Three Years (Chekhov)
Short summary
Moscow, late 19th century. Alexey Fyodorovitch Laptev, a wealthy Moscow merchant, fell in love with Yulia Sergeyevna, a provincial doctor's daughter. Despite her lack of feelings for him, she accepted his proposal to escape her provincial life. Their marriage began unhappily, with Yulia feeling trapped and Alexey aware of her indifference.
Alexey's sister Nina was dying of cancer while his brother Fyodor became increasingly religious and conservative. The Laptev family business was prosperous but oppressive, with their tyrannical father treating employees harshly. Alexey hated the business and his upbringing, which he believed had crushed his spirit.
"For nearly three years you've been arguing like an ignorant deacon, and talking all sorts of nonsense... While I, while I! Look at me.... No elasticity, no boldness, no strength of will; I tremble over every step I take as though I should be flogged for it."
The couple moved to Moscow, where Yulia gradually adapted to society life. Alexey's friend Yartsev became a frequent visitor to their home, and Yulia enjoyed his company. Nina died, and Fyodor's mental health deteriorated. Meanwhile, Alexey maintained a friendship with Polina Razsudin, a woman who had once loved him.
After three years of marriage, Yulia gave birth to a daughter, Olga, whom she loved deeply. She admitted to Yartsev that she had never loved her husband but respected him. When their baby died of diphtheria, Alexey considered abandoning the family business but ultimately stayed. As time passed, Yulia matured and found contentment in motherhood, while Alexey resigned himself to their relationship based on respect rather than passion.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Chapter 1. Laptevs unrequited love for Yulia
Alexey Fyodorovitch Laptev sat on a bench outside the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, waiting for Yulia Sergeyevna to emerge from the evening service. He hoped to speak with her and perhaps spend the evening in her company. While waiting, he reflected on his life in Moscow and recent philosophical conversations about love, wondering what love truly was.
When Yulia finally appeared, she was accompanied by two ladies. After saying goodbye to them, she noticed Laptev and he told her he was going to visit her father. As they walked together through the lane, Laptev was overcome with passion and longing. He wanted to embrace her, but restrained himself. They discussed his sister Nina's declining health, though she showed no signs of her cancer returning.
Chapter 2. Rejection and family revelations
At Yulia's home, they found her father, Dr. Sergey Borisovitch, pacing in his study. The doctor was offended when Laptev suggested consulting a specialist from Moscow about Nina's condition. After Yulia left the room, Laptev spoke about medicine and his plans to establish a night refuge in Moscow.
Sensing that Yulia was planning to visit someone else that evening, Laptev felt jealous. After leaving, he visited his sister Nina Fyodorovna, who was bedridden with cancer. Though she still appeared strong, her pallor made her look like a corpse. Laptev read to her from a historical novel, and she reminisced about her difficult life with her unfaithful husband, Panaurov.
Chapter 3. Yulias unexpected acceptance
The next day, Laptev was surprised to see Yulia at his sister's house. She seemed distressed and asked him to accompany her home. As they walked, she apologized for her behavior the previous day, explaining she had been upset and unable to sleep. Laptev confessed his deep love for her, saying he could not live without her.
At her home, Yulia suddenly announced, "I thought for a long time yesterday... I accept your offer." Laptev kissed her hand, but felt that something essential—her love—was missing. Overcome with passion, he embraced her, but she pulled away, dismayed. When he asked why she had agreed to marry him, she tearfully denied it was for his money, saying she feared refusing him would ruin both their lives.
"She married me without love, stupidly, perhaps with mercenary motives, but without understanding, and now she evidently sees her mistake and is miserable. I see it. At night we sleep together, but by day she is afraid to be left alone with me."
Chapter 4. Engagement and family complications
Laptev returned to his sister's house and announced his engagement to Yulia. Nina Fyodorovna cried, saying she had expected him to marry someone from their Moscow social circle. She worried about his happiness but insisted the wedding should be celebrated properly.
As an accepted suitor, Laptev visited Yulia's home frequently. He discovered that despite her father's good medical practice, they lived modestly. The doctor gambled at the club, losing money regularly, and made questionable investments in mortgaged properties. Yulia herself had no money of her own, receiving a meager allowance from her father.
During this period, Laptev's behavior changed. He visited Panaurov at his second establishment, where he met his brother-in-law's mistress and their two little girls. The awkward dinner made Laptev uncomfortable, but he found himself doing many things he would never have done before.
Chapter 5. The Laptev family business
The Laptevs owned a wholesale business in Moscow dealing in fancy goods, with annual gross receipts of two million rubles. The day after arriving in Moscow with his new wife, Laptev visited the warehouse. His brother Fyodor greeted him warmly, and he also saw his elderly father, Fyodor Stepanovitch, who was nearly blind and no longer worked actively in the business.
The warehouse atmosphere was oppressive to Laptev, reminding him of his childhood when he was beaten and put on Lenten fare. The clerks treated him with exaggerated respect, but he sensed their insincerity. His father maintained an Asian despotism over the employees, who lived in fear and were required to observe strict religious practices.
"The old man adored himself; from what he said it always appeared that he had made his wife and all her relations happy, that he had been munificent to his children, and a benefactor to his clerks and employees."
Chapter 6. The religious ceremony and family tensions
The next day, Laptev and Yulia visited his father's house in Pyatnitsky Street. They were met by Fyodor, who led them through a crowd of people to a room where a religious service was being prepared. The old man greeted Yulia without speaking, and a solemn ceremony followed, with priests, deacons, and singers.
After the service, the priest asked Yulia if she came bringing peace to the house, then suggested it was time for Fyodor to marry as well. During lunch, the old man told Yulia that families should live together in one house and that she should live with him and save money. Fyodor fussed around her, repeatedly kissing her hand and calling her "little sister."
On their way home, Laptev expressed relief that nothing outrageous had happened. He explained to Yulia how his father had married his mother when she was only seventeen and he forty-five, resulting in the poor health of Fyodor and himself compared to their older sister Nina.
Chapter 7. Encountering Polina and growing alienation
In November, while attending a symphony concert, Laptev unexpectedly encountered Polina Nikolaevna Razsudin. He felt ashamed for having avoided her since his marriage. She asked about their mutual friend Yartsev and insisted Laptev spend the evening with her after the concert.
When Yulia appeared with her companions, Laptev told her he would come later. Polina watched Yulia with hatred and pain in her eyes. She criticized Laptev for marrying a "stupid, insignificant girl" who only wanted his money, reminding him that she had loved him for his mind and soul.
At Polina's lodgings, she continued to berate him for his marriage while lamenting her exhausting work as a music teacher. When Laptev suggested she borrow money from friends rather than working herself to death, she proudly refused, declaring her class had "the privilege of being incorruptible." Their conversation ended with Polina fainting, and Laptev caring for her before leaving.
"And it was remarkable that she was friendly with all his friends, and they all knew what she was like already, while he knew nothing about her, and only moped and was dumbly jealous."
Chapter 8. Ninas death and memories
By the end of October, Nina Fyodorovna showed unmistakable signs of a relapse. She grew thinner rapidly, though she still believed she was getting better. She became increasingly talkative, lying in bed fully dressed and reminiscing about her childhood in Moscow and her marriage to Panaurov.
One evening, while Sasha was sitting with her, Nina suddenly felt unwell and sent for her father. When the doctor and priest arrived, it was too late. Nina died at eight o'clock that evening. The doctor immediately sent a telegram to Moscow about a mortgaged house for sale, advising his daughter's husband not to miss the opportunity.
After Nina's death, her daughters Sasha and Lida moved into Laptev's lodge in Moscow. Kostya Kotchevoy, a lawyer's assistant and longtime friend of the Laptevs, helped care for the girls. The children were grieving for their mother, finding it difficult to understand how people could talk and laugh when she was dead.
Chapter 9. New household arrangements and intellectual discussions
Panaurov came to stay at the Dresden Hotel and visited the Laptevs almost daily to ask for money. Meanwhile, Ivan Gavrilitch Yartsev, another close friend, frequently visited the Laptevs. He was a chemist with a degree in science who taught physics and natural history in schools and was enthusiastic about his pupils, especially the girls.
The eternal student Kish was also a regular visitor. He had been studying medicine for three years before switching to mathematics, taking two years for each year's course. His father, a provincial druggist, sent him forty rubles monthly, supplemented secretly by his mother. Kish was always busy helping others, though often unsuccessfully.
One evening, a heated discussion arose about art and literature. Kostya argued that art should address serious social problems, while Yartsev defended the importance of love as a subject. Yulia agreed with Kostya, saying there were many people suffering from poverty who would find love stories distasteful. Laptev was troubled to hear his young wife speaking so coldly about love.
Chapter 10. Marital tensions and jealousy
Laptev's marriage was increasingly strained. He felt Yulia had married him only for his money and was now miserable. She seemed afraid to be alone with him and constantly sought distraction in society. One night, after returning from Polina's, he found Yulia had gone to see a fire in Pryesnya with Kostya.
The next day, Polina sent back all his letters and photographs with a note saying simply "basta" (enough). Laptev began spending more time with Yartsev, visiting him almost daily. He would lie on Yartsev's sofa and wait patiently for his friend to return from work. These friendly conversations provided relief from his unhappy home life.
However, one day Polina, who had been giving Yartsev music lessons, told Laptev to stop visiting as he was hindering Yartsev's work. Three days later, Yartsev informed Laptev that Polina had moved in with him. Though they were not in love, Yartsev appreciated her company and care, while she believed she could help him become a great scientist.
"I love!" he pronounced aloud, and he had a sudden longing to run to overtake Panaurov, to embrace him, to forgive him, to make him a present of a lot of money, and then to run off into the open country.
Chapter 11. Yulias journey home with Panaurov
Following a misunderstanding with her husband, Yulia decided to visit her father. She traveled with Panaurov, who was on his way to Petersburg, having been promised a post in another town. During the journey, he complained about not receiving the recognition he deserved from authorities despite his service.
Panaurov asked Yulia if she had a lover yet, shocking her with his forwardness. Later, he put his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek and lips, claiming it was all "the old veteran" could give her. Yulia was amused rather than offended, and they playfully threw chocolates at each other.
Upon arriving in her hometown, Yulia found it changed. She drove to her father's house and found him drinking tea. He complained about being old and unappreciated, accusing her of wanting to leave him. When she mentioned Laptev's proposal, he sarcastically congratulated her, assuming she had accepted.
That night, Yulia felt lonely and confused about rejecting Laptev. She wondered if she had done the right thing in refusing a man simply because his appearance didn't attract her. At twenty-one, with no eligible young men in town, she questioned whether she would ever find love. Late that night, she received a telegram from Yartsev and Kotchevoy drinking to her health, which made her laugh and feel lighter.
Chapter 12. Art exhibition and pregnancy
In Holy Week, the Laptevs visited an art exhibition at the school of painting. The entire family went together—the little girls, the governess, and Kostya. Laptev considered himself knowledgeable about art, though his purchases were often of inferior quality. Yulia looked at the paintings through an opera glass as her husband did, but didn't understand art.
However, when she stopped before a small landscape depicting a stream with a wooden bridge, a path disappearing into dark grass, and the glow of sunset in the distance, something changed. She suddenly felt she had seen these clouds and that field before, experiencing a connection to something eternal and unearthly.
"I imagined walking myself along the little bridge, and then along the little path further and further... And for some reason she suddenly began to feel that she had seen those very clouds... and that field before, many times before."
After this experience, Yulia began to see art differently. She developed a dislike for the gilt cornices and Venetian mirrors in their home, and for her husband's conventional opinions on art. In May, the Laptevs moved to a country villa at Sokolniki. By that time, Yulia was expecting a baby.
Chapter 13. Life after the birth of daughter Olga
More than a year had passed. Yulia and Yartsev were lying on the grass at Sokolniki near the embankment of the Yaroslav railway, with Kotchevoy lying nearby. They had been for a walk and were waiting for the six o'clock train to pass before going home for tea. Yulia was speaking enthusiastically about her eight-month-old daughter Olga.
Yartsev asked Yulia which she loved more—her husband or her baby. She admitted she had never been very fond of her husband, while Olga was her first true love. She explained that she had not married Alexey for love, but now respected him and was content with his intelligence and kindness.
"Tell me, by the way, which do you love most—your husband or your baby?"... "I don't know. I never was so very fond of my husband, and Olga is in reality my first love. You know that I did not marry Alexey for love."
Kostya criticized Alexey, saying that despite his goodness and intelligence, he lacked the character to stand up against insolence or aggressiveness. As they walked back to the villa after the train passed, Yartsev remarked that it was bad to be without love. Yulia disagreed, saying love was not what gave happiness.
They had tea in the garden, and Yartsev sang songs afterward. Yulia occasionally went indoors to check on the baby and on Lida, who had been feverish for two days. As evening fell, Yulia seemed uneasy and begged her visitors to stay longer, not wanting to be left alone with the children and servants.
Chapter 14. Death of the baby and changing relationships
Two days later, Laptev received news that Lida was ill with diphtheria, and that Yulia and the baby had caught it from her. Five days after that came the devastating news that while Lida and Yulia were recovering, the baby had died. The Laptevs left their villa at Sokolniki and returned to Moscow.
Laptev found it distasteful to be at home. His wife was constantly in the lodge crying in Kostya's room. He spent most of his time in charitable work, using any pretext to be out of the house. He had been planning to go abroad to study night-refuges, and the idea now attracted him even more.
One day, Laptev encountered Polina Razsudin again. She was still teaching music and had recently published brief notes in newspapers and magazines. She invited him to her lodgings, where they talked about old times. Laptev confessed that he missed Yartsev, who was now living with Polina.
"I feel as though our life is already over, and that a grey half-life is beginning for us. When I knew that my brother Fyodor was hopelessly ill, I shed tears; we spent our childhood and youth together, when I loved him with my whole soul."
Chapter 15. Brothers conflict over family heritage
Laptev and his brother-in-law Panaurov were sitting in silence one evening. Panaurov, who never drank or gambled, had nevertheless squandered all his own and his wife's property. He liked expensive things and a refined lifestyle, though he had no means to support it.
Fyodor arrived with an article he had written called "The Russian Soul." He asked Laptev to read it and give his opinion. The article argued that intellectual men had the right to disbelieve in the supernatural but should conceal their lack of faith to avoid shaking others' beliefs. Laptev found the article meaningless and questioned why his brother had written it.
Their conversation escalated into an argument about the family business. Laptev criticized the way their grandfather and father had treated them, beating them as children and forcing them to work in the warehouse from a young age. He resented the family's merchant heritage and declared he hoped the "distinguished merchant family" would die with them.
Fyodor defended the family business, pointing out that it was worth a million. When Laptev continued his criticism, calling the warehouse a "torture chamber," Fyodor accused him of spitting into the well from which he drank, using the family's income while despising its source. The argument grew heated until Fyodor became emotional and began to cry.
Chapter 16. Fyodors mental decline and business troubles
The doctor said that Fyodor's mind was affected. Laptev avoided his father's house and the warehouse, which now seemed like a sepulchre to him. When Yulia urged him to visit his father daily, he responded with bitter memories of his childhood and the beatings he had endured.
Yulia decided to visit her father-in-law herself. She found the old Fyodor Stepanovitch sitting motionless in his armchair, blinking with sightless eyes. Touched by his affliction and loneliness, she kissed his hand. He made the sign of the cross over her and thanked her for coming.
The old man boasted about never having been ill or taken medicine. When Yulia mentioned bringing his grandchildren to visit, he refused, calling them "illegitimate" because their parents had married without his permission. Yulia tried to soften him, speaking of forgiveness and kindness, but he remained stubborn, insisting that forgiveness had no place in business.
Chapter 17. Resignation to an unfulfilling life
Laptev sat reading in a rocking chair while Yulia read in the study. They had been silent all day, having little to talk about. Laptev occasionally looked at her, thinking that whether one married from passionate love or without love, it came to the same thing in the end. The honeymoon was long over, and he still didn't know what sort of person his wife was.
One night, Laptev went out to the yard of his father's house. Looking at the moonlight, he reflected on how the business he disliked was ruining his life, making him a slave. He wondered what prevented him from giving up the millions and leaving the hated yard and garden of his childhood. The answer came to him—it was habit, the habit of bondage and servitude, like the black dog that remained in the yard instead of running to freedom.
"The habit of bondage, of servitude.... At midday next morning he went to see his wife, and that he might not be dull, asked Yartsev to go with him. Yulia Sergeyevna was staying in a summer villa at Butovo."
At the villa, Yulia greeted them warmly. She had grown somewhat stouter, with more matronly movements. Yartsev was clearly enchanted by her, watching her with an ecstatic expression. During lunch, Yartsev sang songs while Yulia and Kotchevoy listened in silence. As Laptev observed them, he thought about the many years of life that might still lie ahead of him.
"And what would he have to live through in that time? What is in store for us in the future? And he thought: 'Let us live, and we shall see.'"