The Cherry Orchard Society and Class Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Act.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue. We used Julius West's translation.
| Quote #1 LOPAKHIN. My father was a peasant, it's true, but here I am in a white waistcoat and yellow shoes ... a pearl out of an oyster. I'm rich now, with lots of money, but just think about it and examine me, and you'll find I'm still a peasant down to the marrow of my bones. (1.5) |
Lopakhin knows himself well. He admires and desires upper-class life, but doesn't believe he can truly inhabit it.
| Quote #2 LOPAKHIN. You're too sensitive, Dunyasha. You dress just like a lady, and you do your hair like one too. You oughtn't. You should know your place. (1.9) |
Everyone's always telling Dunyasha to know her place. Yet Lopakhin is the quintessential striver, escaping from his lower-class roots to eventually buy the orchard.
| Quote #3 GAEV. It smells of patchouli here. (1.86) |
Gaev is very sensitive to smells and likes to comment on working-class ones to put people in their place, particularly Lopakhin and Yasha.
