Ironie und ihre Bedeutung für Anton Tschechows 'Drei Schwestern'

During his lifetime, the writer Anton Chekhov had intense disputes with the director of his plays at the time, Stanislavski, as Chekhov believed he had written a cheerful comedy with The Three Sisters, while everyone involved in the production considered the work to be a drama. This study begins with an attempt to explain, based on Chekhov's statements, what the author understood by a comedy and why he wanted his play The Three Sisters to be interpreted as such. Building on this, the author Petra Winterstein thoroughly examines the aspect of irony and its use in The Three Sisters. After outlining the history of the concept, the analysis focuses on the use of irony through the examination of the characters, language, plot moments, and symbols. The literary study is rounded off with analyses of staging and interpretations of national and international performances, which primarily focus on the consideration of ironic structures and the reviews by critics and audiences.