Year of publication of the book: 1901
The play "Three Sisters" by Chekhov was created by order of one of the Moscow theaters and first saw the light in 1901. In the same year, the play was first staged in the theater, after which it was staged more than once in many theaters around the world. The plot of "Three Sisters" of Chekhov's play formed the basis of several feature films. The latest film adaptation was the film of the same name, which was released in October 2017. It is largely thanks to such works that Anton Chekhov occupies the top lines to this day.
Plays "Three Sisters" summary
Three sisters Olga, Masha and Irina live in the same house with their brother Andrey. Their father, General Prozorov, recently passed away, and the family is still in mourning for him. All the girls are very young - the oldest, Olga, is twenty-eight years old, and the youngest Irina is only twenty. None of them are married. Except for Masha, who has long been married to Fyodor Kulygin, a smart professor who once attracted her with his erudition. However, at present, the girl is terribly burdened by marriage, she becomes bored in the company of her husband and his friends, although Kulygin is still madly in love with her.
But in Chekhov's play "Three Sisters" you can read that everything in the life of girls has long been happening not the way they dreamed. Olga has been going to work at the gymnasium for several years, but she admits to herself that such a routine depresses her. The girl feels like every day she loses her youth and beauty, so she is in constant irritation. Irina is still not working. But this is precisely what haunts her - the girl does not see the point in her idle life, devoid of any work. She dreams of finding a job for herself and meeting her love.
The main characters of the play "Three Sisters" are often given memories of their life in Moscow. They moved from there as young children in connection with their father's new job. Since then, for many years, the Prozorovs have lived in a small town in northern Russia. All this time, the sisters have a premonition that if they returned to Moscow now, their life would become rich and interesting.
Irina's twentieth birthday came, which coincided with the day when the family can lift the mourning for the deceased general. The sisters decide to organize a holiday to which they invite their friends. Among the guests were mostly officers who had been under the leadership of their father for a long time. Among them were the kind, but drink-loving military doctor Chebutykin, the sensitive, but completely ugly Baron Tuzenbach, and Staff Captain Solyony, who, for unknown reasons, constantly behaved aggressively towards others. Also present was Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vershinin, who was in a bad mood because of constant disagreements with his wife. The only thing that cheered him up a little was his unshakable faith in the bright future of the next generations. Andrei's beloved Natalia also showed up for the holiday - a terribly stupid, hysterical and domineering person.
Further, in the play “Three Sisters” by Chekhov, the summary takes us to the time when Andrei and Natasha were already married. Now the woman is trying to manage the house as a mistress. Together they raise a little son. Andrei, who once dreamed of a career as a scientist, realizes that due to the needs of his family, he will not be able to fulfill his dream. The young man receives the post of secretary of the zemstvo council. He is terribly annoyed by such activities, which is why Prozorov, as the main character, becomes seriously interested in gambling. This resulted in frequent losses of large sums. 
At the same time, in the play "Three Sisters" you can read that over the past year the life of the sisters has not changed much. Olga occupies the same position and still hates her. Irina decides to find a job and gets a job at the telegraph office. The girl thought that work would bring her happiness and help her reach her potential. However, the work takes all the time and energy, and Irina begins to give up on her dream. Officer Solyony proposes to her, but the girl refuses the evil and impudent man. Afterwards, he vows that he will not let her be with anyone else and promises to kill any rival of his. Masha, in order to somehow escape from her annoying husband, begins to build relationships with Vershinin. The lieutenant colonel admits that he is madly in love with the girl, but he cannot leave his family because of her. The fact is that two little daughters are growing up with him, and the man does not want to injure them by leaving.
The heroines still dream of moving to Moscow. Several times they tried to plan the trip in detail, but something always got in their way. At the same time, they try to get along with Natasha, who behaves terribly. The girl evicts Irina from her own room and gives the premises to her son. Because of the constant illnesses of the child, she demands not to invite guests and not to arrange high-profile holidays. The sisters do not want a quarrel with a new family member, so they endure all her antics.
Further, "Three Sisters" the content of the play takes us another two years ahead. In the town where the Prozorovs live, there is a serious fire that destroys an entire quarter. Residents leave their homes in a hurry, some of them find shelter in the house of the main characters. Olga decides to help the victims a little and wants to give them old unnecessary things, but Natalya speaks out against this idea. The behavior of Andrei's wife began to go beyond all limits - she commands all family members, insults those who work in this house and orders the old nanny to be fired, who, due to her age, cannot take care of the household.
Andrey completely went into gambling. He did not care at all about what Natasha was doing, so he did not get involved in home showdowns. During this time, a terrible thing happened - the man, as in, played so much that he got into huge debts. As a result, he had to mortgage the house that belonged to him and his sisters. None of the girls found out about this, and Natalya appropriated all the money she received.
Meanwhile, the text of the play "Three Sisters" tells that Masha has been meeting with Vershinin throughout this time. Her husband, as in guessing about this affair, however, chooses not to show it. Alexander did not dare to leave his family, which is why he is often in a bad mood. Irina changed her job - now she holds a position in the zemstvo council with her brother. However, the change of activity does not make her happy. The girl does not know what to do next, and the sisters offer her to marry, even for the unloved. Moreover, there is already a contender for her hand and heart - most recently, Baron Tuzenbach confessed his love to her.
Irina understands that there is no better candidate, and accepts the courtship of the baron. She does not have any feelings for the man, but after the engagement, something in her thoughts changes. Tuzenbach decides to leave the service. Together with Irina, they constantly discuss their plans for the future and dream of going where they find their destiny. Finally, the girl feels absolutely happy, and faith in the best is born in her again. However, as the author of the play “Three Sisters” tells, Solyony remains very dissatisfied with the relationship between Irina and Tuzenbakh. He plans to take revenge on his opponent.
Meanwhile, in the play "Three Sisters" by Chekhov, the summary tells about the big changes that are coming in the lives of women. The battalion, which temporarily settled in the city, was to go to Poland. All this meant that the sisters had to say goodbye to many of their friends. It is especially sad for Masha, who understands that she may never see Vershinin again. Olga, meanwhile, managed to become the head of the gymnasium, where she worked for many years. She left her father's house and moved to an apartment where she invited an old nanny.
Irina is getting an education and can now work as a teacher. Together with her fiancé, she plans to leave this city soon and hopes that now she will finally be happy. Natasha is glad that Irina is leaving after Olga. Now she feels like a full owner. But suddenly there is a quarrel between the baron and Solyony, after which the staff captain challenges the opponent to a duel. Irina is horrified by this news. The duel took place early in the morning. After some time, Dr. Chebutykin, who was a second, entered the Prozorovs' house. He reported that Baron Tuzenbach was dead.
After that, the meaning of the play "Three Sisters" comes down to the fact that Irina returns to her usual state again. She grieves for her life and does not see the slightest chance to find happiness. The sisters grieve with her. Their pain is intensified by the fact that the officers in full force leave the city and the heroines are left completely alone.
The play "Three Sisters" on the Top Books website
Chekhov's play "Three Sisters" is so popular to read that it took a high place in our rating. And the recently released screen version contributed a lot to this. Therefore, we can confidently assume that we will see her more than once among the ratings of our site.
You can read Chekhov's play "Three Sisters" in full on the Top Books website.
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
"Three sisters"
The action takes place in a provincial town, in the house of the Prozorovs.
Irina, the youngest of the three Prozorov sisters, is twenty years old. “It’s sunny and fun outside,” and a table is laid in the hall, guests are waiting - officers of the artillery battery stationed in the city and its new commander, Lieutenant Colonel Vershinin. Everyone is full of joyful expectations and hopes. Irina: “I don’t know why my soul is so light ... It’s like I’m on sails, there is a wide blue sky above me and big white birds are flying around.” The Prozorovs are scheduled to move to Moscow in the fall. The sisters have no doubt that their brother Andrei will go to university and eventually become a professor. Kulygin, the teacher of the gymnasium, the husband of one of the sisters, Masha, is benevolent. Chebutykin, a military doctor who once madly loved the late mother of the Prozorovs, succumbs to the general joyful mood. "My bird is white," he kisses Irina touched. Lieutenant Baron Tuzenbach enthusiastically speaks about the future: “The time has come<…>a healthy, strong storm is preparing, which<…>will blow away laziness, indifference, prejudice towards work, rotten boredom from our society. Vershinin is just as optimistic. With his appearance, Masha passes her "merehlyundia". The atmosphere of unconstrained cheerfulness is not disturbed by the appearance of Natasha, although she herself is terribly embarrassed by a large society. Andrei proposes to her: “Oh youth, wonderful, beautiful youth!<…>I feel so good, my soul is full of love, delight ... My dear, good, pure, be my wife!
But already in the second act, major notes are replaced by minor ones. Andrey does not find a place for himself out of boredom. He, who dreamed of a professorship in Moscow, is not at all attracted by the position of secretary of the zemstvo council, and in the city he feels "alien and lonely." Masha is finally disappointed in her husband, who once seemed to her "terribly learned, smart and important", and among his fellow teachers she simply suffers. Irina is not satisfied with her work on the telegraph: “What I wanted so much, what I dreamed about, that’s not what she has. Work without poetry, without thoughts…” Olga returns from the gymnasium tired and with a headache. Not in the spirit of Vershinin. He still continues to assure that “everything on earth must change little by little”, but then he adds: “And how I would like to prove to you that there is no happiness, should not be and will not be for us ... We must only work and work ... "In Chebutykin's puns, with which he amuses those around him, a hidden pain breaks through:" No matter how you philosophize, loneliness is a terrible thing ... "
Natasha, gradually taking over the whole house, escorts the guests who were waiting for the mummers. "Philistine!" - Masha says to Irina in her hearts.
Three years have passed. If the first act was played out at noon, and it was “sunny, cheerful” outside, then the remarks for the third act “warn” about completely different - gloomy, sad - events: “Behind the scenes, the alarm is sounded on the occasion of a fire that started a long time ago. Through the open door you can see the window, red from the glow. The Prozorovs' house is full of people fleeing the fire.
Irina sobs: “Where to? Where did it all go?<…>but life is leaving and will never return, never, never will we leave for Moscow ... I am in despair, I am in despair! Masha thinks in alarm: “Somehow we will live our life, what will become of us?” Andrei cries: “When I got married, I thought that we would be happy ... everyone is happy ... But my God ...” Tuzenbakh, perhaps even more disappointed: “What a happy one then (three years ago. - V.B.) a life! Where's she?" In a drinking bout Chebutykin: “The head is empty, the soul is cold. Maybe I'm not a person, but only pretend that I have arms and legs ... and a head; perhaps I do not exist at all, but it only seems to me that I am walking, eating, sleeping. (Weeping.)". And the more persistently Kulygin repeats: “I am satisfied, I am satisfied, I am satisfied,” the more obvious it becomes that everyone is broken, unhappy.
And finally, the last action. Autumn is coming. Masha, walking along the alley, looks up: “And migratory birds are already flying ...” The artillery brigade leaves the city: it is being transferred to another place, either to Poland, or to Chita. The officers come to say goodbye to the Prozorovs. Fedotik, taking a photo for memory, remarks: "... silence and calm will come in the city." Tuzenbach adds: "And terrible boredom." Andrei speaks out even more categorically: “The city will become empty. It’s like they’ll cover him with a cap.”
Masha breaks up with Vershinin, whom she fell in love with so passionately: “Unsuccessful life ... I don’t need anything now ...” Olga, having become the head of the gymnasium, understands: “It means not to be in Moscow.” Irina decided - “if I am not destined to be in Moscow, then so be it” - to accept the proposal of Tuzenbach, who retired: “The baron and I are getting married tomorrow, tomorrow we are leaving for a brick one, and the day after tomorrow I am already at school, a new a life.<…>And all of a sudden, it was as if wings grew in my soul, I cheered up, it became much easier and again I wanted to work, work ... "Chebutykin in tenderness:" Fly, my dears, fly with God!
He also blesses Andrey for the “flight” in his own way: “You know, put on a hat, pick up a stick and go away ... go away and go, go without looking back. And the further you go, the better."
But even the most modest hopes of the heroes of the play are not destined to come true. Solyony, in love with Irina, provokes a quarrel with the baron and kills him in a duel. The broken Andrei does not have enough strength to follow Chebutykin's advice and pick up the "staff": "Why do we, having barely begun to live, become boring, gray, uninteresting, lazy, indifferent, useless, unhappy ..."
The battery leaves the city. Sounds like a military march. Olga: “Music plays so cheerfully, cheerfully, and I want to live!<…>and, it seems, a little more, and we will find out why we live, why we suffer ... If only we knew! (Music plays quieter and quieter.) If only I knew, if only I knew!” (A curtain.)
The heroes of the play are not free migratory birds, they are imprisoned in a strong social “cage”, and the personal destinies of everyone who has fallen into it are subject to the laws by which the whole country lives, which is experiencing general trouble. Not "who", but "what?" dominates man. This main culprit of misfortunes and failures in the play has several names - “vulgarity”, “baseness”, “sinful life” ... The face of this “vulgarity” looks especially visible and unsightly in Andrey’s thoughts: “Our city has existed for two hundred years, it has a hundred thousands of inhabitants, and not one who would not be like the others ...<…>They only eat, drink, sleep, then die ... others will be born, and they also eat, drink, sleep, and, in order not to become dull from boredom, diversify their lives with nasty gossip, vodka, cards, litigation ... "
Part 1
The Prozorovs' house is preparing for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Irina, the youngest of three sisters. Officers from the artillery battery and their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Vershinin, are to come to visit. Everyone, except sister Masha, is in a good mood.
In the fall, the Prozorovs are going to move to Moscow, where Andrey, the girls' brother, is to enter the university. He is predicted to be a professor in the future.
Satisfied with Kulygin, Masha's husband, a gymnasium teacher. Chebutykin, a military doctor, who used to be madly in love with the late mother of the Prozorovs, rejoices. Lieutenant Baron Tuzenbach talks about a brighter future. He is supported by Vershinin. With the advent of the lieutenant colonel, Masha's "merehlyundia" passes.
Natasha appears. The girl is embarrassed by the big society. And Andrew invites her to become his wife.
Part 2
Andrei from boredom does not find a place for himself. He dreamed of a professorship, but was forced to work as a secretary of the zemstvo council. He does not like the city, he feels lonely and a stranger.
Masha is disappointed in her husband, she suffers from communication with his fellow teachers. Also, Irina is not happy with her position at the telegraph, because she did not dream of such thoughtless work at all. Olga returns from the gymnasium tired and with a headache.
Vershinin is not in the spirit, but still continues to assure that soon everything on earth should change. True, now he adds that happiness does not exist, and the main task of people is to work.
Chebutykin tries to amuse others with various puns, but the pain caused by loneliness breaks through them.
Natasha, having become Andrei's wife, gradually cleans up the whole house in her hands. The Prozorov sisters consider her a bourgeois.
Part 3
3 years have passed. There is a fire in the city. People fleeing from him gathered in the Prozorovs' house.
Irina cries in despair that her life is wasted and she will never go to Moscow. Masha, in anxiety, also thinks about her life and the future. Andrei is disappointed with his own marriage, says that when he got married, he thought they would be happy, but it didn’t work out that way.
Tuzenbach is even more upset, because 3 years ago he imagined a very happy life, but everything remained only dreams.
Chebutykin goes on a drinking binge. He thinks about loneliness, about human nature, cries.
Only Kulygin stubbornly insists that he is satisfied with everything. Against this background, it becomes more and more obvious how unhappy and broken everyone is.
Part 4
Autumn is coming. The artillery brigade leaves the city - it is transferred to another place. The officers come to say goodbye to the Prozorovs. Taking pictures for memory, everyone talks about how it will become quiet, calm and boring here now.
Masha says goodbye to Vershinin, whom she is passionately in love with. She considers her life a failure and says she doesn't need anything else. Olga becomes the head of the gymnasium and realizes that she will never get to Moscow.
Irina also says goodbye to her dreams of the capital and decides to become Tuzenbach's wife. The girl is preparing to start a new life, and Chebutykin is very happy for her. In addition, the old man advises Andrei to leave the city at least somewhere: “Go without looking back. And the further you go, the better."
The source of the conflict in the play is the motive of modern man's loneliness in his family, among the people he loves and who love him. But this is not physical loneliness when there is no one around in the literal sense. This is the absence of a kindred soul who would understand all spiritual moods, who would be close to hopes and dreams.
In Chekhov's play, all the characters - the Prozorov sisters, their brother Andrey, their friends at home - are disunited and lonely, despite the fact that they love each other. These heroes are helpless: they cannot understand themselves or those around them.
Of course, the problems of family and love occupy an important place in the play, it is around them that all the characters act. But still, the main question for everyone is: “How to live?” Irina’s joyful words sound in the first act: “When I woke up today, got up and washed my face, it suddenly seemed to me that everything in this world was clear to me, and I knew how to live.” But the naivety of these words is revealed already in the next action: "... But it turned out to be all nonsense, nonsense!".
Masha is just as disappointed, but only in love. It all seemed to her that she had found exactly what she needed, the right person. About her husband she says: “He seemed to me then terribly learned, intelligent and important. But now it’s not the same, unfortunately.” About Vershinin, Masha responds: “He seemed strange to me at first, then I felt sorry for him, ... then I fell in love.” And at the end of the play, she says: "Unsuccessful life .. I don't need anything now ...".
Andrei’s thoughts are similar to these words: “When I got married, I thought we would be happy, everyone is happy ... But my God ... (cries).” Olga also has her own dreams, which also turn out to be unfulfilled.
Confusion, disappointment, awareness of deception unites all the main characters of the play. Their disparate exclamations merge into one: “how time goes by”, “what if life starts again”, “how life deceives!”, “life flashed like lightning”. The desire of the sisters “To Moscow! To Moscow!" and its impracticability become in the play a symbol of deceived hopes.
The main characters of The Three Sisters are unhappy, but the meaning of the play is not limited to depicting the unhappy life of unhappy people. By the way, Chekhov was accused of this by contemporary criticism. The author allows you to see, to penetrate deeply into the causes of the misfortunes of his heroes. The peculiarity of the conflict in this play lies in the fact that, pushing different heroes or groups of heroes, the author insists that they are all connected, albeit covertly.
Here, many heroes are both themselves unhappy and the cause of the unhappiness of others. Therefore, Natasha, Solyony, Chebutykin, Kulagin do not oppose the rest of the heroes. Each of them has his own idea of happiness, his own life program. And each of them is trying to convey his "truth" to the others.
But to others, this "truth" seems either funny, or stupid, or strange. And he meets ridicule, or rudeness, or indifference from those around him. Tuzenbach says to Olga: "You talk such nonsense, I'm tired of listening to you" to her revelation about how happy she would be not to work and get married. And when Masha tells Olga about her love, Olga will already call it nonsense. Tuzenbach, who dreams of working and finding reciprocity with Irina, constantly comes across her coldness. Even colder, Irina responds to Solyony's declaration of love for her.
And the rest of the characters have the same misunderstanding of each other. Each is absorbed in his own view of things, unable to understand the point of view of the other. In response to his changes or frankness, he meets only ridicule or rudeness.
Here the author speaks about the imaginary nature of forms sacred to man: about the family, about children, about the intelligentsia's faith in work, in suffering for the sake of future generations. The characters' conversations in the play about the future, about the meaning of life, about the need to believe in a happy future are in contrast with the absurdity of their real situation, with their everyday behavior.
It is here that the author shows the manifestation of the irony of life. But by the end of the play it becomes clear that all disputes, dreams, hopes are a necessary part of the life of these people. In spite of everything, they “want to live like hell”, “you have to live”, “and you want to live!”. And as long as the heroes have this desire to live, it is just as natural for them to have the desire to believe, to try to look into the future.
This is precisely the peculiarity of the conflict of the play. All complex, universal, seemingly insoluble conflicts between the characters at the end of the play come down to a simple desire - "To live!". This positive attitude towards the future is especially valuable in the play.
Baron Tuzenbach, a Russified German born in St. Petersburg, "cold and idle", is the happiest person in the play. He keenly feels the “turning point”, the “turning point” of the present time, and with all his being is directed towards the impending “huge”, “healthy, strong storm”, which “will blow away laziness, indifference, prejudice to work, rotten boredom from our society”.
Tuzenbach's ardent conviction of the need for work, consistent, obligatory work for each person (“In some twenty-five to thirty years, every person will work. Everyone!”) Is reflected in his “German” healthy love for “order”, for reasonable structure of life, his faith in meaningful, creative work that transforms society and man. Here, closeness to the image of Stolz (Oblomov by I.A. Goncharov) is revealed.
Tuzenbach is devoid of skepticism and is not inclined to look at the present state of life as hopeless. He believes that in the future "life will remain the same, life is difficult, full of secrets and happy." He is highly inherent in the "gift of penetration into life", the gift of love for life, the gift of being happy even in an unrequited feeling for Irina. Her “longing for work” is understandable and close to him. And he does not get tired of his cheerful belief in life to support Irina's spiritual strength.
Tuzenbakh not only dreams of a “new life”, but also prepares for it: he retires, chooses a job as an engineer at a brick factory and is going to marry Irina and go there: “I will take you away tomorrow, we will work, we will be rich, dreams yours will come to life. You will be happy." But a ridiculous, ordinary, "always" skirmish with Solyony led to a duel. T.'s farewell to Irina is absolutely devoid of "pre-duel fever" (cf .: "Duel" by Chekhov, "Duel" by Kuprin). On the contrary, the usually gentle, always conciliatory-minded T. reveals courage and an enormous “concentration of calm and pain” (P.A. Markov). As if for the first time seeing the beauty of the surrounding nature, feeling the lively trembling of autumn leaves, Tuzenbach utters the words that became the result of his life faith: “What beautiful trees and, in essence, what a beautiful life should be around them!”
SALT - the central character of A.P. Chekhov's drama "Three Sisters" (1900). By the type of character, by the structure of the psyche, the staff captain S. belongs to those people who are commonly called heavy. In his appearance, behavior, in going against the general dialogue of remarks, some kind of "ritual" sprinkling of hands and chest with perfume - there is some kind of "composition", conspicuous "inauthenticity"; out of shyness, he created for himself the image of a "terribly terrible person", a bully, and now he is forced to constantly confirm and support him. ”, a cheap imitation of Lermontov. "Case S." - this is a case of "an idea that got into the street", that is, into the head of a poorly educated, uncultured person, and led to a distortion of his personality. “He is too little educated and too little a poet to imitate Lermontov” (Vl. I. Ne-mirovich-Danchenko). S. is burdened by his bitterness, and, probably, he wants to break out of the circle of loneliness in which he has enclosed himself. After all, alone with someone, with the same Tuzenbach, he is "both smart and affectionate." S. hopes that Irina will help him break this circle: "You can see the truth ... Only you can understand me." But his love - as oppressive and heavy as he is - frightens Irina, and she coldly asks not to speak about love. S. swore "to all saints" that he would "kill his rival," and he did it. not three, but four duels.
According to Chekhov, "It was terribly difficult to write Three Sisters." After all, there are three heroines, each should be on her own model, and all three are the general's daughters. Educated, young, graceful, beautiful women are “not three units, but three-thirds of three”, one soul that has taken “three forms” (I.F. Annensky). In the "trinity" of the heroines, there is a virtuoso difficulty in constructing a play.
The time of action - the time of the sisters' life - is shown by Chekhov in breaks: in "scraps", "excerpts", "accidents". Spring afternoon of the first act; the winter twilight of the second; a summer night, illuminated by the reflections of a fire raging in the city; and again the day, but already autumn, farewell - in the fourth act. From these fragments, fragments of destinies, an internal, continuous in the "undercurrent" of the play "cantilena of the life of Chekhov's heroines" (I.N. Solovieva) arises.
The sisters are given a keen sense of the fluidity of life, passing by and/or imaginary, lived "in rough outline". In addition to the will and desire of the sisters, it develops “not so”: “Everything is not done our way” (Olga); “This life is cursed, unbearable”, “unsuccessful life” (Masha); “Life goes away and will never return”, “You leave a real wonderful life, you go further and further into some kind of abyss” (Irina). The sisters perceive the course of life as a “huge inert river” (Nemirovich-Danchenko), carrying away faces, and dreams, and thoughts, and feelings into oblivion, into the past that disappears from memory: “They won’t remember us either. Forget it."
The scene of action is the house of the Prozorov sisters, the space of life ennobled by them, full of love, tenderness, spiritual intimacy, hopes, longing and nervous anxiety. The house appears in the play as a space of culture, the life of the spirit, as an oasis of humanity and "a mass of light" among the "spiritual darkness" (cf. the house of the Turbins in M.A. Bulgakov's "White Guard"). This space is fragile, permeable and defenseless under the pressure of provincial vulgarity triumphant in the face of Natasha.
The development of the action in the play is connected with the gradual impoverishment of the living joy of life among the Prozorov sisters, with the growing feeling of the annoying incompleteness of being and with the growing thirst for understanding the meaning of the life they live, a meaning without which happiness is impossible for them. Chekhov's thought about a person's right to happiness, about the need for happiness in human life, permeates the image of the life of the Prozorov sisters.
Olga, the eldest of the sisters, who serves as a teacher in a gymnasium, lives with a constant feeling of weariness from life: “I feel how strength and youth come out of me every day, drop by drop.” She is the spiritual backbone of the house. On the night of the fire, a "painful night" when O. seems to have "aged ten years", she takes upon herself the nervous breakdowns, confessions, revelations and explanations of her sisters and brother.
She hears, feels, perceives not only what they said, but also the unspoken inner pain - she supports, consoles, forgives. And in Irina’s advice to “marry a baron,” her unspoken thought about marriage also breaks through: “After all, they marry not for love, but only in order to fulfill their duty.” And in the last act, when the regiment leaves the city and the sisters are left alone, she, with words of encouragement and consolation, seems to part the darkness of the deepening spiritual emptiness: “The music plays so cheerfully, so joyfully, and, it seems, a little more, and we will find out why we we live, why we suffer ... ”Despite the triumphant, visual, creeping vulgarity (lisping Natasha, Andrey hunched over the stroller, always pleased Kulygin, Chebutykin’s“ tare-pa bumbia ”, who has long been“ all the same ”), O.’s voice sounds a yearning call:“ If to know, if only to know…”
Masha is the most silent of the sisters. At the age of 18, she married a gymnasium teacher, who seemed to her "terribly learned, intelligent and important." For her mistake (her husband turned out to be “the kindest, but not the smartest”), M. pays with the feeling of emptiness of life that haunts her. She carries the drama in herself, retaining her "isolation" and "separateness". Living in high nervous tension, M. more and more often succumbs to "merlehlyundiya", but does not "turn sour", but only "angry". M.'s love for Vershinin, expressed with courageous openness and passionate tenderness, made up for her painful incompleteness of being, made her look for the meaning of life, faith: "It seems to me that a person should be a believer or should seek faith, otherwise his life is empty, empty ...". M.'s lawless romance with a married man, the father of two girls, ends tragically. The regiment is transferred from the city, and Vershinin leaves forever. M.'s sobs are a premonition that life will again become "empty": meaningless and joyless. Overcoming the feeling of mental loneliness that gripped her, M. forces herself to believe in the need to continue life. Already life itself becomes a duty for her in relation to herself: "We will remain alone in order to start our life again." Her words “We must live, we must live” sound in unison with the Olgins “If you only knew, if you only knew ...”.
Irina is the youngest of the sisters. She bathes in waves of love and admiration. “As if on sails,” she is carried by hope: “Finish everything here and to Moscow!” Her thirst for life is fed by the dream of love, of the manifestation of her personality in work. After three years, Irina works at the telegraph, tired of a dull, joyless existence: "Work without poetry, without thoughts - this is not at all what I dreamed of." No love. And Moscow - "I dream every night", and I forget, "like in Italian a window or that's a ceiling."
In the last act, I. - matured, serious - decides to “start living”: “to marry a baron”, to be a “faithful, obedient wife”, to work at a brick factory as a teacher. When the stupid, absurd death of Tuzenbach in a duel cuts off these hopes, I. no longer sobs, but “cries softly”: “I knew, I knew ...” and echoes the sisters: “We must live.”
Having lost their home and loved ones, having parted with illusions and hopes, the Prozorov sisters come to the idea of the need to continue life as a fulfillment of a moral duty to her. The meaning of their life shines through all the losses - spiritual stamina and opposition to worldly vulgarity.
VERSHININ is the central character in A.P. Chekhov's drama "Three Sisters" (1900). Lieutenant Colonel V., the battery commander, is the same Russian man who, in his own words, "was tormented with his wife ... tormented with his house ...", "suffers and only complains." Coming on a visit to the Prozorov sisters, V. finds himself in his native space - warmth, culture, innate noble delicacy. He admires their "wonderful apartment" and admits that in his life he always lacked just such an apartment - "with flowers, with a lot of light ...". Living his life "roughly", V. regrets that "youth has passed", leaving him the ability to endure the hardships of life and the habit of "philosophizing" with or without reason. His main thought about life, which he does not get tired of repeating, is the idea that “in two or three hundred years life on earth will be unimaginably beautiful, amazing” and a person should “anticipate it, wait, dream, prepare for it.” V. looks at the "present life" as if from this distant future - as if through an inverted binoculars. He is convinced that in the present happiness is unthinkable, impossible. And he does not really believe in Tuzenbach's ability to be happy right now: "There is no happiness, there should not be and will not be for us."
From complaints, confidential conversations, disputes and “philosophizing”, it is not known how and why Masha’s beautiful, high love broke through and lit up his life with happiness. V. still claims that youth has passed, is still stubborn and returns to thoughts about what will happen "in two or three hundred years." But he is already embraced by a new, special mood: “I want to live like hell ...” On the night of the fire - the “torturous” night of nervous breakdowns, mental fatigue - Masha and V.’s declaration of love sounds beautiful and powerful: “All ages are submissive to love ...” This love shook the convinced philosophical pessimism of V. Before parting forever, he “philosophizes” for the last time: “Life is hard. It seems to many of us deaf and hopeless, but nevertheless, we must confess, it is becoming clearer and easier ... "
Chekhov was commissioned by the Moscow Art Theatre. The first production took place on January 31, 1901. Since then, she has not left the domestic and foreign theatrical stages for more than a century.
According to literary critics and biographers of the writer, the idea of the play was born in him in 1898-1899. This conclusion was made on the basis that Chekhov actively used notes from his notebooks when writing the play.
20 years old is the youngest of the sisters, whose name is Irina. On this occasion, celebrations are planned, the table is set and guests are expected. Officers of the artillery battery, which is stationed in the city, should visit the Prozorovs. Her new commander, Vershinin, will also come.
Everyone is in joyful anticipation of the upcoming evening. Irina herself admits that her soul is so light, as if she is rushing on sails.
The entire Prozorov family plans to move to Moscow next fall. Their brother Andrei intends to enter the university and plans to become a professor in the future.
The gymnasium teacher Kulygin, who is the husband of Masha, one of the sisters, is also in a pleasant mood. In an elevated mood, the military doctor Chebutykin, who once passionately loved the late mother of the Prozorovs, also comes to the holiday. Now he gently and touchingly treats Irina.
Major notes in the play in four acts by A.P. Chekhov are present in almost all the heroes. For example, Lieutenant Tuzenbakh. He looks to the future with enthusiasm, arguing that the time has come when our society must get rid of indifference and laziness, as well as a destructive neglect of work.
Optimism is also present in Vershinin. Only Natasha is embarrassed by the large number of guests. Andrew proposes to her.
Minor mood
In the second act of the play "Three Sisters" by Chekhov, despondency and sadness attack everyone. Andrey is languishing from boredom. He dreamed of a professorship in Moscow, but instead had to be content with an insignificant secretarial position at the zemstvo council. In his hometown, he feels lonely, alien and useless.
Masha is experiencing difficulties in family life. She is completely disappointed in her husband. Once she sincerely considered him important, learned and intelligent, and now she suffers in his company and among his fellow teachers at the gymnasium.
The younger sister Irina understands that she can no longer bear to work on the telegraph. Everything she dreamed about was never realized. Olga comes home from the gymnasium with a headache and exhausted. Vershinin, who is also out of sorts, continues to assure that everything should change soon, but at the same time he unexpectedly adds that happiness does not exist, but there is only work and labor.
Chebutykin is trying to cheer up the audience, but no one rejoices at his puns, and hidden pain is seen in them themselves.
At the end of the evening, Natasha begins to actively clean up the whole house, escorting the guests along the way.
Three years later
The next action takes place three years later. Already in the remarks to him, the author clarifies that there is a gloomy and sad environment around. At the very beginning of the third act of the play "Three Sisters" by Chekhov, the tocsin is sounded behind the scenes. Everyone is informed about the fire. Through the window you can see how a strong fire burns in the distance. There are many people in the house of the Prozorov family who are trying to escape from the fire.
Irina has a tantrum. She laments that her whole life has passed and will never return, and we will never leave for Moscow. Their move, planned earlier, did not take place.
Maria, in alarm, also thinks about her fate. She realizes that she does not understand how she will live her life.
Andrew starts crying. He says he hoped everyone would be happy when he was about to get married, but things turned out differently.
Baron Tuzenbach is also deeply disappointed. He did not have a happy life either. Chebutykin went on a drinking binge.
The denouement of the play
The last action of the play "Three Sisters", the plot of which is described in this article, takes place against the backdrop of the coming autumn.
Masha sadly looks at the migratory birds flying by. Artillerymen leave the city, they are transferred to a new duty station. True, it is not yet known where - to Chita or Poland. The officers are saying goodbye to the Prozorovs. They take photos as a keepsake, and when they say goodbye, they notice that now peace and quiet will come here. Baron Tuzenbach also adds that the boredom is terrible. The city is empty.
"Three Sisters" is a play that tells how Masha breaks up with Vershinin, whom she used to love so passionately. She admits that her life has turned out unsuccessfully.
The fate of the sisters
Olga by this time gets the place of the head of the gymnasium. After that, she also realizes that she will no longer leave for Moscow, a high position in the province binds her strongly.
So did Irina, who accepts the proposal of Tuzenbach, who is retiring. They are going to get married and start a family life together. Irina herself is inspired at least a little by this news, she admits, she feels as if she has grown wings. Chebutykin is sincerely touched by them.
However, the hopes of most of the heroes of the play are not destined to come true. Another character Solyony, in love with Irina, having learned about the upcoming wedding with Tuzenbakh, provokes him into a conflict. In a duel, he kills the baron.
Final of "Three Sisters"
"Three Sisters" is a play at the end of which an artillery battery leaves the city. They leave under the military march. In fact, one thing worries all the characters in the play "Three Sisters". The actors are not free people, like migratory birds, which they observe themselves.
All characters are enclosed in strong social cages. Their destinies are subject to the laws by which the country itself lives, which at that time is experiencing general trouble.
Artistic features of the performance
After reviewing the brief content of the "Three Sisters", you can separately dwell on the artistic features of this work.
Many critics of the time considered the play's lack of plot to be a shortcoming. At least in the usual sense of the term. So, the popular playwright Pyotr Gnedich in one of his letters cites an ironic statement by Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy. The great Russian writer notes that when a drunk doctor is lying on the couch, and it is pouring rain outside the window, then this is outright boredom, and not a play, as Chekhov believes, and not a mood, as Stanislavsky would say. And no dramatic action in such a scene can not survive.
Director Nemirovich-Danchenko admitted that he found the plot in "Three Sisters" only shortly before the premiere of the play. The absence of events was also an innovation, as well as the fact that Anton Chekhov saw social drama and tragedy in the most ordinary things. It was an innovative technique in Russian dramaturgy, which had not been used by anyone before. The play "Three Sisters" has become very popular abroad. The play was translated into German, French and Czech during the author's lifetime. Translated by A. Scholz, it was first shown on the Berlin stage in 1901.
Irina Gorbenko
"To Moscow! To Moscow!" - a quote known to almost every Russian person, even to those who have not read "Three Sisters" by A.P. Chekhov. The play, written in 1900, has gone through many stage productions, including those abroad, which is why it is commonly believed that the audience, and even Chekhov's plays themselves, are tired of different interpretations. Nevertheless, "Three Sisters" continue to attract the attention of directors, however, it is difficult to surprise a modern viewer, accustomed to the frantic pace of life, with a drama without a "pronounced dramatic collision" (as Chekhov's contemporaries wrote). In order to re-open the play to the audience, the directors experiment and translate the drama into the language of modernity. This year at the "Golden Mask" in the nomination "Performance of a small form" there are two productions of Chekhov's play at once - "Three Sisters" by Timofey Kulyabin and "On the Other Side of the Curtain" by Andriy Zholdak.
What modern directors see in Chekhov's play and with what methods they try to show it to the audience. Let's look at the example of performances staged in Russia over the past few years.
Bolshoy Drama Theatre. Tovstonogov (St. Petersburg)
Director - Vladimir Pankov, premiere - March 2017
The premiere performance of 2017 received special attention: in the 1960s, Georgy Tovstonogov himself presented his vision of The Three Sisters at the Bolshoi Theater. Vladimir Pankov understood all the responsibility - you can not pretend that the play is not staged so often and just stage it. For the director, the main theme of the performance was time - its course and the effect it has on people and their destinies.
There are two ways to express time. The first is music, which, according to Pankov, helps the performance to exist outside of time. Almost every character in the production received his own musical part (authorship of composers Artem Kim and Sergey Rodyukov). In the course of the action, either marches or lyrical compositions sound. Many lines are not spoken, but sung, which turns the performance into a real musical drama.
The play "Three Sisters", director: Vladimir Pankov, Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov (St. Petersburg). Photo source: theater website
The second technique that distinguishes the "Three Sisters" of the BDT from previous versions is the number of sisters, of which there are now seven. More precisely, these are all the same three sisters, we just see them at different times. Through a change in the number of characters, Pankovu reveals internal conflicts with the help of external ones. Many scenes are built on this, for example, Masha from the third act slaps her young self. As a result, the director's drawing reveals the conflict, which helps to capture the viewer's attention.
The play "Three Sisters", director: Vladimir Pankov, Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov (St. Petersburg). Photo source: theater website
The play "Three Sisters", director: Vladimir Pankov, Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov (St. Petersburg). Photo source: theater website
Alexandrinsky Theater (St. Petersburg)
Director - Andriy Zholdak, premiere - February 2016
Repeated nominee for the "Golden Mask" Andriy Zholdak once again surprised the audience with a non-standard approach to the classics, transferring the heroines of "Three Sisters" to the LXI century. According to the plot of the play "On the Other Side of the Curtain", Masha, Olga and Irina, as a result of an experiment on reincarnation, gain a new life in 4015. They utter the same lines as in Chekhov, while around them there are new circumstances, but old memories and dreams from the beginning of the 20th century.
"Beyond the Curtain" becomes an experiment not only on the sisters, but also on the audience - which is worth the fact that the auditorium is located right on the stage, around a small space in which the characters live. Traditional velvet chairs remain on the other side of the curtain. Thus, the viewer has a feeling of complete immersion in the uncomfortable and alien circumstances in which the sisters found themselves.
Performance "On the Other Side of the Curtain", director: Andriy Zholdak, Alexandrinsky Theater (St. Petersburg). Photo source: theater website
Zholdak thinks out Chekhov's play, but carefully, based on the lines spoken by the characters in the text. The late father and mother of the Prozorovs appear on the stage - and from their relationship it becomes clear why the sisters grew up exactly the way they grew up. Chekhov, who subtly captured characters, lived at a time when psychology was not so popular and only accumulated knowledge about the formation of the human psyche. Zholdak makes an assumption where the injuries of the heroines came from. Irina does not love Tuzenbakh, but agrees to marry him, as was the case with the mother and father of the sisters. Masha falls in love with Vershinin because he reminds her of her father. Zholdak's version does not pretend to be authentic - he only tries to show the heroines more humane and understandable. And this is a win-win technique in order to make the viewer empathize with the characters.
The main theme for the director is the answer to the question - is it possible to go beyond the program, changing the fate? Zholdak answers in an original manner - the end of his performance is sad, but giving hope that something good awaits everyone ahead.
Performance "On the Other Side of the Curtain", director: Andriy Zholdak, Alexandrinsky Theater (St. Petersburg). Photo source: theater website
"Red Torch" (Novosibirsk)
Director - Timofey Kulyabin, premiere - September 2015
The production of "Three Sisters" by Kulyabin was warmly received not only by Russian, but also by Austrian critics. The performance was a triumph at the Vienna Weiner Festwochen, although even the German-language press noted some fatigue from the number of productions of the Three Sisters.
Kulyabin takes the obvious thing from the text - the characters are deaf to each other, so the language of the deaf and dumb looks like a completely logical device. At the same time, the director himself believes that his performance is not at all about the fact that no one hears anyone. Deafness is a given: the heroines do not hear the world around them and cannot understand it. However, inside the house there is its own microcosm - with its own laws and orders (there is even a special rhythm due to the steps and the clinking of dishes). In parallel with this, there is a world around, incomprehensible to the inhabitants of the Prozorovs' house.
Performance "Three Sisters", director: Timofey Kulyabin, "Red Torch" (Novosibirsk). Photo source: theater website
The deaf characters can see, so the play recreates the detailed space of the house. While one scene is happening, the viewer can also watch what other characters are doing. In the third act, during the fire, the ability to see disappears - a complete loss of feelings and connection with reality is approaching.
Critics note Kulyabin's talent for noticing the details of the present and creating typical pictures of his time - and this is what makes him related to Chekhov, even when the director sends some remarks via SMS.
Performance "Three Sisters", director: Timofey Kulyabin, "Red Torch" (Novosibirsk). Photo source: theater website
Performance "Three Sisters", director: Timofey Kulyabin, "Red Torch" (Novosibirsk). Photo source: theater website
Theatre. Lensoveta (St. Petersburg)
Director - Yuri Butusov, premiere - February 2014
Yuri Butusov works with The Three Sisters in his favorite manner - isolating images from the text and building a narrative around them. The director shows the isolation of the world of the heroines with the help of a wall of wooden bricks (after all, Irina was going to leave for a brick factory after her wedding with Tuzenbakh), which the actors build at the beginning and end of the performance.
Butusov easily swaps and repeats scenes as if it were a set of sketches. It seems unimportant in what sequence to tell the story of the three sisters - they live only a dream of Moscow, which is not destined to come true. Heroes do not change, only circumstances and their attitude to dreams change. The director moves the episode with Ferapont and Andrei (“the papers must be signed”) from the end of the play to the second act: the scene looks like Andrei’s nightmare, but in fact it is already a reality - Andrei will not leave anywhere and will not become a professor, but will remain on his service in the city.
An important technique for Butusov - when the characters almost go on a cry, uttering familiar lines - reflects the fact that the characters do not hear each other at all. Everyone screams about his own: about his pain and dreams, but what worries the rest is not so important for them. Critics did not remain deaf to Butusov - for the "Three Sisters" he received the "Golden Mask" in 2015 as the best drama director.
Performance "Three Sisters", director: Yuri Butusov, Theatre. Leningrad City Council (St. Petersburg). Photo source: theater website
Other sisters:
- Three sisters in the image of glamorous ladies appear in the "Ideal Husband" (Moscow Art Theater named after Chekhov) by K. Bogomolov. The girls, who over the course of a century have turned into Rublev's wives, are sitting in a pretentious metropolitan cafe, discussing how they aspired to Moscow and how they want to work now, but they are not succeeding.
- In 1998, the Hungarian composer Peter Eötvös wrote the opera Three Sisters in Russian especially for the Lyon Theater. The action is divided into a prologue and three sequences, each of which is dedicated to a hotel character - Irina, Andrei and Masha. Thus, the story is not told linearly, as in Chekhov, but is assembled in the form of a constructor. The main parts of the sisters were written for men who, in the production of the Lyon Opera, appeared on stage in the form of Japanese geishas in white kimonos. In 2016, the opera was staged in Vienna, and this time the main roles were played by three Russian singers.
- In 2011, artist Andrei Bartenev undertook the plastic adaptation of The Three Sisters as part of the Open Stage project. Miniature performances, performed to the music of the American composer Felix Venturas, were something between theater and dance. The performance consisted of four parts - according to the number of acts of the play, and the first act was even nominated for the "Golden Mask" in the category "Best Performance in Contemporary Dance".
