Uncle Vanya
by Anton Chekhov · Дядя Ваня
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- published 1897, staged 1899
- Form
- Drama
- Language
- Russian
- Length
- Short · 70 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Approachable1 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendPlays: Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, translated by Peter CarsonPenguin Classics, 2002All five major plays in a faithful, playable translation with Richard Gilman's introduction.
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For years Vanya and his niece Sonya have run a country estate to support Serebryakov, a retired professor, Vanya's former brother-in-law. Now the professor has come to live there with his young second wife Yelena, and everyone falls apart: Vanya and the doctor Astrov both fall for Yelena, Sonya loves Astrov in vain, and when Serebryakov proposes selling the estate Vanya fires a pistol at him and misses. The visitors leave and Vanya and Sonya go back to the accounts.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Uncle Vanya are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
