Anton Chekhov, Diadia Vania [Uncle Vanya]

John Reid (University of the West of England)
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A simple arrival-and-departure structure provides the framework for the action, the play beginning with the arrival of urbanite outsiders into the tightly-knit world of a small provincial estate. Professor Serebryakov and his young, beautiful wife, Yelena Andreyevna, have come to stay at the estate legally owned by Sonya, his daughter, who inherited the estate from her mother, his first wife. Together with her dead mother's brother, her uncle Vanya, Sonya has not only managed the estate, but undertaken much of the back-breaking labour that ensures its survival and the revenues that support Serebryakov's smart but parasitic academic life, plus Vanya's mother, Mariya, Telegin (“Waffles”) – an impoverished old friend of the family, and the old family nurse, Marina. Vanya's friend,…

3624 words

Citation: Reid, John. "Diadia Vania". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11678, accessed 19 March 2024.]

11678 Diadia Vania 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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