How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #4
SONYA: No, it's extraordinarily interesting. Every year Mikhail Lvovich plants new woods and he's already been given a bronze medal and a diploma. He campaigns against the destruction of old forests. If you listen to him you'll find yourself in complete agreement with him. He says that forests embellish the earth, they teach man to understand beauty, they inspire ideals in him. (1.288-93)
Well, it's hearsay, but Astrov is standing right there as Sonya puts words in his mouth and he doesn't protest. So we can assume that this characterization is what Astrov thinks, and he's really putting a lot of pressure on nature, to make human beings better people. We hope Mother Nature's up to it.
Quote #5
VOYNITSKY: [laughing] Bravo, bravo!... All that is charming but unconvincing, so [to Astrov], my friend, you must let me go on stoking stoves with logs and building sheds of wood. (1.300-02)
And here comes Vanya to spoil the mood, as usual. After the high-minded idea that nature can make everyone better, and probably even better-looking, that Sonya and Astrov put forward, Vanya stamps all over it, ready to burn down the forest like there's no tomorrow. Says just a little bit about his character.
Quote #6
ASTROV: [...W]hen I go past the peasants' woods, which I saved from destruction, or when I hear the hum of my young trees, which I planted with my own hands, I know the climate is a little in my control and that if in a thousand years man is happy, the responsibility for that will in a small way be mine. (1.319-23)
We're getting down to the heart of the matter, which is that Astrov thinks that by saving nature, and taking part in the conservation of the forest, he's having a real, lasting effect on the world. It's the kind of effect he can't get in his practice as a medical doctor, where patients may die and will be forgotten thousands of years from now. It's also interesting that all of his attention, at least as far as making lasting changes is concerned, is directed toward nature and not toward the people around him at this house. They're sure not changing, after all. We guess.