A doctor named Mikhail Astrov visits the country home of the retired professor Serebryakov. Astrov meets the old nurse and housekeeper, Marina, out in the garden. The two of them reflect on how long it’s been since Astrov first came to this house and how the years have changed him. Voynitsky, who manages the estate, soon emerges from the house, complaining about how his life has fallen off track ever since Professor Serebryakov and his wife Yelena arrived at the house to live there indefinitely—the couple usually lives in the city but has moved into the country house recently. Before long, Serebryakov and Yelena return from their walk, along with Sonya (Voynitsky’s niece) and Telegin, Sonya’s godfather. After most of the newcomers go inside, Voynitsky continues his rant, explaining how jealous he is of the professor. Voynitsky himself is in love with Yelena, and he considers it unacceptable that she should waste her time with someone as old and unremarkable as Serebryakov. Voynitsky resents the professor; he used to respect him, but now Voynitsky feels that he’s wasted his life supporting Serebryakov’s fruitless academic career.
Sonya and Yelena exit the house, and Voynitsky continues his rude complaints, even in their presence. A workman shows up in the garden and informs Astrov that people in a nearby factory are in need of a doctor. As Astrov reluctantly begins to head to the factory, Sonya seems to want him to stay—or at least come back later for dinner. After Sonya runs off to follow Astrov as he leaves, Yelena scolds Voynitsky for hating the professor so openly. Voynitsky reminds Yelena of his romantic feelings for her, but she tells him to be quiet and recoils from him.
That night, as professor Serebryakov and Yelena sit in the dining room, the professor laments the difficulties of country life and aging. He admits he feels like a miserable burden on everyone else in the house, but Yelena tells him not to talk like that. Sonya and Voynitsky enter this conversation, and Serebryakov insists on not being left alone with Voynitsky. After the professor goes to bed, Voynitsky once again tries to elicit some affection from Yelena, but she again rejects his advances. After she leaves the room in disgust, Voynitsky wishes to himself that he had tried to marry Yelena years ago and that he hadn’t wasted so much of his life on the professor’s nonsense.
Later that night, Sonya notices that Astrov has been drinking with Voynitsky and asks Astrov to stop drinking around her uncle. Astrov agrees, and Sonya asks him to stay overnight. As the two of them eat, Astrov admits that he hasn’t loved anyone in a long time. He feels a growing sense of emptiness as he gets older, and he’s still haunted by guilt over a patient who died in his care. Sonya asks him what he’d say if someone admitted they had feelings for him, and he supposes he’d have to say he couldn’t love them in return. After he leaves the room, Sonya talks to herself about her romantic feelings for Astrov and sadly reflects on how people don’t consider her beautiful. Yelena soon enters the room, and the two women bond over how miserable they feel. Yelena no longer loves the professor, and Astrov doesn’t seem to have feelings for Sonya.
The next day, Voynitsky mentions that Professor Serebryakov wants to speak to everyone about something important in the drawing room at one o’clock in the afternoon. After another unsuccessful romantic advance on Yelena, he leaves to fetch some roses for her, leaving Yelena and Sonya alone in the drawing room. Sonya hesitantly agrees to let Yelena subtly ask Astrov if he has feelings for Sonya. After Sonya leaves and Astrov enters, Astrov tries to tell Yelena about his environmental work, but it’s clear Yelena isn’t interested. She asks him very directly about his feelings for Sonya, and he admits he feels no attraction to her. He also misinterprets Yelena’s question as a romantic advance and admits he’s attracted to her, not Sonya. Voynitsky enters and sees Yelena struggling to escape from Astrov’s advances. Yelena, frustrated, demands to leave the house that day.
Just then, Serebryakov, Sonya, Telegin, and Marina enter the room for the professor’s meeting. With everyone gathered, Serebryakov begins to discuss an important matter. He admits he can no longer stand living in the country and plans to sell the house, invest the money, and move to Finland. Although he says that he’d never do any of this without the others’ approval, this news outrages Voynitsky, who wonders where he and Sonya will live if the professor sells the house. Voynitsky launches into a furious rant about how long he’s maintained the house and paid for it, only to have this miserable professor decide to sell it and leave him homeless on a whim. Despite Serebryakov’s uncomfortable protests, Voynitsky refuses to calm down, and he ultimately fires a revolver twice at professor Serebryakov, missing both shots but frightening everyone. After failing to kill the professor, Voynitsky sinks into despair and shame.
Professor Serebryakov and Yelena resolve to move out of the country house immediately and to return everyone’s living situation to the way it was before the couple moved in. Marina reflects that everything will be better without the pair of them around upsetting everything. Overwhelmed with despair, Voynitsky steals a jar of morphine from Astrov’s medical bag with the intention of killing himself, but Astrov forces him to give it back. At Sonya’s urging, Voynitsky reconciles with Serebryakov, though the couple still plans to leave at once. Astrov and Yelena give each other fond goodbyes before she and Serebryakov finally depart for good. Astrov leaves the house shortly afterward, leaving Voynitsky and Sonya to return to their usual work on the estate. Both throw themselves into their tasks, as Sonya tries to give her despairing uncle hope for a better future. She insists that, for all their suffering and hard work, a wonderful reward is awaiting them in heaven.
