"Yes, as soon as one has time to begin thinking it over, one sees one must get married. Why, you go on and on living like this till you get sick of it at last!"
In this quote, which opens the entire play, Podkoliosin is expressing his desire to get married. It seems in earnest at first glance, and no doubt Podkoliosin is temporarily convinced that he himself does believe it, but the reader soon comes to find out that he has been repeating this mantra to himself for months without actually taking any actionable steps to ensure its completion. Every time, he changes his mind and decides to put it off "for a few days" until the possibility has dwindled from his memory. This essential, unintentional irony to Podkoliosin's character is one of the play's most defining qualities.
"I don't feel like it, really; we'd better go tomorrow."
This quote exemplifies Podkoliosin's indecisive reluctance to take initiative. When Kochkariov suggests that they go and visit Agafya, the girl the matchmaker mentioned, Podkoliosin suddenly seems to change his mind; it takes an immense effort and scolding from Kochkariov to convince Podkoliosin to go at all. This theme of Podkoliosin getting pushed forward by Kochkariov ties into both indecisiveness and matchmaking; without his friend, Podkoliosin would still be sitting in his chair at home.
"If he'd run out of the door it would be another matter. But if a bridegroom jumps out of the window – the game is up!"
This line is the last in the play, and it's quite a comedic ending. Podkoliosin is about to get married when, musing upon the nature of marriage, he realizes what a responsibility and commitment he has agreed to, and responds the only way he knows how: by running away. In this case, the only exit available was a window, so he took a flying leap out the window and took a cab away. This dramatic exit plays into Fiokla's last line, in which she predicts Podkoliosin's case hopeless: if he had simply run away, his mistake could eventually be forgiven. The humiliating nature of his flight, though, renders any kind of reconciliation impossible.
