Anton Chekhov, Tri sestry [The Three Sisters]

John Reid (University of the West of England)
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The 1901 première of

Three Sisters

[

Tri sestry

] was directed by Stanislavsky and Nemerovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Arts Theatre. It was slow to gain acceptance by the public and reviewers were unsure what to make of it – what was it about? Why did the plot seem so haphazard and indistinct? Why was the motivation of characters so vague?

Three Sisters has often been described as a play in which nothing happens – a bleakly actionless, plotless, and shapeless drama. In his letters, Chekhov would appear to have some sympathy with such critics when he confides that the play has “an atmosphere more gloomy than gloom itself”. In fact, as some excellent twentieth-century productions have shown, Three Sisters is, beyond question, one of the finest masterpieces of modern drama. If the

3421 words

Citation: Reid, John. "Tri sestry". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 March 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7930, accessed 28 March 2024.]

7930 Tri sestry 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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