Guy de Maupassant

French writer (1850-1893), invoked twice in "The Seagull": Treplyov compares his own flight from theatrical convention to the (real, well-attested) anecdote of Maupassant dining at the restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower because it was the one place in Paris from which he could not see it, and Arkadina is later seen reading his travel volume "Sur l'eau" ("On the Water") aloud.