Uncle Vanya characters

Also known as Uncle Vanya

First appears in chapter 2

The brother of the professor's late first wife and longtime manager of the country estate. He has spent much of his adult life sending the property's income to Serebryakov, once believing the professor to be a great scholar. At forty-seven he is bitter about his wasted years and increasingly unable to conceal his attraction to Yelena.

Also known as Sofya Alexandrovna

First appears in chapter 2

Vanya's niece and Professor Serebryakov's daughter by his first marriage. She works steadily to keep the estate running and worries over its accounts. Plain-spoken, dutiful, and compassionate, she privately loves Dr. Astrov but doubts that he sees her as a woman.

Also known as Dr. Astrov

First appears in chapter 2

A country doctor repeatedly called away to difficult cases across a wide district. Overworked and emotionally dulled, he remains passionately concerned about the destruction of the region's forests and presents his conservation maps with unusual energy. Sonya has privately loved him for years.

Also known as The Professor

First appears in chapter 2

The retired professor whose return to the estate with his young second wife disrupts the household's routines. Elderly, ill, and accustomed to attention, he complains about country life while remaining largely unaware of the labor and sacrifice that have supported him.

First appears in chapter 2

Serebryakov's much younger second wife. Intelligent and conscious of the effect her beauty has on the household, she is bored by country life and unhappy in her marriage but feels bound to remain loyal to her husband. Vanya pursues her openly despite her refusals.

First appears in chapter 2

Vanya's mother and the professor's former mother-in-law. She reads political and intellectual pamphlets and continues to admire Serebryakov's learning, dismissing her son's complaints as a failure to live by his convictions.

First appears in chapter 2

The elderly nurse who has cared for the family over many years. Practical, patient, and attentive to meals and rest, she regards the visitors' emotional upheavals from the steady perspective of ordinary household work.

Also known as Waffles

First appears in chapter 2

An impoverished neighboring landowner who lives with the household and helps with the estate's clerical work. His pockmarked face earned him the nickname Waffles. Abandoned by his wife, he nevertheless speaks gently of loyalty and endurance and tries to calm disputes.