The Seagull · Character
Nina Zaretchny
A young woman who escapes a watchful home for the stage, clutching a medallion and a fortune told with a single pea in her fist.
major
Also known as Nina, Nina Mihailovna
First appearance: the seagull
As a major figure in The Seagull, Nina Zaretchny is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.
Nina slips out of her father's house like a prisoner to act in Treplev's play, then turns her longing toward Trigorin, the famous writer whose book she has had engraved on a keepsake. She asks him to decide her fate with a childish game of odd or even, then gives him the medallion and asks only to be remembered. Her hunger for a life in art, and her willingness to gamble everything on it, sets the play's course.
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Character Web
10 connectionsA slice of how Nina Zaretchny sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.
Relationship types
- Other
Character groups
- Estate residents and visitors
- Protagonist
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Open in readerNarrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Breaking point
This scene is the dramatic climax because it marks the emotional and psychological peak of Masha’s despair and…
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