SOURCE: "Natasha Ivanovna, the Lonely Bourgeoises," in Modern Drama, Vol. XXVI, No. 3, September 1983, pp. 305-09.

In this essay, Majdalany mounts a defense of Natasha. Ivanovna in Three Sisters, in an effort to arrive at a more balanced interpretation of the character than the merely selfish and predatory figure she is commonly considered.

Whilst all commentators of Chekhov's play dwell at length upon the aesthetic longings of the three sisters, and tenderly evoke their sensitivity bruised by frustration, no comparable sympathy is extended to Natasha, their brother's young wife. ¹ She is indeed as vain, selfish and even ruthless as she has been categorized; but what all these attributions have crowded out is the fact that first and foremost she is a disoriented petite bourgeoise, socially insecure and lonely in an alien and hostile environment.

To maintain objectivity, the critic must resist the temptation to redress the balance by tilting...