Act 1, Part 1 Summary

This Russian play is a tragi-comedy that tells the story of a woman's relationships with three men: her inattentive husband, an adoring family friend and her son's young tutor, with whom she has become infatuated. As the woman and the men in her life confront their feelings and each other, the play explores themes relating to the role of honesty in relationships and the desperate things that desire to be loved makes people do.

The first act takes place in the drawing room. Anna, Lizaveta and Schaaf play cards as Natalya embroiders and Rakitin reads to her. Lizaveta and Anna complain about how Schaaf always wins, and Natalya complains about how her husband spends too much time working. When Rakitin agrees, she complains about how boring it is that he always agrees with her. She starts to talk about what she...