The Three Sisters (Further Reading)

Further Reading

• Hahn, Beverly, “Three Sisters,” in her Chekhov: A Study of the Major Stories and Plays, Cambridge University Press, 1977, pp. 284-309.

  Hahn’s study, often cited by other critics, examines the interplay between sadness and hope in the play.

• Gerhardie, William, Anton Chekhov: A Critical Study, St. Martin’s Press, 1974.

  This book is a reprint of the 1923 edition, one of the first critical studies of Chekhov before his genius was widely recognized throughout the world. It is considered the one book that any serious student of Chekhov must read.

• Karlinsky, Simon, “Chekhov: The Gentle Subversive,” introduction to The Letters of Anton Chekhov, Harper & Row, 1973, pp. 1-32.

  A political analysis of Chekhov, who is usually treated by critics as an artist who was removed from politics. Russia at the turn of the century had a delicate political balance, and Karlinsky examines how Chekhov reflected that balance and toyed with it.

• Peace, Richard, “The Three Sisters,” in his Chekhov: A Study of the Four Major Plays, Yale University Press, 1983, pp. 74-116.

  This short analysis of the play is mostly useful for its wealth of background information clarifying references that the play mentions quickly without explanation.

• Pritchett, V. S., Chekhov: A Spirit Set Free, Random House, 1988.

  Pritchett, one of the great novelists and short story writers of the twentieth century, produced this wise critical biography when he was in his eighties, and the feeling of one master story teller’s appreciation of another helps readers understand why Chekhov is so universally admired.

• Stroeva, M. N., “The Three Sisters in the Production of the Moscow Art Theater,” translated by Robert Lewis Jackson, in Jackson’s Chekhov: A Collection of Critical Essays, Prentice Hall, 1967.

  Stroeva’s essay, originally printed in Moscow in 1955, is a meticulously researched piece giving a theatrical background to the act of bringing this play to life.

• Szondi, Peter, “The Drama in Crisis: Chekhov,” in his Theory of the Modern Drama, University of Minnesota, 1987.

  This essay emphasizes the dramatic device of the monologue, and Chekhov’s unique deployment of that device.