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Olga is the eldest of the three Prozorov sisters, 28 at the beginning of the play. Olga takes a maternal role toward her sisters, Masha and Irina, and her brother, Andrey; she is caring, thoughtful, and diligent. She teaches at a girls’ school (or Gymnasium), which is work that she finds stressful and exhausting; by the end of the play, she is appointed headmistress, though she never sought the position. Unlike her sisters, Olga is unmarried, but she desires marriage to a decent man, primarily as an escape from her thankless job. She also longs to return to her hometown of Moscow, which is a dream that never pans out. She and Kulygin get along well, and he has said that he might have happily married her if he hadn’t met Masha—though he’s not exactly happy with Masha, who has a poorly concealed affair with Vershinin, an old family friend, for much of the play. At the end of the play, Olga takes care of the family’s elderly servant, Anfisa, sharing an apartment with her so that she’ll no longer be mistreated by Andrey’s wife, Natasha.
Olga Prozorov Quotes in The Three Sisters
The The Three Sisters quotes below are all either spoken by Olga Prozorov or refer to Olga Prozorov. 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 One Quotes
OLGA: […] Every day I teach at the Gymnasium and afterwards I give lessons until evening, and so I’ve got a constant headache and my thoughts are those of an old woman. And indeed, during these four years I’ve been teaching at the Gymnasium, I’ve felt my strength and my youth draining from me every day, drop by drop. And one single thought grows stronger and stronger…
IRINA: To leave for Moscow. To sell the house, finish with everything here and—to Moscow…
OLGA: Yes! To Moscow, soon.
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Act Three Quotes
OLGA: Darling, I tell you as a sister, as a friend, if you want my advice, marry the Baron!
[IRINA is crying quietly.]
I know you respect him and think highly of him… True, he’s not good-looking, but he’s so decent and honest… After all, we marry not for love but just to do our duty. At any rate that’s what I think, and I would marry without being in love. I would accept whoever proposed, provided only he was a decent man. I would even marry someone old…
IRINA: I’ve been waiting. We were going to move to Moscow and there I would meet my true love, I dreamed of him, I loved him… But all that’s turned out to be nonsense, all nonsense…
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Act Four Quotes
ANFISA: […] Life is good, my little girl, life is good! In a school apartment in the Gymnasium with Olyushka, my darling—God has granted me this in my old age. I haven’t lived like this in all my born days, sinner that I am… A big apartment, nothing to pay, and I have a little room all to myself and a bed. All free. I wake up at night - and O Lord, Mother of God, there is no human being happier than me!
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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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OLGA [embracing both her sisters]: The band is playing so gaily and cheerfully, it makes one want to live! My God! Time will pass and we will be gone for ever, they’ll forget us, forget our faces, our voices and how many there were of us, but for those who live after us our sufferings will become joy —happiness and peace will come down on earth, and there’ll be a kind word and a blessing for those who are living now. Dear sisters, our life is not yet over. We shall live! The band is playing so gaily, so joyfully, and I think in a little while we too will know why we live, why we suffer… If we only knew, if we only knew!
CHEBUTYKIN: […] What can it matter! What can it matter!
OLGA: If we only knew, if we only knew!
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Olga Prozorov Character Timeline in The Three Sisters
The timeline below shows where the character Olga Prozorov appears in The Three Sisters. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act One
...drawing-room on a sunny fifth of May. Irina, the youngest sister, is celebrating her name-day. Olga, the eldest, recalls that exactly one year ago, the sisters’ father, an army general, died;...
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Three men—Baron Tuzenbakh, Chebutykin, and Solyony—appear in the reception hall beyond. Olga continues to reminisce about the family’s departure from their hometown of Moscow 11 years ago....
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The middle sister, Masha, is reading a book and quietly whistling. Olga scolds her and goes on to complain that teaching at the Gymnasium has given her...
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Irina feels “radiant” and hopeful. Olga observes that Irina and Masha are still beautiful, but that at 28, she’s gotten thin...
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...father was alive, and it’s making her sad. Irina is cross at her departure, but Olga tearfully understands. Masha scolds Olga to “stop blubbing.” Then the old servants, Anfisa and Ferapont,...
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...the present of a book he’s written, a history of the school where he and Olga teach. When Irina explains that he’d already given her this book for Easter, he just...
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Olga announces that lunch is served. Masha sternly warns Chebutykin not to drink, and he insists...
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...pink dress with a green belt. Seeing so many guests, she feels embarrassed and awkward. Olga comes out and greets her, warning her in a low voice that her green belt...
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Act Two
...any lights that have been left burning; the servants can’t be trusted. She says that Olga and Irina are still at work, Olga at a teachers’ meeting and Irina at the...
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...house. Natasha is sure they’ll agree. In fact, she suggests that they move Irina into Olga’s bedroom so that Bobik can have her room, which is drier and sunnier—Irina is seldom...
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Natasha comes in and tells Irina that Irina must move in with Olga so that Bobik can have her room. Then a maid tells Natasha that Protopopov has...
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Act Three
...town. It’s after two o’clock in the morning at the Prozorov house. Nobody has slept. Olga is handing out clothing for those whose homes have burnt. The Vershinins’ house almost burned,...
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...Anfisa, who’s exhausted from helping, for daring to sit down in her presence. She tells Olga she doesn’t understand why the Prozorovs keep the old woman, who’s no longer capable of...
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Kulygin enters in search of Masha. Offhandedly, he tells Olga that if he hadn’t found Masha, he would have married her instead. Then he hears...
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Olga advises her sister to marry Baron Tuzenbakh. He may not be handsome, but he is...
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...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 Masha...
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Olga and Irina talk about the rumor that the brigade will be transferred somewhere far away....
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Act Four
...Masha is “a fine, honest woman,” and he’s thankful for his destiny. He asks about Olga’s whereabouts, and Irina says that now that Olga’s become headmistress, she lives at the Gymnasium,...
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When the others go in to greet Olga’s arrival, Masha sits down with Chebutykin and asks about his love for her mother. He...
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Vershinin, Olga, and Anfisa come outside to listen to some traveling musicians. Anfisa greets Irina and tells...
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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...
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Olga moves aside as Masha enters and kisses Vershinin goodbye. He asks her not to forget...
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In the distance, there’s the sound of a muffled shot. Olga and Irina sit with Masha, trying to comfort her. Kulygin puts on a fake mustache...
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...starts playing to accompany the soldiers’ departure. Chebutykin comes in and reluctantly whispers something in Olga’s ear. She is alarmed, but Chebutykin says irritably, “What can it matter!” Olga embraces Irina...
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...a teacher, she will “give away [her] whole life to those who perhaps need it.” Olga hugs her sisters and says that although they’ll be forgotten in time, their suffering will...
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