The Seagull

For works with similar titles, see Sea Gull.

The Seagull (1896)
by Anton Chekhov, translated by Marian Fell

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The Seagull (Russian: "Чайка" ("Chayka")), written in 1895, is the first of what are generally considered to be Anton Chekhov's four major plays. It centres on the romantic and artistic conflicts between four theatrical characters: the ingenue Nina, the fading leading lady Irina Arkadina, her son the experimental playwright Konstantin Treplyov, and the famous middlebrow story writer Trigorin.

Like the rest of Chekhov's full-length plays, The Seagull relies upon an ensemble cast of diverse, fully developed characters. In opposition to much of the melodramatic theatre of the 19th century, lurid actions (such as Treplyov's suicide attempts) are kept offstage. Characters tend to speak in ways that skirt around issues rather than addressing them directly, a concept known as subtext.

Anton Chekhov245520The Seagull1896Marian Fell

A Play In Four Acts

CHARACTERS

IRINA ARKADINA, an actress
CONSTANTINE TREPLIEFF, her son
PETER SORIN, her brother
NINA ZARIETCHNAYA, a young girl, the daughter of a rich landowner
ILIA SHAMRAEFF, the manager of SORIN'S estate
PAULINA, his wife
MASHA, their daughter
BORIS TRIGORIN, an author
EUGENE DORN, a doctor
SIMON MEDVIEDENKO, a schoolmaster
JACOB, a workman
A COOK
A MAIDSERVANT

The scene is laid on SORIN'S estate. Two years elapse between the third and fourth acts.

This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.

Original:	This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
Translation:	This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse