"More than Just a Little Chekhovian": The Sea Gull as a Source for the Characters in The Glass Menagerie

Abstract

For nearly fifty years one of Tennessee Williams's abiding passions was his love for Chekhov. In 1979 he claimed, " I have not been subjected to any influence but that of Chekhov in my profession." Above all, he consistently praised The Sea Gull. In a letter to a friend in 1950 he called it "the greatest of all modern plays." And in his 1972 Memoirs he was willing to admit only a play of Brecht's into the same august company. Williams's infatuation began in the summer of [935 when he first read The Sea Gull, as well as The Cherry Orchard and some of Chekhov's short stories and letters. For the plays he probably read the translations of Constance Garnett available . in Modern Library. Although he did not see it, the spring [938 Theatre Guild production of The Sea Gull, using a translation by fellow Mississippian Stark Young and starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, undoubtedly drew his attention.' At the time, Williams was finishing his studies at the University of Iowa and was immersed in all aspects of theatre.