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Andrey Prozorov
Vershinin is a new commander in the army brigade. He grew up in Moscow and served in the Prozorovs’ father’s brigade there; he also remembers their mother and met the sisters when they were little girls (they called him “The Lovesick Major” at the time). He is 42 at the start of the play. Vershinin loves to “philosophize” about the meaning of life and the progress of society, especially in conversation with Tuzenbakh. He holds to an optimistic view of human progress and potential. He can come across as pompous and aloof at times. Though Vershinin is married—he has an unhappy wife who has made frequent suicide attempts, and two daughters—he quickly begins a passionate affair with Masha which lasts until the brigade moves to Poland at the end of the play.
Aleksandr Ignatyevich Vershinin Quotes in The Three Sisters
The The Three Sisters quotes below are all either spoken by Aleksandr Ignatyevich Vershinin or refer to Aleksandr Ignatyevich Vershinin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act Two Quotes
TUZENBAKH: […] After us men will fly in hot-air balloons, and jackets will change, and they’ll discover, maybe, a sixth sense and develop it, but life will remain the same, difficult and full of secrets and happy. And in a thousand years man will still sigh, ‘Ah, life is hard!’—and at the same time he will, as now, be afraid and not want to die.
VERSHININ [after some thought]: What shall I say to you? I think that everything on earth must gradually change, and already is changing before our eyes. In two or three hundred or even a thousand years—the point isn’t in the precise period—a new, happy life will dawn. Of course we won’t take part in that life, but we are living for it now, working, yes, suffering, we are creating that life—and in this alone lies the goal of our existence and, if you like, our happiness.
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VERSHININ: The other day I was reading the diary of a French minister, written in prison. The minister had been sent there over the Panama affair. With what delight, with what rapture he talks about the birds he sees from his prison window and which he never noticed before when he was a minister. Of course, now he’s been released, he doesn’t notice the birds, just as before. In the same way you too won’t notice Moscow when you’re living there. We have no happiness and it doesn’t exist, we only desire it.
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Act Four Quotes
VERSHININ: What else can I say to you as a goodbye? What bit of philosophy?… [Laughs.] Life is a heavy load. Many of us find it blank, hopeless, but still one has to admit it is becoming brighter and easier every day, and one can see the time is not far off when it will be filled with light. [Looking at his watch.] I must go, I must! Once humanity was occupied with wars, filling the whole of its existence with campaigns, invasions, victories, all that has now had its day, and left behind a huge empty space, which for the time being there is nothing to fill; humanity is passionately seeking that and of course will find it. Oh, if only it could be quick about it!
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Aleksandr Ignatyevich Vershinin Character Timeline in The Three Sisters
The timeline below shows where the character Aleksandr Ignatyevich Vershinin appears in The Three Sisters. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act One
Tuzenbakh comes in and tells them that Vershinin, their new commander, will be stopping by. Vershinin is in his 40s, talkative, and married—his...
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Lieutenant-Colonel Vershinin arrives. He remembers meeting the sisters when they were just little girls. The sisters are...
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Vershinin mentions the sisters’ mother, and Masha remarks that she’s beginning to forget her mother’s face—and...
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...just teasing them with this love affair. She calls Andrey in and introduces him to Vershinin. The sisters proceed to brag about Andrey as a “master of all trades.” Looking at...
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...education onto us,” like foreign languages; Irina even speaks Italian. Masha calls it “superfluous knowledge.” Vershinin says that even backward provincial towns need educated people, and that even if they’re presently...
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Tuzenbakh agrees with Vershinin, but says that in order to prepare for that “beautiful and amazing” life, one must...
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...he’d already given her this book for Easter, he just laughs. He introduces himself to Vershinin before the latter leaves, and he kisses Masha. Happily embracing his wife, he tells Masha...
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...Masha complains about a boring evening with Kulygin’s colleagues—“what a cursed, intolerable life…” Everyone, including Vershinin, proceeds to the table, except for Irina and Tuzenbakh. Irina tells Tuzenbakh that Masha is...
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Act Two
Masha and Vershinin enter. Masha is telling him about her marriage—how she was intimidated by Kulygin’s intelligence at...
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Chebutykin reads his newspaper while Irina sits at the table playing a card game. Vershinin suggests that they talk about philosophy—such as what life will be like two or three...
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Tuzenbakh objects that Vershinin’s view keeps happiness out of reach. He argues that, even a million years from now,...
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...Masha remarks that if she were in Moscow, she wouldn’t mind the weather. In response, Vershinin describes something he’s read recently—the diary of an imprisoned French minister who pined for the...
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Act Three
...and Kulygin come in and talk about arranging a benefit concert for the fire victims. Vershinin mentions that the brigade might be transferred to Poland soon; Irina says that they will...
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Vershinin reflects on the strangeness of the night—the fright of the fire reminds him of long-ago...
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...in, saying she wants to confess; her spirit is heavy: “In a word, I love Vershinin…” Olga retreats behind her bedroom screen and says that she can’t hear whatever silly things...
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...out, once and for all”—what do they all have against him? Just then Masha hears Vershinin singing in the distance and excuses herself. The other sisters want to sleep instead of...
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Act Four
...fact, we don’t even exist—“it just seems that we do.” Masha walks off, waiting for Vershinin and noticing the “dear […] happy birds” above.
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Vershinin, Olga, and Anfisa come outside to listen to some traveling musicians. Anfisa greets Irina and...
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While Anfisa goes in search of Masha, Olga and Vershinin say goodbye. Olga comments that “nothing happens as we want it”—now that she’s become headmistress,...
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Olga moves aside as Masha enters and kisses Vershinin goodbye. He asks her not to forget him and quickly leaves. Olga tries to stop...
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