How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #1
Konstantin: I'm twenty-five years old; I'm a constant reminder she's not so young anymore. When I'm not around, she's only thirty-two; when I'm around, she's forty-three. (1.28)
It's easy to make fun of Arkadina's vanity, but in a business in which appearances are all-important, an illusion of youth can be pretty important.
Quote #2
Shamrayev: The theater is in decline, Irina Nikolayevna! They were giants back then! Nothing left now but pygmies! (1.83)
Arkadina may have traditional tastes, but Shamrayev, stuck in the country now, is positively reactionary.
Quote #3
Konstantin: Oh you ancient shadows, that float at night above this lake, wind us in your magic spell, make us sleep, and make us dream of what this place will be two hundred thousand years from now!
Sorin: In two hundred thousand years there'll be nothing left. Nothing! (1.89-90)
Konstantin is a big picture guy—one aspect of his personality that puts him at odds with his mother.
Quote #4
Arkadina: Ten or fifteen years ago, there was music and singing here by the lake almost every night. (1.122)
The habit of nostalgia reveals Arkadina's age more than the presence of her son does, though she doesn't seem to realize this.
Quote #5
Sorin: Let's go in, shall we? I'm going to catch my death in all this dampness. And my legs hurt. (1.156)
Sixty years old and ailing, Sorin is a constant reminder of mortality for the other characters.
Quote #6
Dorn: You're sixty years old. Medicine won't help.
Sorin: But I want to go on living! Even at sixty! (2.27-8)
Dorn's medical philosophy certainly differs from the approach of today: prolonging youth as long as possible. Sorin is understandably a little perturbed by his physician's lack of compassion.
Quote #7
Trigorin: Young love has finally appeared in my life; it calls out to me. I can't just run away from it! (3.96)
Nina presents an opportunity for rejuvenation that Trigorin feels he sorely needs.
Quote #8
Paulina: Our lives are almost over!
Arkadina: I know, dear. But what can we do? (4.115-116)
Paulina cries, as Arkadina gets ready to leave. Perhaps Arkadina's relieved to be moving again, believing that it keeps her young.
Quote #9
Masha: There's nobody here. The old man keeps asking where's Kostya, where's Kostya. He can't live without him. (4.1)
Sorin's health declines rapidly in the time between Acts III and IV. Between the death of Nina's baby, Konstantin's suicide, and Sorin's impending death, the last Act is chock-full of loss.