ANTON CHEKHOV

THE BEGINNING OF A REVOLUTION

https://youtu.be/Uli2VE80ufs

B Y N AT H A N L O N G
ANTON CHEKHOV’S WORK

Chekhov was a playwright, and he also wrote many short stories, which he is well-
remembered for. He was very talented and is still a very famous author to this day.

He is still remembered for the rule of storytelling he developed known as Chekhov’s

Gun. It loosely states that one should not include details not relevant, using the example
that if there is a rifle in act one of a play, it should go off by act two or three.

Quoting TvTropes.org, Chekhov’s Gun is also used to mean “an insignificant object that
later turns out to be important.” However, this is a slight departure from Chekhov’s style.
ANTON CHEKHOV’S
WORK CONT’D
• Chekhov released many short stories and plays,
including The Sea Gull, The Cherry Orchard, and the
Three Sisters.
• His plays and short stories were usually set in Russia,
as he was Russian.
• His later works were very engaged with philosophy,
some specifically calling out and disagreeing with
Tolstoy and his ideas of nonresistance towards evil.
THE THREE SISTERS: PLOT

• The Three Sisters is a play by Anton Chekhov, a tragic

tale about the three sisters (and one brother) of the
Prozorov family.
• The sisters live in a small town, one which they do not
much enjoy. They wish they could move back to
Moscow, the capital of Russia, and a much nicer city.
• The sisters dislike the town due to how rural and
uncultured the folks in it are but are happy to meet some
men from the Tsar’s army. As members of the army, they
are wealthier than the townsfolks, and much more
cultured as a result.
THE THREE SISTERS:
PLOT, CONT’D
• Olga, the oldest sister, lives out her life as a teacher. She
never moves back to Moscow.
• Masha, the middle sister, hates her husband, and has an
affair with Vershinin. He was one of the military men,
and was far more cultured than her backwards-thinking
husband. She never moves back to Moscow.
• Irina, the youngest sister, begins the play loving work, but
finds out that work just isn’t for her. She tries to marry a
man named Tuzenbach, who dies in a duel before the
marriage can happen. She never moves back to Moscow.
THE THREE
SISTERS: PLOT,
FINISHED
• Finally, the lone brother,
Audrey, marries a girl in
town named Natasha. By the
end of the play, he is the
only one still seen as worthy
by the family, and Natasha
ends up taking over much of
the family’s estate.
THE THREE
SISTERS: THEMES
• The play has themes of dissatisfaction in one’s current
situation, hope, and dreams of escaping a small town in search
of greater things. This is a very common theme in many plays,
very relatable to many people. Especially in Tsarist Russia,
when many people were poor, bored, and dissatisfied with their
small towns. Almost as if they were looking towards some
great upset of the current order.
• The play has themes of humility, power, and struggle between
what is right, and what is desirable. The three sisters all try to
do what they want, and all come to regret it. The brother,
however, forgets his dreams and settles for what is, and ends
up coming out with nearly the entire estate to himself.
 SOURCES (IDEAS)
• “Anton Chekhov.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,
www.britannica.com/biography/Anton-Chekhov.
• “Chekhov's Gun.” TV Tropes,
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChekhovsGun.
• “PLAYS BY ANTON CHEKHOV, SECOND SERIES.” Plays by Anton Chekhov,
Second Series, by Anton Chekhov, www.gutenberg.org/files/7986/7986-h/7986-
h.htm.
 SOURCES (IMAGES)
• “Three Sisters (Play).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Jan. 2021,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(play).
• “Chekhov's Gun.” TV Tropes, tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChekhovsGun.
• “Anton Chekhov (Author and Playwright).” OnThisDay.com, 25 May 1901, www.onthisday.com/people/anton-
chekhov.
• Press, Stanford University. “Five Plays: Anton Chekhov Translated by Marina Brodskaya with an Introduction
by Tobias Wolff.” Stanford University Press Home Page, www.sup.org/books/title/?id=18449.
• -, Nick Leghorn, et al. “Gun Review: Nagant m1895 Revolver.” The Truth About Guns, 13 June 2016,
www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-review-nagant-m1895-revolver/.
 SOURCES (MORE IMAGES)
• “Moscow Travel.” Lonely Planet, 5 Sept. 2019, www.lonelyplanet.com/russia/moscow.
• Theatre, American Players. “Three Sisters: American Players Theatre.” Sun,
americanplayers.org/plays/three-sisters.
• Русский, Серёжа. “800px-Soviet_Union_USSR_Grunge_Flag_by_think0.” Flickr,
Yahoo!, 4 Jan. 2014, www.flickr.com/photos/chelobred/11750484506/in/photolist-
ZGD2tJ-iUmiEs-cjR7BJ-4NLk8W-cjgru7-hc3PGP-hc4XPZ-fMqUkT-hc43az-
5wsNDf-22AhvFu-7KsG8q-6VQEYE-YL543f-4tkoFV-6tN6Rh-r5aFYW-22eCPEt-
hc2rJy-aDLGYh-69mdXv-eYdnPU-apzi1F-ewGaWC-UAkAqC-CzvKxy.