How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #7
Trigorin: Her son's acting crazy. First he shoots himself, now he wants to fight a duel with me. What's the point? He sulks, he goes around whining about everything, wants to be a prophet of new forms… There's plenty of room for all the forms you want—why fight about it? (3.12)
Trigorin clearly has the upper hand in the rivalry with Konstantin. Do you think he's threatened by the younger writer at all?
Quote #8
Trigorin: And then people read it and say: "Yes, very nice, he's quite talented, very nice, but he's no Tolstoy." (2.102)
For a creative person—even a commercially successful one like Trigorin—it seems there's no escape from the envy of others.
Quote #9
Konstantin: You and those tired old friends of yours—you've taken over everything artistic; you think the only thing that's real and legitimate is your own work! Anybody different, you try to shut them up and get rid of them! I don't respect any of you! I don't respect you, and I don't respect him!
Arkadina: You… Symbolist! (3.73-4)
Talk about dysfunctional. The mother/son relationship is complicated further by the fact that Konstantin and Arkadina defend opposing artistic positions.