The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
"The Cherry Orchard," written by Anton Chekhov, is a poignant play that explores themes of loss, change, and social transformation in late 19th-century Russia. The story centers around Madame Ranevskaya, who returns to her family estate after a five-year absence, only to discover that her beloved cherry orchard is set to be auctioned off to pay her debts. The estate symbolizes her past, filled with memories and familial ties, but it also represents the changing social order as the rise of the merchant class threatens the aristocracy.
The play features a cast of characters who each react differently to the impending loss of the orchard. While Ranevskaya and her brother Gaev cling to nostalgic dreams and unrealistic hopes, Lopakhin, a merchant and the son of a former serf, sees the orchard as an opportunity for financial gain by suggesting its destruction for commercial development. This clash between the old ways of life and new socio-economic realities underlines the narrative.
Through various characters, Chekhov illustrates a spectrum of responses to the transition, from resignation and despair to the pursuit of new beginnings. The emotional weight of the orchard's fate serves as a backdrop for personal struggles and aspirations, ultimately leading to a reflection on the inevitability of change and the passage of time. "The Cherry Orchard" remains a critical commentary on social class dynamics and the human condition, inviting viewers to contemplate the balance between nostalgia and progress.
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
First produced:Vishnyovy sad, 1904; first published, 1904 (English translation, 1908)
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Impressionistic realism
Time of plot: Early twentieth century
Locale: An estate in Russia
Principal Characters
Madame Ranevskaya , a landownerAnya , her daughterVarya , her adopted daughterGaev , her brotherYasha , a valetDunyasha , a maidFiers , an old footmanLopakhin , a merchantCharlotta , a governessPischin , a landownerTrofimov , a student
The Story
When Madame Ranevskaya’s little son, Grischa, drowns only a year after the death of her husband, her grief is so overwhelming that she goes to Paris to forget, and she remains away for five years. The Easter before her return to her estate in Russia, she sends for her seventeen-year-old daughter Anya to join her. To pay the expenses of her trip and that of her daughter, Madame Ranevskaya is forced to sell her villa at Mentone, and she now has nothing left. She returns home to find that her whole estate, including a cherry orchard, which is so famous that it is mentioned in an encyclopedia, is to be sold at auction to pay her debts. Madame Ranevskaya is heartbroken, but her old friend Lopakhin, a merchant whose father was once a serf on her ancestral estate, proposes a way out. He says that if the cherry orchard is cut down and the land divided into lots for rental to summer cottagers, she will be able to realize an income of at least twenty-five thousand rubles a year.
Madame Ranevskaya cannot endure the thought that her childhood home with all its memories will be subjected to such a fate, and all the members of her family agree with her. Her brother Gaev, who remains behind to manage the estate, is convinced that there must be some other way out, but none of his ideas seem feasible. It will be fine, he thinks, if they all come in for a legacy, or if Anya can be wed to a rich man, or if their wealthy aunt can be persuaded to come to their aid. The aunt does not, however, entirely approve of Madame Ranevskaya, who, she believes, married beneath her.
The thought that Gaev himself might do something never occurs to him; he goes on playing billiards and munching candy as he did all his life. Others who make up the household have similar futile dreams. Varya, an adopted daughter, hopes that God might do something about the situation. Pischin, a neighboring landowner, who is saved financially when the railroad buys a part of his property, advises a policy of waiting for something to turn up.
Lopakhin, who struggled hard to attain his present position, is frankly puzzled at the family’s stubborn attitude. He has no illusions about himself; in fact, he realizes that, compared with these smooth-tongued and well-mannered aristocrats, he is still only a peasant. He tries to improve himself intellectually, but he falls asleep over the books with which he is supposed to be familiar.
As he gazes at the old cherry orchard in the moonlight, the cherry orchard that seems so beautiful to Madame Ranevskaya, he cannot help thinking of his peasant ancestors, to whom every tree must have been a symbol of oppression. Trofimov, who is little Grischa’s tutor, and who is more expressive than Lopakhin, tries to express this thought to Anya, with whom he is in love.
The cherry orchard is put up at auction. That evening, Madame Ranevskaya gives a ball in the old house, an act in keeping with the unrealistic attitude of her class in general. Even her aged servant, Fiers, supports her and remains loyal to her and her brother. Lopakhin arrives at the party with the news that he bought the estate for ninety thousand rubles above the mortgage. When he announces that he intends to cut down the orchard, Madame Ranevskaya begins to weep. She plans to return to Paris.
Others are equally affected by the sale of the cherry orchard. Gaev, on the basis of the transaction with Lopakhin, is offered a position in the bank at six thousand rubles a year, a position he will not keep because of his laziness. Madame Ranevskaya’s servant, Yasha, is delighted over the sale because the trip to Paris for him means an escape from the boredom of Russian life. For Dunyasha, her maid, the sale means the collapse of her hopes of ever marrying Yasha and instead a lifelong bondage to Yephodov, a poor, ineffectual clerk. To Varya, Madame Ranevskaya’s adopted daughter, it means a position as housekeeper on a nearby estate. To the landowner, Pischin, it is the confirmation of his philosophy. Investigators find valuable minerals on his land, and he is now able to pay his debt to Madame Ranevskaya and to look forward to another temporary period of affluence. Fiers alone is unaffected. Departure of the family is the end of this old servant’s life, for whatever it was worth, but he is more concerned because Gaev, his master, wears his light overcoat instead of a fur coat as he escorts the mistress, Madame Ranevskaya, to the station.
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