How we cite our quotes: 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
DUNYASHA. I don't know what to do about it. He's a nice young man, but every now and again, when he begins talking, you can't understand a word he's saying. I think I like him. He's madly in love with me. He's an unlucky man; every day something happens. (1.19)
At the beginning of the play, Dunyasha entertains the idea of attaching herself to Epikhodov. Under the sexual influence of Yasha, however, she quickly learns to ignore him.
Quote #2
LOPAKHIN. There they are, right enough. Let's go and meet them. Will she know me? We haven't seen each other for five years. (1.21)
Lopakhin seems to have a crush on Lubov. We can imagine him dreaming up scenarios in which he marries her to save the orchard.
Quote #3
DUNYASHA. The clerk, Epikhodov, proposed to me after Easter.
ANYA. Always the same. (1.34-35)
Anya is bored by Dunyasha's narcissism. She largely stays out of the conversations about who should be engaged to whom, even before she reconnects with Mr. "Above-Love."
Quote #4
LOPAKHIN. My father was the serf of your grandfather and your own father, but you--you more than anybody else--did so much for me once upon a time that I've forgotten everything and love you as if you belonged to my family ... and even more. (1.101)
Is it possible that some of Lopakhin's affection for Lubov is actually a Fiers-like servant/master devotion?
Quote #5
VARYA. I think that it will all come to nothing. He's a busy man. I'm not his affair ... he pays no attention to me. Bless the man, I don't want to see him. ... But everybody talks about our marriage, everybody congratulates me, and there's nothing in it at all, it's all like a dream. (1.60)
It's hard to know from the text whether Varya really loves Lopakhin. Her desire to marry him could spring solely from a desire for security and companionship.
Quote #6
VARYA. My darling's come back, my pretty one's come back! …I go about all day, looking after the house, and I think all the time, if only you could marry a rich man, then I'd be happy and would go away somewhere by myself, then to Kiev ... to Moscow, and so on, from one holy place to another. I'd tramp and tramp. That would be splendid! (1.62)
As caretaker of the estate, Varya doesn't think of marriage in terms of love. Anya's marriage to a rich man would be a suitable solution for a difficult problem – and would allow Varya to do what she wants.
Quote #7
TROFIMOV. Varya's afraid we may fall in love with each other and won't get away from us for days on end. Her narrow mind won't allow her to understand that we are above love. (2.145)
As usual, Trofimov lacks compassion for those around him. His idealistic, militant perspective keeps him from seeing the need that motivates others – in Varya's case, her loneliness.
Quote #8
VARYA. I can't propose to him myself, little mother. People have been talking about him to me for two years now, but he either says nothing, or jokes about it. I understand. He's getting rich, he's busy, he can't bother about me. (3.47)
Varya seems to be the character who is most trapped by external circumstances. She's stuck taking care of the estate. Why is it that Lopakhin is the only option for her marriage?
Quote #9
TROFIMOV As if I'd ever given her grounds to believe I'd stoop to such vulgarity! We are above love.
LUBOV. Then I suppose I must be beneath love. (4.53-54)
Trofimov claims that love is a waste of time. Lubov regards love as an overpowering force. Does Chekhov seem to believe one or the other?
Quote #10
LUBOV. I love him, that's plain, I love him, I love him. ... That love is a stone round my neck; I'm going with it to the bottom, but I love that stone and can't live without it. (4.60)
Lubov goes from tearing up her lover's telegrams to planning to return to him. What happened? Did she love him the whole time? Or is he something to run to when the cherry orchard is lost?