Uncle Vanya (Russian: Дядя Ваня – Dyadya Vanya) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897.
Uncle Vanya is thematically preoccupied with what might sentimentally be called the wasted life, and a survey of the characters and their respective miseries will make this clear. Admittedly, however, it remains somewhat difficult to organize these concepts into a coherent theme as they belong more to the play's "nastroenie," its melancholic mood or atmosphere, than to a distinct program of ideas.