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Themes in Seagull

Some of the general themes of the play are unrequited love; success, failure and fame; youth; jealousy; wealth and dissatisfaction.

Unrequited love: "The seagull" is full of love and lovers; Masha is in love with Treplov who loves Nina. Nina is completely star struck by Trigorin's fame and is besotted by him. Trigorin is loved by Arkadina and it is implied that herself and Polina have previously had an affair with Dorn, the town player. Furthermore, Treplov's successful suicide attempt could be justified by Nina's eventual rejection for his love and his failures as a writer.

Success, failure and fame: Trigorin, though a famous writer, hasn't found his own voice yet and he himself believes that he is not as good as Turgenev or Tolstoy. Arkadina too is famous in her own right but she is incredibly insecure and feels threatened by her son's longing to find new theatrical forms. Nina on the other hand, seems to be uncaring of her art form and only concerned about fame from success. Success is represented in a very superficial manner in this play. Chekhov shows the importance of fame in the human psyche. Some characters want to be famous and aren't concerned with their development as an artist; Arkadina is very proud of her fame but seems to be playing in mediocre, old-fashioned plays. Nina too is seemingly a bad actress but desires to be in the same social groups as Arkadina and Trigorin. On the other hand, Trigorin is famous but would much rather be successful and have some form of development as an artist. Furthermore, Treplov, who is neither famous nor successful, although is looking to discover new forms of drama and theatre, seems more focused on becoming a famous writer.

 Youth:  The concept of youth also plays an important role in the play. Arkadina's transparent obsession with youth is evident from her relationship with Trigorin, a man considerably younger than her. Moreover, she cannot stand to be in the presence of Treplov since he reminds her, and possibly everybody else, of her true age. Trigorin also wants to relive his youth by having an affair with Nina.

Jealousy: The characters in seagull are unanimous in their feeeling of jealousy. they not only envy their romantic rivals but also their professional counterparts. Treplov is jealous and disapproving of Trigorin because of his fame as a writer and his ability to impress the women he cares about and effortlessly get the attention he longs. Arkadina is jealous of Nina's youth and charm that attracts both Treplov and Trigorin. Masha too is envious of Nina's ability to hold Treplov's unwavering attention.

Wealth:  Not all characters are too caught up with the notion of money. The ones who are, however, cannot seem to part from it. Arkadina gets too defensive when Treplov or Sorin ask her for money even though she is quite well off. Medvedenko isn't considered to be in the same social realm as everybody else due to his job as a teacher and is often seen gossiping about everyone else's salary.

Dissatisfaction: There is a certain kind of pessimism in the air in Chekhov's "the seagull". Although everyone seems to have a brave and proud facade on, no one is truly satisfied with their position or role in society. They drink, they smoke and occasionally try to kill themselves. They seem to want what others have and completely disregard their true self-worth.

-An Assignment by Nikita Khatwani and group (TYBA- LIT)

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