Summary
Olga announces that lunch, meat pie, is ready, and everyone sits down to eat. Masha tells Chebutykin not to drink, as it is bad for him, and he becomes defensive, saying, "Haven't been on a binge in two years. What's the difference anyway?" When Masha complains about having to go to the headmaster's house, Tusenbach and Chebutykin tell her not to go, but she becomes angry, knowing that she must.
Solyony does a teasing little beckoning to Tusenbach—"Here chicky, chicky, chicky"—which annoys Tusenbach. When everyone goes in for lunch, Irina and Tusenbach are left alone. Irina tells him that Masha married Kulygin when she was 18 and thought he was very intelligent, but that he has become disappointing. She then tells Tusenbach that she doesn't like Solyony. "He's a strange man. Sometimes I'm sorry for him, sometimes annoyed, but more often sorry than annoyed," Tusenbach says, before proclaiming his love for Irina.
Irina deflects and says that life is bad, but that she must work. "The reason we're so unhappy and take such a gloomy view of life is that we don't know what work is. We come from people who had nothing but contempt for work," Irina says.
Suddenly, Natasha, the girl Andrei loves, comes in in a pink dress with a green sash. She wishes Irina a happy name day, and when Olga enters, she criticizes Natasha's clothes, telling her that they do not match.
They all go into the ballroom to eat, and Kulygin and Chebutykin comment on the fact that both Irina and Natasha need to find husbands. Masha gives a toast in honor of not letting life get you down. When Vershinin asks what the vodka is flavored with, Solyony says that it's made with cockroaches, which distresses Irina. Olga tells everyone they'll be eating roast turkey and apple tart that night, and invites Vershinin to come as well.
Two soldiers, Fedotik and Rodet, come in with a big basket of flowers. Fedotik takes some pictures before they go into the ballroom. Rodet tells the group that he's been teaching gymnastics at the school, and Fedotik takes more pictures before showing Irina a spinning top.
Masha again says, "A green oak stands upon a firth/A chain of gold hangs round its trunk," before wondering aloud why she has that line of poetry stuck in her head. Kulygin notes that there are 13 people at the table, which means that one of them is in love. Chebutykin makes a joke that Natasha is blushing, and she runs out of the room, embarrassed.
Andrei follows her into the drawing room. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'm always the butt of their laughter," she says, mournfully, and Andrei comforts her. "I'm not used to society like this," she says, as Andrei professes his love and proposes marriage.
Act 2. 8PM, in the same drawing room, on another evening. Natasha comes in in a dressing gown with a candle, and calls to Andrei, asking if someone left a light burning. She complains about the servants, then notes that Irina and Olga are still at work. Irina has started working at the telegraph office.
Natasha has had a baby, Bobik, and tells Andrei that he is sick. When she complains that the carnival people are coming and says that they should turn them away, Andrei suggests that they ought to leave that up to Olga and Irina, since this is their house. When Natasha suggests that they move Bobik into Irina's room, Andrei cannot think of anything to say.
Ferapont comes in to deliver a book and some papers from the chairman at the District Council. Andrei bemoans the fact that the highest station he can hope to achieve is becoming a member of the District Council, mourning his lost dreams of becoming a professor at Moscow University. Ferapont tells him he cannot hear, and Andrei continues, saying, "Do you think I'd be telling you all this if you weren't? I've got to talk to somebody. My wife doesn't understand me, and I'm afraid of my sisters. Afraid they'll laugh at me and make me ashamed of myself..." He complains that he feels lonely in the country, even though he knows everyone.
Ferapont cannot hear him and tells Andrei that he has never been to Moscow. Andrei goes in his room, as Vershinin and Masha enter, Masha talking about the fact that it took awhile to get used to living without orderlies after their father died, and saying that the most cultured people in the area belong to the military.
Masha complains about teachers and about how coarse civilians are in their town. Vershinin tells her that the problem is not about the difference between soldiers and civilians, but simply a problem of humanity. He complains that "A Russian likes nothing better than to think lofty thoughts, but why, when it comes to life, does he aim so low?" He complains about his wife, and tells Masha that his daughter is ill, before telling Masha that she is all he has in the world and kissing her hand.
As Masha notes that the stove is making a lot of noise, Vershinin tells her he loves her. She gets embarrassed, as Irina and Tusenbach come in. Tusenbach walks Irina home every evening, and tells her he will continue doing so until she asks him to stop. Irina complains that she was rude to a woman trying to send a letter to tell someone her son died.
As Masha and Tusenbach comment on the fact that Irina has lost weight, she tells them she needs to find a better job, as this one has "no poetry or ideas." Chebutykin bangs on the floor from the floor below, and Irina asks Tusenbach to bang back. She then complains that he and Andrei went to the club the previous day and Andrei lost 200 rubles. Irina tells everyone that she's obsessed with the idea of Moscow, and announces that they are moving there in June.
Chebutykin comes in, combing his beard, and Masha asks if he has paid his rent. Irina laughs and tells her that he hasn't paid for eight months. He beckons Irina over and they play a game. When she is gone, Vershinin suggests to Tusenbach that they philosophize, dreaming about what life will be like in 200 or 300 years. Tusenbach suggests that people will fly and develop a sixth sense, but they will be just as unhappy as they are now. Vershinin takes a different perspective, suggesting that people will be happier in the future. When Masha laughs, he suggests that they can only keep working and hope that life will get better.
Fedotik and Rodet come in, and begin to play the guitar and sing to themselves. Tusenbach suggests that he is already happy, and that life will always be the same, even if it is meaningless. Masha suggests that life must have meaning, or "nothing matters."
Tusenbach tells Irina that he is resigning from the army and going to work. Rodet asks Chebutykin how old he is and he jokes that he is 32. Natasha and Solyony come in, as Anfisa sets up the samovar.
Analysis
In this section of the play, it becomes very apparent that the baron, Tusenbach, has his eye set on marrying Irina. While he is kind-hearted, Irina does not have any affection for him, in spite of his deep love for her. As they sit alone before the lunch, he tells her that he longs to merge his life with hers, but she keeps deflecting and negating his passionate sweet nothings. Tusenbach professes his alignment with not only Irina, but also her philosophy that everyone needs to work, but even this seems to have no effect on her.
As we learn more about the Prozorov sisters, we learn that the angst that so tortures them in their country existence has to do with their relative privilege. They are an educated and urbane family that is accustomed to urban life, but they have been relegated to the provinces since the death of their parents. Each of them seeks to counter this fate in different ways, and Irina's insistence that people must work seems to be a philosophy derived from her own sense of restlessness. As she puts it, "We come from people who had nothing but contempt for work..." and she seems to feel shame about this fact, convinced that attachment to work will transform her outlook.
The Prozorov sisters' privilege evidently hurts them, makes them feel trapped, but it also hurts the people around them. This is exemplified most acutely by their treatment of the local girl, Natasha, with whom their brother Andrei is in love. In the sisters' estimation, she is not good enough for their brother, and the primary complaint against her seems to do with the way she dresses. Masha complains about her "pitiful" fashion sense, and when she first enters their house, the stage directions note that she is wearing a pink dress with a green sash. She is not a refined society lady like the Prozorov sisters are, and she suffers because of it.
As excluded as Natasha is by the Prozorovs initially, it does not take long for her to get quite comfortable living in the Prozorov home. In the next act, the play shifts forward to after Natasha and Andrei have married. Natasha complains about the servants, makes decisions about the household without the sisters' permission, and discusses moving her baby into Irina's room. Her insecurities are replaced with presumptions, and we see the complication of her position within the household. Even if she is from a lower class, she perceives herself to be superior to the Prozorov sisters because of her status as a mother and a married woman.
Even Andrei, who seems more comfortable with their country life initially, is upset by having to live in the country. He complains to the deaf Ferapont that he once had dreams of being a scholar in Moscow, but he cannot pursue his scholarly ambitions here. He then theorizes about the difference between the city and the provinces, saying, "In Moscow you can sit in a huge restaurant without knowing anyone or being known and still not feel a stranger. Here you know everyone and everyone knows you, but you're a stranger, an utter stranger....A stranger and all alone." In his estimation, there is a profound loneliness in the country, even though he knows everyone in his community. There is a contradiction between the fact that the city is anonymous yet intimate, and the country is familiar but completely alienating, and this contradiction defines the Prozorovs' general discomfort in the world; they sense that they are made for urban life, but they have been exiled to the countryside.
