Resumo de The Three Sisters

Set in a small Russian provincial town in the early 20th Century, Three Sisters opens on the main living area of the Prozorov sisters. Their father, a General from Moscow, was stationed in this small town 11 years before and relocated his urban daughters to the provinces, a move that they would never adjust to. The play begins on the celebration of Irina, the youngest daughter?s, Saint?s Day celebration. Olga, the oldest, is a school teacher and reminisces about the funeral of their father which had occurred a year ago. The sisters appear lost without the strong presence of their father, and they?ve begun to lose the social status that they had as the General?s daughters. Each of the daughters longs for an escape from their current lives. They dream of going to Moscow and returning to the idyllic past they remember from their childhood. Irina, the youngest, is not sure what to do with herself. She is an intelligent girl who speaks three languages and has many suitors, but longs for something different. Masha, the middle sister, is trapped in a loveless marriage to a local school teacher, and is constantly complaining of the boredom she feels throughout her life. Olga, the oldest, hates her job, feels herself an old made at the age of 28 and can see nothing ahead of her except more tedious work.

Their only brother, Andrei, is not only spoilt and ineffectual, but he also marries imprudently and, because of his unhappiness, drinks and gambles away the Prozorov family home. His wife, Natasha, is a relentless social climber and her position changes from being scorned by the sisters in the beginning, to being the most powerful force in the house, one who has literally taken over the entire house and pushed the sisters and their brother outside. She survives and flourishes, an emblem of the new world order that is taking over after the bourgeoisie find themselves succumbing to despair and ennui.

Masha begins an affair with the recent addition to the army, Colonel Vershinin. This short lived affair has made Masha happy for the first time, however, Vershinin is married with two children and when the unit moves on, he has to go with them.

Irina, who has began working as a telegraph operator, finally decides to marry the man who she does not love but respects in order to leave the town. Unfortunately, tragedy hits; her fiancé is killed in a dual, thus destroying Irina?s hopes of a better life.

The play ends with the three sisters forced out of their father?s house because of Andrei?s debts. The soldiers are leaving the town and they will be left without the society they are used to. However, as Olga tells the others, they must work and endure and life will go on. Perhaps in a hundred years things will be better; they are uncertain, but perhaps.

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