ABSTRACT
In the absence of an identifiable theme of ideas for Three Sisters, it is described as a play about love, which is also a central concern in earlier plays (Gilman 1995). How is love depicted in Three Sisters'? Most of the events in the play result from the action taken by male characters, who proclaim their love for female characters. For example, Andrey marries Natasha, Vershinin confesses his love to Masha, and Tuzenbakh under takes to marry Irina. Olga, Irina and Masha are depicted as searching for emotional fulfillment, which eludes them in the years encompassed in the play. By inference, it will elude them all their lives. Where Chekhov depicts characters who seek fulfilment through romantic love, he is assumed to be revealing their delusion (Llewellyn Smith 1973:26-8; Barricelli 1981 a:xiii). The conventional, realist view is that such love is exposed as illusory, leading to painful frustration (Hahn 1977:285). If the play is taken to depict unattainable yearnings, it can seem like a parody of romantic love. More specifically, however, Chekhov’s Three Sisters may be contesting literary depictions of romantic love.
