Introduction
Anton Chekhov was categorised as a realistic writer. His drama scripts also are realistic. The plot in his scripts describes a short fragment of ordinary lives from ordinary people. But his realism is not completely as same as traditional realism, which contains a lot of symbolism concepts. The traditional realistic play sees life in terms of what it might be, as well as in terms of what it is through an objective view (Sprinchorn 1124). Also, the visual description of characters’ personality and plot details are necessary in realistic drama play. In Chekhov’s play, it is hard to easily judge the character good or bad. And the plots are not developed with strong conflict as tradition dramatic realism. Also, his play cannot be presented as the same method as traditional plays.
Chekhov’s plays have transcended the definition of realism because he already achieved a series of symbolist concepts in them. His plays can be regard as combinational works of realism and symbolism, which is different to previous playwrights’. Tolstoy has commented that:
He cannot even be compared with the old Russian writers — Turgenev, Dostoevsky, or myself. Chekhov has his own manner, like the Impressionists. You see a man daubing on whatever paint happens to be near at hand, apparently without selection, and it seems as though these paints bear no relation to one another. But if you step back a certain distance and look again, you will get a complete, over-all impression. Before you there is a vivid, unchallengeable picture of nature (Simmons n.pag.).
So, while those symbols apply to readers’ impressions, the symbolism applies to the play simultaneously. In this essay, it will introduce the plot of The Seagull (Chekhov) briefly first. Next, it will discuss the symbolism concepts in Chekhov’s play The Seagull through analysing its techniques, including dialogue and stage settings.
The Seagull
In late 19th Century, the symbolism has been raised. This symbolism movement was to appeal to the playwright to express their personal thoughts and weariness of the decadence they perceived in modern society (Myers n.pag.) through the semiotic in the script. Maxim Gorky thought that even as a young man Chekhov was trying in his humorous stories to nudge people toward a better life (qtd. in Moss 46). The Seagull, as a play representative of that period, has well applied on those symbolism concepts to nudge people toward a better life.
The Seagull describes a story in a beautiful lakeside town. A girl named Nina Zarietchnaya, the daughter of a rich landowner, is seeking her performing stage, honour, love and happiness. A young writer from the same town, Constantine Treplieff writes a script and tries to perform play in the town. Nina plays a role called the soul of the world in this performance. Constantine Treplieff, falls in love with her. Treplieff’s mother, Irina Abkadina, is a famous actress. She brings a famous writer, Boris Trigorin, to stay at his brother, Peter Sorin’s estate. And then, Nina falls in love with Trigorin crazily and follows him to Moscow. Trigorin abandons Nina with a child after he feels bored on her. Her child dies and then she finds acting jobs away from the hometown. Nina fights a series of difficulties and constructs a correct life value to struggle. After she back to see the Treplieff in the estate at last, Treplieff feels hopeless after he lives in an aimless life for a long time and knows Nina still loves Trigorin. He suicides after Nina left.
The love relationships were complicated in this play, Simon MedViedenko loves Masha, Masha loves Treplieff, Treplieff loves Nina. But all of these loves are not developed to a happy ending. So, from this point of view, the theme of The Seagull is about love. But in fact, through the symbolism concepts in this play, Nina’s destiny that she grows up from a weak girl to a strong woman means people should be brave and gritty while facing the difficulties. The play was categorized as a comedy not a tragedy because she made it at last and achieved a better life than others who lost in their lives. The Symbolism Techniques Using in The Seagull
Chekhov has used several symbolism techniques in Seagull to enhance the emotions of the play. The tittle of the The Seagull can be considered as the first symbol presented to readers. It expresses the meaning that Nina owns the same spirit like a seagull, which is unyielding while facing all the difficulties. And the seagull been killed by Treplieff expresses the same destiny with him, the aimlessness life value made him receive the same ending with that seagull.
Next, the description of lake beside the town and the sky expresses the Nina enjoyable life at beginning, which is beautiful, charming, full of imagination and free to chase dreams. As same as Trigorin commented on Nina through a story in last scene “A young girl grows up on the shores of a lake, as you have. She loves the lake as the gulls do, and is as happy and free as they”( ). Also, the role she played in Treplieff’s play, the soul of the world, conveys that she will be the core character of this play.
Also, the time setting for each scene, morning in the first scene, noon for the second scene, evening for the third scene and the night for the last scene can be interpreted as a complete day in people’s life. It conveys the meaning that the hopeful tomorrow is coming soon. Treplieff’s death symbols people will die if they cannot struggle for a clear life goal and lives with hopelessness. But telling people like Nina who is on the way struggling for their clear life goals, the play is encouraging them that the goals will be achieved in every hopeful tomorrow.
The Symbolism in Dialogues
The dialogue in The Seagull seem absurd and unconnected, or with meaningful ‘pause’, but the content behind is significant. In Maurice Maeterlinck’s book The Tragical in Daily Life, He explained that
“Indeed, it is not in the actions but in the words that are found the beauty and greatness of tragedies that are truly beautiful and great; and this not solely in the words that accompany and explain the action, for there must perforce be another dialogue besides the one which is super filially necessary, and indeed the only words that count in the play are those that the essence lies. side by side with the necessary dialogue that seems super-fluous; but examine it carefully, and it will be borne home to you that this is the only one that the soul can listen to profoundly, for here alone is the soul that is being addressed.”(Maeterlinck 111)
Chekhov’s play applies significant to the statements above. In The Seagull, the dialogue are elaborately symbolized to hint or signify to the other meanings.
At the beginning, Medviedenko asks Masha “Why do you always wear mouring?” and Masha answers “I dress in black to match my life. I am unhappy” ( ). These two sentences have expressed the unfortunate life for Masha. In the rest of the play, the unhappy things keep happening on Masha’s life. This kind of symbol also can be found in Arkadina’s lines in her son’s play, she quotes from Hamlet, “My son Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul; And there I see such black grained spots As will not leave their tinct”, has use the signified from Hamlet and reveals her husband has die and she already fell in love with Trigorin immediately.
“I love fishing. I know of nothing pleasanter than to sit on a lake shore in the evening with one's eyes on a floating cork.”( ) Trigorin talks to Nina. People will have lots of hobbies in their daily life, but why does Trigorin like fishing a lot? Analyzed based on the rest of plot, it can be applied to how Trigorin treats Nina. Nina was like the fish free swimming in the water and never thought that a famous writer will ruin her life in the future. Also, Trigorin likes a fisher that falling in love immediately and abandon Nina soon since he has no interest in her anymore. The simple and naïve girl will never consider too much on the property of this famous playwright while she met him. But the smart sensitive readers can easily understand this signified.
When talking to Trigorin, Masha has expressed her opinion on her marriage with Medviedenko. “If you knew what it is to love without hope for years and years, to wait forever for something that will never come! I shall not marry for love, but marriage will at least be a change, and will bring new cares to deaden the memories of the past.”( ) These words conveyed her despair on loving Treplieff and the sympathy on Medviedenko. Through this symbol, it also applied to the cruel reality in real life. With a long-term living in hopelessness, people have no choice but compromise with it. Chekhov should want to criticize the people who compromised before they struggle for the dreams.
In the Scene Four, Nina said “I am a sea-gull—no—no, that is not what I meant to say” ( ) while she recalled the memory with Treplieff. This sentence seems absurd, but it is a symbol that Nina has already grown up from a naïve, imaginative seagull kind of girl to a tough, mature actress. And this makes the contrast of attitude and wording between the dialogue at the beginning and the ending.
The Seagull is one of Chekhov’s several plays which criticized the dramatic environment at his ages. In this play, he has used Treplieff’s play inside to reflect the problems and situation during the development of drama. For instance, The Nina’s lines in Treplieff’s play “A thousand years…that great world-soul am I! In me is the spirit of the great Alexander, the spirit of Napoleon, of Caesar, of Shakespeare… each life lives again in me.”( ) Arkadina uses a word ‘decadent’, not only criticized the meaningless concepts in Treplieff’s play, also reveal the plays that exists in real world at his living period. Furthermore, in Dorn’s dialogue in Scene One “Yes, but use your talent to express only deep and eternal truths….every work of art should have a definite object in view. You should know why you are writing, for if you follow the road of art without a goal before your eyes, you will lose yourself, and your genius will be your ruin” ( ), it signified the possible tragic ending of Treplieff and provides a guideline to playwright like him in real world. Also, Trigorin’s dialogue, “I despise the modern stage. She adores it, and imagines that she is working on it for the benefit of humanity and her sacred art, but to me the theatre is merely the vehicle of convention and prejudice.”( ) and “but we must have it under a new form. If we can't do that, let us rather not have it at all” ( ), explains the reason he can be successful dramatic playwright. The new form, the new concepts and creation are the key points for modern drama.
Symbolism Concepts in The Seagull’s Stage Setting
The stage setting will provide a suitable and logical environment for plot development. And it will reinforce the atmosphere to facilitate the plot development and hint to the rest that will happen.
In the Scene One, the setting, “There is a dense growth of bushes to the left and right of the stage. A few chairs and a little table are placed in front of the stage” ( ), has described a poor scene and decoration of the stage for Treplieff’s performance. This signified the failure of his experimentation of his play.
Also, the setting in the last scene, Scene Four, was described as “It is evening. The room is dimly lighted by a shaded lamp on a table. The wind moans in the tree tops and whistles down the chimney. The watchman in the garden is heard sounding his rattle. MEDVIEDENKO and MASHA come in” ( ). This scene was set in a noisy evening, mystery and unpredictable. The sound of the wind and rattle provides the nervous beats to the atmosphere. All of these are the symbols that something important will be happened in this evening, And then Treplieff suicides.
It is really interesting to analyze the setting and predict the development of plot. And for the playwright, it is hard to create the stage setting since it should leave the hint to reinforce the atmosphere of plot development and cannot let the readers to predict the ending.
Conclusion
Symbols in the play need to be read by the readers based on their level of script understanding. The meaning of word is extensive and profound. It is true people will have difference understanding on same writing techniques, words, actions and settings on symbolism concepts in Chekhov’s play, The Seagull. The techniques using, the creative expression form of dialogue and the symbolic setting inside the play may be interpreted differently based on the development of social values one day. It is still cannot deny that Chekhov has applied a plenty of symbolism concepts in The Seagull although he was categorized as a realistic writer.
The Discussion above is only a part of the symbols he has applied in the play. There are more signified symbols can be discovered with the method in this essay. Also, the profound symbolism concepts can be found and interpreted in other Chekhov’s play like the Cherry Garden and the Three Sisters.
