How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[…] he could not have entered the Academy at a more significant moment than just as she was singing: "He loves me— he loves me not— he loves me!" […] (1.6)
The image of love on the stage— here in the opera Faust—is all passion and ecstasy, and Newland eats this stuff up with a spoon.
Quote #2
As he spoke, he took a swift glance about the conservatory, assured himself of their momentary privacy, and catching her to him laid a fugitive pressure on her lips. (2.25)
This quote is Archer in one of his most cynical moments. May is not at all his intellectual equal, and he wonders whether the fact that she is a 'good catch' is enough for him
Quote #3
But they did not look like her — there was something too rich, too strong, in their fiery beauty. (9.75)
While Newland sends May virginal white lilies-of-the-valley, he sends "fiery" yellow roses to Madame Olenska. The contrast in flowers says all you need to know about where Newland's heart really lies.
Quote #4
He shivered a little, remembering some of the new ideas in his scientific books, and the much-cited instance of the Kentucky cave-fish, which had ceased to develop eyes because they had no use for them. What if, when he had bidden May Welland to open hers, they could only look out blankly on blankness? (10.12)
Pro-tip: if your fiancé reminds you of the Kentucky cave-fish, call the wedding off.
Quote #5
On the threshold he paused to look at her; then he stole back, lifted one of the ends of velvet ribbon, kissed it, and left the room without her hearing him or changing her attitude. (13.4)
So many passionate scenes from the theater. This scene is Newland's favorite, and you can see why: it is discreet and passionate at the same time. Newland also has a creepy penchant for kissing inanimate objects; what a freak.
Quote #6
"Isn't it you who made me give up divorcing— give it up because you showed me how selfish and wicked it was, how one must sacrifice one's self to preserve the dignity of marriage … and to spare one's family the publicity, the scandal? […] (18.67)
Madame Olenska reminds Newland of his advice to her not to divorce— painful, because that was Newland before he realized how much he loved her. Now they're stuck with the consequences.
Quote #7
"I mean: how shall I explain? I— it's always so. Each time you happen to me all over again." (29.14)
Contrast Newland's reaction to Madame Olenska here to his reaction to May, who perpetually bores him.
Quote #8
"I want— I want somehow to get away with you into a world where words like that— categories like that— won't exist. Where we shall be simply two human beings who love each other, who are the whole of life to each other; and nothing else on earth will matter." (29.55)
Sadly, there is no such world for Newland and Madame Olenska. Not even Hawaii.
Quote #9
He was weary of living in a perpetual tepid honeymoon, without the temperature of passion yet with all its actions. (30.9)
Contrast Newland and May's "tepid honeymoon" to Newland and Madame Olenska's relationship. While Newland and May see each other every day, Newland and Madame Olenska only see each other once in a long while.