Doctor Zhivago Marriage Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

In defense of her wounded pride he would have torn the offender to pieces with his own hands. And here that offender was he himself. (9.16.4)

If any man ever dared to insult his wife or hurt her pride, Zhivago would fight him in a heartbeat. The problem is that he is the one insulting his wife by having an affair. Unfortunately, a guy can't really do a good job of beating himself up. So Zhivago does the next best thing and just feels guilty all the time.

Quote #8

And he, fool that he was, had remembered this house so many times, had missed it, and had entered this room, not as a space, but as his yearning for Lara! How ridiculous this way of feeling probably was from outside!" (13.7.13)

Zhivago wouldn't expect anyone looking at him from an objective angle to sympathize with his affair with Lara. In fact, it's almost as if the dude knows he's being watched by us readers. And he might be right: maybe we don't have a ton of sympathy for him. But we probably have a little more than he'd think.

Quote #9

True, Lara doesn't know them, but still this seamstress and hairdresser, a total stranger, wasn't ignorant of their fate, yet Lara doesn't say a word about them in her note. (13.7.10)

Zhivago finds it strange at first that Lara wouldn't mention anything about his family in her note to him. But then again, maybe she just wants him to forget about them so that she and he can live together as man and wife. It's only later that Zhivago realizes he's only read one side of Lara's letter and that the other side totally includes a bunch of info about his family.