1 - 2 - 3 - 4
"It was but recently that Treplev advocated new forms in art and fought for his ideals. Now it has lost all meaning, therefore he burns his ideals... " - wrote E.Rusakov. Basing her judgment on these facts, she suggests that behind Treplev's actions lies his desire "to make an impression on Nina". His further actions confirm this opinion: "he makes angry speeches, stamps his feet, challenges Trigorin to a duel, lays a dead sea gull at Zarechnaya's feet, threatening to kill himself in the same way he killed it . . . " (34.169,170)
From the standpoint of the theory of actions, the nature of interrelations between means, ends and results is determined according to a dialectics of concepts. "If the ultimate goal of an activity is achieved through a series of actions, then the result of each of these actions in
relation to the goal is a means to an end". E.Rusakov suggests that the subject of the play is philistines' pretensions to intellectual refinement. In this case, the aim is to occupy "a place in people's minds", whereas "love and arts are means of achieving this goal". (34. 169)
"In comprehending another person's speech, it is never enough to merely understand his words. It is necessary to understand what he thinks. However, understanding a speaker's thought without his motives would still be an incomplete understanding. Likewise, a psychological analysis of any statement can only be complete when this last and most deeply hidden plane of verbal thinking has been e:<posed: a speaker's motivation". (13. 315)
The motivational sphere of characters in Chekhov's plays has its own distinguishing features. A doubt whether their words or actions are motivated at all has been expressed many times in the past. Why did Treplev shoot himself? Is the answer contained in "The Sea Gull"? No, it is not. Answers cannot be found in Chekhov's plays in the manner justification of actions is present in pre-Chekhov drama.
From the soliloquy of Unknown we learn about the reason for his hatred of Arbenin. From Lypochka's reflections about her education the spectators can gather where her pretensions to marry into nobility come from. Gogol's characters less often explain their motives, which are far
too typical to require elucidation: no Russian needs to be explained what a turmoil the news of the arrival of an inspector can cause in the soul of an official.
Such motives can be described, in (if not entirely covered by) a few words. By contrast, the motives of Chekhov's characters are not formulated verbally. They can be reconstructed as emotionally loaded images or attitudes which, if translated into concepts, would water down the play. This kind of deep-level motivation can only be achieved through nonverbal means of conveying information. It would be wrong to say that this method had not been used before Chekhov, but then it had been assigned a much less significant role.
In Chekhov's plays, verbal information does not only fail to give a complete picture of events, but also distorts it. Therefore, ambiguity appears even before we begin to ponder motives and goals. It is hard to say, in a particular scene, what constitutes an action and what does not.
In such a situation a great importance is attached to analyzing the results of actions, which are the most objective element arousing the least doubt as to the veracity of the verbal information describing it.
Nowhere in pre-Chekhov drama can be found so many reports of events which have already taken place. This peculiarity determined the view that Chekhov's plays were narrative, ones where more events are related than take place on the stage. It is these related stories that create a context in which every scene becomes understandable.
We shall undertake to consider from this point of view the dialogue of Treplev and his mother in the end of Act III. Treplev comes to have his bandage changed by Arkadina. He informs his mother that the doctor had not come yet, then recollects an incident in his childhood. The talk shifts to Trigorin. They are reduced to curses and mutual insults. It may seem that Trerplev's childhood memories have a purely narrative value, and are Included in the scene in order to set off, by their lyricism, the obscenity of the episode that follows it. However, the significance of Treplev's recollections for himself and his mother becomes clear in the light of what was going on prior to the wound-dressing scene and the characters' life-histories.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4