Key Facts
full title ·
Uncle Vanya: Scenes from Country Life in Four Acts
author · Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
type of work · Drama
genre · Tragicomedy; Chekhov was known for his blending of tragic and comic genres
language · Russian
time and place written · Written in 1895–1897; Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the south of Russia
date of first publication · 1897; first produced in Moscow at the Moscow Art Theater, October twenty-six, 1899
publisher · Platonov
narrator · None
climax · Voynitsky fails to murder Serebryakov.
protagonists · Voynitsky, Astrov, Sonya
setting (time) · turn-of-the-century Russia
setting (place) · Serebryakov's country estate
point of view · Point of view is not located as there is no narrator figure
falling action · Chekhov does not make use of the classical Aristotelian plot line, in which rising and falling action comprise an immediately recognizable climax, catastrophe, and denouement
tense · The play unfolds in the time of the present
tone · Tragi-comedic
themes · The wasted life; impossible love
motifs · Indirect action; estrangement; the pseudo-climax; the land
symbols · Uncle Vanya does not particularly make use of symbols.
foreshadowing · Again, because Chekhov makes use of such an unconventional plot structure, often driven by indirect action, there is little foreshadowing.
