The Seagull

“She’s taken against the performance just because Nina’s acting and might take the fancy of her writer fellow.”

This passage foreshadows the rivalry between Nina and Arkadina in Act I of the play. There will be a battle between the younger woman and the older woman for both the affections of Trigorin and for the right to be the leading lady on the stage.

“We need a new kind of theatre. If we can’t make it new [it’s] better to have none.”

Konstantin argues throughout the play that the form of theater must be reinvented and frequently degrades his mother and Trigorin for having old-fashioned ideas about art. His concerns here speak to the ongoing issues surrounding The Purpose of Art in the play, through which Konstantin will wrestle with his complicated feelings about his work as a writer, his mother’s own artistic legacy, and the uneasy dynamics of fame.

“The idea is to show life the way we experience it in dreams—not the way it is or [the way] you think it ought to be.”

Here, again, Konstantin’s way of thinking about art as relying more on imagination and an attempt to be different is evident. The result is his play comes across as stilted, and Nina finds it difficult to perform. Ironically, most of the characters live in this state of disillusionment, or “dreams,” in their day-to-day lives.

“I don’t mind listening to gibberish once in a while if it’s to entertain, but this was apparently supposed to be a new theatrical form […] Since when has the exhibition of a morbid personality been a new art form?”

Arkadina makes no effort to hide the fact that Konstantin and his artistic attempts annoy her, ushering in the theme of Living in the Shadow of a Renowned Parent. She frequently mocks his plays and does not take him seriously as an artist. By justifying her comments about her son’s play, she derides Konstantin as emotional and dramatic instead of recognizing him as a son searching for approval from his mother.

“With those looks, and that lovely voice it’s a sin for you to be hidden away in the country. […] you definitely have to go on the stage!”

Despite finding the content of the play laughable, Arkadina compliments Nina. The compliment is not about her talent, however, but instead about more superficial qualities—her voice and looks—that may help her get her foot in the door but will not ultimately make her a great actress. Another important thing to note about this moment is that while Arkadina may be kind to Nina in this scene, she will soon grow jealous of the very qualities she compliments as Nina begins to attract Trigorin’s attention away from her.

“You have to know why you’re writing. Otherwise—if you set off along that enchanted path without a definite goal in mind—you’ll lose your way, and your talent will turn on itself and destroy you.”

This line, spoken by Dorn, foreshadows the demise of both Konstantin and Nina while speaking to The Purpose of Art. Both of them pursue their dreams of being artists without a specific goal. Along the way, they will lose themselves and the very thing that they used to dream of bringing them joy will instead bring them loneliness and sorrow.

“Oh, what could be more weary than the sweet weariness of life in the country…The heat and quiet, no one feels like doing anything—it’s very pleasant […] and yet…there’s nothing to compare with sitting in a hotel room somewhere learning one’s lines.”

One of the tensions in The Seagull is the struggle of being torn between life in the country and life in town, which metaphorically is being torn between a life that is more passive (the country) and one more that is more active (town). Though Arkadina enjoys spending time in the country, she always retreats back to town, especially when the dreaminess of the country begins to lure Trigorin away from her.

“Women can forgive anything but failure. I’ve burned it, every last shred of it.”

Konstantin is left feeling embarrassed over the way his play is received, and begins to feel inferior to Trigorin. Konstantin assumes that Nina’s love shifting toward Trigorin is because he is the more successful writer of the two. While “women” in this context is spoken to Nina and is referring to romantic relationships, the quote is equally applicable to how Konstantin thinks his mother feels about her son’s failures, alluding to his Living in the Shadow of a Renowned Parent.

“I wish I could put myself in your place for an hour or so, just to know how you think and generally what kind of little creature this is.”

Trigorin’s infatuation with Nina is fleeting, as this quote (and indeed, this entire scene) foreshadows. His interest in Nina stems from his curiosity as a writer, and from boredom in the stillness of the countryside. From a writer’s perspective, and, like the man in the story he tells about the seagull, he decides to destroy her since he has nothing better to do. He will never stay long—just long enough to know enough about her to write a better story.

“I’m never left in peace, and it’s as if I’m devouring my own life—to make the honey for my readers out there, I’m gathering up the pollen from my best flowers, breaking off the flowers themselves, trampling on their roots.”

Trigorin’s success is only at the expense of a never-tiring work ethic, one that leaves little time for the simple pleasures of country life he finds at Sorin’s estate. This speech hints at his writing being a means of self-destruction, but the visceral language can also be applied to the way he treats Nina later (and offstage) in the play.

“Loving with hope—waiting years on end for something, you don’t know what…Better off married and forget about love, I’ll have new troubles to blot out the old ones.”

Masha, tired of pining for Konstantin, decides to marry Medvedenko even though she does not love him. While Sorin wishes he had acted on his dreams but never did, and Nina acts on her dreams as an actress and fails, Masha realizes her dreams of being with Konstantin will not come true. Masha feels she is being reasonable, but her misery is evident to all, and her need to escape from the sorrows of her life is never overcome—she just relies on her alcohol and snuff more, still entrapped by The Consequences of Disillusionment.

“I’m going, and I still don’t know why Konstantin tried to shoot himself. I think it was mostly jealousy.”

Jealousy is a constant factor in The Seagull. Konstantin, overcome with jealousy over Trigorin, shoots himself offstage between Acts 2 and 3. Arkadina, who makes this comment, suffers from jealousy of her own. The mother and son have two very different ways of coping with their jealousy: Arkadina’s jealousy causes her to lash out at others, while Konstantin’s causes him to turn on himself.

“I mean, I have some money, but I’m an artist!—My outfits alone have simply ruined me.”

Several characters ask Arkadina to consider aiding Konstantin financially, but each time she refuses. She claims that she does not have enough money, when she really only wants to spend the money on herself. Arkadina’s vanity and selfishness only work to further drive a wedge between her and Konstantin, making Living in the Shadow of a Renowned Parent all the more difficult for her son.

“If you only knew!—I’ve lost everything. She doesn’t love me—I can’t write any more—I’ve lost all hope.”

In a rare moment of intimacy between Konstantin and Arkadina, Konstantin confesses to his mother that the main cause of his pain is losing Nina to Trigorin. This is a pivotal moment not only for Konstantin, but also for Arkadina. The affair between Trigorin and Nina is exactly what she feared, and now it has come true. It is in this moment that Arkadina decides to exert her power over Trigorin and make him leave with her.

“I won’t let you…You’re mine…you’re mine—this brow is mine…these eyes, this soft hair…all of you is mine.”

The seduction scene between Arkadina and Trigorin demonstrates more of Arkadina’s true nature, which is possessive of Trigorin and manipulative. As she faces the threat of losing her romance with Trigorin to a younger woman, Arkadina proves she will do anything she can to “win” him back from Nina, and to maintain her status and power.

“I’ve no will of my own. I’ve never had a will of my own…spineless—feeble—submissive to the last—is that really what women want?”

Trigorin, who is called “spineless” later in the play by Konstantin, proves the young man right by the way he falters between the two women in his life. He is not loyal to either Arkadina or Nina, but instead blames his cowardice for trying to keep both of them.

“Goodbye my dears. If we live we’ll meet again next summer.”

This is one of the most darkly ironic lines in the play, as it hints that one of the characters might not be alive by the end of the show. While Konstantin does not die the next summer, he does end up dying by suicide in the next Act, leaving Arkadina’s words feeling tainted and foreboding instead of offhanded and light.

“Someone should get that stage pulled down…It’s standing out there naked and ugly as a skeleton, the curtain flapping in the wind…Last night when I passed it, it sounded as if someone was crying inside.”

Anton Chekhov personifies the stage where Konstantin and Nina first performed the play at the beginning of The Seagull to describe just how far both of these characters have fallen. The stage represents the tattered dreams of Konstantin and Nina, and the loss of childlike wonder and innocence they once had. Instead, they are stripped bare and exposed for the people they are inside. Nina is not the incredible actress she hoped to be, and while Konstantin has found some success as a writer, he did not re-invent the form, and he lost his true love, Nina.

“Long ago when I was young, I wanted to become a writer. But I never did […] I wanted to live in town and I’m dying in the country. And there you have it.”

Sorin reflects on his inaction toward the end of the play, summarizing The Consequences of Disillusionment. Sorin laments the opportunities he did not take and refuses to take any comfort in the life he has actually had, embodying the cycles of self-sabotage that haunt most of the characters in the play.

“That’s the argument of a man who’s had his fill. You’re content so you’re indifferent. But you’ll be afraid, too, when it’s your turn.”

Sorin says these words to Dorn near the end of the play. Sorin realizes that he has been waiting for his life to begin all of this time and spent so much of his life wishing, and he wants to seize his last days. Dorn scoffs at the idea of Sorin fearing death, which makes Sorin feel even more pitiful than he already did. The scene is crucial for the revelation of Sorin’s character, as he must face his mortality and the sum of his life’s actions—or rather, inaction.

“If I’d lived by a lake like this I wonder if I’d ever have started writing. I would have conquered the urge and just gone fishing.”

Trigorin references the lake in this scene, which represents the quiet country life (See: Symbols & Motifs). In this instance, Trigorin might have had the will to settle down if he had lived in the country and been with someone like Nina. The country is, metaphorically, where no dream or ambition can truly live.

“Konstantin shot a gull once and you asked me to have it stuffed.”

In Act IV of The Seagull, it is revealed what happened to the bird Konstantin shot in Act II. To further Trigorin’s possessiveness and obsession with the symbolism of the seagull (See: Symbols & Motifs), Trigorin asked to have it stuffed. This is especially cruel and ironic when Nina’s fate is revealed just after this scene. Even after the bird is dead, Trigorin wants it preserved, just as he is no longer with Nina, but Nina is unable to stop loving him.

“Yes, the more I think of it the more I’m convinced it’s nothing to do with the old or new—one has to write without thinking of forms at all—just let it flow naturally from the heart.”

Konstantin’s character arc is completed in Act IV, when he discovers that the radical new form he sought to create was never as artistic as writing from genuine human experiences and emotions. He was wrong in his approach to art, but, arguably, so was his mother, who relied on showier, shallower forms. In the end, neither was right about The Purpose of Art and both have been left ultimately unfulfilled as a result.