Anton Chekhov, Chaika [The Seagull]

John Reid (University of the West of England)

Ed. by Neil Cornwell, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 2.2.1.00: Slavic and Russian Writing and Culture: Old, Medieval and Tsarist, 700-1917.
Vol. editors: Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol), Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Andrei Rogatchevski (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1895

Places

Russia (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Both the title and the design of The Seagull are ironic. But those ironies can only be fully sensed when, as audience, we have experienced the kind of complex seeing that the play demands of us. The ruling spirit of the play is anti-idealist and anti-romantic. In particular, the pervasive tendency to idealise 'love', 'art' and 'vocation' is presented as an understandable, if destructive, aspect of human desire. Unfortunately, the latter way of putting it makes it sounds as if a moral is being squeezed out of the play, but, while the absurdity of human behaviour is brought home to the audience, there are no heroes or villains, and the urge to censor or blame is not of any immediate concern. The human carousel of unrequited lovers t…

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2251 words

Citation: Reid, John. "Chaika". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 June 2002 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7669, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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