The Seagull by Anton Chekhov

The Seagull, 1896, received disastrous reviews initually, but when it was produced again, in 1898, it was a success. The depressed characters are easy to identify with. Most people in the novel are unhappy because they love people that don't really see them. A seagull shot by a man - as suggested by the character Trigorin, himself an author - is a metaphor for a person destroyed by unrequited love.

The play challenges the actors as well as the audience and readers because of the smooth writing of scenes and the character's mood, instead of a conventional play. The readers have to interpret the characters, from clues presented to them, as the most important themes are hidden from the stage. As in real life, the characters prefer not to talk about what's really on their mind. Chekhov's tecnique of the stream-of-consciousness is claimed to be original for his time. His wanted to ask the readers questions, and not to answer them. He wanted to present the readers with certain clues, challenge them, but not present them with a solution. The sub-textual content makes the play a rare piece of the 1800's.

”… I have no rest from myself, and i feel that I'm devouring my own life, that in order to make the honey which I give away to someone out there, I rob my best flowers of their pollen, I tear apart the flowers themselves and trample their roots. Am I not a madman?” - Trigorin.