SOURCE: Chances, Ellen. “Chekhov's Seagull: Ethereal Creature or Stuffed Bird?” In Chekhov's Art of Writing: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Paul Debreczeny and Thomas Eekman, pp. 27-34. Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1977.

In the following essay, Chances discusses Chekhov's use of the seagull as a symbol in The Seagull.

When discussing Chekhov's play The Seagull, one can divide criticism into two schools. There are those interpretations, set forth in excellent articles and excellent productions, which belong to the “ethereal creature” school. Nina is seen as a poor, naive, young girl who, like a seagull, strives to spread her wings and be free. The play within the play, according to “ethereal creature” proponents, represents the efforts of a struggling young playwright in his search for new art forms. The seagull image itself has been plucked bare. Leonid Grossman has stated that the seagull is a symbol of...