FREEZE YOUR BRAIN

1. The Seagull

Pages read: 61

Summary:

• Treplyov writes a play for his lover, Nina, to act in, but it fails and her love for him fades so he shoots himself
• Nina and Trigorin, a famous writer, fall in love, although Trigorin is in a long-term relationship with Arkadina, a famous actress
• Masha is in love with Treplyov, but chooses not to pursue him, and instead marries Medvedenko, a schoolmaster
• Several years later, Nina is ruined by her scandal with Trigorin after their child dies and he abandons her
• Masha is still in love with Treplyov, even though she is married to someone else and still unhappy
• Nina visits Treplyov, and he admits he still loves her, but Nina still loves Trigorin, so Treplyov shoots himself and dies

I think that through Masha's character, Chekhov condemns emotional dishonesty. Masha's choice to withhold her own emotions ultimately harms another person, as well as herself. She is cruel and chooses to marry a man she does not reciprocate love with in order to forget her own feelings. By the end of the play, she is still miserable and has now trapped her husband, Medvedenko, in a joyless mariage. She is still in love with Trepylov even years later, highlighting that her emotion is unavoidable. Chekhov does not deprecate her emotions, but specifically her attempted avoidance of them.

Arkadina's character is used to portray how the lines between motivation and obsession can become blurred when striving for success. Chekhov discusses how success and fame is destablising and destructive, and can lead to selfishness and alienation. She is only interested in material things, and only talks of such, like her clothes, and never her actual acting or art. She is also disconnected from every character, including her own son, who, by the end of the play, commits suicide in the room next door while she is playing bingo.

Trigorin believes he is inadequate as a writer, and his insecurities ultimately harm other people. His love affair with Nina is used to forget his insecurities, and once she causes trouble for him, he returns to his regular life unfazed. Nina leaves her life back home for Trigorin, and is ruined by the scandal, unable to return to her parents who have outcast her; Trigorin receives no consequences for his actions. He surrounds himself with people who praise him: as with all creative characters written in the play, he is searching for recognition, not only artistic mastery.

The key discussion of this play is of fame and the consequences of pursuing it. All characters care to be recognised, not just to create art, and Chekhov explores the self-destruction caused in doing so. Chekhov's tragic endings for Nina and Trepylov highlight the worst outcomes of the pursuit of success.

I also read that the seagull is symbolic of innocence and freedom. Treplyov kills a seagull, and this prompts Trigorin to write about a girl, using Nina as his muse, who is "happy and free" as a bird, and killed by a man who has "nothing better to do". This foreshadows Nina's scandal and ruin. Towards the end of the play, she refers to herself as "The Gull", implying that she has become lifeless, like the slain bird. Despite her fears, her character concludes by stating she is not the gull, rebelling against this identity and despite her struggles, she refuses to be debilitated by them.

"If you ever need my life, come and take it."

2. Uncle Vanya

Pages read: 55

Summary:

• Stuff happens

I didn't have many thoughts after reading this play, which is a shame because it was the play that convinced me to pick up the book originally.

"Lovely weather for hanging oneself."

3. The Three Sisters

Pages read: 80

Summary:

• Act One: The sisters (Olga, Masha, Irina) are living in provincial boredom and are obsessed with the idea of returning to Moscow, which represents meaning, culture, and a better life.
• Masha is married to Kulygin, a teacher in a Gymnasium, but is disenamoured.
• Irina believes strongly in work as the path to happiness.
• Natasha is engaged to Andrey, who dreams of being a professor.
• Tuzenbakh, a Lieutenant, and Solyony, a Staff Captain, are both in love with Irina, but this is unrequited.
• Act Two: Natasha and Andrey are married a year later, and now have a baby boy.
• Andrey has now become the secretary of the District Council, despite his intellectual ambitions, marking the start of his decline.
• Masha has an affair with Vershinin, a Lieutenant-Colonel.
• Natasha subtly begins her plan to move the sisters out of the house, marking the beginning of her rise in power.
• Act Three: A year later, there is a fire in the village that engulfs multiple houses.
• Natasha is exposed for having an affair with Protopopov, the head of the District Council, and this is openly ignored.
• Natasha and Olga argue for the housekeeper's "usefulness".
• Andrey admits he has mortgaged the house, effectively betraying his sisters.
• Act Four: Another year later, the brigade prepares to transfer to Poland, meaning Masha must give up Vershinin.
• Olga has become headmistress and no longer lives at home.
• Irina decides to marry Tuzenbakh, despite not returning his love.
• Solyony challenges Tuzenbakh to a duel, and kills Tuzenbakh.

Vershinin argues with Tuzenbakh that people must strive for eventual progress, even if they don't live to see it. This mirrors an argument that takes place in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, between Levin and Sergei in part three, where Sergei brings up the development of nations, unfolding over centuries. Notably though, Chekhov diverges from Tolstoy, in that he does not choose a "correct" philosophy. Both Tuzenbakh and Vershinin are unhappy, whereas Levin ultimately finds contentment.

The house they live in embodies stagnation and inaction. They are constantly peering outside through windows, which act as physical and metaphorical barriers to the life they wish to lead.

Music is constantly played throughout the play, and I think that Chekhov uses this as a symbol for hopes and dreams. At the end of the play, the music still gives them excitement, but it slowly begins to fade away, marking their divergence from the dreams of their youth, and their endurance of their current life.

"I'm beginning to forget her face. We'll be forgotten in just the same way."