Allen & Unwin, 1972.

This study provides a detailed scene-by-scene analysis of each of Chekhov's four major plays, exploring the playwright's perspective on various themes, particularly the nature of art in The Seagull.

Styan, J. L., Chekhov in Performance: A Commentary on the Major Plays, Cambridge University Press, 1971.

Styan offers a thorough analysis of Chekhov's four major plays, focusing on the "submerged life" within the texts and Chekhov's stage techniques. He also examines the preparation and initial performances of each play.

Valency, Maurice, The Breaking String: The Plays of Anton Chekhov, Oxford University Press, 1966.

This analysis connects Chekhov's significant plays to both his own stories and the Russian theater of his era. Valency contends that Chekhov is fundamentally an ironist and a comedian, despite each play depicting the rupture of a "golden string" that links man to both his divine father and his past.

Williams, Lee J., Anton Chekhov, the Iconoclast, University of Scranton Press, 1989.

This research posits that Chekhov was a deliberate agent of transformation in Russia. He utilized a scientific approach to challenge outdated, class-driven myths about Russian peasants. In both his methods and his philosophy, as the title suggests, he was a committed iconoclast.

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