This chapter opens with a soliloquy by Masha and Alek. Masha tells Alek that he should quit acting if he wants to be an actress. She tells him to stop chastising other women and to stop being a prostitute. She also tells him that she will never be able to love him again if he does not come to see the play one more time. She says that she has never felt anything at all about her love for Alek, and that he has scorned her and looked down on her. She asks him to come to the play the next time she wants him to see it, but he has not come yet. She then asks him if he will come the next day, and he says that he will not come until he has seen the play. He then asks her if she has ever felt anything about him, and she says she has not felt anything since the first time she saw him. She goes on to say that she is sorry that the play is so sudden, but that she had planned to write a final scene in the basement for the audience to see. When she sees that the actors are dressed in the same clothes as she is, she tells them that this is her story and her hope less sorrow. She reminds them that they live for their art