The drama "Three Sisters" is a significant event in the life of Chekhov. After the failure of The Seagull, Anton Pavlovich swore not to write plays, he considered himself a failed playwright. And now, five years later, he writes a play in which not only "five pounds of love" became the basis of the plot, but also expressed all the main themes and motives of Russian classics: the collapse of noble nests, the failure of "smart uselessness", the tragedy of the "unfortunate family", the grief of the lost hopes, the senselessness of the duel. In a letter to V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, Chekhov admitted: no matter how a person disposes of his desires, "... life itself is the same as it was, does not change and remains the same, following its own laws." In the same way, in the play Three Sisters, no matter how much the heroines want to leave for Moscow, no matter how much Vershinin loves Masha, no matter how the heroes dream of happiness, everything remains the same.

Anton Pavlovich subjected many important problems of human life to an ironic comprehension, gave the reader and viewer the opportunity to look at them not tragically, but with that healthy smile that does not offend a person with hopelessness, but, on the contrary, convinces him of the need to live.

Chekhov wrote about "Three Sisters" that "a play as complicated as a novel" was released. This play most vividly expresses the traditions of Russian epic prose. The lyrical sound of Chekhov's theater here reaches a passionate, dramatic ideological tension. The heroes of the "Three Sisters" live as if "in the blueprint", as if hoping that there will still be an opportunity to live in full force. Their everyday life is colored by a painfully beautiful dream of Moscow and a better future. The time of their lives moves in one direction, and their dreams in another. One should not look for the nature of the comedy genre in the characters of the characters. Chekhov does not ridicule heroes and their vices, but life itself.

The development of the plot in "Three Sisters"

Three love stories: Masha - Kulygin - Vershinin; Irina - Tuzenbach - Salty; Andrei - Natasha - Protopopov, it would seem, should give the play dynamics and intriguing drama. However, this does not happen. The heroes do not seek to change anything in their lives, they do not act, they only suffer and constantly wait, and the life of the characters passes, as it were, in the subjunctive mood. The plot in the play is non-eventful, although in fact there are more than enough events: treason, name day, fire, duel. In the play "Three Sisters" the heroes are inactive, but life actively intervenes in the world of their devastated souls.

The invasion of everyday life is emphasized by micro-plots: stories, incidents that the characters tell about. This is how the space of the play expands, introducing the motif of the unpredictability of life into the conflict of the work. There are no main characters in Chekhov's plays, the flow of life itself is the main object of the author's attention. One of the most important features of Chekhov's poetics is the ability to find beauty in everyday life. A special light sadness illuminates his plays.

The meaning of the title of the play "Three Sisters"

In Russian classical literature, the titles of works are, as a rule, symbolic and very often express the author's attitude towards the depicted. Everything is more complicated in Chekhov's plays. He repeatedly argued that one should not look for special meaning, irony or deep symbolism in the titles of his works. Indeed, it seems strange that the play is called "Three Sisters", while in this drama the story of the Prozorov family is presented and Andrei, the brother of the sisters, is no less important. If we take into account the female images, then Natasha, Andrei's wife, is much more active than Irina, Masha and Olga, she achieves everything she dreamed of.

The dramatic theme of The Three Sisters is an insistent variation on the motif of wasted beauty. The images of the three sisters are the personification of spiritual beauty and sincerity. The author often uses the comparison of the female soul with a migratory bird, and this becomes one of the leitmotifs of the play.

The color symbolism, noted by the author in the remark to the first act, sets the reader and the viewer to the perception of the sisters as a single image. They become the personification of the past, present and future of national life. And this position is illustrated by coloristic symbols. Irina's white dress symbolizes youth and hope, Olga's blue uniform dress emphasizes her dependence on the sheath life. Masha's black dress is read as a symbol of ruined happiness. The whole drama of the situation presented by the author lies in the fact that the future is connected not with Irina, but with Masha. Her strange remark - "Day and night, the scientist cat keeps walking around the chain ..." - a symbolic commentary on the heroines' dependence on their own impotence.

The theme of unfulfilled hopes

The images of birds play a special role in the development of the metaphorical subtext of the work. The motif of migratory birds is repeated several times in the play. Tuzenbach talks about them, talking about the meaning of life, Masha thinks sadly about birds when she says goodbye to the officers leaving the city.

The theme of wasted energy and unfulfilled hopes is emphasized by another motif that generally dominates all of Chekhov's work - the destruction of a house, estate, and family happiness. It was the struggle for the house that was the outer outline of the play's action. Although there is no struggle as such - the sisters do not resist, they resign themselves to what is happening, because they do not live in the present, they have a past - a family, a home in Moscow and, as it seems to them, a future - work and happiness in Moscow. The clash of hope, the scope of dreams with the weakness of dreamers - this is the main conflict of the play, which manifests itself not in action, but in the subtext of the work. This decision expressed the sad irony of the author over "stupid people", over circumstances that cannot be overcome.

B. Zingerman in the book "Chekhov's Theater" completed the analysis of the plays of A.P. Chekhov by comparing all the plots of the great playwright with the events of the life of the creator of the plays: "... the lyricism of the Chekhov theater is not only confessional monologues of actors, not only bashful overtones and pauses full of sad mood: Chekhov plays the plots of his life in his plays ... Maybe that's why he began to write not novels, but plays, because it was in a dialogical form that it was easier for Chekhov, with his closed temperament, to express his personal theme “The more he jokes about the characters, the more we feel for them.” Chekhov dreamed all his life of a big family, of his own house, but he did not find either, although he was married and had two estates (in Yalta and Melikhovo). Already seriously ill, Chekhov still did not fall into despair, he sought to convey hope and joy to loved ones even when life persistently refuted the most modest reasons for optimism. Chekhov's play is not a desperate gesture of a man incapable of correcting reality, but a dream of happiness. Therefore, Chekhov's works should not be perceived as "sad songs about the outgoing harmony."

"Three Sisters" - a play by the Russian writer and playwright A.P. Chekhov was written in 1900. The first premiere at the theater took place a year after the publication in the Russian Thought magazine. And now, for more than a hundred years, he has not left the stages of world theaters.
The play consists of four acts. In the first, events are developing in the Prozorovs' house. Irina, Masha and Olga appear before the reader - sisters, as well as their brother Andrey. The family lives in a small provincial town. Many years ago, their father, General Prozorov, took them from Moscow to this place. But last year he died, and that was the end of a carefree life. Olga works as a teacher, but this does not bring her pleasure. She feels that she is not doing her own thing, it is extremely tiring for her. Olga understands that youth is leaving and nothing in this life brings her peace and satisfaction. Masha, who was married at a very young age, is unhappy in marriage. In the first years of her marriage, she considered her husband Kulygin an active and intelligent person, but after a while she became more and more disappointed in him. And only Irina feels an incredible spiritual uplift. Today she is twenty years old, her whole life is ahead and Irina dreams of how she will work for the benefit of people. Everyone thinks about the future life and dreams of returning to Moscow. Great hopes are pinned on Andrey, who must enter the university and become a professor without fail. As in all Chekhov's works, the heroines of the "Three Sisters" passionately desire to change their fate for the better, to find a bright and cloudless being. Therefore, Moscow, where the family lived the happiest years, becomes a dream city for them. Repeatedly throughout the work, the characters repeat - "to Moscow!".
In the meantime, guests begin to gather in the Prozorovs' house. Preparations are underway for the celebration of the birthday of Irina, the youngest of three sisters. Among the guests are Irina's admirers - officers Tuzenbakh and Solyony, as well as Lieutenant Colonel Vershinin. Sympathy arises between the lieutenant colonel and Masha. Vershinin is an unhappy person in his personal life. He is married to a woman who constantly attempts suicide and has two young daughters. Masha's husband, Kulygin, a gymnasium teacher, is also present here. Military doctor Chebutykin, who was once madly in love with the late mother of the Prozorovs, also came to congratulate Irina. A little later Andrey's fiancee Natalya comes. She is tastelessly dressed, and Olga reprimands her. They laugh at Natalya, she cannot remain in this society, she is very embarrassed and she leaves. Andrew follows her. In the first act, Natalya showed herself as a not very educated and tasteless girl. But in the future, it is this heroine who will play a fatal role in the life of the main characters. Unfortunately, the talented, versatile Andrei falls in love with her and thereby destroys his dreams and hopes.
The second act takes the reader several years into the future. Andrei married Natasha and they had a son, in the family they call him Bobik. Andrey's hopes of becoming a professor collapsed, he became the secretary of the zemstvo council. This position was not promising, and Andrei, out of boredom, begins to play cards. Periodically, he loses quite large sums. Natalya got used to the Prozorovs' house and gradually forced Irina out of her room, explaining this by the need for a separate room for the child. The second action takes place during the winter months. The Christmas holidays have just ended. The sisters invite mummers to the house, but Natalya tells them not to receive them, referring to her son's illness. She herself goes on a troika with bells for a walk with the local official Protopopov. Olga continues to work as a teacher and complains of frequent headaches. Irina, who so dreamed in the first act of working for the good of people, of benefiting mankind, gets a job at the telegraph office. This is a very boring and monotonous job that does not bring any satisfaction to the girl. Officer Solyony is in love with Irina. He confesses his feelings to the girl, but his rude manner cannot attract Irina. She feels only dislike for him and rejects the staff captain. In his hearts, Solyony declares that he will never tolerate an opponent and will kill him if such a person appears in her life.
The third act begins with a big fire. The whole block is on fire. Fortunately, the Prozorovs' house was not damaged. Olga tries her best to help people affected by the fire. She gives them dresses, skirts and sweaters. Natalya is unhappy with such generosity, she does not like that the sisters allow the victims of the fire to enter the house. During these sad events, she starts a conversation with Olga about the old nanny Anfisa, who, in her opinion, should be sent to the village for a long time. Olga cannot understand whether Natalya is serious about this.
Vershinin, along with other soldiers, helped put out the fire. His house and family were not damaged, the daughters managed to jump out into the street. After the shock experienced, Vershinin begins to talk about how people will live in a few hundred years. He is sure that a happy time will come and no one will suffer. Maria listens to his every word, she is truly in love.
Tuzenbach now holds a position at the plant. He decides to make an offer to Irina and calls to leave with him. Irina does not love him, but having listened to the advice of her sister Olga, she agrees. This unbalances the vengeful staff captain Salty.
Andrei completely lost at cards. He is under the complete influence of his wife Natalia. Having owed a large amount of money, he mortgages the house, which belongs not only to him, but also to his sisters. Natalia takes the proceeds from the pledge. She no longer hesitates to cheat on Andrei with Protopopov. The whole city is talking about this, and only Andrey pretends that nothing is happening. He himself is trying to explain himself to the sisters, proving that Natasha is a good person, and his current work is much better than the professor's. But already in the middle of the conversation, he suddenly begins to cry and asks the sisters not to believe him. Meanwhile, in the provincial town, there is a rumor that all the officers of the artillery brigade will be transferred to some remote garrisons. For Masha, this meant the end of relations with Vershinin, and for the other sisters, the deprivation of the opportunity to see many acquaintances.
In the fourth act, the artillery brigade nevertheless moves, their destination is Poland. The three sisters bid farewell to their acquaintances touchingly. The day before the wedding of Irina and Baron Tuzenbakh, an unpleasant event occurs. On the boulevard near the theater, Solyony finally brought the verbal skirmish between him and the baron to a duel. Irina is not told the details, but she has a premonition that some unpleasant events are about to happen. She has already passed the exam for a teacher at the gymnasium and after moving with her husband to a brick factory, she is going to work at the school. She is full of hope, sincerely believing that the new place will open for her the long-awaited meaning of life.
Olga is appointed the head of the gymnasium and she moves to live in an apartment. Olga takes the old nanny with her, whom Natalya was going to kick out. Protopopov openly comes to the house to see Natalia's little daughter. Most likely, it is he who is the father of Sonechka. However, Andrei continues to endure everything and convinces himself of the decency of his own wife.
Meanwhile, Tuzenbach goes to a duel. He rumpledly says goodbye to Irina, assuming that he can see her now for the last time. Chebutykin was called to a duel as a doctor. Vershinin also comes to say goodbye to the Prozorovs' house. He kisses Masha and hurries to leave quickly. At this time, a shot is heard in the grove, which has become fatal for Tuzenbach. He is killed. With this news, Chebutykin comes to the house, but speaks of misfortune to Olga. She hugs her sister and tells her about it. Three sisters embracing comfort each other. Irina decides to go to the factory anyway to drown out her suffering, Masha says that she needs to continue to live, and Olga, listening to the sounds of an orchestra playing nearby, tries to find the answer to the question: “Why do we live, why do we suffer?”
In the play "Three Sisters" A.P. Chekhov raises important human questions, the main of which is the definition of a person's place in life. Throughout the work, this theme is heard in the replicas of the characters, in their disputes and actions.
The loneliness of Chekhov's contemporaries is the main source of conflict in the play. This is not just physical loneliness - when no one is around. This is the absence of spiritually close people. All the characters in the play, despite being together, are very lonely. "How to live?" - this is the main question that arises for different characters over the course of four actions. Each of the characters makes some important deeds in life, hoping that this will bring them happiness in the future. But all dreams are destroyed, and they again find themselves at a crossroads, deciding what to do next.
The main characters of the play are deeply unhappy. But Chekhov's task was to show the reader the cause of these misfortunes. According to the author, all the characters, although not openly, are interconnected. Each of them has their own idea of ​​happiness. All the characters' reasoning about their own future, about the need for suffering for the future of their children, about the meaning of life, diverges from the real state of things in their own lives. Only towards the end of the play does it become clear that all these dreams and disputes are just a necessary part of their life. They need to talk about a happy future, without this they will not be able to live on. They create their own imaginary happiness. And in the end, by the end of the play, it becomes clear that all insoluble conflicts come down to only one thing - just to live.

Vershinin Alexander Ignatievich in the play "Three Sisters" - lieutenant colonel, battery commander. He studied in Moscow and began his service there, served as an officer in the same brigade as the father of the Prozorov sisters. At that time he visited the Prozorovs and was teased as a "major in love". Appearing again, Vershinin immediately captures everyone's attention, uttering sublime pathetic monologues, through most of which the motive of a brighter future runs through. He calls it "philosophizing." Expressing dissatisfaction with his real life, the hero says that if he could start over, he would live differently. One of his main themes is his wife, who from time to time tries to commit suicide, and two daughters, whom he is afraid to entrust to her. In the second act, he is in love with Masha Prozorova, who reciprocates his feelings. At the end of the play "Three Sisters", the hero leaves with the regiment.

Irina (Prozorova Irina Sergeevna) Andrey Prozorov's sister. In the first act, her name day is celebrated: she is twenty years old, she feels happy, full of hope and enthusiasm. She thinks she knows how to live. She delivers an impassioned, inspirational monologue about the need for work. She is tormented by longing for work.

In the second act, she is already serving as a telegraph operator, returning home tired and dissatisfied. Then Irina serves in the city government and, according to her, hates, despises everything that they let her do. Four years have passed since her name day in the first act, life does not bring her satisfaction, she worries that she is getting old and is moving further and further away from the “real wonderful life”, and the dream of Moscow does not come true. Despite the fact that she does not love Tuzenbakh, Irina Sergeevna agrees to marry him, after the wedding they should immediately go with him to the brick factory, where he got a job and where she, having passed the exam for a teacher, is going to work at school. These plans are not destined to come true, since Tuzenbakh, on the eve of the wedding, dies in a duel with Solyony, who is also in love with Irina.

Kulygin Fedor Ilyich - Gymnasium teacher, husband of Masha Prozorova, whom she loves very much. He is the author of a book where he describes the history of the local gymnasium for fifty years. Kulygin gives it to Irina Prozorova for her name day, forgetting that he has already done it once. If Irina and Tuzenbakh constantly dream of work, then this hero of Chekhov's play Three Sisters, as it were, personifies this idea of ​​socially useful labor ("I worked yesterday from morning to eleven o'clock in the evening, I'm tired and today I feel happy"). However, at the same time, he gives the impression of a contented, narrow-minded and uninteresting person.

Masha (Prozorova) - Prozorov's sister, wife of Fyodor Ilyich Kulygin. She got married when she was eighteen years old, then she was afraid of her husband, because he was a teacher and seemed to her "terribly learned, smart and important", but now she is disappointed in him, weighed down by the company of teachers, her husband's comrades, who seem to her rude and uninteresting. She says words that are important for Chekhov, that "a person must be a believer or must seek faith, otherwise his life is empty, empty ...". Masha falls in love with Vershinin.

She goes through the whole play “Three Sisters” with verses from Pushkin’s “Ruslan and Lyudmila”: “At Lukomorye there is a green oak; a golden chain on that oak .. A golden chain on that oak .. "- which become the leitmotif of her image. This quote speaks of the inner concentration of the heroine, the constant desire to understand herself, to understand how to live, to rise above everyday life. At the same time, the textbook essay, from which the quote is taken, exactly appeals to the gymnasium environment, where her husband rotates and to which Masha Prozorova is forced to be closest.

Natalya Ivanovna - the bride of Andrei Prozorov, then his wife. A tasteless, vulgar and selfish lady, in conversations fixated on her children, harsh and rude to the servants (the nanny Anfisa, who has been living with the Prozorovs for thirty years, wants to be sent to the village, because she can no longer work). She has an affair with Protopopov, the chairman of the zemstvo council. Masha Prozorova calls her a "philistine". A type of predator, Natalya Ivanovna not only completely subjugates her husband, making him an obedient executor of her unbending will, but also methodically expands the space occupied by her family - first for Bobik, as she calls her first child, and then for Sofochka, the second child (not it is possible that from Protopopov), displacing other inhabitants of the house - first from the rooms, then from the floor. In the end, due to huge debts made in cards, Andrei mortgages the house, although it belongs not only to him, but also to his sisters, and Natalya Ivanovna takes the money.

Olga (Prozorova Olga Sergeevna) - Sister Prozorov, daughter of a general, teacher. She is 28 years old. At the beginning of the play, she remembers Moscow, where their family left eleven years ago. The heroine feels tired, the gymnasium and lessons in the evenings, according to her, take away her strength and youth, and only one dream warms her - "rather to Moscow." In the second and third acts, she acts as the head of the gymnasium, constantly complains of fatigue and dreams of a different life. In the last act, Olga is the head of the gymnasium.

Prozorov Andrey Sergeevich - son of a general, secretary of the zemstvo council. As the sisters say about him, “he is both a scientist and plays the violin, and cuts out various things, in a word, a jack of all trades.” In the first act he is in love with a local young lady Natalya Ivanovna, in the second he is her husband. Prozorov is dissatisfied with his service, he, according to him, dreams that he is "a professor at Moscow University, a famous scientist who is proud of the Russian land!" The hero admits that his wife does not understand him, and he is afraid of his sisters, afraid that they will laugh at him, shame him. He feels like a stranger and alone in his own home.

In family life, this hero of the play "Three Sisters" by Chekhov is disappointed, he plays cards and loses rather big sums. Then it becomes known that he mortgaged the house, which belongs not only to him, but also to his sisters, and his wife took the money. In the end, he no longer dreams of a university, but is proud that he became a member of the zemstvo council, the chairman of which Protopopov is his wife's lover, which the whole city knows about and which he alone does not want to see (or pretends to). The hero himself feels his worthlessness and asks the question, characteristic of the Chekhovian artistic world, “Why do we, having barely begun to live, become boring, gray, uninteresting, lazy, indifferent, useless, unhappy? ..” He again dreams of a future in which he sees freedom - "from idleness, from a goose with cabbage, from sleep after dinner, from mean parasitism ...". However, it is clear that dreams, given his spinelessness, will remain dreams. In the last act, he, having grown fat, carries a carriage with his daughter Sofochka.

Solyony Vasily Vasilievich - staff captain. He often takes a bottle of perfume out of his pocket and sprays his chest, his hands - this is his most characteristic gesture, with which he wants to show that his hands are stained with blood ("They smell like a corpse to me," Solyony says). He is shy, but wants to appear as a romantic, demonic figure, when in fact he is ridiculous in his vulgar theatricality. He says about himself that he has the character of Lermontov, he wants to be like him. He constantly teases Tuzenbach, saying in a thin voice "chick, chick, chick ...". Tuzenbach calls him a strange person: when Solyony is left alone with him, he is smart and affectionate, while in society he is rude and builds a bullshit. Solyony is in love with Irina Prozorova and in the second act declares his love for her. She responds to her coldness with a threat: he should not have happy rivals. On the eve of Irina's wedding with Tuzenbakh, the hero finds fault with the baron and, having challenged him to a duel, kills him.

Tuzenbakh Nikolay Lvovich - Baron, lieutenant. In the first act of the play "Three Sisters" he is under thirty. He is passionate about Irina Prozorova and shares her longing for "work." Recalling Petersburg childhood and youth, when he knew no worries, and his boots were pulled off by a footman, Tuzenbach condemns idleness. He constantly explains, as if justifying himself, that he is Russian and Orthodox, and there is very little German left in him. Tuzenbach leaves military service to work. Olga Prozorova says that when he first came to them in a jacket, he seemed so ugly that she even cried. The hero gets a job at a brick factory, where he intends to go, having married Irina, but dies in a duel with Solyony

Chebutykin Ivan Romanovich - military doctor. He is 60 years old. He says about himself that after the university he did nothing, he didn’t even read a single book, but only read newspapers. He writes out various useful information from newspapers. According to him, the Prozorov sisters are the most precious thing in the world for him. He was in love with their mother, who was already married, and therefore did not marry himself. In the third act, out of dissatisfaction with himself and life in general, he starts drinking heavily, one of the reasons for which is that he blames himself for the death of his patient. He passes through the play with the proverb “Ta-ra-ra-bumbia ... I am sitting on the pedestal”, expressing the boredom of life that his soul languishes.

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 is sunny and cheerful outside,” and a table is set in the hall, guests are expected - 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.” 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, lends himself to the general joyful mood. “My bird is white,” he kisses Irina, touched. Lieutenant Baron Tuzenbach enthusiastically speaks of the future: “The time has come for a healthy, strong storm to blow away laziness, indifference, prejudice to work, rotten boredom from our society.” Vershinin is just as optimistic. With his appearance, Masha's "merehlyundia" passes. 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…” Tired, with a headache, Olga returns from the gymnasium. 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 to work…” In Chebutykin’s puns, with which he amuses those around him, 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, we will never, never 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?” Andrey cries: “When I got married, I thought that we would be happy ... everyone is happy ... But my God ...” Tuzenbakh, perhaps even more disappointed, was more disappointed: life! Where is 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. (Crying.)”. 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 as a keepsake, remarks: "... silence and calm will come in the city." Tuzenbach adds: "And terrible boredom." Andrei speaks 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 life. And all of a sudden, it was like wings grew in my soul, I cheered up, it became much easier and again I wanted to work, work ... ” Chebutykin in emotion: “Fly, my dears, fly with God!”

He also blesses Andrei for the “flight” in his own way: “You know, put on your 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 bruised 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 you 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 all those who fall 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 a single 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 stupefied with boredom, diversify their life with nasty gossip, vodka , cards, litigation…”

Option 2

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.”

But the hopes of the heroes are not destined to come true. Solyony, in love with Irina, kills Tuzenbakh in a duel. The girl decides to leave the city and work. And Andrei simply does not have enough strength to do as Chebutykin advised.

The battery leaves the city. Plays a military march. Olga says that the music plays very cheerfully and cheerfully, one wants to live from it “and, it seems, a little more, and we will find out why we live, why we suffer ... If only we knew!”

Essay on literature on the topic: Summary of the Three Chekhov Sisters

Other writings:

1. 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 is sunny and cheerful outside”, and a table is set in the hall, guests are expected - officers of the artillery battery stationed in the city and its new commander, lieutenant colonel Read More ......
2. The drama of A.P. Chekhov “Three Sisters” today is among the most popular theatrical works. This is the only play whose genre is indisputable for the author and the audience. Over the years, this work not only did not lose its ideological significance, but also expanded its semantic boundaries. Read More ......
3. A.P. Chekhov's drama "Three Sisters", written in 1900, is a work of innovative Chekhovian dramaturgy, built according to other dramatic canons than the classical plays of the 19th century. Gone is the classical unity of place, time and action, there is no conflict of drama in his Read More ......
4. One of the main problems of A.P. Chekhov's play “Three Sisters” is the problem of unfulfilled dreams. The leitmotif of the work is the desire of the Prozorov sisters to return to their homeland - to Moscow. They talk about this throughout the play, make plans and actively discuss Read More ......
5. Vershinin Description of the literary hero VERSHININ is the central character in A.P. Chekhov's drama “Three Sisters” (1900). Lieutenant Colonel V., battery commander, is the same Russian man who, in his own words, “was tormented with his wife ... tormented with his house ...”, “endures and only complains.” Coming Read More ......
6. Brothers and sisters Stepan Andreyanovich Stavrov, a Pekashin peasant, cut down a house on a mountainside, in the cool dusk of a huge larch tree. Yes, not a house - a two-story mansion with a small side hut to boot. There was a war. Old people, children and women remained in Pekashin. Without Read More ......
7. Seagull The action takes place in the estate of Petr Nikolaevich Sorin. His sister, Irina Nikolaevna Arkadina, an actress, is visiting his estate with her son, Konstantin Gavrilovich Treplev, and with Boris Alekseevich Trigorin, a novelist, quite famous, although he is not yet forty. About Read More ......
8. Cross sisters Pyotr Alekseevich Marakulin infected his colleagues with fun and carelessness. Himself - narrow-chested, with a thread of a mustache, already thirty years old, but felt almost twelve years old. Marakulin was famous for his handwriting, he wrote the reports letter by letter: he scribbles evenly, as if with beads, and Read More ......

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.) life! Where is 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 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."