The Seagull
Sarah Post
Dr. Easley
IB English
Supervised Essay
Setting and landscape can be seen as equally important as the characters within a work. In Chekhov’s play The Seagull, natural landscape is a key component to the work as it had an underlying meaning of foreshadowing or accentuating the traits of the characters. From the calm estate, to the lake, all the way to the weather, Chekhov is attempting to show something a little more. The estate can be seen as the main setting of the play, for this is where much of it does take place. I believe Chekhov chose to keep the setting contained on a Country estate because it shows to be inactive. In doing so, this keeps the focus primarily on the characters and their actions and feelings. The extent of the inactive scenery can be conveyed through Arkadina on page 128 where she states, “Oh, what could be more boring than this sweet country boredom.” This is showing that the characters don’t think much of the background and have more time to focus on what’s going on internally as well as externally. It also allows the characters to grow relationships with each other, or find problems with one another. Another key setting to the play is the lake. Throughout the play there are several references to the lake by numerous characters. The setting of the lake can be seen as inception, for Treplev has the setting of his play by a lake. At first, you might read over this not thinking much of it. But, I believe Chekhov was trying to get the reader to pay attention to the use of the lake by bringing it up again through Treplev. The lake can be used in different ways through the characters. Trigorin visits by himself to fish. Treplev goes to the lake to reflect on things. Nina is drawn to the lake. She shows she knows the lake well when she says, “I know all the little islands on the lake.” showing that she spends a lot of time at the lake. The last natural landscape that shows to be a key component would be the weather.
Dr. Easley
IB English
Supervised Essay
Setting and landscape can be seen as equally important as the characters within a work. In Chekhov’s play The Seagull, natural landscape is a key component to the work as it had an underlying meaning of foreshadowing or accentuating the traits of the characters. From the calm estate, to the lake, all the way to the weather, Chekhov is attempting to show something a little more. The estate can be seen as the main setting of the play, for this is where much of it does take place. I believe Chekhov chose to keep the setting contained on a Country estate because it shows to be inactive. In doing so, this keeps the focus primarily on the characters and their actions and feelings. The extent of the inactive scenery can be conveyed through Arkadina on page 128 where she states, “Oh, what could be more boring than this sweet country boredom.” This is showing that the characters don’t think much of the background and have more time to focus on what’s going on internally as well as externally. It also allows the characters to grow relationships with each other, or find problems with one another. Another key setting to the play is the lake. Throughout the play there are several references to the lake by numerous characters. The setting of the lake can be seen as inception, for Treplev has the setting of his play by a lake. At first, you might read over this not thinking much of it. But, I believe Chekhov was trying to get the reader to pay attention to the use of the lake by bringing it up again through Treplev. The lake can be used in different ways through the characters. Trigorin visits by himself to fish. Treplev goes to the lake to reflect on things. Nina is drawn to the lake. She shows she knows the lake well when she says, “I know all the little islands on the lake.” showing that she spends a lot of time at the lake. The last natural landscape that shows to be a key component would be the weather.