How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #1
Tuzenbach: Our new commanding officer is coming to pay you a visit today. Colonel Vershinin.
Olga: Really? We'd be delighted.
Irina: Is he old? (1.13-15)
It seems like Irina is primed to fall in love. She's asking about the age of this new guy to see if he's a potential suitor. What's next—does he look like Brad Pitt?
Quote #2
Kulygin: Masha loves me. My wife loves me. (1.158)
A little self-delusion goes a long way. That's part of what keeps Kulygin one of the most contented characters in the play.
Quote #3
Andrey: Darling, you're so sweet and so ordinary…I want you to marry me! I love you, I love you…I've never loved anybody before. (1.223)
Now that's a proposal to swoon over. We just fall head-over-heels when someone calls us "ordinary," don't you? Anyway—it's actually Natasha's ordinariness that turns Andrey against her as the play progresses. And we wonder if the fact that he never loved anyone before may have something to do with his not really knowing what love is, until he finds out what it isn't.