Translated and with an Introduction by Stephen Mulrine For twenty-five years Vanya has revered his brother the Professor's writings and has scrimped to save his brother every spare kopek on the estate he manages; now Vanya is disillusioned, feeling he has wasted his life on a charlatan. To make matters worse, Vanya is enraptured by his brother's young wife, Yelena. The masterful revision of his earlier play, The Wood Demon, Uncle Vanya is one of the four magnificent plays that Chekhov wrote in the last years of his life. from the publisher.