The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov is a play about a family of orphaned children living dissatisfied life. The play is rich in time imagery, which is used for indicating the passing of time, and to emphasize the temporality of human existence and theme of the play that sheer hope with no action cannot solve one’s disillusionment towards his situation.
The time imagery is intricately weaved into the structure of the play, even though it is not liner in structure. Each act takes place during different times of the day, making it seem as if the play takes place in the span of twenty-four hours: The play opens at noon, jumps to an evening of the following year, then to an early morning of the third year, and closes in the afternoon of the fourth …show more content…
For example, Vershinin, the new colonel in town especially displays his optimism about the future: he believes that the world will change into an “unimaginably beautiful and wonderful” (Chekhov 11) place, and that those at the present will “work,” “suffer,” and “create” (Chekhov 22) this brighter future. Vershinin’s belief also demonstrates the scantness of human life, as he believes that those who work hard to create change in the society will not live long enough to “take part” (Chekhov 22) in the harvest of their progress, nonetheless he still optimistically believes that labouring for a better future can bring one happiness, and should be one’s purpose in life. However, he is still unable to do anything about his pathetic situation with his wife who isn’t “all there” leading to his affair with Masha. In contrast, Tuzenbakh is less optimistic about the future and makes more effort to find fulfillment in his life. He senses that a “new age is dawning” (Chekhov 4), but he believes that life will essentially be as “mysterious,” “laborious” and “hard” for people (Chekhov 22), and only work can eradicate the dullness and bring happiness into an individual’s life. Following his own advice, Tuzenbakh resigns from the army to become a labourer, and asks for Irina’s hand in marriage. Different from all the other characters, he tries to be productive and took action at an attempt to achieve happiness, instead of not even trying and just hope for their desires to take place. However, Tuzenbach sent in his resignation in Act Two, but did not start working yet even in Act Four. He also realizes that Irina does not love him, even though she accepted his proposal. Tuzenbach’s death in a duel cuts short of his plans in order to make his “dreams come true” (Chkhov 52). In the end he did not have a
The time imagery is intricately weaved into the structure of the play, even though it is not liner in structure. Each act takes place during different times of the day, making it seem as if the play takes place in the span of twenty-four hours: The play opens at noon, jumps to an evening of the following year, then to an early morning of the third year, and closes in the afternoon of the fourth …show more content…
For example, Vershinin, the new colonel in town especially displays his optimism about the future: he believes that the world will change into an “unimaginably beautiful and wonderful” (Chekhov 11) place, and that those at the present will “work,” “suffer,” and “create” (Chekhov 22) this brighter future. Vershinin’s belief also demonstrates the scantness of human life, as he believes that those who work hard to create change in the society will not live long enough to “take part” (Chekhov 22) in the harvest of their progress, nonetheless he still optimistically believes that labouring for a better future can bring one happiness, and should be one’s purpose in life. However, he is still unable to do anything about his pathetic situation with his wife who isn’t “all there” leading to his affair with Masha. In contrast, Tuzenbakh is less optimistic about the future and makes more effort to find fulfillment in his life. He senses that a “new age is dawning” (Chekhov 4), but he believes that life will essentially be as “mysterious,” “laborious” and “hard” for people (Chekhov 22), and only work can eradicate the dullness and bring happiness into an individual’s life. Following his own advice, Tuzenbakh resigns from the army to become a labourer, and asks for Irina’s hand in marriage. Different from all the other characters, he tries to be productive and took action at an attempt to achieve happiness, instead of not even trying and just hope for their desires to take place. However, Tuzenbach sent in his resignation in Act Two, but did not start working yet even in Act Four. He also realizes that Irina does not love him, even though she accepted his proposal. Tuzenbach’s death in a duel cuts short of his plans in order to make his “dreams come true” (Chkhov 52). In the end he did not have a