Chekhov the
playwright
Classes 1-2 (April 26, May 3)
Chekhov’s The Seagull discussion questions:
1. The 1st act of The Seagull opens with a dialog between Masha and Medvedev. What is
the role of this dialog?
2. What brings together all the characters in the 1st
Act of The Seagull? What, if anything, do these people have in common?
3. How does the audience receive Treplev’s play? What brings
about its fiasco?
4. Chekhov’s drama has a number of allusions to
Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Can you
identify any of these allusions? What role do they play in Chekhov’s The Seagull?
5. What is the central conflict in Chekhov’s The Seagull?
6. What kind of person is Arkadina? How does she relate to
other characters? Does she know herself?
7. In which ways do the characters, their aspirations and
hopes, change in the end of the play?
8. What does the image of a seagull stand for?
9. In your opinion, is The
Seagull’s subtitle, comedy, justified?
10. Why in the end of the play Dorn withholds the
information about Treplev’s suicide and tells it only to Trigorin?
Classes 3-4 (May 10, May 17)
Chekhov's Uncle Vanya discussion questions:
1. How would you describe Voinitskii Ivan Petrovich, or
Vanya, or Uncle Vanya? What kind of man is he?
What, in your opinion, is the reason for his discontent and
‘rebellion’?
2. Vanya believes that Serebriakov is the author of his
misery. Do you agree with him?
3. What kind of man is Astrov? What does he think/say about
himself? What do others think about him? What are his aspirations? Is Astrov an
attractive, positive character?
4. Different characters at different times voice their
opinions about Yelena. What kind of person is she? What is her role in the
drama?
5. What role does Professor Serebriakov play in the drama?
Who are his admirers and who are his opponents? What does their opinion of
Serebryakov tell us about these characters?
6. A number of characters in this play declare themselves
unhappy. How, if at all, do they seek happiness? What would make them happy?
7. Why no one calls police after Vanya fires, albeit failed,
shots at Professor Serebriakov?
8. What are this play’s crucial points? What event/scene
amounts to its climax?
9. At different times, almost all of the characters of this
play talk about ‘work.’ Does this word have the same meaning for all of them?
What does it mean for Professor Serebriakov, Vanya, Sonya, Astrov, Yelena,
Nanny? What part does work play in these characters’ lives?
10. Could Astrov or Voinitskii (Vanya) be happy with Yelena?
Could Yelena or Sonya be happy with Astrov?
11. Why is the play called Uncle Vanya? Who is its main character?
12. Chekhov closes his drama Uncle Vanya with Sonya’s monologue. What imagery (see stage
directions) is associated with Sonya’s speech? What impression does this scene
leave? What conclusions does it prompt?
Classes 4-5 (May 17, May 24)
Chekhov’s The Cherry
Orchard discussion questions:
1. What brings together the characters in the Cherry Orchard? Where do they first
assemble (see stage directions)? What do we learn about them in the First Act
scene “In the Nursery”?
2. What kind of person is Liubov Ranevskaia? How does she
relate to those around her? How is she seen / described by other characters?
3. In each act Ranevskaia receives telegrams. How does she
react to them?
4. To what degree, if at all, do memories define the
characters of the play? What memories do they share with the others? (discuss
Liubov Ranevskaia, Lopakhin, Firs, Charlotta Ivanovna)
5. In Chekhov’s play the cherry orchard means different
things to different people. What does it mean to Liubov Ranevskaia, Firs,
Lopakhin, Petia Trofimov, Ania, Varia? If the Cherry Orchard is a symbol, what
does it stand for?
6. Why does Lopakhin try to help Ranevskaia and Gaev to save
the cherry orchard from the imminent sale? Why in the end does he buy it for
himself?
7. Albeit secondary characters, Firs, Duniasha, Yasha,
Charlotta Ivanovna, Iepikhodov are often on stage. What role(s) do they play in
this drama?
8. What is Petia Trofimov’s role in the play? How does this
character contribute to the unfolding of the political dimension of the drama?
What other characters express hope for the happy future? Are they convincing?
9. In the Fourth Act Gaev observes that everyone “cheered
up.” Is he right? What could be the reasons for the characters’ uplifted mood?
10. Identify a few comic episodes in this play. Do they make
the Cherry Orchard a comedy?
11. In the play, the sound of the breaking string is heard
and referred to several times. We first hear it in the Second Act and it is one
of the last sounds before the play ends. Why these timings? What feelings does
this sound evoke in the characters and us, the audience? Why this sound?
12. What ends does the pause serve in the Cherry Orchard and
in other Chekhovian plays?
13. There are several characters who are often mentioned in
the play yet they do not appear on stage. Who are they? How do they contribute
to the development of the story?
14. Why, in your opinion, is the Cherry Orchard the most
performed of Chekhov’s plays?
