Three Sisters

“God will watch over us. Everything will work out.”

The sisters have been speaking longingly about moving back to Moscow, but when the conversation turns to logistics, they believe that Andrey will move out when he becomes a professor and lament the idea that Masha will be unable to move with them. However, Irina asserts that God will orchestrate everything, but as much as they long for Moscow, they do not take any practical steps to return, suggesting that they prefer to dream of Moscow to the city itself.

“When I woke up today, everything in the world suddenly seemed so clear to me, and now I know how to live. People have to work, they have to labor, whoever they are, and in the work itself is meaning, purpose, joy.”

Irina’s insistence upon romanticizing labor indicates that she holds the naïve perspective of someone who has never worked in her life. She imagines that she would be happier to work for her living rather than to live in leisure, a notion that suggests that she is unaware of the monotony and physical toll of labor. The scene indicates that she is just bored and does not understand what it means to be forced to work to survive.

“I’ve never done anything either. I haven’t lifted a finger since I left school. I’ve never read a book. Only newspapers.”

As a doctor, Chebutykin should be reading and learning for the sake of his patients and the constantly evolving practice of medicine. Given that he is in his 60s, this comment suggests that he has not read anything to update his practices in 30 or 40 years.