Three Sisters Essay Questions

Is Three Sisters a tragedy?

On the page, the play reads as a total tragedy. It follows the lives of a group of people who are unhappy, and become more and more disappointed by life as the play progresses. Each of them longs for something different, but circumstances are not in their favor, as they find themselves deprived of the things they want the most. In this sense, the play is a tragedy. However, Chekhov was known for wanting to illuminate the ambiguity of life, and was not fond of calling his plays tragedies. Indeed, there are comic elements of this play, which reflects Chekhov's belief that tragedy and comedy always go hand in hand, as life is multifarious and different from different perspectives.

What is Chebutykin's response to breaking the clock in Act 3, and how do you account for his perspective?

Chebutykin drops the clock that belonged to the Prozorovs' mother and seems strangely unfazed by the accident. He implies that perhaps life is just an illusion and he never even dropped the clock at all. The way he shirks responsibility for it and starts speaking in an abstract manner belies both his drunkenness as well as his coping mechanism for dealing with the harshness of life. Chebutykin, in spite of being a very cheery person on the surface, carries around a lot of inner demons. His response to the breaking of the clock is his way of detaching from the pain of having broken something that was important to someone he once loved.

What does Moscow represent for the characters in the play?

The Prozorov sisters were all raised and educated in the urbanity of Moscow, and now that they live in the country without their parents, they long for the exciting and sophisticated life they had there. What's more, the country is very isolating, as they live in a dull, sleepy town far from cultural institutions. Thus, Moscow represents connection to other people, as well as culture, education and sophistication. They want to get back because it symbolizes a kind of bright and stimulating future for the women.

Why does Solyony hate Tusenbach so much?

Solyony is an unusual character, and the audience never gets a good handle on why he acts the way he does. He chides and teases Tusenbach throughout the play, heckling him whenever he can. However, when Tusenbach sits him down in the second act and asks him what he has against him, Solyony confesses that he holds no grudge against him, and he is just awkward and gloomy in the company of other people. One on one, they are able to connect in a way, but in the presence of the others, Solyony resents and mocks Tusenbach ruthlessly. Making matters worse, Solyony is, like Tusenbach, in love with Irina, and becomes very competitive when he realizes that Irina will never love him. Solyony vows to kill Tusenbach because he is his rival to win Irina's heart.

From reading this play, what stands out to you about Chekhov's style and the kinds of topics he is interested in writing about?

Three Sisters is less about a central conflict and more about the everyday psychological and philosophical conflicts that plague people of all walks of life. The play zooms in on the experiences of people from all walks of life—old people, young, rich, poor, educated, not—and tries to represent the diverse experiences as part of some broader human condition. He writes about the pathos and existential questions that plague people and drive them to love, hate, hurt, and help one another. The play is not plot-heavy, yet a great deal happens in the course of Three Sisters, and the characters change in major ways.