Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews February 10, 2023 February 3, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
Suddenly Serebryakov, Sonya, Marina, and Telegin enter the drawing room. While Serebyakov complains that members of the household are missing, Sonya asks Yelena if Astrov has denied her: Yelena nods silently.
Declaring he cannot accustom himself to country life, Serebryakov invites the group to sit, insisting above all that Voynitsky must stay at the meeting. Serebryakov announces that, in light of his advancing age, the interests of Yelena and Sonya, and the impossibility of his living in the country, he plans to sell the estate and invest the proceeds to provide for their income. Voynitsky is livid, largely because Serebryakov has made no plans for his mother, Sonya, and Voynitsky himself.
Over and against Maria's deferral to Serebryakov and Telegin's comically embarrassed interventions, Voynitsky reminds the group that the estate passed from his sister to Sonya, that—in the name of his sister—he gave up his inheritance and slaved to rescue it from debt. He also reminds them how he has spent years managing the estate on a beggar's wages to provide the professor's income. Though others move to silence him, he then confronts the professor directly. After years of worshipping him, he now sees him as a fraud, a worthless and failed scholar. Voynitsky claims that Serebryakov is responsible for the waste of Voynitsky's best years.
Yelena screams she must leave immediately, and Telegin storms out. Maria continues to urge her son to listen to the professor, while Sonya huddles with Marina. Serebryakov calls Voynitsky a "nonentity" and tells him to take the estate if he wants. With resolve Voynitsky storms out, ominously warning the professor that he will remember him; Maria follows.
As Serebryakov and Yelena once again announce their intention to leave, Sonya begs her father for compassion, reminding him how she and Voynitsky lived in deprivation to send him his income. Yelena tells her husband to straighten things out, and they both go after Voynitsky. Marina attempts to console Sonya, appealing to God's mercy and promising that all will pass with "some lime tea or raspberry."
Suddenly a shot rings out off-stage. Yelena screams; Serebryakov runs in terrified, begging for help. Voynitsky and Yelena struggle in the doorway; the former frees himself and fires a second shot. After a pause, it becomes clear he has missed. Utterly dejected, Voynitsky tosses the revolver to the ground and sinks into a chair.
Please wait while we process your payment