The Three Sisters Act I

shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/three-sisters-chekhov/summary/act-i

Act I

The stage directions situate us in the Prozorov home in a big living room where the
table's being set for lunch. Hopefully you grabbed a snack beforehand, because boy
have we got a long way to go.
We're introduced to the sisters: Olga, wearing a dark blue dress and correcting student
papers; Masha, wearing black and reading; and Irina, wearing white and daydreaming.

Can the colors people wear and the things they do work as symbols? Hopefully you're
already thinking about it.
It's Irina's birthday (or name day, which is the event Russians prefer to celebrate.
Which one it is in the play depends on the translation you're reading).
Olga handily offers a little recap of their family history. The girls' father died a year ago
on this day. He was a general in the military, and his assignment moved the family from
Moscow to this small country town.
It's immediately obvious that all of the sisters want to go back to Moscow.
Olga is the oldest; she's single and has been teaching for four years. Hence the grading
papers.
Masha, the middle daughter, is married, so she's stuck in this town with her husband.
Irina is the youngest. She's the only sister in a good mood.
Two officers enter: Tuzenbach and Solyony. They're having a meaningless argument.
On the off-chance you missed your mandatory how-Russians-make-last-names-into-
jokes lesson, Solyony means "salty" in Russian. Keep that in mind with this dude.
Tuzenbach informs the girls that their commanding officer, Vershinin, will pay them all
a visit. He's in his mid-forties, married to a crazy woman, and has three daughters (hey,
sound familiar? At least, the three daughters part).
The army doctor, Chebutykin, shows up. He's an old friend of the family and especially
dotes on Irina.
Irina's dreaming of work. She doesn't want to be an idle aristocrat anymore. Tuzenbach
agrees with her.
Masha puts on her hat to leave. She's in a foul mood, partly because the birthday party
is so small. She remembers when thirty or forty officers would come to their shindigs.
Two elderly workers come in with a birthday cake, and Chebutykin presents a silver
samovar (a fancy Russian coffeemaker, but for tea).
Irina's totally embarrassed by the lavish gift. Kind of like if you're at a Christmas party
and most people get mugs or oven mitts and one jerk tries to out-gift everyone with an
iPod.

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 Vershinin arrives. The sisters recall meeting him when they were little girls. They called
him "the lovesick major."
He remembers when he was young and in love. Now he's not.
Everyone gets nostalgic for Moscow. This is kind of a theme in the play.
Vershinin philosophizes about the future. This is another thing that happens a lot
throughout the play (everyone loves a good Russian philosophy sesh).
Offstage, the sisters' brother Andrey is playing the violin. He's in love with a village girl,
Natasha, who none of the sisters like at all.
Andrey comes in and meets Vershinin. The sisters are kind of insufferable with their
brother; either they tease him or they brag about how talented he is. Here's where
Chekhov's "realism" comes in—what family doesn't drive you kinda crazy?
All of the Prozorovs are educated—too educated to feel comfortable in this provincial
town. In other words, they all play instruments and know at least three languages. That
means they're pretty much outcasts in a place where most people can barely whistle
and only scrape by with Russian.
Vershinin muses that their education isn't for nothing. They may be the minority now,
but in future years cultivated people will be the majority.
Masha decides to stay for lunch. Yes, right after Vershinin's burst of positude.
Masha's husband Kulygin enters with a gift for Irina—a history of the local high school,
written by him.
He gave her the same present last year. That iPod is starting to sound better and better.
Masha isn't so thrilled her husband has appeared, and is even less happy that he wants
her to join him at some school function.
Everyone goes in to lunch, and Irina and Tuzenbach are left in the living room.
Tuzenbach is in love with her and has clearly already proposed to her. Awk.
Natasha arrives wearing colorful, tacky clothes. Olga welcomes the girl but says
something snarky about her belt.
There's a brief table scene in which all the characters make fun of each other, Solyony
makes lots of obnoxious remarks, and two more soldiers come in. Pretty much everyone
actually seems like they're enjoying themselves for a minute.
Everyone teases Natasha and Andrey about their mutual crush. Natasha is embarrassed
and runs out, and Andrey follows her. He proposes and they kiss.

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The Three Sisters Act II
shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/three-sisters-chekhov/summary/act-ii

Act II

We're still in the living room of the Prozorov home, but we've fast-forwarded to a
couple of years later.
It's wintertime.
Natasha comes in; she's married to Andrey now and they have a baby, Bobik. Yeah, it's
a weird-sounding name in Russian too.

We find out that the sisters had invited some carnival people to come over, but
Natasha's concerned that this will be bad for baby Bobik. She convinces Andrey to take
back the invitation. She's also working to take over Irina's room for her son.
In case we didn't already know from the bad belt, Natasha isn't very likable.
Old man Ferapont comes in with some papers for Andrey to sign. The guy's very deaf,
and Andrey takes the opportunity to spill out his problems to someone who really can't
listen.
Basically, Andrey doesn't connect with his wife and would love to be in Moscow sitting
in a bar instead.
Masha enters with Vershinin. They are having a quiet, intimate conversation about her
husband, his wife, and the town.
Vershinin tells Masha he loves her.
Tuzenbach enters with Irina. He's still plying her to marry him, but she's too tired to
talk about it. She's been working at the telegraph office and not enjoying it. So much for
her daydreams about the joys of the working world.
Talk turns to Andrey's gambling. He's lost a lot of money.

Chebutykin enters. The girls mention that he hasn't paid his rent. They don't seem too
bothered by it, but it's still worth a mention.
Tuzenbach and Vershinin have a conversation about the future. Vershinin thinks that
things will markedly improve, while Tuzenbach thinks they'll just stay the same. It's a
bit deeper than that, but you get the gist.
Tuzenbach announces that he's resigning from the military.
Everyone's just hanging out in the living room. Vershinin gets a letter from his
daughter. His wife has taken too many pills again.
He leaves, and Masha's in a sour mood. She lashes out at everyone and Natasha
comically corrects her behavior in bad French. That is, comically for everyone who likes
laughing at Natasha. Which is pretty much everyone.
Solyony and Tuzenbach have a drink. Solyony confesses that when he gets in a group,
he's anxious and shy. What happened to the salt of the earth?

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 Chebutykin and Solyony have a trivial dispute over a word. Everyone's getting drunk
and ornery. It's less fun than the table scene last time around.
Natasha whispers to Chebutykin that the carnival people aren't coming. The party
disperses.
Chebutykin and Andrey go gambling.
Irina is alone with Solyony. He confesses his love for her (yeah, another one), and
threatens to kill any rivals.
Natasha asks Irina to move out of her room so Bobik can have it.
The bell rings—it's Protopopov, asking if Natasha would like to go on a sleigh ride. She
sure would.
Olga, Kulygin, and Vershinin enter. Olga's exhausted; she had to fill in for the
headmistress. She's also concerned that everyone in the town is talking about Andrey's
gambling.
Vershinin's wife is out of danger. He wants to go out, but no one is around. He leaves,
as does Kulygin.
Natasha leaves for a sleigh ride with Protopopov, who basically everyone knows is her
lover.
Irina repeats to herself that she wants to go to Moscow.

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The Three Sisters Act III
shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/three-sisters-chekhov/summary/act-iii

Act III

This act takes place in Olga and Irina's bedroom (guess Bobik got his room). Fire
alarms are heard in the distance.
Masha's lying on the sofa. She doesn't seem to care about the bells.
The old servant Anfisa enters, talking about the Vershinin daughters, who are
downstairs. They've been run out of their house by a fire. Those alarm bells ain't for
nothing.
Olga is collecting clothes. The family will host the Vershinins and other affected
families.
She can't put anyone in with Chebutykin. He had been on the wagon, but he fell off. In
other words, he's drunk again.
Anfisa suddenly begs Olga not to send her away. Olga has no intention of doing so.
Natasha comes in and lashes out at Anfisa for sitting down. Guess that's what Anfisa
was really worried about. Anyway, Olga is appalled by Natasha's rudeness.
Masha exits.
Olga and Natasha have a huge fight. At the end of it, Natasha suggests Olga move into
the basement apartment so they can stop bickering. Anyone notice a trend here?
Kulygin enters looking for Masha. She's not there. He hides behind a screen to surprise
the doctor.
Chebutykin enters drunk and delivers a long monologue full of self-loathing.
Irina, Vershinin, and Tuzenbach enter. Tuzenbach is dressed as a civilian.
Tuzenbach has been asked to organize a benefit concert for the victims of the fire.
When he suggests Masha play the piano, Kulygin expresses his concern. It might not be
appropriate.
Chebutykin purposefully breaks a clock that belonged to the girls' mother. He mentions
Natasha's affair with Protopopov and leaves. Whoa, dude. Chill.
Vershinin has a long monologue describing the scene of the fire: his little girls in their
underwear, their mother not around, and chaos everywhere. It's another of those
philosophy-soaked speeches he loves to spout.
Fedotik enters. He doesn't do much, though.
Solyony tries to come in to the bedroom but Irina doesn't want him to. He's mad that
the baron (Tuzenbach) is allowed in, but he's not.
Solyony leaves with Vershinin and Fedotik.
Tuzenbach declares his love to Irina. Yeah, again. Masha tells him to get out; he does.
She wants Kulygin to leave, too.

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 The sisters are angry that Andrey took out a mortgage on the house without asking
them—or sharing the money. Plus, they're embarrassed by the affair Natasha flaunts
with Protopopov, a colleague of Andrey's. And they're disappointed that he hasn't
amounted to anything.
That's a lot of grievances.
Irina breaks down. Olga advises her to marry the baron.
Masha confesses to her sisters that she loves Vershinin. Everyone kind of knew this.
Andrey comes in looking for a key. He senses his sisters' resentment and confronts
them.
Vershinin comes for Masha and she leaves.
Andrey at first tries to defend his wife and his decision to not pursue an intellectual
career. He apologizes for mortgaging the house, and eventually gives up and starts
crying.
Kulygin enters looking for Masha again.
The act ends with Irina once more begging to go to Moscow. This girl's really got a one-
track mind. But with this kind of a life, can you really blame her?

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The Three Sisters Act IV
shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/three-sisters-chekhov/summary/act-iv

Act IV

This act takes place in the old garden of the Prozorov house. The household and friends
are saying good-bye to the departing soldiers. Fedotik and Rohde pay their respects and
leave.
Kulygin has shaved his mustache and apparently looks really bad without it.
Irina is worried because of some friction between Tuzenbach and Solyony. More
updates: she has finally consented to marry Tuzenbach, plus she's gotten her teaching
certificate.

Olga has become headmistress and moved in at the school, so Irina has been alone in
the house with Natasha. Sounds like torture. Not to mention that Protopopov has
become a regular fixture.
Masha is waiting for Vershinin to arrive. She's anxious and unhappy.
Pushing the baby carriage around, Andrey comes over to Chebutykin and Masha.
Chebutykin fills him in: Solyony has challenged Tuzenbach to a duel.
Duels used to be a big deal in Russia.
Andrey is worried about being in the house alone. He doesn't really consider his wife a
human being anymore.
Chebutykin advises him to walk off into the sunset. Hey, when did we move from
Russia to the Old West?
Solyony enters; he and Chebutykin leave for the duel.
Ferapont enters with papers for Andrey.
Tuzenbach enters and talks with Irina. She's still honest about not loving him. He says
goodbye to her and she has a premonition that he won't be coming back. She doesn't try
to stop him, though.
Andrey confesses to the deaf Ferapont all his regrets and disappointments. He must
really like not being listened to.

Natasha yells shrewishly from the window for Andrey to be quiet. Speaking of not being
listened to...
Anfisa is delighted that she gets to live with Olga at the school.
Vershinin appears. He asks Olga to help with his wife and girls (remember, he's
heading off with the army). Then has a tearful farewell with Masha.
Masha is sobbing and Kulygin enters. In typical appearances-before-emotions form, he
promises not to reproach her.
Natasha emerges and declares her intention to cut down all the trees in the garden. She
criticizes Irina's belt (remember how we first met her?).

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 A march is played; the soldiers are leaving.
Chebutykin comes in with bad news: the baron has been killed.
The three sisters stand close to each other, feeling pretty surly about their lives, their
suffering, and the need to start over. Yep, that's basically how the play began, too.
Everyone heaves a sigh.

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