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Ken's Reviews > The Seagull
The Seagull
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I've read a lot of Chekhov stories recently, but it's been a long time since I went to the theater to take in one of his plays. I may be the biggest fan of The Cherry Orchard this side of Taganrog (his birthplace), but that's because I thought it was hysterical when many others didn't see it that way. It's a tragicomedy, so some viewers see more tragedy than comedy, but not me.
Reading this, then, brought back some memories -- but only some. The quaint and mildly eccentric characters, chiefly, and the way their creator seems to love them all and indulge them their shortcomings. In Chekhov plays, you often see a matriarchal type, a schoolteacher, a doctor (author alert! author alert!), and some old serf sort, too.
But this one wasn't as funny as the Orchard, and it went heavy with the symbolism. True, Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" so we can extrapolate that "Sometimes a seagull is just a seagull," but I'm not buying the sentiment. If you rap the bird with a drumstick, it will reverberate. The seagull is a symbol. And in the end, it even anticipates Alfred Hitchcock who didn't exactly trust birds, either (I wish I could have said as much for Suzanne Pleshette).
In fact, the ending struck me as an un-Chekhovian one. Usually he has no melo with his drama.
Enjoyable, just not as much as the Orchard.
Reading this, then, brought back some memories -- but only some. The quaint and mildly eccentric characters, chiefly, and the way their creator seems to love them all and indulge them their shortcomings. In Chekhov plays, you often see a matriarchal type, a schoolteacher, a doctor (author alert! author alert!), and some old serf sort, too.
But this one wasn't as funny as the Orchard, and it went heavy with the symbolism. True, Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" so we can extrapolate that "Sometimes a seagull is just a seagull," but I'm not buying the sentiment. If you rap the bird with a drumstick, it will reverberate. The seagull is a symbol. And in the end, it even anticipates Alfred Hitchcock who didn't exactly trust birds, either (I wish I could have said as much for Suzanne Pleshette).
In fact, the ending struck me as an un-Chekhovian one. Usually he has no melo with his drama.
Enjoyable, just not as much as the Orchard.
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Reading Progress
May 17, 2021
–
Started Reading
May 17, 2021
– Shelved
May 19, 2021
– Shelved as:
finished-in-2021
May 19, 2021
– Shelved as:
plays
May 19, 2021
–
Finished Reading
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Hanneke
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May 22, 2021 04:16AM
Such a fun review, Ken! Thanks!
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I very much enjoyed reading your very pleasant review, Ken! Never imagined Chekhov would inspire something as lighthearted as this write up. And you gave me a name for that memorable, beautiful face in The Birds. Thank you!
Hanneke wrote: "Such a fun review, Ken! Thanks!"Thanks, Hanneke. Honestly, deep down, I think Chekhov was a fun guy. I'd need a time machine to verify, however.
Violeta wrote: "I very much enjoyed reading your very pleasant review, Ken! Never imagined Chekhov would inspire something as lighthearted as this write up. And you gave me a name for that memorable, beautiful fac..."Ha-ha. Suzanne Pleshette played the schoolteacher, a casualty of the birds. Tippi Hedrin, on the other beak, came out of Bodega Bay alive -- just a few pecks here and there (not to mention a new phobia for life).
