Character Analysis
Head in the Clouds
At twenty, Irina is the youngest Prozorov sister, and when the play starts, she even acts kind of like a kid to underscore that whole youngest thing. She bears a close resemblance to Anya in another of Chekhov's famous plays, The Cherry Orchard. Yup, this playwright likes to include a girl who's innocent, cheerful, and full of hope.
Anyway, Irina moved to the country at age nine, so she has the fewest memories of Moscow—but also the most intense attachment. She never had time to think of it as anything but her awesome childhood, so sure, she might be idealizing a little, but she's homesick—give the girl a break. During the first three acts, she constantly repeats her desire to return home. Sure, it gets repetitive, but if you're the hopeful type it's easy to fall in love with Irina's optimism.
For example: She wears white and asks Chebutykin, "tell me why I feel so happy today! I feel as if I had sails flying in the wind, and sky over me was bright blue and full of white birds" (1.23). It's cute, but also kinda sad. Irina's idealism flies so high that her eventual disappointment is the most tragic of all the sisters.
Whistle While You Work
An upper-class woman accustomed to sleeping late and being served, Irina believes early in the play that work is the key to happiness. How she got that idea after such a cushy life, we can't tell ya. Well, except the whole grass-is-greener stuff and help-your-fellow-man idealism, which she's chock-full of.
Early on she says, "Man must work, work in the sweat of his brow. No matter who he is, that's the whole point of his life. And all his happiness" (1.25). The idea of fulfillment through work fills her with anticipation and hope for her future. Her first job at the telegraph office, however, is a wakeup call. It's demoralizing and exhausting.
At one point she feels like she's becoming a monster: "A lady came in tonight to send a telegram to her brother in Saratov—her son died today—and she couldn't remember the address. So she sent it without one, just to Saratov. She was crying. And I was rude to her, for no reason. 'I'm in a hurry,' I said" (2.51). Ouch.
Nonetheless, for Irina, work seems like the antidote to a purposeless elite existence. And despite her disappointment and fatigue, she still clings to the principle of work. In Act III, she has earned her teacher's certificate, and counts on this new occupation (along with her marriage to the baron) to give her the fulfillment she didn't get at the telegraph office. Well, we'll just cross our fingers that the brats get sent to the other class…
Irina and… Nobody, Sitting in a Tree
Man, Irina really wants to be in love. When she's told Vershinin is visiting, her first question is "Is he old?" as in "Is he eligible?" (1.15). In Act III, just before deciding to marry the baron, she confesses, "I kept waiting for us to move to Moscow. I knew I'd meet my true love there; I used to dream about him" (4.103). But at least she's honest with the baron about her feelings. "I'll be your wife," she tells him, "I'll do what I'm supposed to do, I'll be faithful, but I don't love you. I'm sorry." (4.97). In her mind, love is a sacred ideal, along with work. Too bad neither one works out so fab for our little optimist.
Timeline