Christopher Booker is a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these structures fits this story like Cinderella’s slipper.
Plot Type : Tragedy
Chekhov was a weird dude, always insisting that his plays are comedies. Bro, your protagonist shoots himself at the end.
Anticipation Stage
In this stage, Booker says the hero is in some way incomplete and focused on the future—especially on a course of action that might send things in a positive direction. Um, yeah. Konstantin is hopeful that his play will be a success, Nina will love him, and he can get out from under the thumb of his she-witch mother.
We can really see these ideas in his conversation with his uncle Sorin. Konstantin wants Nina, he wants success for himself, he wants change in the theater. All of these things, he hopes, will begin to be his after his play premieres.
Dream Stage
It's kind of a dream come true. Nina loves Konstantin back and is performing in his play. She tells him her heart is overflowing with him (1.42). Things are going great! Konstantin's committed to the play, he's committed to Nina.
Frustration Stage
In this stage, things begin to go wrong. The play is a flop—it brings Konstantin the opposite of the glory he had been looking for. Nina falls out of love with him and gravitates toward Trigorin. Even his dramatic gesture with the seagull is ignored—worse, it's devoured by the story-carnivore Trigorin.
Nightmare Stage
In this stage, the hero is losing control. We'd say that might be a good description of suicide, the extreme gesture that leads into this act—Konstantin has lost the attention of both Nina and his mother, both of whom are focused on Trigorin and he tries to shoot himself. Konstantin's Act 1 dreams of love and success almost seem impossible to achieve now.
Destruction Stage
So Konstantin has settled into some sort of productivity at Sorin's house, though he's still bored, poor, and frustrated. When Arkadina and Trigorin bring their mess back to town—and Nina stops in and rejects him once more—Konstantin has had it. The "final act of violence" Booker tells us to look for is Konstantin's suicide.