The Seagull Study Guide (12MB) - Goodman Theatre

Russian Name Game
BY TERESA RENDE
When I first began reading Russian literature, I found
myself becoming extremely frustrated. I’d be a chapter or
two into a novel and a new name would appear. Person
A might be speaking to Person B, but suddenly, they are
calling them by a name I’ve never heard. Is there a Person
C of which I am not aware? Has Person B applied for
a legal name change without telling me? Was I skimming
when I should have been paying closer attention? I’d go
back, re-read multiple paragraphs and pages, but find no
clues.
As a college student, I enrolled in a class taught by
Sasha Newell. When I started the class I was handed a
syllabus by a man; I wondered where Mrs. Newell was,
but upon looking at the paper, I saw my teacher’s listed
email address: Alexander Newell. Perhaps there was
a misprint in my course packet, and our teacher isn’t
Sasha Newell, but this gentleman Alexander. Moments
later, Alexander stood by the board and said, “Hello, I’m
Sasha Newell…”
I was perplexed, but as I came to know Sasha I finally
got up the guts to ask, “Why do we call you Sasha if your
name is Alexander?” The fact of the matter is, Sasha is a
Russian man, and in Russian culture, specific accepted
nicknames are commonly associated with proper names.
This is something you will see frequently in The Seagull.
Below is a list of some common Russian names and the
associated nicknames, including some of those that appear
in The Seagull.
Aleksandr: Sasha, Shurik, Sanya, Alik
Aleksei: Alyosha, Lyosha, Lyokha, Aleshen’ka
Irina: Ira, Irinushka, Irochka, Irusha
Ivan: Vanya, Ivanushka
Konstantin: Kostya, Kostyen’ka, Kostochka
Larisa: Lara, Larochka, Larisochka
Mikhail: Misha, Mishen’ka
Mariya: Masha, Manya, Mashen’ka
Margarita: Rita, Ritulya, Ritochka
Nataliya: Talya, Natasha, Nata, Natashen’ka
Pavel: Pavlusha, Pasha
Pyotr: Petrusha, Petya
Tatiana: Tanya, Tanechka, Tatochka, Tanyusha
Vladimir: Volodya, Vova, Vovochka
Yakov: Yasha, Yashen’ka
Portrait of a Russian family at Ellis Island in the early 1900s. How
would these lads and ladies be called in the family? Image courtesy
of New York Public Library.
As you may tell, there is a bit of a system here. It is
sometimes hard to see due to translation, but often
Russian nicknames use the short version of a person’s
name, and then insert a group of letters prior to the final
letter. The most common letters used are -en’k, -echk,
-ochk, -ushk, and -yush. Some nicknames can come off
as impolite, and this is denoted by using the short-name
with “-ka” added to the end. Boys are often called the
impolite nickname by their friends. For example, ‘Vladimir’
would often be called ”Vovka”, by other young male
friends, but might be called “Vovochka,” by his mother or
sister.
As you read The Seagull, notice who uses these nicknames
and who remains more formal. What do you think
this says of those characters’ relationships and interactions?
Do you see any patterns, or interesting inconsistencies?
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