Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov Literary Analysis Essay Example

Let's start with Act one. The play takes place a year after their fathers’ death.The play seemed to have a gloomy mood due to the sisters speaking about how they are unhappy in their current situations. They all long to go back to Moscow where they lived before moving to the small town they currently reside in.  Shortly after the introduction, the audience is informed that it is Irina's birthday and they are about to throw a party. The visitors that are attending Irina's birthday party are officials from the military that are stationed in town. The soldiers soon come to the three sisters’ house.This is when Vershinin sees Masha as an adult; they are both drawn to each other. This to me is a bit peculiar due to the fact that Vershinin had actually met the girls when they were children and lived in Moscow and is already married. I also did not like that Irina has two men fawning over her because the audience can immediately determine that Solyony and Tuzenbakh were not what she wanted.

Next is Act two. This takes place two years later which to me, is a big jump for the audience. During the two years Andrey gets married and has a child with Natasha. Not much takes place during this time, however Natasha progressively assumes control over the house, pushing the sister out while boycotting get-togethers with the excuse that it will upset the child. This to me symbolized that he wasn’t going to ever become a college professor and is going to continue to drink and gamble to cope with not accomplishing his dreams. Moreover, while  Masha and Vershinin continue their relationship, Masha’s husband Kulygin finds out what is taking place but does nothing about it. This is unrealistic to me because how could he even be around her after she cheated on him while clearly showing him that she does not care. 

In addition, Act three has an intense beginning with a fire in town. The fire is not directly affecting the lives of the main characters, but it is a precursor to the upcoming disturbing events.  At this stage in the play, Natasha has totally assumed control over the family. In addition, she then abuses the old workers whom the Prozorovs thought of as family. During the play the audience can see that she is a character that naturally annoys others due to her habits. While this is taking place, Andrey bets away the house. He is loaded with culpability and self-loathing; however it is past the point where it is possible to do anything. Afterwards, Irina accepts Tuzenbakh's proposal to be engaged, more out of misery than adoration, and desires to leave town and start another life filled with significant work. Although I am glad she chose Tuzenbakh rather than Solyony due to his bad manners, I think what I would have done differently is have Irina decide early on in the play that she would not marry either one of them because she is not in love with either of the soldiers.

Finally, the play comes to an end in act four. Solyony provokes Tuzenbakh to a duel over Irina and kills him. Irina isn't heartbroken, on the grounds that she didn't really cherish him. All things considered,  I am happy that her love interest died because I felt a man was only going to hold her back especially if she didn’t really love either of the men that wanted to marry her.  Regardless of the misfortune, she plans to leave town and commit her life to teaching. I felt like she was the only sister that had a chance to live her dreams. Furthermore, Olga acknowledges the situation of the school headmistress and will now reside in a school apartment, leaving the house to Natasha. Then, Masha and Vershinin need to end their hidden romance because the battery is leaving town. I was satisfied with where Irina was going to go in life but for Masha and Olga I feel they got the short end of the stick. Sadly, Olga didn't really enjoy working for the school and sacrificed doing what she wanted in life to work there. Masha on the other hand had her own problems with being married and unhappy in her marriage. The man that truly made her happy then leaves her in the end and she is heartbroken. I felt Irina got lucky because she was the youngest, she probably would've been in either of her sisters positions if she had been the any of the elder sisters.