Nina reflects on her identity and her unwavering ambition to become a world-renowned actress despite the hardships she anticipates. She uses the metaphor of a seagull to describe her need for freedom and her determination to escape her provincial life for the stage in Moscow.
NINA: I am a seagull. No, that's not it. I am an actress.
I will be an actress. I feel it, I know it. I have a calling, a destiny.
I will go to Moscow, I will go to the theatre, and I will conquer the world.
I will be famous, I will be loved, I will be admired.
I will suffer, yes, I will suffer, but
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