Happy Birthday Nina

happy birthday to daisy! our nina! for your birthday here are some cool things i found in essays about nina:

"Nina, innocent of the ways of the world and saturated with the false romanticism of Trigorin's works, does not see the man but the celebrated artist. She is carried away by his fame and stirred by his presence; an infatuation with him quickly replaces her affection for Constantine. To her Trigorin embodies her dream of a brilliant and interesting life."

"Nina and Alienation/Lonlieness: Another example is Nina, who is alienated from her father and stepmother, background characters who have a disapproving, puritanical suspicion of their artistic neighbors."

"The Seagull reflects Chekhov's aesthetic concern with his art. Several of the characters in the play are to some degree interested in the nature and theory of literary and dramatic arts. Two of them, Boris Trigorin and Konstantine Treplyov, are writers, while two others, Irina Arkadina and Nina Zaryechny, are actresses. Others, like Dorn and Shamreyeff, offer critical judgments on these arts. In fact, Sorin's estate serves as a kind of retreat for artists and intellectuals, and much of the play's dialogue, rich with allusions and topical references, concerns artistic matters. From the vantage point of Nina's puritanical father and stepmother, who remain offstage, those who gather there are self-indulgent and immoral. Nina's parent's view reflects the traditional attitudes still dominant in Russia at the time."

OKAY, and this was the coolest thing i found....this teacher assigned this project to his students after they read "The Seagull" and its called "The Nina Variations" and they had to write monologues and scenes of what could have happened to Nina during those years between the acts. this was one i really liked:

"NINA. You see, I’m mot crying anymore. Trigorin walks ahead of me on the street.
He turns corners as I rush to keep up with him. He is already seated in a room as I
pass through its door. There is a way a man walks when his lover means nothing to
him. When she has faded into something as ineffectual as his shadow. I am not
introduced. I stand on the edge of crowds, laughing stupidly at the jokes which I
can’t quite hear. He takes his coat from the hook, leaving mine undisturbed. I lift my bag and carry it … his footsteps growing softer … distant … ahead of me. The light is
off when I reach him. The door is shut. I drape my scarf over a chair. I take the pin
from my hat. And, as I hang my coat next to his … I am close to him for the first
time. So, you see, I am not crying anymore."

the rest are here: http://www.viennatheatreproject.at/education/teachermaterial/Teacher_Material_-_THE_NINA_VARIATIONS.pdf

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! -caitlin