HUBUKOV : She’s willing! Well? Kiss and be damned to you! : [ wails ] He’s alive...
Yes, yes, I’m willing. C HUBUKOV : Kiss each other! : Eh? Kiss whom?
[ They kiss ] Very nice, too. Excuse me, what’s it all about? Oh, now I understand ... my heart...
stars... I’m happy. Natalya Stepanovna... [ Kisses her hand ] My foot’s gone to sleep.
: I... I’m happy too... C HUBUKOV : What a weight off my shoulders, ouf! : But, still you will admit now that Guess is worse than Squeezer.
: Better! : Worse! C HUBUKOV : Well, that’s a way to start your family bliss! Have some champagne!
: He’s better! : Worse! Worse! Worse!
C HUBUKOV : [ trying to shout her down ] Champagne! Champagne! C URTAIN . What does Chubukov at first suspect that Lomov has come for?
Is he sincere when he later says “And I’ve always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son”? Find reasons for your answer from the play. . Chubukov says of Natalya: “...
as if she won’t consent! She’s in love; egad, she’s like a lovesick cat…” Would you agree? Find reasons for your answer. .
(i) Find all the words and expressions in the play that the characters use to speak about each other, and the accusations and insults they hurl at each other. (For example, Lomov in the end calls Chubukov an intriguer; but earlier, Chubukov has himself called Lomov a “malicious, doublefaced intriguer.” Again, Lomov begins by describing Natalya as “an excellent housekeeper, not bad-looking, well-educated.”) (ii) Then think of five adjectives or adjectival expressions of your own to describe each character in the play. (iii) Can you now imagine what these characters will quarrel about next? I.
. This play has been translated into English from the Russian original. Are there any expressions or ways of speaking that strike you as more Russian than English? For example, would an adult man be addressed by an older man as my darling or my treasure in an English play?