The pattern is completely invalid
evil in all creation.
A. Koni
New times have come. The epoch of reaction, the period of violence against the individual, the cruel suppression of any free thought, was receding. In the mid-1990s, it was replaced at times by a public upsurge, a revival of the liberation movement, and the awakening of spring forebodings of imminent changes. The writer felt that Russia was standing at the break of epochs, on the verge of the collapse of the old world, he heard the distinct noise of the voices of the renewal of life. With this new atmosphere of boundary, transition, the end and beginning of eras on the verge of the XIX-XX centuries, the birth of the mature dramaturgy of A.P. Chekhov is connected. These are four great works for the stage "The Seagull", "Uncle Vanya", "Three Sisters", "The Cherry Orchard", which made a revolution in world drama.
The Seagull (1896) is for Chekhov himself the most autobiographical, personal work, because it is about the lyrical self-expression of the author. "In the play, written in a small Melikhovo wing, Chekhov, perhaps for the first time, so frankly expressed his life and aesthetic position.
This play is about people of art, about the torments of creativity, about restless, restless young artists, and about the self-satisfied, well-fed older generation, guarding the won positions. This play is also about love (“a lot of talk about literature, little action, five pounds of love,” Chekhov joked), about an unrequited feeling, about a mutual misunderstanding of people, about the cruel disorder of personal destinies. Finally, this play is also about the painful search for the true meaning of life, the "general idea", the purpose of existence, "a certain worldview", without which life is "a complete mess, horror." On the material of art, Chekhov speaks here of all human existence, gradually expanding the circles of artistic research into reality.
The play develops as a polyphonic, multi-voiced, “multi-motor” work, in which different voices sound, different themes, plots, destinies, and characters intersect. All heroes coexist equally: there are no main and secondary destinies, then one, then another hero comes to the fore, in order to then go into the shadows. Obviously, therefore, it is impossible and hardly necessary to single out the main character of The Seagull. This question is not indisputable. There was a time when Nina Zarechnaya was undoubtedly the heroine, later Treplev became the hero. In one performance, the image of Masha comes forward, in another, Arkadin and Trigorin overshadow everything.
Moreover, it is quite obvious that all Chekhov's sympathies are on the side of the young, searching generation, those who are just entering life. Although here the writer sees different, non-merging paths. A young girl who grew up in an old noble estate on the lake, Nina Zarechnaya, and a half-educated student in a shabby jacket, Konstantin Treplev, both strive to get into the wonderful world of art. They start together: the girl plays in a play written by a talented young man in love with her. The play is strange, abstract, it speaks of the eternal conflict of spirit and matter. “We need new forms! Treplev proclaims. - New forms are needed, and if they are not, then nothing is better!
A stage has been hastily put together in the evening garden. “There are no decorations - the view is right on the lake.” And the excited girlish voice drops strange words: “People, lions, eagles and partridges, horned deer, geese, spiders, in a word, all lives, all lives, all lives, having completed a sad circle, died out ... Cold, cold, cold. Empty, empty, empty...” Maybe this is a new work of art being born...
But the play remains unfinished. Treplev's mother, the famous actress Arkadina, defiantly does not want to listen to this "decadent nonsense." The show is broken. This exposes the incompatibility of two worlds, two views on life and positions in art. “You routiners have seized the primacy in art and consider legitimate and real only what you do yourself, and you oppress and strangle the rest! - Treplev rebels against his mother and the successful writer Trigorin. - I do not recognize you! I don't recognize you or him!"
In this conflict, a crisis situation emerges in Russian art and in the life of the end of the 19th century, when “the old art went wrong, and the new one has not yet been adjusted” (N. Berkovsky). The old classical realism, in which "imitation of nature" became an end in itself ("people eat, drink, love, walk, wear their jackets"), has degenerated only into a clever technical craft. The art of the new, coming age is born in pain, and its paths are not yet clear. “Life must be portrayed not as it is, and not as it should be, but as it appears in dreams” - this program of Treplev still sounds like a vague and pretentious declaration. He, with his talent, pushed off the old shore, but has not yet stuck to the new one. And life without a “certain worldview” turns into a chain of continuous torment for the young seeker.
The loss of "a common idea - the god of a living person" divides the people of the transitional era. Contacts are broken, everyone exists on his own, alone, incapable of understanding the other. That is why the feeling of love is so especially hopeless here: everyone loves, but everyone is unloved and everyone is unhappy. Nina can neither understand nor love Treplev, he, in turn, does not notice Masha's devoted, patient love. Nina loves Trigorin, but he leaves her. Arkadina, with a last effort of will, keeps Trigorin near her, but there has been no love between them for a long time. Polina Andreevna constantly suffers from the indifference of Dorn, the teacher Medvedenko - from the callousness of Masha ...
Non-contact threatens to turn into not only indifference and callousness, but even betrayal. Nina Zarechna betrays Treplev so thoughtlessly when, headlong, she rushes after Trigorin, for “noisy fame.” And maybe that’s why Chekhov doesn’t make her a “winner” in the finale. So a mother is able to betray her son, become his enemy , do not notice that he is on the verge of suicide.
“Help me. Help, otherwise I will do something stupid, I will laugh at my life, spoil it ... ”- Masha prays to Dr. Dorn, confessing to him her love for Konstantin. “How nervous everyone is! And how much love... Oh, witch's lake! But what can I do, my child? What? What?" The question remains unanswered. This is the drama of the irresponsibility, the incompatibility of people in this sad "lyrical comedy" of Chekhov.
Although the play "The Seagull" is called a "comedy" (here is another mystery of Chekhov the playwright), there is little fun in it. All of it is imbued with the languor of the spirit, the anxieties of mutual misunderstanding, unrequited feelings, general dissatisfaction. Even the most seemingly prosperous person is the famous writer Trigorin, and he secretly suffers from dissatisfaction with his fate, his profession. Far from people, he will silently sit with fishing rods by the river, and then suddenly break into a truly Chekhovian monologue, and it will become clear that even this person is also, in essence, unhappy and lonely.
In a word, Chekhov wrote a sad comedy - to the pain, to the scream, to the shot, here comes the feeling of the general disorder of life. Why, then, is the play called "The Seagull"? And why is it that when you read it, you are seized and captivated by a special sense of poetry in its entire atmosphere? Most likely, because Chekhov extracts poetry from the very disorder of life.
The symbol of the seagull is deciphered as the motif of the eternal disturbing flight, the stimulus of movement, a rush into the distance. It was not a banal “plot for a short story” that the writer extracted from the story of a shot seagull, but an epically broad theme of bitter dissatisfaction with life, awakening cravings, longing, longing for a better future. Only through suffering does Nina Zarechnaya come to the idea that the main thing is “not glory, not brilliance”, not what she once dreamed of, but “the ability to endure”. “Know how to bear your cross and believe” - this hard-won call for courageous patience opens up an aerial perspective to the tragic image of a seagull, a flight into the future, does not close it with historically outlined time and space, puts not a dot, but an ellipsis in its fate.
The work should have a clear, definite idea.
You need to know why you are writing...
(Doctor Dorn to Konstantin Treplev)
The play by A.P. Chekhov “The Seagull” begins with the significant words of two heroes (Masha Shamrayeva and Semyon Medvedko): “Why do you always wear black? “This is mourning for my life. I am not happy". The last words, as it were, anticipate the sad tone of the whole comedy. However, maybe the further development of the plot will tell something else? Or, perhaps, the well-known understanding of the heroine of her life will be completely debunked as incorrect? In turn, another hero of the play, Konstantin Treplev, says about his mother: “She is already against me, and against the performance, and against my play, because it is not she who is acting, but Zarechnaya. She does not know my play, but she already hates it... She is already annoyed that Zarechnaya, and not she, will be successful on this small stage. Psychological curiosity - my mother. Undoubtedly talented, smart, able to sob over a book, grab all of Nekrasov by heart, care for the sick like an angel; but try to praise Duse in front of her. Wow! It is necessary to praise only her alone, you need to write about her, shout, admire her extraordinary game, but since here, in the village, this dope is not there, she is bored and angry, and we are all her enemies, we are all to blame. Then she is superstitious, afraid of three candles, the thirteenth. She is stingy. She has seventy thousand in a bank in Odessa - I know that for sure. And ask her for a loan, she will cry. What confuses in the monologue of the hero? It seems that this is not quite a son’s speech, or something. Why? Yes, because he talks about it as if an outside observer, who, by the will of the author of the play, tries to be objective in his assessment. But what are the signs of this? And such that the son will not talk about his mother so dryly (distantly). This will obviously be hindered by his personal involvement in the assessment being made. And indeed, this is his mother, which means that if she is so bad, then he will be the same! Therefore, a real son would speak differently about his own mother. How? And, for example, like this: my mother is jealous of me both for my play and for someone else's success; she is just used to being the center of attention and does not tolerate a different state; however, she has a right to this weakness, as she is very talented and cordial; her other weaknesses are superstition and stinginess, but they are natural for her, because this is only the effect of her fears of losing the fruits of her long labors. Thus, the son would remain a son, and not a third-party man who only wants to gossip about a noticeable woman. But at the behest of the author, the son easily condemns his own mother to the pillory, apparently assuming thereby his filial duty. Then the same hero pronounces quite boldly his verdict on the entire modern theater: “Modern theater is a routine, a prejudice, when people try to extract morality from vulgar pictures and phrases — morality is small, understandable, useful in household use; when in a thousand variations they bring me the same thing, the same thing, the same thing, then I run and run, as Maupassant ran from the Eiffel Tower, which crushed his brain with its vulgarity. Again we have a sad situation before us: the hero cannot stand his well-known theatrical life, he tragically denies it entirely. He does not even know that it is necessary to at least know the reasons for this state of affairs. But no, instead of the approach he rejected, he proclaims emphatically: “New forms are needed. New forms are needed, and if they are not there, then nothing is better.” What are these new forms? And why new for the sake of new? One gets the impression that A.P. Chekhov either does not finish speaking, or he himself does not know what his hero is trying to talk about. But the impression is strong: we are not given freedom! Further, the hero of the comedy laments the lack of his own fame. At the same time, he, as it were, doubts his existence, is perplexed at the expense of his own worthlessness, suffers from a state of humiliation. On the other hand, in a conversation with Nina Zarechnaya, he preaches a new approach to theatrical art: “We must portray life not as it is, and not as it should be, but as it appears in dreams.” The last argument is quite remarkable. Why all of a sudden? Yes, if only because Konstantin Treplev actually formulates his own creative credo, the hostage of which, apparently, he himself will someday become. But what is wrong with the opinion he proclaimed? And the fact that the departure from the malice (problems) of life, from its objective, not invented essence, will certainly be fraught with trouble, if not misfortune, or even tragedy. In other words, one cannot live happily in reality, replacing the latter with dreams about it. Summarizing what has already been said, it should probably be emphasized that theatrical art either supports reality (changes it for the better), or it obviously destroys it along with its specific and obsessed adepts. Yes, it is difficult not to object to the dominance of theatrical vulgarity and routine, but one should not shy away from clarifying and overcoming the reasons for this. Therefore, such a pretentious art criticism aspiration does not cause any serious sympathy in any attentive observer. And as a vivid illustration of the last assumption of the author of this essay, inside the plot twist of the comedy adjacent to the already analyzed episode, a natural conflict arises between the stage dream of Konstantin Treplev (we are talking about the appearance on the stage of a powerful enemy of man, the devil. - Auth.) With true reality in the face of the reaction of his mother Irina Nikolaevna Arkadina on the images offered to the audience: “This doctor took off his hat to the devil, the father of eternal matter.” In this case, Konstantin Treplev's plan, built strictly on the basis of his dreams, came into conflict with the ironic response of his mother, who unwittingly offended the author of one play within another. What can I say? Only the fact that Treplev himself brought to life what he was objectively looking for is a conflict with reality. At the same time, like a madman, he suddenly exclaims: “Guilty! I lost sight of the fact that only a select few can write plays and perform on stage. I broke the monopoly!" Again, some inadequacy in the hero's position, again an obvious attempt to blame possible enemies ahead of time. As we can see, the hero of a comedy, at the behest of its author, begins, as it were, stringing one of his own stupid actions onto a similar one. He seems to be out of his mind, as if unconsciously trying to discover his own existence, the search for which becomes something obsessive and painful for him. Therefore, he apparently deliberately shocks the people around him with the incomprehensibility of his own spiritual aspirations, while accusing them of wanting to ignore him. Thus, using the example of K. Treplev, A.P. Chekhov involuntarily shows the public to what sad limits any person who has fallen into the sin of devout service to the self can reach. The last assumption is partly confirmed by the words of Treplev's annoyed mother: “... he (Treplev. - Auth.) did not choose any ordinary play, but forced us to listen to this decadent nonsense. For the sake of a joke, I am ready to listen to nonsense, but here claims to new forms, to a new era in art. But in my opinion, there are no new forms here, but just a bad character. However, if K. Treplev is still more right than wrong about the idea of his own play, then his reaction to the reaction of his mother is all the more strange. In other words, he had to patiently endure the mockery, suggesting further insight and apology. But no, nothing of the kind happens, which means that the hero still has more delusion than genuine novelty or the discovery of something true. By the way, even K. Treplev's beloved Nina Zarechnaya, who played a role in his performance, does not find it successful: “It is difficult to play in your play. There are no living people in it. There is little action in your play, only reading. And in the play, in my opinion, there must certainly be love. At the same time, Zarechnaya herself behaves very strangely. On the one hand, she seems to love (loved) Treplev, on the other hand, there are no clear signs of this. One even gets the impression that A.P. Chekhov, apparently having personally experienced something similar to the fate of his hero, nevertheless does not finish something or clearly exaggerates something. As a result of this, the relationship between K. Treplev and Nina looks completely unconvincing. In other words, the hero desperately hopes where there is no reason for this. On the other hand, the heroine seems to repent of having allegedly betrayed her own first love for Treplev. In a word, there are many hints, but very little clear meaning. But this storyline contains in itself the main premise for the finale of the entire work we are considering. In other words, something very cloudy cannot but give rise to something that is not cloudy. But let us return nevertheless to the assessment of the creative efforts of the comedy hero. In particular, Dr. Dorn, having generally supported Treplev's stage undertaking, strongly recommends to him: “You took the plot from the realm of abstract ideas. And so it followed, because a work of art must certainly express some great idea. Only that is beautiful, which is serious. The work should have a clear, definite idea. You must know what you are writing for, otherwise, if you go along this picturesque road without a specific goal, then you will get lost and your talent will destroy you. But Treplev does not seem to hear anything, he is only obsessed with a love passion for Nina Zarechnaya, while Maria Shamrayeva, mentioned at the very beginning of the essay, hopelessly loves him. And we fully understand that her passions, most likely, are not destined to be satisfied. The latter is fully guessed in her own words: "... I drag my life like an endless train ... And often there is no desire to live." As we can see, the heroes of A.P. Chekhov are in great difficulty: they do not know why to live, what is worth striving for. However, Nina Zarechnaya seems to know why: “For such happiness as being a writer or artist, I would endure the dislike of loved ones, need, disappointment, I would live under a roof and eat only rye bread, I would suffer from dissatisfaction with myself, from consciousness of their imperfections, but I would have demanded glory, real, noisy glory. Here it is, the undisguised ideal of the dreams of all the heroes of The Seagull. Why? Yes, because they do not know anything else. In other words, people's great desire for self-love overwhelms their unfortunate souls. They don't want anything more, and they don't even know how to want. What's wrong? Apparently, they are completely unaware of even the very question of the purpose of human life. They are not burdened in any way. In other words, their capacity for speculative generalizations is still in vain or not developed at all. But how else do the heroes of A.P. Chekhov live? This is how Trigorin says about it: “Young love, charming, poetic, taking you to the world of dreams - on earth only she can give happiness! I have never experienced such love.” Again the desire for stupefying bliss, again the desire to hide from the true needs of human life. Yes, it is difficult to sort out the details of the meanings of earthly human existence, but a frivolous flight from this work nowhere, never saved anyone! And it does not matter that this evasion can take on sublime clothes, say, of the mutual love of a man and a woman. In other words, a wonderful love interest does not really save a person, does not make him different and does not bring him closer to the truth of human existence. Whereas the heroes of the comedy are only busy with the fact that they are looking for love for themselves, and if they don’t find it, then. Even creativity is considered by them only as a universal means for gaining the desired love of others, for obtaining the above-mentioned stupefying bliss, which K. Treplev conveys better than others: went; wherever I look, everywhere I see your face, that gentle smile that shone on me in the best years of my life. I am alone, not warmed by anyone's affection, I am cold as in a dungeon, and whatever I write, it is all dry, callous, gloomy. Stay here, Nina, I beg you, or let me go with you!” In response, Nina Zarechnaya says something else to the hero of the play: “Why do you say that you kissed the ground on which I walked? I need to be killed ... I am a seagull ... ”However, she also says this:“ I now know, I understand, Kostya, that in our business it doesn’t matter whether we play on stage or write - the main thing is not glory, not brilliance, not that what I dreamed about, but the ability to endure. Learn to bear your cross and believe. I believe, and it does not hurt me so much, and when I think about my calling, I am not afraid of life. As we can see, on the one hand, the heroine is in despair, on the other hand, she knows how and with what to keep herself in life. However, it is possible that this is only an illusion, since without a clear understanding of the meaning of life, patience alone will not go far, as they say. But Treplev obviously doesn’t even have the illusion of the meaning of life mentioned, which is exhaustively evidenced by his own words addressed to Zarechnaya: “You have found your way, you know where you are going, but I keep running around in a chaos of dreams and images, not knowing why and who needs it. I don’t believe and I don’t know what my calling is.” In response to him, the heroine suddenly reads the text of his already long-standing play: “People, lions, eagles and partridges, horned deer, geese, spiders, silent fish that lived in the water, starfish and those that could not be seen with the eye - in a word, everything life, all lives, all lives, making a sad circle, faded away. For thousands of centuries the earth has not carried a single living being, and this poor moon has vainly kindled its lantern. Cranes no longer wake up with a cry in the meadow, and May beetles are not heard in linden groves. Why does A.P. Chekhov repeat the introductory words of his hero’s play at the end of his comedy? What is he trying to communicate to his reader and viewer? Did he really consider his hero to be a seriously talented author who, under other conditions, would still be able to tell people something new and important? If so, then the Russian writer himself is sincerely sorry, since then his "poor moon lights its lantern in vain." In other words, A.P. Chekhov, apparently having once rejected faith in God and thereby depriving himself of the true meaning of life, tried to save himself in the work under consideration through only visible earthly philanthropy. But is such salvation entirely possible? Is there something unshakable in it? After all, the preservation of human passions and lusts, their reverent deification, let's say, as certain universal values, doesn't it lead a person to death anyway?
Completing the analysis of A.P. Chekhov's comedy "The Seagull", you involuntarily ask yourself the question of the purpose of writing this essay. On the one hand, penetrating into the meanings of the play, you recognize its essence, on the other hand, you ask yourself: well, what is so special about it? In other words, why retell and why evaluate for the umpteenth time the content that has already been retold? Haven't they said everything that is possible before? Yes, it's hard to argue that it's not. In any case, if you look at things habitually. But if you count (say, in accordance with the dictionary) under the word "comedy" something feigned and hypocritical, then you suddenly understand that the Russian writer in this case is sincerely "breaking a comedy." In other words, with a serious look, he portrays, as it were, real life, in which he draws, as it were, real images taken by him, as it were, from life itself, which in fact did not exist at all. However, someone will object that this is not so, that just life has many examples of this. Yes, if we talk about the details of the plot, then a lot is quite recognizable and true. But if we talk about "The Seagull" as a whole phenomenon of life, then its cumulative meaning in no way or at all does not correspond to reality. On the contrary, having only the appearance of life, it itself simply denies it or deprives it of meaning. Therefore, A.P. Chekhov, most likely, not having firm guidelines in his own life, and, in this regard, becoming somewhat similar to his hero Konstantin Treplev, introduces his reader (viewer) into the false world of “self-sufficient philanthropy”, masking his imaginary with a final suicide the main character. Is there any urgent need for a real person in such a creation? Hardly. On the contrary, real life cannot but oppose Chekhov's characters, their bitter mockery of her. In other words, A.P. Chekhov appears in The Seagull as an elegant (stylish) jester who, combining the real and the unreal, presents the result of this “creativity” to the public as something serious or genuine. Is such an activity harmless to humans? Hardly. Why? Yes, because everything false will not teach anyone anything, but will only lead away from the essential into the jungle of vain illusions. That is why the words of Dr. Dorn that “only that is beautiful that is serious” does not apply to the Seagull itself.
Saint Petersburg
Analysis of the play by A.P. Chekhov "The Seagull"
In 1895 A.P. Chekhov began to work on The Seagull. This play is perhaps the most personal of all his works. This is his only major work that is directly dedicated to the theme of art. The author talks about his secret - about the difficult path of the artist, about the essence of artistic talent, about what human happiness is.
"The Seagull" is an elegant creation of Chekhov the playwright. It is really simple and complex, like life itself, and its true theme is not revealed to readers immediately, just as it is not immediately possible to understand those complex situations, contradictory interweaving of circumstances that life bestows. The author, as it were, offers us a choice of various options for understanding the play.
The main thing in "The Seagull" is the theme of heroism. In art, the one who is capable of a feat wins.
On the shore of a beautiful lake lived a lovely girl Nina Zarechnaya. She dreamed of the stage, of fame. A young neighbor on the estate Konstantin Treplev, an aspiring writer, was in love with her. And Nina answered him in kind. He also dreamed of both fame and "new forms" in art.
Treplev wrote a play - unusual, strange, in a decadent spirit, and staged it for relatives and friends in the original scenery: a view of a real lake opens from the stage in the park.
Nina Zarechnaya plays the main role in this play.
Treplev's mother, Arkadina, a domineering, capricious woman, an actress spoiled by fame, openly ridicules her son's play. Proud Treplev orders the curtain to be drawn. The play ended before it ended. The play failed.
Arkadina brought with her a companion of her life - the famous writer Trigorin, and Nina fell in love with him with all her passion. Her tender relationship with Treplev turned out to be only an easy dream of youth.
Nina breaks with her family, enters the stage, leaves for Moscow, where Trigorin lives. He was carried away by Nina, but intimacy with Trigorin ends tragically for her. He fell out of love with her and returned "to his former affections" - to Arkadina. Nina had a child from Trigorin. The child is dead.
The life of Konstantin Treplev is broken. He attempted suicide after breaking up with Nina. However, he continues to write, his stories even began to be published in the capital's magazines. But his life is bleak: he is unable to overcome his love for Nina.
Nina Zarechnaya became a provincial actress. After a long separation, she again visits her native places. She meets with Treplev. He flares up hope for the resumption of their former relationship. But she still loves Trigorin - loves "even more than before." The play ends with Treplev's suicide. His life was cut short before his time, as was his performance.
Chekhov wrote of the play that it contained "a lot of talk about literature, little action, five pounds of love." It may seem that unhappy love is the main theme of The Seagull. - But this is just a “plot for a short story” by Trigorin, and not at all for a big play by Chekhov. This plot exists in The Seagull only as a possibility, refuted by the whole course of action, as a hint that could be realized, but is not being realized.
Nina and Konstantin lived in a quiet world of tender feelings and dreams. But then they both met with life for what it really is. But in fact, life is not only gentle, but also rough. "Rough life!" - Nina says in the fourth act. And in real life, everything is much more difficult than it seems in young dreams.
Art seemed to Nina a radiant path to glory, a wonderful dream. But here she comes to life. Immediately a terrible weight fell on her fragile shoulders. Beloved person “did not believe in the theater, everyone laughed at my dreams, and little by little I also stopped believing and lost heart,” Nina tells Trepleva at their last meeting. - And then the worries of love, jealousy, constant fear for the little one ... I became petty, insignificant, I played senselessly ... I didn’t know what to do with my hands, I didn’t know how to stand on stage, I didn’t own my voice. You don't understand that state when you feel like you're playing terribly."
She, a dreamy girl, ran into drunken merchants, with the unimaginable vulgarity of the then provincial theatrical world. She, feminine, graceful, managed to withstand the collision of dreams with life. At the cost of heavy sacrifices, Nina won the truth that “in our business, it doesn’t matter whether we play on stage or write, the main thing is not glory, not brilliance, not what I dreamed of, but the ability to endure. Learn to bear your cross and believe. I believe, and it does not hurt me so much, and when I think about my calling, I am not afraid of life.
These are words obtained at the cost of youth, at the cost of all trials, at the cost of those sufferings that are known to an artist who hates what he does, despises himself, his insecure figure on the stage, his impoverished language in the story. Nina has faith, she has strength, she has will, she now has knowledge of life and she has her own happiness.
So, through the darkness and the burden of life, overcome by the heroine, the reader hears the leitmotif of "The Seagull" - the theme of flight, victory. Nina rejects the version that she is a ruined seagull, that her sufferings, her searches, achievements, her whole life are just "a plot for a short story." Not the fall of a shot gull, but the flight of a beautiful, tender, free bird - such is the poetic theme of the play.
Treplev, when he met Nina, clearly saw how Nina had outgrown him. He still lives in that world of immature beautiful feelings in which he once lived. In his art, he still "doesn't know what to do with his hands, doesn't know how to use his voice." The consciousness that he has not yet achieved anything permeates him with brutal force. Treplev now understood the reason for this. “You have found your way,” he says to Nina, “you know where you are going, but I am still running around in a chaos of dreams and images, not knowing why and who needs it. I don't believe and don't know what my calling is." He can do nothing with his talent, because he has no purpose, no faith, no knowledge of life, no courage, no strength. Having said so much about innovation, he himself falls into a routine. Innovation cannot exist by itself, it is possible only as a conclusion from a bold knowledge of life, it is possible only with the wealth of the soul and mind.
It is impossible to get away from vulgarity by escaping into illusions, into dreams far from life. This is a false flight, inevitably ending in a fall, a return to even greater vulgarity. Treplev's abstract "beautiful" dreams led him to such an ugly, beauty-hostile violation of the laws of life as suicide. You can't run from vulgarity, you can't hide from it. Nina clearly sees the vile everyday life, knows that "life is rough", but does not run from vulgarity and rudeness to false dreams. She embodies true art, and true art is the knowledge of the whole truth of life and the pursuit of beauty in life itself, and not just in a dream.
"The Seagull" is closely connected with Chekhov's thoughts about the essence of talent, about worldview, about the "general idea". In Trigorin and Arkadina, the author notes features characteristic of a whole category of writers, artists of the eighties and nineties, who were not inspired by great ideological goals, high pathos, and therefore inevitably fall into the power of routine, inertia, and everyday life. This does not mean that Chekhov, in the image of Nina Zarechnaya, gave a realistically complete history of the formation and growth of the artist. Nina Zarechnaya, while maintaining the authenticity of a living character, at the same time appears as a poetic symbol. This is the very soul of art, conquering darkness, cold, always striving "forward and higher!"
Comedy in four acts
Characters
Irina Nikolaevna Arkadina, by Trepleva's husband, actress. Konstantin Gavrilovich Treplev, her son, a young man. Petr Nikolaevich Sorin, her brother. Nina Mikhailovna Zarechnaya, a young girl, the daughter of a wealthy landowner. Ilya Afanasyevich Shamraev, retired lieutenant, Sorin's manager. Polina Andreevna, his wife. Masha, his daughter. Boris Alekseevich Trigorin, fiction writer. Evgeny Sergeevich Dorn, doctor. Semen Semenovich Medvedenko, teacher. Jacob, worker. Cook . Housemaid .The action takes place in the estate of Sorin. Two years pass between the third and fourth acts.
Act one
Part of the park in the estate of Sorina. A wide alley leading in the direction from the audience into the depths of the park to the lake is blocked by a stage hastily put together for a home performance, so that the lake is not visible at all. To the left and to the right near the platform there is a bush. Several chairs, a table.
The sun has just set. On the stage behind the lowered curtain Yakov and other workers; coughing and knocking are heard. Masha and Medvedenko are walking on the left, returning from a walk.
Medvedenko. Why do you always wear black? Masha. This is mourning for my life. I am not happy. Medvedenko. From what? (Thoughtfully.) I don’t understand... You are healthy, your father, although not rich, is well off. I have a much harder life than you. I get only 23 rubles a month, and they deduct from me for the Emeritus, but still I don’t wear mourning. (They sit down.) Masha. It's not about the money. And the poor man can be happy. Medvedenko. This is in theory, but in practice it turns out like this: me, and my mother, and two sisters and a brother, and the salary is only 23 rubles. Do you need to eat and drink? Do you need tea and sugar? Do you need tobacco? This is where you turn around. Masha (looking at the stage). The performance will start soon. Medvedenko. Yes. Zarechnaya will play, and the play will be composed by Konstantin Gavrilovich. They are in love with each other, and today their souls will merge in an effort to give the same artistic image. And my soul and yours do not have common points of contact. I love you, I cannot sit at home from boredom, every day I walk six versts here and six versts back and meet only indifference on your part. It's clear. I am penniless, my family is big... What is the desire to marry a man who himself has nothing to eat? Masha. Trivia. (Sniffs tobacco.) Your love touches me, but I can't reciprocate, that's all. (Hands him a snuffbox.) lend a favor. Medvedenko. Do not want. Masha. It must be stuffy, there will be a thunderstorm at night. You keep philosophizing or talking about money. In your opinion, there is no greater misfortune than poverty, but in my opinion it is a thousand times easier to walk around in rags and beg than ... However, you will not understand this ...Sorin and Treplev enter from the right.
Sorin (leaning on a cane). For me, brother, the countryside is somehow not right, and, of course, I will never get used to it here. I went to bed at ten yesterday and woke up at nine this morning feeling like my brain was stuck to my skull from a long sleep and all that. (Laughs.) And after dinner, I accidentally fell asleep again, and now I'm all broken, I'm having a nightmare, in the end ... Treplev. True, you need to live in the city. (Seeing Masha and Medvedenka.) Gentlemen, when it starts, they will call you, but now you can’t be here. Leave, please. Sorin (Masha). Marya Ilyinichna, be so kind as to ask your father to have the dog untie, otherwise it howls. My sister didn't sleep all night. Masha. Talk to my father yourself, but I won't. Dismiss, please. (to Medvedenko) Let's go! Medvedenko (to Treplev). So before you start, send a message. (Both leave.) Sorin. So the dog will howl all night again. Here is the story, I never lived in the village as I wanted. It used to be that you take a vacation for 28 days and come here to relax and that's it, but here you are so pestered with all sorts of nonsense that from the very first day you want to get out. (Laughs.) I always left here with pleasure ... Well, now I'm retired, there's nowhere to go, after all. Whether you like it or not, live... Yakov (to Treplev). We, Konstantin Gavrilych, will go swimming. Treplev. Okay, just be there in ten minutes. (Looks at the clock.) Will start soon. Jacob. I'm listening. (Exits.) Treplev (looking around the stage). Here is the theater for you. The curtain, then the first stage, then the second, and then the empty space. No decorations. The view opens directly to the lake and the horizon. We'll raise the curtain at half past nine sharp, when the moon rises. Sorin. Fabulous. Treplev. If Zarechnaya is late, then, of course, the whole effect will be lost. It's time for her to be. Her father and stepmother guard her, and it is as difficult for her to escape from the house as from prison. (He fixes his uncle's tie.) Your head and beard are disheveled. You need to cut your hair, right... Sorin (combing his beard). The tragedy of my life. Even in my youth I had such an appearance, as if I drank heavily and that's it. Women have never liked me. (Sitting down.) Why is my sister in a bad mood? Treplev. From what? Bored. (Sitting down beside him.) Jealous. She is already against me, and against the play, and against my play, because Zarechnaya might be liked by her novelist. She doesn't know my play, but she already hates it. Sorin (laughs). Think right... Treplev. She is already annoyed that Zarechnaya, and not she, will be successful on this small stage. (Looking at the clock.) Psychological curiosity my mother. Undoubtedly talented, smart, able to sob over a book, snip off all of Nekrasov by heart, she takes care of the sick like an angel; but try to praise Duse in front of her! Wow! It is necessary to praise only her alone, you need to write about her, shout, admire her extraordinary game in "La dame aux camélias" or in "Child of Life", but since here, in the village, there is no this dope, then here she is bored and angry, and we are all her enemies, we are all to blame. Then, she is superstitious, afraid of three candles, the thirteenth. She is stingy. She has seventy thousand in a bank in Odessa, I know that for sure. And ask her for a loan, she will cry. Sorin. You imagine that your mother does not like your play, and you are already worried and that's it. Calm down, your mother loves you. Treplev (breaking the petals off the flower). Likes does not like, loves does not like, loves does not like. (Laughs) You see, my mother doesn't love me. Still would! She wants to live, love, wear bright blouses, and I am already twenty-five years old, and I constantly remind her that she is no longer young. When I'm away, she's only thirty-two, while I'm forty-three, and for that she hates me. She also knows that I do not recognize the theatre. She loves the theatre, it seems to her that she is serving humanity, the holy art, but in my opinion, modern theater is a routine, a prejudice. When the curtain rises and in the evening light, in a room with three walls, these great talents, the priests of the holy art, depict how people eat, drink, love, walk, wear their coats; when out of vulgar pictures and phrases they try to fish out morality, morality is small, easy to understand, useful in household use; when in a thousand variations they bring me the same thing, the same thing, the same thing, then I run and run, as Maupassant ran from the Eiffel Tower, which crushed his brain with its vulgarity. Sorin. You can't live without theater. Treplev. We need new forms. New forms are needed, and if they are not there, then nothing is better. (Looks at the clock.) I love my mother, I love very much; but she smokes, drinks, lives openly with this novelist, her name is constantly fluffed up in the newspapers and it tires me. Sometimes the egoism of an ordinary mortal simply speaks in me; sometimes it’s a pity that my mother is a famous actress, and it seems that if she were an ordinary woman, I would be happier. Uncle, what could be more desperate and stupid than the situation: it used to be that all celebrities, artists and writers were visiting her, and between them there was only one me nothing, and I was tolerated only because I was her son. Who am I? What am I? I left the third year of the university due to circumstances, as they say, beyond the control of the editors, no talents, not a penny, and according to my passport I am a Kiev tradesman. My father is a Kiev tradesman, although he was also a famous actor. So, when, in her living room, all these artists and writers used to turn their merciful attention to me, it seemed to me that with their eyes they measured my insignificance, I guessed their thoughts and suffered from humiliation ... Sorin. By the way, tell me, please, what kind of person is her novelist? You won't understand him. Everything is silent. Treplev. A smart man, simple, a little, you know, melancholy. Very decent. He will not be forty years yet, but he is already famous and full, fed up ... Now he drinks only beer and can only love elderly people. As for his writings, then... how can you tell? Nice, talented... but... after Tolstoy or Zola, you don't want to read Trigorin. Sorin. And I, brother, love writers. Once I passionately wanted two things: I wanted to get married and I wanted to become a writer, but neither one nor the other succeeded. Yes. And it's nice to be a little writer, after all. Treplev (listens). I hear footsteps... (Hugging uncle.) I can't live without her... Even the sound of her footsteps is beautiful... I'm crazy happy. (Quickly goes to meet Nina Zarechnaya, who enters.) Magic, my dream... NINA (excitedly). I'm not late... Of course I'm not late... TREPLEV (kissing her hands). No no no... Nina. I was worried all day, I was so scared! I was afraid that my father would not let me in... But now he left with his stepmother. The sky is red, the moon is already beginning to rise, and I drove the horse, drove. (Laughs) But I'm glad. (Strongly shakes Sorin's hand.) Sorin (laughs). The eyes seem to be crying ... Ge-ge! Not good! Nina. It's so... See how hard it is for me to breathe. I'll be leaving in half an hour, we must hurry. You can’t, you can’t, for God’s sake don’t hold back. Father does not know that I am here. Treplev. In fact, it's time to start. I have to go call everyone. Sorin. I go and everything. This minute. (Goes to the right and sings.)“Two grenadiers to France...” (Looks around.) Just like that, I began to sing, and one comrade of the prosecutor said to me: “And you, Your Excellency, have a strong voice ...” Then he thought and added: “But. .. nasty.” (Laughs and leaves.) Nina. My father and his wife won't let me in here. They say it's bohemian here... they're afraid I'll become an actress... But I'm drawn here to the lake like a seagull... My heart is full of you. (Looks around.) Treplev. We are alone. Nina. It looks like someone is there... Treplev. Nobody. Nina. What tree is this? Treplev. Elm. Nina. Why is it so dark? Treplev. It's already evening, everything is getting dark. Don't leave early, I beg you. Nina. It is forbidden. Treplev. And if I go to you, Nina? I will stand all night in the garden and look at your window. Nina. You can't, the watchman will notice you. Trezor is not used to you yet and will bark. Treplev. I love you. Nina. Shh... Treplev (hearing footsteps). Who's there? Are you Jacob? Jacob (behind the stage). Exactly. Treplev. Get in place. It's time. Is the moon rising? Jacob. Exactly. Treplev. Is there alcohol? Is there sulfur? When red eyes appear, you need to smell of sulfur. (To Nina.) Go, everything is ready there. Are you nervous?.. Nina. Yes very. Your mother - nothing, I'm not afraid of her, but you have Trigorin ... I'm scared and ashamed to play with him ... A famous writer ... Is he young? Treplev. Yes. Nina. What wonderful stories he has! Treplev (cold). I don't know, I haven't read it. Nina. Your play is difficult to play. There are no living people in it. Treplev. Living faces! It is necessary to depict life not as it is, and not as it should be, but as it appears in dreams. Nina. There is little action in your play, only reading. And in the play, in my opinion, there must certainly be love ...Both leave the stage. Enter Polina Andreevna and Dorn.
Polina Andreevna. It's getting damp. Come back, put on your galoshes. Dorn. I feel hot. Polina Andreevna. You are not protecting yourself. This is stubbornness. You are a doctor and you know perfectly well that damp air is bad for you, but you want me to suffer; you deliberately sat out on the terrace all evening yesterday... DORN (humming). "Do not say that youth ruined." Polina Andreevna. You were so carried away by the conversation with Irina Nikolaevna... you didn't notice the cold. Admit it, you like it... Dorn. I am 55 years old. Polina Andreevna. It's nothing, for a man it's not old age. You are perfectly preserved and women still like you. Dorn. So what do you want? Polina Andreevna. Before the actress, you are all ready to prostrate yourself. All! DORN (sings). “I am before you again...” If people in society love artists and treat them differently than, for example, merchants, then this is in the order of things. This is idealism. Polina Andreevna. Women have always fallen in love with you and hung around your neck. Is this also idealism? DORN (shrugs). Well? There were a lot of good things in the relationship of women to me. I was mostly loved by the excellent doctor. About 10-15 years ago, you remember, in the whole province I was the only decent obstetrician. Then I was always an honest man. Polina Andreevna (grabs his hand). My dear! Dorn. Quiet. They're coming.Enter Arkadina arm in arm with Sorin, Trigorin, Shamraev, Medvedenko and Masha.
Shamraev. In 1873, at a fair in Poltava, she played amazingly. One delight! She played wonderful! Would you also like to know where the comedian Chadin, Pavel Semyonitch, is now? In Rasplyuev he was inimitable, better than Sadovsky, I swear to you, dear. Where is he now? Arkadina. You keep asking about some antediluvian. How do I know! (Sits down.) Shamraev (sighing). Pashka Chadin! There aren't any now. The stage has fallen, Irina Nikolaevna! Before there were mighty oaks, but now we see only stumps. Dorn. There are few brilliant talents now, it's true, but the average actor has become much higher. Shamraev. I cannot agree with you. However, this is a matter of taste. De gustibus aut bene, aut nihil.Treplev comes out from behind the stage.
Arkadin (son). My dear son, when is the beginning? Treplev. After a minute. Please be patient. Arkadina (reads from Hamlet). "My son! You turned my eyes into my soul, and I saw her in such bloody, in such deadly ulcers there is no salvation! Treplev (from "Hamlet"). “And why did you succumb to vice, search for love in the abyss of crime?”Behind the stage they play horn.
Gentlemen, start! Attention please!
I start. (He taps his stick and speaks loudly.) Oh, you venerable old shadows that rush over this lake at night, put us to sleep, and let us dream about what will be in two hundred thousand years!
Sorin. In two hundred thousand years there will be nothing. Treplev. So let them depict it to us as nothing. Arkadina. Let be. We are sleeping.The curtain rises; overlooking the lake; the moon above the horizon, its reflection in the water; Nina Zarechnaya is sitting on a large stone, all dressed in white.
Nina. People, lions, eagles and partridges, horned deer, geese, spiders, silent fish that lived in the water, starfish and those that could not be seen with the eye, in a word, all lives, all lives, all lives, having completed a sad circle, died out ... For thousands of centuries, as the earth does not bear a single living being, and this poor moon lights its lantern in vain. In the meadow the cranes no longer wake up with a cry, and May beetles are not heard in the linden groves. Cold, cold, cold. Empty, empty, empty. Scary, scary, scary.The bodies of living beings disappeared into dust, and eternal matter turned them into stones, into water, into clouds, and their souls all merged into one. The common world soul is me... I... I have the soul of Alexander the Great, and Caesar, and Shakespeare, and Napoleon, and the last leech. In me, the consciousnesses of people have merged with the instincts of animals, and I remember everything, everything, everything, and I relive every life in myself again.
Swamp lights are shown.
Arkadina (quietly). It's something decadent. Treplev (pleasantly and reproachfully). Mother! Nina. I'm alone. Once in a hundred years I open my mouth to speak, and my voice sounds dull in this emptiness, and no one hears... And you, pale lights, do not hear me... In the morning, a rotten swamp gives birth to you, and you wander until dawn, but without thought, without will, without the flutter of life. Fearing that life does not arise in you, the father of eternal matter, the devil, every moment in you, as in stones and water, exchanges atoms, and you change continuously. Only the spirit remains constant and unchanging in the universe.Like a prisoner thrown into an empty deep well, I don't know where I am or what awaits me. It is not hidden from me only that in a stubborn, cruel struggle with the devil, the beginning of material forces, I am destined to win, and after that matter and spirit will merge in beautiful harmony and the kingdom of world will will come. But this will only happen when, little by little, after a long, long series of millennia, both the moon, and the bright Sirius, and the earth will turn into dust ... Until then, horror, horror ...
Pause; two red dots are shown against the background of the lake.
Here comes my mighty adversary, the devil. I see his scary crimson eyes...
Arkadina. It smells of gray. Is it so necessary? Treplev. Yes. Arkadina (laughs). Yes, it's an effect. Treplev. Mother! Nina. He misses the man... Polina Andreevna(Dorn). You took off your hat. Put it on or you'll catch a cold. Arkadina. This doctor took off his hat to the devil, the father of eternal matter. Treplev (outburst, loudly). The play is over! Enough! A curtain! Arkadina. What are you angry about? Treplev. Enough! A curtain! Bring on the curtain! (Stomping his foot.) Curtain!The curtain falls.
Guilty! I lost sight of the fact that only a select few can write plays and perform on stage. I broke the monopoly! Me... I... (He wants to say something else, but waves his hand and goes to the left.)
Arkadina. What about him? Sorin. Irina, you can’t treat young pride like that, mother. Arkadina. What did I say to him? Sorin. You offended him. Arkadina. He himself warned that this was a joke, and I treated his play as if it were a joke. Sorin. Still... Arkadina. Now it turns out that he wrote a great work! Tell me please! So, he staged this performance and perfumed with sulfur not for a joke, but for demonstration ... He wanted to teach us how to write and what to play. Finally, it gets boring. These constant sorties against me and hairpins, your will, will bother anyone! Capricious, proud boy. Sorin. He wanted to please you. Arkadina. Yes? However, here he did not choose any ordinary play, but made us listen to this decadent nonsense. For the sake of a joke, I am ready to listen to nonsense, but then there are claims for new forms, for a new era in art. And, in my opinion, there are no new forms here, but just a bad character. Trigorin. Everyone writes the way they want and how they can. Arkadina. Let him write as he wants and as he can, just let him leave me alone. Dorn. Jupiter, you're angry... Arkadina. I am not Jupiter, but a woman. (Lights up.) I'm not angry, I'm just annoyed that the young man is having such a boring time. I didn't mean to offend him. Medvedenko. No one has reason to separate spirit from matter, since, perhaps, spirit itself is an aggregate of material atoms. (Lively, to Trigorin.) But, you know, I would describe in a play and then play on the stage how our brother, the teacher, lives. Difficult, hard life! Arkadina. This is true, but let's not talk about plays or atoms. The evening is so nice! Hear, gentlemen, sing? (Listens.) How good! Polina Andreevna. It's on the other side. Arkadin (to Trigorin). Sit next to me. About 1015 years ago, here on the lake, music and singing could be heard continuously almost every night. There are six landowners' estates on the shore. I remember laughter, noise, shooting, and all novels, novels ... Jeune premier "om and the idol of all these six estates was then, I recommend (nods at Dorn), Dr. Evgeny Sergeevich. And now he is charming, but then he was irresistible. However, my conscience begins to torment me. Why did I offend my poor boy? I'm restless. (Loudly.) Kostya! Son! Kostya! Masha. I'll go look for him. Arkadina. Please, honey. Masha (goes to the left). Ay! Konstantin Gavrilovich!.. Ay! (Exits.) Nina (leaving the stage.) Obviously, there will be no continuation, I can go out. Hello! (He kisses Arkadina and Polina Andreevna.) Sorin. Bravo! Bravo! Arkadina. Bravo! Bravo! We admired. With such an appearance, with such a wonderful voice, it is impossible, it is a sin to sit in the village. You must have talent. Do you hear? You must be on stage! Nina. Oh, this is my dream! (Sighing) But it will never come true. Arkadina. Who knows? Let me introduce you: Trigorin, Boris Alekseevich. Nina. Oh, I'm so glad... (Confused.) I always read you... Arkadina (setting her down). Don't be embarrassed, honey. He is a celebrity, but he has a simple soul! You see, he himself was embarrassed. Dorn. I guess we can raise the curtain now, it's creepy. Shamraev (loudly). Yakov, raise the curtain, brother!The curtain rises.
Nina (to Trigorin). Isn't it a strange play? Trigorin. I did not get anything. However, I enjoyed watching. You played so sincerely. And the decoration was wonderful.There must be a lot of fish in this lake.
Nina. Yes. Trigorin. I love to fish. There is no greater pleasure for me than to sit in the evening on the shore and look at the float. Nina. But, I think, whoever has experienced the pleasure of creativity, for that all other pleasures do not exist. Arkadina (laughing). Don't say that. When good words are said to him, he fails. Shamraev. I remember that in Moscow, at the opera house, the famous Silva once took the lower C. And at this time, as if on purpose, a bass from our Synodal choristers was sitting in the gallery, and suddenly, you can imagine our extreme amazement, we hear from the gallery: “Bravo, Silva!” a whole octave lower ... Like this (low bass): bravo, Silva ... The theater froze. Dorn. A quiet angel has flown by. Nina. And I have to go. Farewell. Arkadina. Where? Where so early? We won't let you in. Nina. Dad is waiting for me. Arkadina. What is he, really ... (They kiss.) Well, what to do. Sorry, sorry to let you go. Nina. If you knew how hard it is for me to leave! Arkadina. Someone should have walked you, my baby. NINA (frightened). Oh no, no! Sorin (to her, pleadingly). Stay! Nina. I can't, Pyotr Nikolaevich. Sorin. Stay one hour and that's it. Well, right... Nina (thinking through tears). It is forbidden! (Shakes hands and quickly leaves.) Arkadina. Unhappy girl in essence. They say that her late mother bequeathed to her husband all her vast fortune, every penny, and now this girl is left with nothing, since her father has already bequeathed everything to his second wife. It's outrageous. Dorn. Yes, her daddy is a decent brute, we must do him full justice. Sorin (rubbing cold hands). Let's go, gentlemen, and we, otherwise it's getting damp. My legs hurt. Arkadina. They are like wooden ones, they barely walk. Well, let's go, ill-fated old man. (Takes him by the arm.) Shamraev (shaking hands with wife). madam? Sorin. I hear the dog howling again. (To Shamraev.) Please, Ilya Afanasyevich, order them to untie her. Shamraev. You can't, Pyotr Nikolaevich, I'm afraid thieves might get into the barn. There I have millet. (Walking beside Medvedenok.) Yes, a whole octave lower: "Bravo, Silva!" But not a singer, a simple synodal chorister. Medvedenko. How much does a synodal chorister get paid?Everyone leaves except Dorn.
Dorn (one). I don’t know, maybe I don’t understand anything or have gone crazy, but I liked the play. There is something in her. When this girl talked about loneliness and then when the red eyes of the devil appeared, my hands trembled with excitement. Fresh, naive ... Here, it seems, he is coming. I want to say more nice things to him. Treplev (enters). There is no one anymore. Dorn. I'm here. Treplev. Mashenka is looking for me all over the park. An unbearable creature. Dorn. Konstantin Gavrilovich, I really liked your play. It's kind of strange, and I didn't hear the end, and yet the impression is strong. You are a talented person, you need to continue.Treplev firmly shakes his hand and hugs him impetuously.
Phew, so nervous. Tears in my eyes ... What do I want to say? You took the plot from the realm of abstract ideas. And so it followed, because a work of art must certainly express some great idea. Only that is beautiful, which is serious. How pale you are!
Treplev. So you say continue? Dorn. Yes... But depict only the important and eternal. You know, I have lived my life in a varied and tasteful way, I am satisfied, but if I had to experience the upliftment of spirit that artists have during their work, then it seems to me that I would despise my material shell and everything that is characteristic of this shell. , and would be carried away from the earth away in height. Treplev. Guilty, where is Zarechnaya? Dorn. And here's something else. The work should have a clear, definite idea. You must know what you are writing for, otherwise, if you go along this picturesque road without a specific goal, then you will get lost and your talent will ruin you. Treplev (impatiently). Where is Zarechnaya? Dorn. She went home. Treplev (in despair). What should I do? I want to see her... I need to see her... I'll go...Masha enters.
Dorn (to Treplev). Calm down my friend. Treplev. But still, I'll go. I must go. Masha. Go, Konstantin Gavrilovich, to the house. Your mother is waiting for you. She is restless. Treplev. Tell her I left. And I beg you all, leave me alone! Leave! Don't follow me! Dorn. But, but, but, honey... you can't do that... Not good. Treplev (through tears). Farewell, doctor. Thank you... (Exits.) DORN (sighing). Youth, youth! Masha. When there is nothing more to say, they say: youth, youth ... (He sniffs tobacco.) Mandrel (takes the snuffbox from her and throws it into the bushes). It's disgusting!They seem to be playing in the house. Need to go.
Masha. Wait. Dorn. What? Masha. I want to tell you again. I want to talk... (Worried.) I don't love my father... but my heart lies with you. For some reason, I feel with all my heart that you are close to me... Help me. Help, otherwise I'll do something stupid, I'll make fun of my life, ruin it... I can't take it anymore... Dorn. What? How can I help you?Director's analysis of the play, life and aesthetic position. The reason for the failure of the play, the artistic trend and the material of the new play, devotion to art, the crisis situation in Russian art. The trend of modern cultural consciousness and dialectics.
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Department of Culture of the Belgorod Region
Belgorod State Institute of Culture and Arts
Faculty of Artistic Creativity
Department of theatrical creativity
Course work
directing and acting skills
“Director's analysis of the play by A.P. Chekhov "The Seagull"
Completed:
Student 31RTK group
Katasonova I.S.
Scientific adviser:
Senior Lecturer
Department of TT Brusensky V.A
Belgorod - 2010
1. Director's analysis of the play
Rationale for choice
"The Seagull" was written in Melikhovo. In this play, Chekhov for the first time so frankly expressed his life and aesthetic position, showing people of art in it. This is a play about restless young artists and a self-satisfied, well-fed older generation guarding the won positions. This is a play about love (“Little action, five pounds of love,” Chekhov joked), about unrequited feelings, about mutual misunderstanding of people, about the cruel disorder of personal destinies. Finally, this play is also about the painful search for the true meaning of life, a common idea, the purpose of existence, a certain worldview, without which life is “a complete mess, horror”.
The premiere of The Seagull took place on December 17, 1896 at the Alexandrinsky Theatre. From the very beginning of the action, it became clear that the play was perceived by the public in a completely different way than the author and directors intended.
The next day after the premiere, all the morning newspapers in St. Petersburg reported on the failure of the performance; reviewers noted the grandiosity and scandalousness of the failure.
In the literature about Chekhov, the assertion is widespread that the reasons for the failure of The Seagull were primarily the unsuccessful production of the Alexandrinsky Theater: “The failure was inevitable, since the whole stable system of artistic means of this theater, corresponding to the stable, stereotyped forms of dramaturgy, was organically alien to the artistic trend and the material of the new play”.
The production of The Seagull by the Moscow Art Theater (1898) opened to the public the art of Chekhov the playwright. The performance was a great success. The flying seagull became the emblem of the Moscow Art Theater.
The play develops as a polyphonic, polyphonic work, in which different motives sound, different themes, plots, destinies, characters intersect. All heroes coexist equally: there are no main and secondary destinies, then one, then another hero comes to the fore, in order to then go into the shadows. Obviously, therefore, it is impossible, and hardly necessary, to single out the main character of The Seagull. This question is not indisputable. There was a time when Nina Zarechnaya was undoubtedly the heroine, later Treplev became the hero. In some performance, the image of Masha comes forward, in some other, Arkadin and Trigorin outshine everyone.
The actress Arkadina is having an affair with the writer Trigorin, a bachelor in advanced years. They have approximately the same understanding of things and are equally professional each in their own field of art. Another pair of lovers is Arkadina's son Konstantin Treplev, who hopes to become a writer, and the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Nina Zarechnaya, who dreams of becoming an actress. Then there are, as it were, falsely constructed pairs of lovers, the wife of the manager of the Shamraev estate, in love with the doctor, an old bachelor, Dorn, the daughter of the Shamraevs Masha, unrequitedly in love with Treplev. who, out of desperation, marries an unloved man. Even the former State Councilor Sorin, a sick old man, admits that he sympathized with Nina Zarechnaya.
The sudden connection between Trigorin and Zarechnaya changed a lot in the lives of the heroes of the play. The betrayal of a loved one, a true friend, stung Arkadina and brought unbearable pain to another person - Treplev, who sincerely loved Nina. He continued to love her even when she went to Trigorin, and when she gave birth to a child from him, and when she was abandoned by him and was in poverty. But Zarechnaya managed to establish herself in life and, after a two-year break, reappeared in her native places. Treplev joyfully met her, believing that happiness was returning to him. But Nina was still in love with Trigorin, she was in awe of him, but she did not look for a meeting with him and soon left suddenly. Unable to endure the trials, Treplev shot himself.
Love, which embraced almost all the characters, is the main action of The Seagull. But stronger than love is devotion to art. In Arkadina, both of these qualities - femininity and talent - merge into one. Trigorin is interesting precisely as a writer. In all other respects, he is a weak-willed creature and complete mediocrity. Out of habit, he drags after Arkadina, but leaves her when he has the opportunity to meet with the young Zarechnaya. One can explain such inconstancy of feelings by the fact that Trigorin is a writer and a new hobby - a kind of new page in life, which has a chance to become a new page in a book. Partly so it also is. We observe how he enters into his notebook the thought that flashed through his mind about the “plot for a short story”, repeating exactly the life of Nina Zarechnaya: a young girl lives on the shore of the lake, she is happy and free, but by chance a man came, saw and had nothing to do ruined her. The scene in which Trigorin showed Zarechnaya to the seagull killed by Treplev is symbolic. Treplev killed the bird - Trigorin kills Nina's soul.
Treplev is much younger than Trigorin, he belongs to a different generation and in his views on art acts as an antipode to Trigorin. and his mother. He himself believes that he loses to Trigorin in everything: as a person he did not take place, his beloved leaves him, his search for new forms was ridiculed as decadent. “I don't believe and I don't know what my calling is,” says Treplev to Nina, who, in his opinion, has found her way. These words immediately precede his suicide.
Thus, the truth remains with the average actress Arkadina, who lives on memories of her successes. Gregory enjoys continued success. He is self-satisfied and on his last visit to Sorin's estate he even brought a magazine with Treplev's story. But. as Treplev remarked, all this was ostentatious: “I read my story, but I didn’t even cut mine.” Trigorin condescendingly informs Treplev in front of everyone: “Your admirers bow to you ... In St. Petersburg and Moscow, they are generally interested in you. And everyone asks me about you.” Trigorin would not like to let go of the question of Treplev's popularity, he would like to measure its measure himself: “They ask: what is he like, how old is he, a brunette or a blond. Everyone thinks for some reason that you are no longer young.” This is how the ladies from Trigorin's entourage are seen here, it is their questions that he tried to discolor even more. Trigorin literally hoists a tombstone over a man whom he also robbed in his personal life.
Trigorin believes that Treplev's unsuccessful writing is another confirmation that Treplev is unworthy of a different fate: “And no one knows your real name, since you are published under a pseudonym. You are as mysterious as the Iron Mask." He does not suggest any other “mysteriousness” in Treplev. If you listen more carefully to the characteristics of the characters, to the definitions they give to each other, then you can understand that Chekhov gives some preference to Treplev's life position. Treplev's life is richer and more interesting than the sluggish, routine life that other heroes lead, even the most spiritual ones - Arkadina and Trigorin.
It is quite obvious that all Chekhov's sympathies are on the side of the young, searching generation, those who are just entering life. Although here, too, he sees different, non-merging paths. A young girl who grew up in an old noble estate on the lake, Nina Zarechnaya, and a half-educated student in a shabby jacket, Konstantin Treplev, both strive to get into the wonderful world of art. They start together: the girl plays in a play written by a talented young man in love with her. The play is strange, abstract, it speaks of the eternal conflict of spirit and matter. “We need new forms! - proclaims Treplev. - New forms are needed, and if they are not there, then nothing is better!
A stage has been hastily put together in the evening garden. Maybe a new work of art is being born here... But the play remains unfinished. Treplev's mother, the famous actress Arkadina, defiantly does not want to listen to "decadent nonsense." The show is broken. This exposes the incompatibility of two worlds, two views on life and positions in art.
“You routiners have seized the primacy in art and consider legitimate and real only what you do yourself, and you oppress and strangle the rest! - Treplev rebels against his mother and the successful writer Trigorin. - I do not recognize you! I don't recognize you or him!"
In this conflict, a crisis situation emerges in Russian art and in the life of the late 19th century, when “the old art went wrong, and the new one has not yet been adjusted.” The old classical realism, in which the imitation of nature has become an end in itself (“people eat, drink, love, walk, wear their jackets”), has degenerated only into a clever technical craft. The art of the new, coming age is born in pain, and its paths are not yet clear. “Life must be portrayed not as it is, and not as it should be, but as it appears in dreams” - this program of Treplev still sounds like a vague and pretentious declaration. He, with his talent, pushed off the old shore, but has not yet stuck to the new one. And life without a definite worldview turns into a chain of continuous torment for the young seeker.
The loss of the “general idea—the God of the living man” divides the people of the transitional epoch. Contacts are broken, everyone exists on his own, alone, incapable of understanding the other. That is why the feeling of love is so especially hopeless here: everyone loves, but everyone is unloved and everyone is unhappy.
The whole play is imbued with languor of the spirit, anxieties of mutual misunderstanding, unrequited feelings, general dissatisfaction. Even the most seemingly prosperous person - the famous writer Trigorin - even he secretly suffers from dissatisfaction with his fate, his profession, and in essence he is unhappy and lonely.
In a word, the feeling of the general disorder of life here comes to pain. Why, then, is the play called "The Seagull"?
And why, when reading, is she overwhelmed and captivated by a special sense of the poetic quality of her entire atmosphere? Most likely because Chekhov extracts poetry from the very disorder of life.
“The Seagull” is the motif of an eternal anxious flight, a stimulus for movement, a rush into the distance. It was not a banal “plot for a short story” that the writer extracted from the story of a shot seagull, but an epically broad theme of bitter dissatisfaction with life, awakening languor, longing for a better future. Only through suffering does Nina Zarechnaya come to the idea that the main thing is not glory, not brilliance, not what she once dreamed of, but the ability to endure. “Know how to bear your cross and believe” - this hard-won call for courageous patience opens up an aerial perspective to the tragic image of the Seagull, a flight into the future, does not close it with historically outlined time and space, puts not a dot, but an ellipsis in its fate.
I wouldn't be afraid to say that Art, Creativity and the attitude towards them are perhaps one of the most important characters in comedy, if not the main characters at all. It is precisely with the touchstone of art, as well as of love, that Chekhov believes and rules his heroes. And it turns out to be right - neither art nor love forgive lies, strumming, self-deception, momentary. Moreover, as always in this world, and in the world of Chekhov's characters, in particular, it is not the scoundrel who is rewarded, the conscientious one is rewarded for being wrong. Arkadina lies both in art and in love, she is a craftsman, which in itself is commendable, but a craft without a spark of God, without self-denial, without "intoxication" on the stage, to which Zarechnaya comes - nothing, this is day labor, this is a lie. However, Arkadina triumphs in everything - in the possession of tinsel success in life, and in forced love, and in the worship of the crowd. She is full, youthful, "in a string", self-satisfied, as only very narrow-minded and eternally right people are self-satisfied, and what does she care about the art that she, in fact, serves? For her, this is just a tool with which she provides herself with a comfortable existence, amuses her vanity, keeps with her not even a loved one, no, a fashionable and interesting person. This is not a shrine. And Arkadina is not a priestess. Of course, it is not worth simplifying her image, there are also interesting features in her that destroy the planar image, but we are talking about serving art, not about how she knows how to bandage wounds. If it were possible to expand Pushkin's phrase about the incompatibility of genius and villainy, projecting it onto art and all its servants, among which are geniuses, as Pushkin's Mozart said - "you and me", that is, not so much, and with the help of this The criterion to test the ministers of art, bred in the play, would probably be Zarechnaya alone - pure, slightly exalted, strange, naive and so cruelly paid for all her sweet Turgenev qualities - paid with fate, faith, ideals, love, simple human life.
But the fact of the matter is that, except for Arkadina, of the people associated with art in The Seagull, no one lives a simple human life, no one can live. Art simply does not allow Chekhov's heroes to do this, demanding victims everywhere and continuously, in everything, everywhere and everywhere, contradicting Pushkin's formulation "As long as Apollo does not require the poet to the sacred sacrifice ....". Neither Treplev, nor Trigorin, nor Zarechnaya are able to live normally, because Apollo demands them to the sacred sacrifice every second, for Trigorin this becomes almost a painful mania. It seems to confirm the old joke that the difference between writers and graphomaniacs is that the former are printed, while the latter are not. Well, this difference between Trigorin and Treplev will disappear in just two years, between the third and fourth acts.
"The Seagull" differs sharply from Chekhov's previous plays in its lyricism, symbolism and vividly defined clash of various concepts of art, concepts of life. There is a lot of love in “The Seagull”, i.e. it is shown how this mighty feeling filled all the heroes. The actress Arkadina is having an affair with the writer Trigorin, a bachelor in advanced years. They have approximately the same understanding of things and are on the same level each in their own field of art. Another pair of lovers is Arkadina's son Konstantin Treplev, who dreams of becoming a writer, and the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Nina Zarechnaya, who dreams of becoming an actress. Then there are, as it were, falsely constructed pairs of lovers: the wife of the manager of the estate, Shamraev, is in love with Dr. Dorn, an old bachelor; Shamaev's daughter Masha, unrequitedly in love with Treplev, out of desperation marries an unloved man. Even the former State Councilor Sorin, a sick old man, admits that he sympathized with Nina Zarechnaya. Chekhov himself joked that in his "The Seagull" - "five pounds of love."
The vicissitudes of love in "The Seagull" develop sharply. Arkadina is hurt by the sudden infatuation of Trigorin Zarechnaya. And he seemed to her a true friend, "the last station of her life." But, in general, she, being carried away herself, forgave him everything.
The connection between Trigorin and Zarechnaya brought unbearable pain to Treplev, who loved Nina. He continued to love her both when she went to Trigorin and gave birth to a child from him, and when she was abandoned by him and was in poverty. Without any outside help, Zarechnaya managed to establish herself in life. After a two-year break, Nina reappears in her native places, she also comes to Sorin's estate. Treplev joyfully met her, believing that happiness was returning to him. But she is still in love with Trigorin, reveres him. However, having learned that Trigorin is in the next room, she does not seek a meeting with him and suddenly leaves. Unable to bear the test, Treplev shoots himself.
Love, which embraced almost all the characters, is the main action of The Seagull. But the devotion of its heroes to art has no less power. And this feeling, perhaps, turns out to be higher than love, turns out to be the strongest incentive for the actions of the main characters. In Arkadina, both of these qualities - femininity and talent - merge into one. Trigorin is undoubtedly interesting precisely as a writer. In literature, he is a well-known person, they say about him that you cannot compare him only with Tolstoy and Zola, and many put him right after Turgenev. As a man, he is a weak-willed creature and complete mediocrity. Out of habit, he drags after Arkadina, but immediately leaves her when he sees the young Zarechnaya. At the same time, he is a writer, a new hobby is a kind of new page in life, important for creativity. So he enters into his notebook the thought that flashed through his mind about “the plot for a short story”, repeating exactly the life of Nina Zarechnaya: a young girl lives on the shore of the lake, she is happy and free, but “by chance a man came, saw and “from nothing to do” ruined her. Trigorin pointed Zarechnaya to the seagull killed by Treplev. But Treplev killed the bird, Trigorin kills Nina's soul.
Treplev is much younger than Trigorin, he belongs to a different generation and in his views on art acts as an antipode to both Trigorin and his mother. He believes that "new forms are considered to be that Treplev loses in all directions: as a person he did not take place, his beloved leaves him, his search for new forms was ridiculed as decadent" . “I don’t believe and I don’t know what my calling is,” he says to Nina, who, in his opinion, has found her way. These words immediately precede Treplev's suicide. It turns out, it's bad, it's good.
The work "The Seagull" by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, at first glance, is the most ordinary play, without bright events and incidents. This play shows the ordinary life of people - a little love, a little intrigue and, of course, a lot of ordinary conversations and a little action. It seems to me that the characterization given by Arkadina to Treplev's play is an assessment of Chekhov's entire work.
The action in the play unfolds sluggishly and coldly. No events - neither Medvedenko's love for Masha, nor Nina's unfinished personal life, nor the death of Konstantin Gavrilych - impress the heroes. Huge pauses between actions slow down the play, making it more even, without bright splashes. All these coldly perceived events point to routine life with its regularity and routine.
Who in real life cares about feelings like love and events like suicide? The fate of several heroes did not work out, love died out, and Treplev shot himself - however, the end can hardly be called tragic, life goes on, everything flowed again along the old channel, just someone disappeared, but another will soon take his place.
Chekhov pointed to the vicious circle, dullness and routine of ordinary life. But perhaps this is only a superficial impression. Maybe life is "in hidden dramas and tragedies in every figure." After all, the “seagull” herself, Nina Zarechnaya, although wounded by deceiving love, the death of a child, failures on stage, is not broken and believes that she will become a “great actress”. The pitifully sentimental image proposed by Trigorin, in Chekhov, turns into a symbol of a difficult, even painful, but - take-off.
The problem of "the life purpose and purpose of a person" has always been of great importance in the life of not only a creative person, a person of art, but also in the life of an ordinary person. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov occupies an equally prominent place in the world literary process both as a prose writer and as a playwright. But how he decided on a playwright earlier. At the age of eighteen, Chekhov began work on his first play, which was not published during the author's lifetime. But Chekhov's great work as a playwright began much later, eighteen years later, from The Seagull, which was completed in 1896 The author himself defined it as an unusual work, a work contrary to all the rules of dramaturgy.The Seagull is the most tragic comedy, the plot of which consists of a labyrinth of seizures and passions, there is no way out of it, because there is no way out of a series of conflicting human feelings.
Love in the work is the sad facts of human relationships that have no development: the teacher Medvedenko loves Masha, Masha is passionately in love with Treplev, Treplev hopelessly pines for Nina, who, in turn, loves Trigorin. Events move past the characters in the play. Of course, Treplev and Nina could make a wonderful couple and be happy. But she loves Trigorin, who, after a short affair with her, will return to Arkadina. All these illogical relationships create the disharmony of the play, which turns from a unique comedy-tragedy into the most ordinary drama.
Teacher Medvedenko cannot talk about anything other than material wealth, because this is the problem of all teachers of that time: “I get only twenty-three rubles a month, and they deduct from me to emeritus, but still I don’t wear mourning.”
Masha frankly tells everyone that she is unhappy: “But I have a feeling as if I was born a long time ago; I drag my life with fiber, like an endless train. And often there is no desire to live.
Consequently, from the first acts of the play it is clear that its atmosphere is dominated by a general dissatisfaction with life. People are too preoccupied with their own troubles, and therefore they do not hear each other. The atmosphere of the work is an atmosphere of sheer psychological deafness.
Nina, after all her misfortunes, began to feel like a seagull that a man shot out of boredom. Like a seagull, she signed her letters when she despaired of life. But Nina is a strong person, a person who knows how to fight and dream: “I am already a real actress, I play with pleasure, with delight, I get drunk on stage and feel beautiful. And now, while I live here, I keep walking, walking and thinking, thinking and feeling how my spiritual strength is growing every day.
Epoch
The situation in the culture of the late 19th century developed under the influence of a number of factors, both social and cultural.
If we have in mind the social relations that prevailed in the country, then this was the time when, as one of the heroes of the drama "Dowry" says, "the triumph of the bourgeoisie" came. The transition to new forms of life is carried out quickly, even swiftly. The "other life" is coming. As correctly noted by M.V. Otradin, "this transition to a new life was sharply manifested in the development and approval of a different system of moral values, which primarily interested writers."
And among the factors of a cultural nature, the most significant, in many respects determining, was, for obvious reasons, the influence of L, N. Tolstoy and F.M. Dostoevsky.
Complexity was the most important property of Dostoevsky's ideological world. He, like no one else in the 19th century, managed to reproduce with almost physical perceptibility the intricacies of a person's spiritual life, the real complexity of life, the insolubility of problems and the relativity of truth. Dostoevsky's work is unique in its richness of problematic content.
Suppressed by the infinite complexity of both reality itself and its comprehension, the cultural consciousness of the era lost moral guidelines, and hence spiritual health, often coming to hopeless despair. Culture destabilized, lost viability.
The trend of the modern cultural consciousness of the 19th century is to master the dialectics of life as fully as possible, courageously and honestly accepting the most pressing questions and unresolved problems, not being satisfied with approximate answers, general considerations or slogans. All this is fully reflected in the work of F.M. Dostoevsky. But as A.B. Yesin, "another trend is no less relevant - the need of a modern person to find stable reference points in a complex and changing world, the desire to rely on something simple and clear, rooted in the long daily practice of generations and absolutely beyond doubt."
These attempts to take root, to find support for moral life, are reflected in Chekhov's comedy The Seagull. “Never before have people felt in their hearts the need to believe and so understood with their minds the impossibility of believing,” Mirezhkovsky argued. “In this crazy unresolved dissonance, as well as in unprecedented mental freedom, in the courage of denial, lies the most characteristic feature of the mystical need of the 19th century. Our time should be defined by two opposite features - this is the time of the most extreme materialism and in the place with the most passionate ideal impulses of the spirit.
In Chekhov's play, only man and his soul, his conscience, his ideals, his understanding of life, his feelings are explored.
A person, according to the definition of Vishnevskaya I., "is not supported by anything but his own strength - neither religion, nor the church, nor fear of the devil, nor fear of sin, nor fear of punishment for the triumph of happy love."
Hence the understanding of the meaning of the title of the play: "The Seagull" is a lonely, unfortunate bird, doomed to constantly circle over the water with a cry.
Because of this spiritual inferiority, all the troubles of the heroine, the seagull, arise.
they say that at the moment of destabilization of culture, the heyday of "complexity" F.M. Dostoevsky's work by A.P. Chekhov was a necessary counterbalance.
Human axiomatics, at first glance, is really simple and at the same time extremely natural. It lies not in the plane of religious or philosophical speculation, but in the sphere of practical morality: "My holy of holies is the human body, health, mind, talent, inspiration, love and absolute freedom, freedom from power and lies, in which the last two were not expressed" .
The value system of Chekhov, the playwright, was born from understanding the fundamental properties of human needs in general - any and in all ages. Chekhov said that the beautiful is not "outside", but in life itself, that the beautiful is the grain of man.
Chekhov's problems are not in posing questions about what is good, but in how much the concrete life of specific people corresponds to simple, primordial, immutable moral values.
Hierarchy of society. Disunity, which has permeated all the pores of human relations, and inefficiency, inflation of former values, connecting principles are the most important factors under the influence of which in Chekhov's world the personality is formed or, on the contrary, deformation, depersonalization, vulgarization of a person.
The realistic principle - to portray a person "not an angel, not a villain" - was implemented by Chekhov in his own, extremely complete form. It is difficult to judge almost each of his characters unequivocally and with certainty: whether he is sincere or not, truthful or deceitful, smart or stupid, strong or weak, good or evil. And we, the readers, almost never know for sure what will outweigh the hero. Originality, confusion, confusion, different beginnings in the Chekhov character does not come from strength, but, on the contrary, as L.A. Kolobaev, "from weakness - from the confusion of life, from the weakness of the self-consciousness of the individual."
All this is explained historically, by the peculiarities of Russian social life of the 90s and 900s, with the traits of transition of different forms of life and mentality that became extremely aggravated in it.
The hero in Chekhov's world is often captivated by other people's words and thoughts, other people's ideas imposed on him by his environment, the power of dominant social institutions, their traditions, prescriptions and conventions. Enslavement to all this is a serious evil from which a person suffers and from which he is able to free himself only through independent experience and its comprehension.
Chekhov considers the most important source of "wrong" in a person to be his confusion with one-sided ideas about life, narrow goals, stereotypes of mechanically learned beliefs, assessments and rules of behavior, blind faith in habitual obsolete authorities - the enslavement of the personality by all kinds of ideological and moral "ghosts", in the creation and overcoming which the artist saw the first and necessary condition for the liberation of man. “What is important is not forgotten words, not idealism, but the consciousness of one’s own purity, i.e. the complete freedom of your soul from all forgotten and not forgotten words, idealisms and other things. You need to believe in God, and if there is no faith, then do not take its place with hype , but search, search, search alone, one on one with your conscience ... "- wrote Chekhov in a letter to V.S. Mirolyubov December 17, 1901.
Chekhov deeply feels the burden of all sorts of illusions that distort the personality in his contemporary society, but he never proceeds from their inevitability, and never reconciles with them, exploring them in his work, especially in large plays.
The ability to develop, change, internal movement of Chekhov's heroes, as well as other classics of Russian realistic literature, is a sign and criterion of vitality, spiritual health and beauty of the individual.
Beauty, according to Chekhov, is often used by the owners not for their natural "divine" purpose. This is something that illuminates life even for a moment, gives an impulse of light and that, even without being present in this world, invisibly develops within it. Beauty in Chekhov is the idea of higher harmony, the basis, the essence of divine-human existence.
In the understanding of the writer, happiness, firstly, is the whole process of life, if it brings satisfaction to a person, the consciousness of its correctness. Secondly, happiness is man-made, to a large extent depends on the conditions of the person himself. Thirdly, happiness depends on the circumstances in which a person is placed. Many of these circumstances are not meant for one person.
The first step towards the formation of personality in the heroes of Chekhov, according to L.A. Kolobaeva, "is accomplished through the spiritual work of self-denial, when a person, freeing himself from self-deception, from illusions at his own expense, rises to the ability to blame not others, but himself for his life's failures."
The search for truth, God, the soul, the meaning of life, Chekhov did not explore the sublime manifestation of the human spirit, but the moral weakness, fall, impotence of the individual.
All Russian writers went through a test of faith, feeling their work as the fulfillment of a duty bequeathed by God.
An intense search for the meaning of life becomes the main content of the life of Chekhov's heroes. “It seems to me, says the heroine of the Three Sisters, Masha, that a person must be a believer or must seek faith, otherwise his life is empty, empty ... To live and not know why the cranes fly, why children are born, why the stars in the sky ... Or know what you live for, or it's all nonsense, tryn-grass.
The requirements of the moral and aesthetic code of the writer is faith in a person who betrays to live independently, to make an independent choice: "Life is given once and I want to live it cheerfully, meaningfully, beautifully. I want to play a prominent, independent, noble role, I want to make history ..." ( A.P. Chekhov).
play trend dialectics
The ideological and thematic idea of the work
Topic: "about the insecurity of the life of the creator and the cruel world of art and creativity"
The theme of "The Seagull" is such precisely because of the comprehensive study of art and creativity, which Chekhov conducts harshly and surgically accurately in his comedy. Indeed, if I were asked what other Chekhov's plays are about, I could, of course, single out the theme of the obsolete old noble life and the vivacious, but also cynical capitalism that is replacing it in The Cherry Orchard, the leaden abominations of Russian provincial life in "Uncle Vanya", "Three Sisters" and "Ivanov", while in each play one could fruitfully talk about superbly developed love lines, and about the problems that come to a person with age, and much more. But "The Seagull" is about everything. That is, like all other "comedies", "scenes" and dramas, "The Seagull" is about life, like any real literature, but also about what is most important for a person who creates, writes, like Chekhov himself, writes for theater and created a new mask for the ancient muse of the theater Melpomene - about Art, about serving it and about how art is created - about creativity.
If the actors, their lives, their cursed and sacred craft were written about in ancient times, then the writers themselves spoke about the creator - the author of the text much later. The semi-mystical process of creativity begins to be revealed to the reader only in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th N.V. Gogol in The Portrait, Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray, J. London in Martin Eden, Mikhail Bulgakov in The Master and Margarita, and in our time, His Majesty the Author is becoming almost the most beloved hero of prose writers and playwrights.
Now it is difficult to understand whether Chekhov, with his "The Seagull", gave impetus to this research boom, or whether just any writer at some point comes to the need to figure out how he writes, how his description and perception of reality correlates with life itself, why he needs it. to himself and to people, what it brings them, where he stands among other creators.
Practically all these questions are raised and one way or another resolved in the play "The Seagull". The Seagull is Chekhov's most theatrical play, because the writers Trigorin and Treplev and two actresses, Arkadina and Zarechnaya, act in it. In the best Shakespearean traditions, another scene is symbolically present on the stage, at the beginning of the play there is a beautiful, mysterious, promising scene with natural scenery, as if saying to both the audience and the participants in the big performance played out in the estate: "There will still be. The play has just begun. Look!" and in the end - sinister, dilapidated, useless to anyone, which is too lazy or just scary to disassemble. "Finita la comedia", - the participants of this "human comedy", if according to Balzac, could say.
Idea: "A vocation is like a path without which people rush about in a chaos of dreams and images"
Art (for the characters of The Seagull, this is mainly literature and theater) makes up a huge layer of the heroes' ideals, this is their profession and hobby. “Not believing, a person does not know his calling”
All the characters in the analyzed play are united by one common quality: each alone experiences his fate, and no one can help a friend. All the characters are dissatisfied with life to some extent, focused on themselves, on their personal experiences and aspirations.
The drama "The Seagull" is thoroughly imbued with an atmosphere of trouble. There are no happy people in it. The atmosphere of loneliness haunts each of the characters. And against the background of this atmosphere, the seagull-symbol, which acquires different meanings, lives differently in the soul of the young heroes of the play - Treplev and Nina.
For Treplev, the seagull is also a symbol, but a symbol of what has not come true. And although for him, a famous writer, the search for the meaning of life has not ended, but he, like Nina, can be attributed to one camp, Trigorin and Arkadin to another. If Treplev to the last moment in despair says: "I am still running around in a chaos of dreams and images, not knowing why and who needs it."
plot
The young writer Treplev "withdrew from the third year of the university due to circumstances beyond the editor's control" and lived on his uncle's estate. His mother, a famous actress, visited this estate with Trigorin. Treplev writes a play in which his beloved Nina Zarechnaya plays the main role. The performance failed and Treplev loses the meaning of life. Soon her mother leaves, Nina falls in love with Trigorin, who breaks up with Arkadina, and live together for two years. Nina loses her child, breaks up with Trigorin, who returns to Arkadina. Chetez returns to his father's estate for two years and comes to Treplev. At this time, Treplev's mother arrives at Sorin's estate with Trigorin. After a conversation with Nina, who once again throws him, he shoots himself.
The plot and compositional basis of the work
Composition and architectonics of the work
1. Exposition: Pre-premiere bustle in the estate of Sorina. From the words: "So before you start, send to say ..."
1) a conversation between Masha and Medvedenko.
2) conversation between Sorin and Treplev.
3) preparation for the performance.
4) arrival of Nina.
5) Treplev's declaration of love for Nina.
Before the words: “There is little action in your play, only one reading ...”
2. Commencement: Beginning of the play
From the words: "It's getting damp. Go back put on your galoshes…”
1) The arrival of the audience.
2) Skirmish between Treplev and his mother.
3) Introduction by Treplev.
4) Playing Nina in the Treplev Theater.
5) Quarrel between Arkadina and Treplev.
To the words: “Guilty! I lost sight of the fact that only a few can write plays and play on stage ... "
3. Action development: The everyday life of unusual people.
From the words: “That's fair, but let's not talk about plays or atoms. The evening is so glorious…”
1) Nina's sympathy for Trigorin.
2) Quarrel between Arkadina and Shamraev.
3) Nina's gift to Trigorin.
4) Departure of Arkadina and Trigorin.
5) Trigorin's betrayal.
6) Sorin's fainting.
7) Return of Arkadina and Trigorin.
To the words: “As you know. Petrusha, have dinner!...”
4. Climax: Nina's visit to Treplev.
From the words: "I talked so much about new forms ..."
1) Treplev's reflections on new forms.
2) The appearance of Nina.
3) Treplev's confession to Nina in past feelings.
4) Nina's refusal.
5) Nina's departure.
Before the words: “It’s not good if someone meets her in the garden and then tells her mother ...”
5. Resolution: Treplev's suicide.
From the words: "Red wine and beer for Boris Alekseevich ..."
1) Fun in the estate of Sorina.
2) The suicide of Konstantin Gavrilovich.
Before the words: "the fact is that Konstantin Gavrilovich shot himself ..."
Event system:
Initial: pre-premiere preparation of the performance.
Main: failure of the performance. First suicide attempt.
Central: arrival of Zarechnaya to Treplev.
Final: Treplev's suicide.
The main thing: the premiere of the play.
Conflict
Main conflict:
Between life circumstances and spiritual impulses. The clash of the aspirations of the characters with life gives rise to the tragic conflict of the play.
Side conflict:
Between the appointment of a person in this life and the lack of the possibility of realizing one's destiny.
Conflict between:
By whom:
Treplev-Arkadina
Treplev-Trigorin
Treplev-Medvedenko
Zarechnaya-Arkadina
Zarechnaya -Masha
Dorn-Shamraev
Arkadina-Shamraev
How:
Creative impulses - their insecurity in a cruel world.
The desire to establish himself as an artist is a misunderstanding of others.
Young creativity and its cruel denial.
Analysis of the proposed circumstances:
Initialproposed circumstances: The young student Treplev “left the third year of the university”, which radically changed his life. After a quarrel with his mother, he arrives at the estate of his uncle, Pyotr Nikolaevich Sorin, where he remains to live. He does not have any means of living, but he has a talent that he will later implement in writing his play.
Leadingproposedcircumstances: all the heroes of this song are connected in one way or another with the upcoming premiere at Sorin's estate. This event holds the entire effective sequence of the play. For Treplev, his future fate was practically decided, since he was afraid that he would not be perceived as a serious author. Being a man with a vulnerable soul and a sensitive heart, he tried to show others, and most importantly his mother, that he was worth something and that his passion for theater was not a coming occupation, but his life's work. He dreamed of the theater and hoped to bring something new to it with his work that would amaze the viewer.
Mainproposedcircumstances: The young novice writer Treplev wrote an original play, but no one took his work seriously, and the most offensive thing for his young pride was that Arkadina simply mocked him. The main role in this play was played by Nina Zarechnaya, whom Treplev loved passionately, but she did not perceive it as something serious. For her, it was just affection. Nina dreamed of the stage, wanted to become a great actress, and for her the premiere of this play was her debut on stage. At the premiere of the play, Arkadina simply scoffed at what she saw, which hurt Konstantin very much, who could not stand the criticism of his mother and interrupted the performance. After that, they had a big fight. From that moment on, Treplev closed himself in and began to be in constant search for self-affirmation, as a creator who deserves attention and respect for his work. He began to publish, but his works did not please him, he was waiting for a different path. Trying to find his place in life and his calling, he makes two unsuccessful suicide attempts. Then he finally withdraws into himself.
Genre: comedy in 4 acts.
Scheme-questionnaire about images
|
Sem. position |
Profession |
hobby hobby |
Appearance |
Character |
|||
|
Irina Nick. Arkady-na |
Single |
Always be the best |
Pleasant-looking woman |
Strict, demanding of oneself and others |
|||
KonstantinGavril. chatter lion |
Aspiring Writer |
Theater, the discovery of new forms of creativity |
Ordinary guy, just dressed in an old frock coat |
Vulnerable, quick-tempered, with a sensitive heart |
|||
|
Nina Mikhail. Zarech-naya |
Single |
Aspiring actress, daughter of a wealthy landowner |
Theatre, stage play |
Nice looking girl |
modest,silent, always excited, cheerful |
||
|
Peter Nicol. Sorin |
Homestead owner |
Literature, wanted to become a writer |
Outwardly not attractive |
Kind, open-hearted, wise |
|||
|
Ilya Afan. Shamraev |
Retired lieutenant, Sorin's manager |
Theatrical art, attends many performances |
Middle-aged man of ordinary appearance |
Hot-tempered, stubborn, sullen |
|||
|
Polina Andreev-na |
Married, wife of Shamraev |
In love with Dorn |
Pretty energetic woman |
Kind, caring, obligatory, hardworking |
|||
|
Marries Medveden-ko |
Shamraev's daughter |
I like Treplev's work, I love him |
Young, normal-looking girl |
Bold, does not appreciate her husband and hearth, wants love |
|||
|
Semyon Semyon. Medve-Denko |
Married to Masha |
philosophy |
Ordinary young poor teacher |
A good family man, caring, calm, simple |
|||
|
Evgeny Sergeev. Mandrel |
Passionate about the creativity of Arkadina |
Beautifully preserved and women still like us |
Serious reasonable, decent |
||||
|
Boris Alex. Trigo-rin |
Single, lives with Arkadina |
novelist |
Literature and theater |
Outwardly attractive, impresses women |
Clever, simple, decent, a little melancholy-personal |
Three perspectives on character
|
How the character thinks of himself |
What do others think of him? |
|||
|
"Who am I? What am I? I left the third year of the university due to circumstances, as they say, beyond the control of the editors, no talents, not a penny, and according to my passport I am a Kiev tradesman. |
“A capricious, proud boy”, “everyone writes as he wants”, “behaves tactlessly” |
“He spends whole days on the lake”, “he is not feeling well”, “pouts, snorts, preaches new forms. But after all, there is enough space for everyone, both new and old. ” |
||
|
“I am drawn here like a seagull”, “my heart is full of you!” |
“her father and stepmother guard her”, “a sorceress, my dream”, “with such a voice, with such an appearance, it is a sin to sit in the village. You must have talent”, “smart, interesting” |
“Father and stepmother do not let her in, they are afraid that she would not go to the actress” |
||
|
Arkadina |
“I work, I feel, I am constantly in a fuss”, “I am correct, sweet, always dressed and combed” |
“my mother is a psychological curiosity”, “undeniably talented, smart, able to sob over books”, “you need to praise only her alone”, “superstitious, stingy” |
Famous people are proud, impregnable, they despise the crowd with their glory, the brilliance of their name, as if taking revenge on her because she puts the nobility of origin and wealth above her own. |
|
|
"tragedy of my life. Even in my youth I had such an appearance, as if I drank heavily and that's it. Women have never loved me”, “I wanted to marry and become a writer, but neither one nor the other succeeded” |
“really you need to live in the city”, “you need to take life seriously |
He served in the judiciary for 28 years, but did not live yet, did not experience anything in the end, ” |
||
|
Trigorin |
“You talk about fame, about happiness, about some kind of bright, interesting life, but for me all these good words are like marmalade, which I never eat” |
“a smart man, simple, a little, you know, melancholy. Very decent. Forty years he will not be soon, but he is already famous and fed up…”, “he is a celebrity, but he has a simple soul” |
"a famous writer, a favorite of the public, they write about him in all newspapers, his portraits are sold, he is translated into foreign languages" |
|
|
"not rich, but well off", "I can't stand his rudeness" |
People are boring. In essence, it should have been in the neck from here, but svn |
|||
|
“There was a lot of good in the relationship of women to me. I was mainly loved as an excellent doctor, in the whole province I was the only decent obstetrician. Then I was always an honest man" |
“You are not protecting yourself. This is stubbornness. You are a doctor and you know perfectly well that damp air is harmful to you”, “You are perfectly preserved and women still like you”, “was the idol of all estates” |
|||
|
Medvedenko |
“I live much harder than you. I get only 23 rubles a month, and they deduct from me in emeritutu”, “I, and my mother, and two sisters and a brother, and the salary is only 23 rubles. After all, you need to eat and drink?...”, “I am without funds, my family is big” |
“... not very smart, but a kind person and a poor man, and he loves me very much. It's a pity" |
Not stupid, a family man, appreciates the family and loves the hearth and comfort |
|
PaulineAndreevna |
“Our time is running out, we are no longer young, and at least at the end of our lives we can’t hide, don’t lie ..” |
“Time is running out, you are no longer young, and at least at the end of your life you don’t hide, don’t lie ..” |
"Don't say that youth ruined" |
|
|
“I am unhappy”, “I have a feeling as if I was born a long time ago, I drag my life like an endless train” |
“You are healthy, your father, although not rich, is well off” |
believes that life has failed and wears mourning for his life. Always dressed in black |
The grain of the play
The grain of the play is a high mountain, on top of which not everyone can climb. All the way to the top is all the obstacles and obstacles on the path of the creator. The strong in spirit reach the end of the road, and the rest, unable to withstand all the trials, cease to exist as great artists, as outstanding personalities. You will not be alone on this peak, so you cannot make sudden movements so as not to push someone off his path, his vocation. In essence, this is a figurative picture of our life. The pain caused by such movements, even if committed by negligence, can lead to death, moral or physical, of a person close to you.
Plot
His nephew, the aspiring writer Konstantin, settled in the estate of Sorin, whose mother, the famous actress, came to visit them. Constantine is writing a play. A theater has been prepared in the garden of this estate, where the premiere of the play is to take place. The main role in this play is played by Nina Zarechnaya, a young girl, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, whom Kostya passionately loved. Nina arrives and, left alone with her, Treplev confesses his love to her, but she does not reciprocate. Kostya's mother took her son's play as something decadent and they had a quarrel, and Treplev pulled the curtain and interrupted the performance. After that, he became somehow strange and aloof. Nina developed a sympathy for Trigorin. After a quarrel with Shamraev, Arkadina decides to leave. Nina gives Trigorin a medallion as a farewell gift and confesses her feelings. They agree to meet in Moscow. Life has become boring and mundane. The works of the young writer Treplev began to be published in magazines, but this did not please him at all. After the second suicide attempt, Arkadina is sent a telegram about Sorin's poor health. Arkadina and Trigorin, who has returned to her, come to the estate again. Konstantin learns of Nina's arrival in the village and waited in trepidation for their meeting, went to her house, but did not dare to enter, stood under her windows. A holiday was prepared for the arrival of Arkadina at the estate, but Konstantin did not want to have fun with everyone else. He stayed in his office, and that night he finally waited for a meeting with Nina, who secretly made her way to him so that no one would notice her. They shared their troubles with each other and Treplev asked her to take him with her, but Zarechnaya refused and left him. When he was left alone, he realized that his life was destroyed, that he did not know what he was living for, did not know his vocation and was shooting himself. Hearing a shot from the office, Dorn discovers him.
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