Polina Andreevna Character Analysis in The Seagull

Shamraev’s wife and Masha’s mother. She is having an affair with Dorn, but is frustrated by his refusal to take her away from her droll country life. Polina resents Dorn for his ambivalence towards her, but at the same time finds herself unable to stop loving him—she is one of the many characters in the play whose arc ties in with the theme of unrequited love.

Polina Andreevna Quotes in The Seagull

The The Seagull quotes below are all either spoken by Polina Andreevna or refer to Polina Andreevna. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the W. W. Norton & Company edition of The Seagull published in 2010.

MASHA: It’s all nonsense. Unrequited love—that’s only in novels. Really silly. Just mustn’t lose control or go on waiting for something, waiting for your ship to come in… If love ever burrows into your heart, you’ve got to get rid of it. They’ve just promised to transfer my husband to another school district. Once we’ve moved there—I’ll forget all about it… I’ll rip it out of my heart by the roots.

Related Characters: (speaker), , ,

Page Number and Citation: 140-141

Explanation and Analysis:

Polina Andreevna Character Timeline in The Seagull

The timeline below shows where the character Polina Andreevna appears in The Seagull. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Polina Andreevna, the wife of Sorin’s estate overseer Shamraev, comes down to the lake with Dorn,... (full context)

Shamraev and Polina come down to the lawn. Arkadina suggests she and Polina go into town for a... (full context)

Nina chides Polina for refusing to give the “famous actress” Arkadina a horse to take into town, but... (full context)

Polina tells Dorn that Shamraev’s “crudeness” and his penchant for squabbling with guests is making her... (full context)

...both some calming valerian, and Nina urges him to take the flowers in to them. Polina follows him, ripping the flowers from his hands and tearing them up as they near... (full context)

...while Yakov, a cook, and a housemaid buzz about the room, getting Arkadina’s things ready. Polina Andreevna comes into the room and brings Arkadina a basket of plums for her journey—Sorin... (full context)

...begs her to come home soon—Masha drolly states that she’ll come home tomorrow. Treplyov and Polina enter, carrying sheets and bedclothes. Polina begins setting up a bed on a divan in... (full context)

Polina wanders over to Treplyov’s desk and looks at one of his manuscripts. She tells him... (full context)

Mediocrity and Lost Potential Theme Icon

Arkadina and Polina set up a card table so that they can all play a lottery game similar... (full context)

Arkadina, Dorn, Masha, Polina, and Shamraev all play at a card table and discuss Treplyov’s career. Polina and Shamraev... (full context)