Bang! A gunshot is heard from offstage. The characters on stage are startled, frightened. Their pleasant game of cards has come to a screeching halt. A doctor peeks into the adjoining room. He returns to calm Irina Arkadina; she fears her son Konstantin has killed himself.
Dr. Dorn lies and says, “Don’t upset yourself… A bottle of ether burst.” A moment later, he takes Irina’s boyfriend aside and whispers the truth. “Take Irina Nikolaevna somewhere, away from here. The fact is, Konstantin Gavrilovich has shot himself.” Then, the curtain falls and the play ends.
The audience has learned that the troubled young writer Konstantin has committed suicide, and that his mother will be grief-stricken by the end of the evening. Sounds depressing, doesn't it?
Yet Chekhov very purposefully labeled The Seagull a comedy.
Ha, Ha! Ha… Uh… I Don’t Get It…
The Seagull is filled with many elements of drama: believable characters, realistic events, serious situations, unhappy outcomes. Yet, there is still an undercurrent of humor flowing beneath the surface of the play.
Fans of the Three Stooges may disagree, but there is in fact comedy to be found within The Seagull's somber characters. However, that does not qualify Chekhov's play as a slapstick or romantic comedy. Instead, think of it as a tragicomedy. For those not familiar with the events of the play, read the synopsis of The Seagull.
If the audience pays close attention, they will learn that Chekhov’s characters consistently create their own misery, and therein lurks the humor, dark and bitter though it may be.
The Characters:
Masha: The daughter of the estate manager. She claims to be profoundly in love with Konstantin. Alas, the young writer pays no attention to her devotion.
What’s Tragic?
Masha wears black. Why? Her reply: “Because I’m morning my life.”
Masha is openly unhappy. She drinks too much. She is addicted to snuff tobacco. By the fourth act, Masha begrudgingly marries Medvedenko, the earnest and under-appreciated school teacher. However, she does not love him. And even though she has his child, she exhibits no motherly compassion, only boredom to the prospect of raising a family.
She believes that she must move far away in order to forget her love for Konstantin. By the play’s end, the audience is left to imagine her devastation in reaction to Konstantin’s suicide.
What’s Funny?
She says she’s in love, but she never says why. She believes Konstantin has the “manner of a poet.” But aside from that, what does she see in this mentally unstable, seagull murdering, mama’s boy?
As my “hip” students would say: “She’s got no game!” We never see her flirt, enchant, or seduce. She just wears dreary clothing and consumes mass quantities of vodka. Because she sulks instead of pursuing her dreams, her self-pity is more likely to elicit a cynical chuckle rather than a sigh of sympathy.
