The Seagull
Anton Chekhov · 1860–1904 · Russia
Originally Chayka (Russian)
Why it matters
A young writer and an aspiring actress chase artistic glory and doomed love at a country estate, in a play about the impossibility of writing a wholly new kind of play. Its disastrous 1896 premiere, redeemed by Stanislavski's 1898 revival, made Chekhov a dramatist.
At a glance
dramatragedy
Difficulty 4/10medium pace80 pagesNaturalistic surface dialogue hides characters constantly, half-consciously dramatizing themselves.
