This play signifies a crucial theme within marriages. The reoccurring instance is that marriages aren’t entirely based on love, but are rather driven by other factors. In this case, wealth drives marriage in this play. The two don’t even seem to show much care towards each other, as during the argument between Lomov and Natalya over ownership of land, she continues to pressure him even as his pains begin to worsen, rather than attempt to relieve his stress. The interaction between the two is not as most romance movies portray marriage, and is full of pettiness and bickering between the two, resulting in the opposite of what the audience is used to seeing. Towards the end, he also has no real idea why he married her and seems to go with the flow, not realizing how big of a commitment he has made. They are simply all greedy to get the benefit out of each other, instead of truly becoming one together.