Analysis Of The Sea Gull By Anton Chekhov

777 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Feminist perspective on gender inequality

feminist theory. Through Anton Chekhov’s plays, the paper also attempts to critically analyse the role of women in Russia and portrays gender roles and the subjugation of women and their lack of rights as a result of social constructs created by the patriarchs of the society, also those who have control over the socio-political aspects of the society. The concepts of feminism, patriarchy, and subjugation are to be understood with respect to the Russian experience of emancipation. The paper on the whole attempts to employ the feminist literary theory and in light of feminist criticism, analyse the two plays in question and talk about the state of women, tracing the overall growth in their stature from the Russia of 19th century to contemporary Russia and highlight the inequality derived out of gender roles and orthodox stereotypes.
Chapter 2 : THE SEA GULL AND THE THREE SISTERS
Chekhov is widely known for being the best short drama writer but very few readers know about his full length plays which were a lot more meaningful and substantial pieces of art. In this chapter, two of his famous plays will be closely analysed from a feminist perspective and define the feminism/anti-feminism in Chekhov’s plays. Just like any other playwright, his plays too …show more content…

Chekhov, does so, with four central characters- Boris trigorin, an accomplished story writer, who is in a relationship with Arkadina, a successful actress who is full of pride and vanity and the mother of our third major character Konstantin Treplev, the struggling playwright. The fourth character is Nina, the love interest of Konstantin who later feels inclined to Trigorin. All the characters in the play, like other Chekhovian plays are round and absolutely developed and they speak not directly, but in

Show More
Related

  • Hotel Sorrento By Hannie Rayson

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    The playwright explores the ideas of feminism and the role of men through the explorati...

    Read More

  • Cultural and gender comparison of Russia and the US

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gender roles in Russia have dramatically changed since the fall of the former Soviet Union and the fall of communism. It is hard to look directly at the constitution of Russia seeing as though the drafting and redrafting of their constitution is still underway. However, looking at the constitution of the former Soviet Union, you can see it is clearly stated that: “Women and men have equal rights.” It is very clear that in the Soviet Union they were trying to make it so that women and men were equal. It is still clear today that those same basic ideals are present in Russia. Women are clearly more equal in their country than in ours. In the workforce as well as in the home, women play a more equal role than in the present day United States. However, for the sake of this paper, let us just look at the infrastructure of Russia, formerly known as the Soviet Union or USSR.

    Read More

  • Trifles and A Dollhouse

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.

    Read More

  • Non-Traditional Relationships in The Storm and A Doll´s House

    1731 Words  | 4 Pages

    Like in many feministic works, that struggle constantly to point out the corruptions of a patriarchal society, which subordinates women to men and subconsciously make them accept their inferior position without defending, their opinions, their interests and themselves, Kate Chopin in her short story “The Storm”, does something completely different of what was consider as acceptable in the 18th century´s literature. She creates the character of a woman who breaks the socially accepted conception of how a woman should be and act in a relationship, or in this case in a marriage, to express her sexuality. In this society women were put in an inferior position and were deprived of many privileges and rights given to men, especially in the sexual aspect; but Chopin, with her viewpoints, went ah...

    Read More

  • Lady with a Dog, by Anton Chekhov

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    We first meet Dmitri Gurov, a married middle aged man with children, who has been unfaithful to his wife many times. He has a great contempt for women and refers to them as “the lower race”. But strangely can’t get enough of them, “ It seemed to him that he had been so schooled by bitter experience that he might call them what he liked, and yet he could not get on for two days together without the lower race”. He is a player, a playboy. He doesn’t feel comfortable around men so he focuses his energies on the ladies, “In the society of men he was bored and not himself, with them he was cold and uncommunicative; but when he was in the company of women he felt free, and knew what to say to them and how to behave; and he was at ease with them even when he was silent”. He tells women what they want to hear so he can get them to bed, “ In his appearance, in his character, in his whole nature, there was something attractive and elusive which allured women and disposed then in his favour; he knew that, and some force seemed to draw him, too, to them.” This keeps life simple for him.

    Read More

  • Obeyed Wifehood And Conceiving Womanhood In Othello And Oroonoko

    2129 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many readers feel the tendency to compare Aphra Behn's Oroonoko to William Shakespeare's Othello. Indeed they have many features in common, such as wives executed by husbands, conflicts between white and black characters, deceived heroes, the absolute vulnerability of women, etc. Both works stage male characters at both ends of their conflicts. In Othello, the tragic hero is Othello, and the villain is Iago. In Oroonoko, the hero is Oroonoko, the vice of the first part is the old king, and the second part white men in the colony. In contrast to their husbands, both heroines—Desdemona and Imoinda—seem more like "function characters" who are merely trapped in their husband's fates, occasionally becoming some motivation of their husbands (like Desdemona is Othello's motivation to rage, Imoinda's pregnancy drives Oroonoko restless to escape). While Shakespeare and Behn put much effort in moulding them, to many readers they are merely "perfect wives". This paper aims to argue that, Desdemona and Imoinda's perfect wifehood may be the product of compliance to male-dominated societies, where women are

    Read More

  • A Doll's House and Trifles

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movement for female right is one of the important social issue and it is ongoing reaction against the traditional male definition of woman. In most civilizations there was very unequal treatment between women and men with the expectation being that women should simply stay in the house and let the men support them. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, and Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, are two well-known plays that give rise to discussions over male-female relationships. In both stories, they illustrate the similar perspectives on how men repress women in their marriages; men consider that women should obey them and their respective on their wives is oppressed showing the problems in two marriages that described in two plays. Therefore, in this essay, I will compare two similar but contrast stories; A Doll's House and Trifles, focusing on how they describe the problems in marriage related to women as victims of suppressed right.

    Read More

  • Trifles Henrik Ibsen Analysis

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the late 19th century and early 20th century, idea for the equality of women began to ignite a fire within the world. Women wanted to fight oppression and have a chance to experience the same rights as men. However, although suffragettes would not fight fire with fire until a couple of decades later, the idea of escaping societal roles and gain freedom within society and marriage possibly inspired literary works during this time period. These issues of the inequality between men and women in marriage and society plays strong roles in literary works. In “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman all have something in common: the women are oppressed by the men and society, and ultimately pull away from their societal roles and break free.

    Read More

  • Noblewoman in a Male-Centered Society

    1367 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Days of a Russian Noblewoman” is a translated memoir originally written by a Russian noblewoman named Anna Labzina. Anna’s memoir gives a unique perspective of the private life and gender roles of noble families in Russia. Anna sees the male and female gender as similar in nature, but not in morality and religiosity. She sees men as fundamentally different in morality and religiosity because of their capability to be freely dogmatic, outspoken, and libertine. Anna implies throughout her memoir that woman in this society have the capacity to shape and control their lives through exuding a modest, submissive, and virtuous behavior in times of torment. Through her marriage, Labzina discovers that her society is highly male centered.

    Read More

  • Nihilist Philosophy

    1376 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... destroy and reinstate the bonds of family and Russian nationalism. Turgenev explores hoe this generational divide interacts with the division among classes and how the powers of the aristocracy affects the younger generation and feminine identity. Throught these interactions the power of love as redemption is seen in the relationship between Arkady and Katya as well as Anna and Bazarov. The women in Fathers and Sons symbolize the diversity found within the same class and generational margins these women challenge the men they encounter and cease power over their relationships. The struggle for power, between the sexes is dependent upon the roles and social standings of the perspective character. The female characters whether aristocratic or dependent, “mothers” or “daughters” find power in their gender and utilize their womanly intellect to find eventual resolve.

    Read More

  • Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” tries to shed light on the conflict between women and a society that assign gender roles using a patriarchal approach. Specifically Margaret Bauer highlights, that most of Chopin’s works revolves around exploring the “dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women” (146). Similarly, in “The Story of an Hour” Chopin depicts a society that oppresses women mostly through the institution of marriage, as women are expected to remain submissive regardless of whether they derive any happiness. The question of divorce is not welcome, and it is tragic that freedom of women can only be realized through death. According to Bauer, the society depicted in Chopin’s story judged women harshly as it expected women to play their domestic roles without question, while on the other hand men were free to follow their dream and impose their will on their wives (149).

    Read More

  • The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Russia

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the late 1800’s slavery was slowly being abolished. Unfortunately it was not until the second half of the century that serfdom found an end in Russia and many were given the rights they deserved. On the contrary the liberation was not so simple for women. They continued to fight for their rights to attain true freedom and faced severe consequences for their radical efforts. As shown through Elizaveta Kovalskaia’s memoir, she, like many women in Russia, was faced with many challenges and adversaries in her attempts for change and fairness for all women.

    Read More

  • Women's Rights in the 1940's Illustrated in Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...men are not discriminated anymore. Women are not expected to be just a plain housewife, taking care of her husband and children. They get high education and nice jobs with promising salaries. But, some women are still treated the same way they were treated in 1940’s. Paternalistic tradition still occurs in Russia along with other countries. This confirms that there are some similarities and differences for treating women in today’s society compared to the early days.

    Read More

  • Feelings in Anton Chekhov's The Bear

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    Anton Chekhov?s classic play the bear revolves around two protagonists, Mrs. Popov and Grigory Stepanovich Smirnov. Mrs. Popov is a landowner and widow, who after seven months ago is still mourning her husband?s death and decided to isolate herself from the out side world and mourn until the day she dies. Grigory Sepanovich Smirnov is also a landowner, who lends money to Mr. Nikolai Popov before he died and he demands the debts be paid at once because his creditors after him. Smirnov insists, makes light of Popov?s mourning, and refuses to leave her house. Popov and Smirnov angrily fight with one another. Then Smirnov challenges Popov to a gunfight for insulting him and Popov brings out her husand?s pistols. At this point Smirnov realizes that he has fallen in love with Popov. At the end of the play, they end up in love and kiss each other.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Darling, by Anton Chekhov

    1562 Words  | 4 Pages

    The story “The Darling” by Anton Chekhov, illustrates a woman that is lonely, insecure, and lacking wholeness of oneself without a man in her life. This woman, Olenka, nicknamed “Darling” is compassionate, gentle and sentimental. Olenka is portrayed for being conventional, a woman who is reliant, diligent, and idea less. Although, this story portrays that this woman, known as the Darling needs some sort of male to be emotionally dependant upon, it is as if she is a black widow, she is able to win affection, but without respect. Only able to find happiness through the refection of the beliefs of her lovers, she never evolves within the story.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of The Sea Gull By Anton Chekhov

Open Document