Where It All Goes Down
Up-Scale House in a Small Russian Town, Late 1890s-ish.
The Three Sisters is set in a small town in Russia in the late 1890s. Actually, the exact dates are vague, though some scholars have argued that the play takes place from 1897-1900. At the same time, some may view the play's lack of clarity on specific dates as a commentary on the complex nature of time. Either way, it's safe to say that the the play takes place in the 1890s, against the backdrop of Russia's transition into industrialization. Chekhov was writing the play right at the turn of the century, with the benefit of hindsight. Serfdom (similar to slavery, only Russian) was abolished in 1861. Chekhov sets the play just at a moment teetering between the old way (nobles with land and servants) and the new way (industrialization, railroads, etc.). The Three Sisters is an intimate portrait of how these changes affect one particular family.
The Prozorovs have moved from Moscow to a provincial town that's fifteen miles from the nearest railway station. That's not bad if you have Lyft, but they live even farther away from the Verizon store, so they don't even have smartphones. The sisters feel isolated, removed from the flow of culture, and stuck in a time warp. No one else speaks foreign languages, plays musical instruments, or appreciates philosophy like they do. For city girls, life here is dull and stifling.
Let's go act by act to get to know the setting a bit better. Act I takes place in the spacious living room of the Prozorov house. Their wealth and refinement are evident in the décor, the piano, the presence of servants, and the ability to host a big birthday party. It may be a boring town, but at least they're living the cushy life. Plus, it's May, at noon, and the weather is sunny and bright—a reflection of Irina's optimistic mood.
In Act II, we're still in the living room, but it's late at night the following February. As you can imagine, this means that the same space, though still upscale, doesn't have quite the aura of wealthy optimism it did in the previous act. Instead of a boisterous group scene at the dinner table, the characters have intimate, candlelit conversations. It's dark and windy outside, mirroring the characters' growing fatigue.
Act III takes place in Olga and Irina's room up in the attic. A couple years have passed, and the sisters have retreated to the attic at the demand of Natasha. There's a more claustrophobic feeling in this smaller room (duh). It's their bedroom but they're forced to entertain their friends all the way up there to avoid Natasha. Sometimes rising in the house is the same as falling in the world.
By Act IV, Natasha has succeeded in almost entirely evicting the Prozorovs from the house. Even her husband Andrey pushes the baby carriage around in the garden while her lover Protopopov sits inside. The sisters are bidding farewell to the departing soldiers, and Masha now totally dissociates herself from her former home. "I won't go into that house," she says (4.74). What was once the sole spot where you could find a bit of entertainment in this town is now swallowed up by the overall misery of rural Russia.