One of the main sources of complaint for the heroines of The Three Sisters is the lack of cultured and educated people in their town. They feel marooned in a sea of ignorance—ignorance that's seeping into their house through unhappy marriages to some of the town's bumpkins. Once the shining hope of the family, their academically and artistically talented brother Andrey slowly becomes a small-time gambler and a hen-pecked husband.
Plus, the most dreaded event—the inevitable departure of the slightly more refined soldiers—comes to pass in the last act. In the end, the sisters are displaced from their own home by their tacky, bourgeois sister-in-law Natasha. As the Prozorov island of refinement sinks into oblivion, Chekhov makes a larger statement about the disappearance of the privileged class in Russia.
Questions About Society and Class
- What is the relationship between the Prozorovs' class and the way they conduct their lives?
- How does Natasha's class affect her arc in the play? Is Chekhov saying something larger about Russian society at the time when he was writing? If so, what?
- What thematic role do the servants play in the play?
Chew on This
The sisters' disappointment is the result of being born upper-class at a historical moment when the middle classes were on the rise.
Ferapont and Anfisa are elderly servants with no ambition—and therefore with the highest levels of satisfaction in the play.