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.