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
ANYA. [Thoughtfully] Father died six years ago, and a month later my brother Grisha was drowned in the river--such a dear little boy of seven! (1.75)
From the beginning of the play, death is on the characters' minds. They remember the deaths of Lubov's husband and Grisha, and regularly comment on Fiers's closeness to death.
Quote #2
FIERS. [Joyfully] The mistress is home again. I've lived to see her! Don't care if I die now. ... [Weeps with joy.] (1.80)
Like Anfisa in Three Sisters, Fiers is the dedicated old servant who eventually outlives his usefulness. He becomes a burden, a problem to be dealt with, even as he seeks to serve.
Quote #3
LUBOV. Thank you, Fiers. Thank you, dear old man. I'm so glad you're still with us. (1.96)
Fiers is a link to times gone by. The fact that he's still alive, wearing his livery, scolding Gaev as if he were a child, allows Lubov to hang on to the past.
Quote #4
GAEV. Nurse has died in your absence.
LUBOV. [Sits and drinks coffee] Yes, bless her soul. I heard by letter. (1.103-104)
Gaev catches Lubov up on who's dead and who's moved.
Quote #5
VARYA. He's been mumbling away for three years. We're used to that.
YASHA. Senile decay. (1.142)
Trofimov isn't a very compassionate guy, but Yasha takes the cake. He has nothing but contempt for the ailing Fiers.
Quote #6
TROFIMOV. Peter Trofimov, once the tutor of your Grisha. ... Have I changed so much? (1.170)
[LUBOV ANDREYEVNA embraces him and cries softly.]
Lubov hasn't seen Trofimov since her son's death. She associates him with the tragedy. Perhaps she hadn't expected to see such a vivid reminder of Grisha.
Quote #7
TROFIMOV. Who knows? And what does it mean--you'll die? Perhaps a man has a hundred senses, and when he dies only the five known to us are destroyed and the remaining ninety-five are left alive. (2.102)
Trofimov presents an alternate version of life after death. His ideas are inspired by science, not religion.
Quote #8
GAEV [Not loudly, as if declaiming] O Nature, thou art wonderful, thou shinest with eternal radiance! Oh, beautiful and indifferent one, thou whom we call mother, thou containest in thyself existence and death, thou livest and destroyest. (2.111)
Again, Gaev gives a ridiculous, inappropriate speech that nonetheless provides context. Despite Gaev's personal attachment to the cherry orchard and the estate, in this moment he recognizes his own minuteness. In the vastness of time and nature, his desires don't matter.
Quote #9
YASHA. I'm tired of you, grandfather. [Yawns] If you'd only hurry up and kick the bucket. (3.76)
Fiers is hardworking and subservient, while Yasha is lazy and impertinent. Perhaps Yasha wants Fiers out of the way so he doesn't suffer by comparison.
Quote #10
EPIKHODOV. The aged Fiers, in my conclusive opinion, isn't worth mending; his forefathers had better have him. I only envy him. (4.40)
Epikhodov is also somewhat of a lazy, impertinent employee. Like Yasha, he probably wouldn't mind if the faithful Fiers died. But in the face of Dunyasha's rejection, he's become casually suicidal himself.
Quote #11
FIERS. [Lying down] I'll lie down. ...You've no strength left in you, nothing left at all. ... Oh, you ...bungler! [He lies without moving.] (1.134)
Chekhov doesn't come out and say it, but it looks like Fiers has died. Lubov and Gaev, despite their affection for Fiers, have departed without leaving provision for him.