2 h 9 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 9 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Beside a quiet lake, everyone wants love, recognition, or a life that seems just out of reach.
On Sorin’s country estate, Konstantin Treplev builds a small stage beside the lake. He wants a new kind of theater, his mother’s approval, and Nina Zarechnaya’s love. Nina dreams of becoming an actress. But Konstantin’s mother, the celebrated Irina Arkadina, struggles to share attention, even when her son’s hopes are on the line.
In Anton Chekhov’s four-act play The Sea-Gull, tea, cards, and conversation sit beside bruised hearts and artistic hunger. Nina meets Boris Trigorin, a successful author whose work she admires. Masha loves Konstantin without return. As desire draws these people toward one another, their talk reveals how hard it is to feel seen, loved, or satisfied with a life.
What you’ll discover
- A stage beside the lake Enter the garden where Konstantin puts his hopes for a different theater before an audience.
- Love without an answer Follow the ache of people whose deepest feelings find no welcome in the person they love.
- The hunger to create Explore Konstantin’s search for new forms and Trigorin’s restless habit of turning life into stories.
- Dreams of the stage Meet Nina, whose longing to act draws her toward artists and the lives she imagines.
- Comedy beneath the hurt Discover ordinary foolishness and quiet humor within a drama of longing, disappointment, and artistic doubt.
Who will love it
For readers who love character-centered drama, talk that hides feeling, and stories about what it costs to make art. Unreturned love, rival artistic dreams, and humor mixed with sorrow bring this circle of artists to life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A play is staged beside the lake
- A mother cannot hide her mockery
- A famous writer dazzles a young girl
- Everyone loves the wrong person
- Art and love both ask a price
- A quiet comedy full of symbols
Who’s who
- Konstantin TreplevA young, proud writer who wants new forms in the theater and the love of his mother and of Nina.
- Irina ArkadinaA famous actress, Konstantin's mother, who fears growing old and cannot bear to share attention.
- Nina ZarechnayaA neighbor's young daughter who dreams of becoming an actress and of living among artists.
- Boris TrigorinA successful author, Arkadina's companion, who cannot stop turning life into stories and doubts his own worth.
- MashaThe manager's daughter, dressed in black, who loves Konstantin without return and drinks to dull the ache.
- Dr. DornA calm local physician who watches the household with humor and is loved by Polina.
- SorinArkadina's ailing brother, a retired official who regrets the life he never lived.
Formats and delivery
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 9 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Il gabbiano in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Il gabbiano
by Anton Pavlovič Čechov · 1896
Beside a lake, a young writer stages his work, longing for new art and his mother's love.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Sea-Gull is a play in four acts by Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first staged in St Petersburg in 1896. That opening night went badly, and Chekhov was badly shaken.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A play is staged beside the lake
The action takes place on the country estate of Sorin, an elderly retired official who is often ill and feels he has never really lived. His nephew Konstantin Treplev, a young writer in his twenties, has built a small stage in the garden, with the lake as its backdrop. He has written a play for the evening, and the audience will be his family and guests.
The star of the piece is Nina Zarechnaya, a neighbor's daughter, who has never acted before. She plays the soul of the whole world, speaking from a rock as the moon rises. Konstantin wants to break with the old theater of his day, which he thinks is full of tired tricks. He wants new forms, and he wants to be taken seriously.
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What is The Sea-Gull about?
It is about a group of artists and their circle at a country estate, where unreturned love and rival ideas of art cause quiet pain. A young writer and a girl who wants to act stand at its center.
What does the sea-gull symbolize in the play?
The sea-gull stands for beauty and freedom, and for how easily they can be destroyed by careless people. It is linked to Nina, and to the writer Trigorin's idea for a story.
Why did Chekhov call The Sea-Gull a comedy?
Chekhov saw the characters as ordinary and often foolish, with life-sized troubles rather than grand fate. The play mixes humor with sorrow, and he wanted to avoid the heavy tone of tragedy.
The author
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
1860–1904 · Russian playwright and story writer
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian writer and physician. He was born in Taganrog and lived in Moscow and later Yalta. He wrote short stories and plays, including The Seagull (1896), Uncle Vanya (1897), and The Cherry Orchard (1904). He died in Badenweiler, Germany.
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