main characters
- Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya - the owner of an estate with a cherry orchard. Her actions are mostly frivolous, she idealizes her world, not paying attention to real problems.
- Anya- daughter of Ranevskaya 17 years old. She is a sane person who understands that circumstances have changed and she will have to adapt to a new way of life.
- Leonid Andreevich Gaev - Ranevskaya's brother. He loves to argue, he says what will come to mind. Therefore, he is not taken seriously. His character is very much like a sister's.
- Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin - a typical merchant. He came out of the bottom and made a lot of money on his own, but remained uneducated.
- Varya- adopted daughter of Lyubov Andreevna. She is a believer and wants to make a pilgrimage. When the adoptive mother left, she was the mistress of the house.
- Petr Sergeevich Trofimov - an eternal student, loves to reflect on serious problems of history, philosophy, and the future.
- Boris Borisovich Simeonov-Pishchik - a neighbor, has a lot of debts.
- Charlotte Ivanovna - a governess who grew up in a circus knows many tricks. She does not see the meaning in her life and complains to everyone that she does not have a loved one.
- Semyon Panteleevich Epikhodov - clerk, loves Dunyasha.
- Dunyasha- a young maid.
- Firsis an old 87-year-old footman. All his life he served in this house, gave up freedom.
- Yasha- a young footman.
Summary of the play "The Cherry Orchard"
All events take place in the estate, the main advantage of which is a gorgeous cherry orchard.Step 1
May 1904. Children's room. The garden has blossomed, filling the entire estate with a gorgeous smell. Lopakhin and Dunyasha are waiting for Lyubov Andreevna to arrive. For the previous 5 years she had been abroad with her daughter, governess and Yasha. Dunyasha is very worried about the arrival of the owners. Epikhodov appears with flowers. The maid tells Lopakhin that the clerk recently offered to become his wife. The crews arrive. Varya, Gaev, Firs and Boris Borisovich come to meet the family. Ranevskaya and Anya are very happy about their arrival and that nothing has changed here, as if they had not been absent for a long time. A bustle began in the house. Dunyasha wants to tell Anya what was in the house, but the girl does not listen to her. She was only interested in the fact that Pyotr Trofimov was visiting the house. The conversations of the heroes indicate that Ranevskaya has very little money. She has already sold property abroad and now in August, most likely, she will have to sell this house with a garden to pay off her debts. Varya and Anya talk about how disastrous their situation is. The landowner herself does not know how to economize, but only sighs and remembers with Firs how they used to earn money on cherries and cook delicious dishes from them. Lopakhin makes a proposal to cut down trees, and divide the area into pieces and rent out to residents of the city for summer cottages.He promises a lot of profit from this. But Ranevskaya and her brother are very fond of this garden and are against such a proposal. Lopakhin asks them to consider this option and leaves.
Step 2
Three weeks have passed, an auction for the sale of the Ranevskaya estate will take place soon. But the family still continues to chic and awaits a magical solution to their problem. All are in nature, in a place where you can see the church and the cherry orchard. Over the past period, Dunyasha fell in love with Yasha, but he is in no hurry to make their relationship public. The governess, the maid, the young footman and the clerk are walking. Charlotte laments how lonely she is, Epikhodov worries that the maid is not building a relationship with him, and even says that he is ready to kill himself. But the girl is so in love with the footman that she does not even notice how frivolous he is to her. Lyubov Andreyevna with her brother and Lopakhin appear near the church. Leonid Andreevich talks about how convenient the railway is, with the help of which they were able to quickly get to the city and even have breakfast. Lopakhin asks Ranevskaya about the decision to lease land, but she ignores him, arguing that there is no money, and scolding herself for extravagance. Ranevskaya and her brother are very much waiting for the aunt to send them money, but they still would not be enough to pay the debt, and they consider the lease option unacceptable. Lopakhina is amazed at how shortsighted they are, he is angry about this, because his proposal would help save the estate. But they do not perceive it. Ranevskaya reproaches the merchant for being down to earth and uneducated, but wants him to become Varya's husband.
Step 3
August 22 is the day when the auction is to take place. Evening, living room, music playing, dancing. Boris Borisovich and Peter are talking, they are interrupted by the hostess, who is very worried - she is waiting for Gaev to return from the auction, but he is delayed. Lyubov Andreevna wonders if the auction was and how it ended. She is also worried about whether her aunt had enough funds to buy out the estate, although she realizes that 15,000 rubles is too small, it would not even be enough to pay interest. The governess shows tricks and entertains everyone. The young footman asks Ranevskaya to go to Paris, since he does not like the rudeness of the inhabitants of Russia. Ranevskaya is waiting for her to leave for the capital of France to her beloved, and wants to arrange the lives of her daughters before that. She wants to give Varya for Lopakhin, and Anya for Petya, although she is worried about his uncertain social status and material condition. The results of the auction are still unknown, but everyone seems to have already decided what they will do when it is sold. Epikhodov does his best to speak to the maid, who is not at all interested in him, and Varya drives him away. Firs fusses about serving the gentlemen, and everyone sees that he is not well. A very joyful Yermolai Alekseevich and a crying Leonid Andreevich appear. Lopakhin reports that he became the new owner of the estate. This news delights him, since his ancestors were slaves here, and he became the master. He can't wait for the cutting of the garden and the construction of country houses to begin. Lopakhin sees a new beginning in this. Ranevskaya is crying, and Varya throws the keys and leaves. Anya reassures her mother, convinces her that life does not end there and that many wonderful events await them.Step 4
The event starts in the former children's room. There is no one, just suitcases with things. A knock is heard as the cherry orchard is being cut down. Lopakhin and Yasha are waiting for the Ranevskys to come out. The landowner and her brother are very sad, Anya and Peter are in high spirits, Yasha is happy to leave Russia and away from his mother, and Lopakhin wants to quickly lock up the house and start a project prepared in advance. Ranevskaya is crying, and Anya says that the sale of the estate has solved many problems and life has become easier for all of them.
Important! A neighbor comes in and gives Ranevsky a debt. He said that he had surrendered the land to foreigners who are going to extract white clay there. He says it was very scary to do it, but everything happened as well as possible.Ranevskaya tries to marry Varya Lopakhina, but when they were left alone, Yermolai Alekseevich does not propose to the girl, which upset her very much. Crews arrived and began to load things. Everybody left. Gaev and Ranevskaya stay to say goodbye to their home. They cry bitterly and remember the happy moments of youth, realizing that their life will never be the same again. The house was closed. Then Firs comes, everyone has forgotten about him. He is not angry, but simply lies down on the sofa and gradually leaves for another world. The Cherry Orchard is a metaphor that Anton Pavlovich used to describe the collapse of the old way of life in Russia and the construction of a new one. The garden, which was so loved and cherished by the old owners, is cut down without regrets, and something new is being built in its place, based on commerce and money. Another version of the work "The Cherry Orchard" in an abbreviation we recommend that you learn from the video below.
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
The estate of the landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya. Spring, cherry trees are blooming. But the beautiful garden must soon be sold for debt. For the past five years, Ranevskaya and her seventeen-year-old daughter Anya have lived abroad. Ranevskaya's brother Leonid Andreevich Gaev and her adopted daughter, twenty-four-year-old Varya, remained on the estate. Ranevskaya's business is bad, there are almost no funds left. Lyubov Andreevna has always littered with money. Her husband died of drunkenness six years ago. Ranevskaya fell in love with another person, got along with him. But soon her little son Grisha died tragically by drowning in the river. Lyubov Andreevna, unable to bear the grief, fled abroad. The lover followed her. When he fell ill, Ranevskaya had to settle him at her dacha near Menton and take care of him for three years. And then, when he had to sell the dacha for debts and move to Paris, he robbed and left Ranevskaya.
Gaev and Varya meet Lyubov Andreevna and Anya at the station. At home, the maid Dunyasha and the familiar merchant Yermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin are waiting for them. Lopakhin's father was a serf of the Ranevskys, he himself became rich, but says about himself that he remained a "peasant peasant." The clerk Epikhodov, a man with whom something constantly happens and who was nicknamed "thirty-three misfortunes", comes.
Finally, the carriages arrive. The house is filled with people, everyone is pleasantly excited. Everyone talks about their own. Lyubov Andreevna looks at the rooms and through tears of joy recalls the past. The maid Dunyasha is impatient to tell the young lady that Epikhodov proposed to her. Anya herself advises Varya to marry Lopakhin, and Varya dreams of marrying Anya off as a rich man. The governess Charlotte Ivanovna, a strange and eccentric person, boasts about her amazing dog, the neighbor landowner Simeonov-Pishik asks for a loan. He hears almost nothing and the old faithful servant Firs mutters something all the time.
Lopakhin reminds Ranevskaya that the estate should soon be sold at auction, the only way out is to split the land into plots and lease them to summer residents. Ranevskaya Lopakhin's proposal surprises: how can you cut down her favorite wonderful cherry orchard!
Lopakhin wants to stay longer with Ranevskaya, whom he loves "more than his own," but it's time for him to leave. Gaev addresses a hundred-year-old "respected" wardrobe with a welcoming speech, but then, embarrassed, again begins to uselessly utter his favorite billiard words.
Ranevskaya does not immediately recognize Petya Trofimov: this is how he changed, grew ugly, the "sweet student" turned into an "eternal student." Lyubov Andreevna cries, remembering her little drowned son Grisha, whose teacher was Trofimov.
Gayev, left alone with Varya, tries to talk about business. There is a rich aunt in Yaroslavl, who, however, does not like them: after all, Lyubov Andreevna did not marry a nobleman, and she did not behave "very virtuous". Gayev loves his sister, but still calls her "vicious", which annoys Ani. Gaev continues to build projects: his sister will ask Lopakhin for money, Anya will go to Yaroslavl - in a word, they will not allow the estate to be sold, Gaev even swears about it. Grumpy Firs finally takes the master, like a child, to sleep. Anya is calm and happy: her uncle will arrange everything.
Lopakhin never ceases to persuade Ranevskaya and Gaev to accept his plan. The three of them had breakfast in the city and, returning, stopped in a field near the chapel. Just here, on the same bench, Epikhodov tried to explain himself to Dunyasha, but she already preferred the young cynical lackey Yasha to him. Ranevskaya and Gaev do not seem to hear Lopakhin and talk about completely different things. So, without convincing the "frivolous, non-business, strange" people, Lopakhin wants to leave. Ranevskaya asks him to stay: with him "still more fun."
Anya, Varya and Petya Trofimov arrive. Ranevskaya starts a conversation about a “proud person”. According to Trofimov, there is no point in pride: a rude, unhappy person needs not to admire himself, but to work. Petya condemns the intelligentsia, incapable of work, those people who philosophize importantly, but treat men like animals. Lopakhin enters the conversation: he just works "from morning to evening", dealing with large capitals, but he is increasingly convinced that there are few decent people around. Lopakhin does not finish, Ranevskaya interrupts him. In general, everyone here does not want and do not know how to listen to each other. There is a silence in which the distant sad sound of a broken string is heard.
Soon they all leave. Left alone, Anya and Trofimov are happy to have the opportunity to talk together, without Varya. Trofimov convinces Anya that one must be “above love”, that the main thing is freedom: “all Russia is our garden,” but in order to live in the present, one must first redeem the past by suffering and labor. Happiness is close: if not they, then others will definitely see it.
The twenty-second of August arrives, the trading day. It was on this evening, quite inappropriately, that a ball was being organized in the estate, and a Jewish orchestra was invited. Once upon a time, generals and barons danced here, but now, as Firs complains, both the postal official and the head of the station "do not go hunting." Charlotte Ivanovna entertains the guests with her tricks. Ranevskaya is anxiously awaiting her brother's return. Yaroslavl's aunt nevertheless sent fifteen thousand, but they are not enough to redeem the estate.
Petya Trofimov "calms" Ranevskaya: it's not about the garden, it's over for a long time, you need to face the truth. Lyubov Andreevna asks not to condemn her, to regret: after all, without a cherry orchard, her life loses its meaning. Every day Ranevskaya receives telegrams from Paris. The first time she tore them at once, then - having read them first, now she no longer tears. “This wild man,” whom she still loves, begs her to come. Petya condemns Ranevskaya for her love of "a petty scoundrel, nothingness." Angry Ranevskaya, unable to restrain herself, takes revenge on Trofimov, calling him a "funny eccentric", "freak", "neat": "You must love yourself ... you must fall in love!" Petya tries to leave in horror, but then stays, dances with Ranevskaya, who asked him for forgiveness.
Finally, a confused, joyful Lopakhin and a tired Gayev appear, who, without telling anything, immediately goes to his room. The cherry orchard was sold, and Lopakhin bought it. The "new landowner" is happy: he managed to surpass the rich man Deriganov at the auction, giving ninety thousand in excess of the debt. Lopakhin picks up the keys thrown on the floor by the proud Varya. Let the music play, let everyone see how Yermolai Lopakhin "enough with an ax in the cherry orchard"!
Anya consoles her crying mother: the garden is sold, but there is a whole life ahead. There will be a new garden, more luxurious than this, they will have a "quiet deep joy" ...
The house is empty. Its inhabitants, having said goodbye to each other, leave. Lopakhin is going to Kharkov for the winter, Trofimov is returning to Moscow, to the university. Lopakhin and Petya exchange barbs. Although Trofimov calls Lopakhin a "predatory beast" necessary "in the sense of metabolism", he still loves in him "a gentle, subtle soul." Lopakhin offers Trofimov money for the trip. He refuses: over the "free man", "in the forefront of going" to "the highest happiness", no one should have power.
Ranevskaya and Gaev even cheered up after the sale of the cherry orchard. They used to worry and suffer, but now they have calmed down. Ranevskaya is going to live in Paris for the time being with the money sent by her aunt. Anya is inspired: a new life is beginning - she will graduate from high school, work, read books, a "new wonderful world" will open before her. Suddenly, a breathless Simeonov-Pischik appears and instead of asking for money, on the contrary, distributes debts. It turned out that the British had found white clay on his land.
Everyone settled down differently. Gaev says that he is now a banking campaigner. Lopakhin promises to find a new place for Charlotte, Varya got a job as a housekeeper for the Ragulins, Epikhodov, hired by Lopakhin, remains on the estate, Firs should be sent to the hospital. But still Gaev sadly says: "Everyone is abandoning us ... we suddenly became unnecessary."
An explanation must finally take place between Varya and Lopakhin. For a long time Varya has been teased by "Madame Lopakhin". Vara likes Yermolai Alekseevich, but she herself cannot make an offer. Lopakhin, who also speaks very well of Vara, agrees to "end it at once" with this case. But, when Ranevskaya arranges their meeting, Lopakhin, never daring, leaves Varya, using the very first pretext.
“It's time to go! On the road! " - with these words they leave the house, locking all the doors. All that remains is the old Firs, whom, it would seem, everyone took care of, but whom they forgot to send to the hospital. Firs, sighing that Leonid Andreevich went in an overcoat, and not in a fur coat, lies down to rest and lies motionless. The same sound of a broken string is heard. "There is a silence, and you can only hear how far away in the garden they are knocking on a tree with an ax."
Material provided by the Internet portal briefly.ru, compiled by E. V. Novikova
HISTORY OF CREATION
Time of creation of the work. The play was written at the very beginning of the twentieth century (1903), during the period of reassessment and rethinking of established values \u200b\u200band old traditions. Three "revolutions" of the XIX century prepared a sense of catastrophe, which was described in art and felt by contemporaries: biological (Darwinism), economic (Marxism) and philosophical (the teachings of Nietzsche).
"The Cherry Orchard" is the last play by A. Chekhov. This is the writer's symbolic farewell to life. He created it as an epilogue to his own life and as an epilogue to Russian literature - the golden age of classical Russian literature actually ended, the silver age began. The work contains elements of both tragedy (a metaphor for the end of life) and comedy (the characters are depicted in a parody). The main event in the life of theatrical Moscow. The play "The Cherry Orchard" was the first absolute success of Chekhov, the playwright. It was written in 1903, and already in January 1904 the first production took place at the Moscow Art Theater.
This work formed the basis for a new drama. It was Chekhov who first realized that the old theatrical techniques were outdated. The nature of the conflict, characters, Chekhov's drama - all this was unexpected and new. There are many conventions (symbols) in the play, and they should be interpreted based on the author's definition of the genre - "comedy in four acts." This play became a classic of Russian theater and is still relevant today. It manifested the artistic discoveries of the playwright, which marked the beginning of modernism in literature and drama in Russia. At the end of the piece they knock with an ax and the string broke. Chekhov says goodbye to the old Russian life, and to the landlord's estate, and to the Russian landowner. But, above all, it is imbued with the mood of the writer's farewell to life.
At the end of the play, all her characters disperse, having forgotten the old servant Firs in the closed house - they all have no time for him. Kind Petya and romantic Anya have forgotten about Firs. Chekhov's innovation. There is no main character in the play. If in the classical drama the hero manifested himself in actions, then in Chekhov's - the characters manifest and reveal themselves in experiences (the pathos of action was replaced by the pathos of reflection). The author actively uses directions that form subtext: silence, silence, pause. A new form of conflict: “People are having lunch, drinking tea, and at this time their destinies are being broken” (A. Chekhov).
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WHY THE PIECE IS CALLED "CHERRY GARDEN"
The central image of the play is shown in the title of the work. The whole action takes place around the cherry orchard: sometimes the events themselves unfold there, the characters are constantly talking about him, they are trying to save him, he unites all the heroes of the work.
Small homeland is a secluded corner of nature, the ancestral nest of Ranevskaya and Gaev, in which they spent their childhood and youth. Such places become part of the person himself. The symbol of beauty is the cherry orchard - something beautiful and delightful, a beauty that always affects the souls of people and their emotional state. The symbol of the passing time is the departure of the nobility from the life of Russia.
Smart and educated people are unable to preserve the garden, that is, their way of life and way of life. In the play, a garden is cut down, and in life, noble nests are disintegrated. "All Russia is our garden." These are the words of one of the characters in the play - Petya Trofimov. The Cherry Orchard is a symbol of the future of Russia, reflections on the fate of the entire country. Will the younger generation be able to grow a new blooming garden? This question remains open in the play.
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GENRE PLAYS
The plot is the sale of a cherry orchard, owned by the ruined noblemen Ranevskaya and Gaev, brother and sister. The new owner of the garden is the merchant Lopakhin, the grandson of a serf who used to work on this estate.
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GENRE FEATURES
A. Chekhov himself called "The Cherry Orchard" a comedy not for genre definition. Thus, the author noted that the play should be performed as a comedy. If you play it like a drama or a tragedy, the intended dissonance will not work, and the deep meaning of the work will be lost. There are indeed a lot of comedic moments, situations, characters, lines in the play. "The Cherry Orchard" has the structure of a piece of music - the play is built on leitmotifs, musical techniques, repetitions are used, the sound of a broken string appears twice. There are many tears in the play, but the author noted that these are frivolous tears, you can laugh at them. Chekhov's funny is intertwined with the sad, the comic with the tragic - everything is like in real life. The heroes, on the other hand, resemble sad clowns. “It was not a drama that came out for me, but a comedy, in some places even a farce” (A. Chekhov).
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LYUBOV ANDREEVNA RANEVSKAYA
Once a wealthy noblewoman, Ranevskaya went to Paris, had a dacha in the south of France, at balls in her house "generals, barons, admirals danced." Now the past appears to her as a blossoming cherry orchard. She cannot adapt to the new conditions - she continues to waste money, showing lordly carelessness in everything. "She is good, kind, glorious ..." - says her brother Gaev about her. “She's a good person. Easy, simple ... ", - says Lopakhin about Ranevskaya. He enthusiastically admits: "My father was a serf with your grandfather and father, but you, in fact, did so much for me that I forgot everything and love you as my own ... more than my own." Ranevskaya is loved by Anya and Varya, the landowner-neighbor Simeonov-Pischik, and Petya Trofimov, and the servants. She is equally affectionate, generous and kind to everyone. But all positive qualities, combined with carelessness, spoiledness and frivolity, often turn into their opposite - cruelty and indifference. Ranevskaya generously gives a random passerby gold, but there is nothing to eat at home. Lyubov Andreevna invites the orchestra to the ball, unable to pay the musicians. Frivolity and the inability to live independently appeared thanks to the serfs who did all the work on her estate. She says that she cannot live without a cherry orchard, but the garden is sold, and she is arranging an inappropriate ball in the house. Ranevskaya is emotional and inconsistent in her actions. In the first act, she decisively tears up, without even reading, the telegrams from Paris. In the future, the heroine no longer does this, and in the finale of the play, calmed and cheerful, she willingly returns to Paris to her former lover who had tortured her, leaving Varya and Anya without money, forgetting about Firs. Love for her is the most important thing in life (the name and surname are not given by chance - the heroine is impressionable, sensitive and vulnerable). At first, she assured that Paris was over forever. But when the Yaroslavl aunt sent money, it turned out that they were not enough to save the estate, but enough to return to Europe. The nobility of Ranevskaya is that she does not blame anyone for the misfortunes that befell her. And no one reproaches Lyubov Andreevna for the fact that she actually led to a complete collapse of the family estate.
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LEONID ANDREEVICH GAYEV
Gaev is the embodiment of the image of a pathetic aristocrat. He himself admits: "They say that I ate all my fortune on candy." Gayev can be called an over-aged baby: he is 51 years old, and a footman, who is already 87, undresses him before bed. Leonid Andreevich is used to an idle life. He has two passions - playing billiards and making passionate speeches (it is no coincidence that the name Gaev is so consonant with the word gaer, which means - a jester; the one who clowns, makes faces for the amusement of others). He looks like a parody of an educated nobleman. he has a special speech, replete with billiard terms, a characteristic word - "who?" Worthlessness, laziness, idle talk and conceit are the main features of this personality. Anya says to Gaev: "Everyone loves you, respects you ... How good you are, uncle, how smart!" But Chekhov casts doubt on this opinion. Along with the lordly grace and sensitivity in Gaev, lordly arrogance and arrogance are noticeable. Leonid Andreevich is convinced of the exclusivity of the people of his circle ("white bone") and every time he lets others feel his position as a master. He is gentle with his family, but contemptuously - squeamish with the servants ("Get away, my dear, you smell like chicken" - he says to Yasha. "You are tired, brother" - Firs). He considers "grimy" Lopakhin a boor and a fist. But at the same time Gaev is proud of his closeness to the people, asserts: "It's not for nothing that a man loves me." At the beginning of the play, he swears on his honor that the cherry orchard will not be sold. But Lopakhin buys the garden, and no one remembers his empty promises and words. Gaev and Ranevskaya rejected Lopakhin's offer, but they themselves could not save their estate. This is not only the frivolity and impracticality of the ruined nobles, it is the idea that the nobility is not able, as before, to determine the path of development of the country. Their heightened sense of beauty does not allow them to make a commercial enterprise out of a poetic cherry orchard. The actions of the characters demonstrate to the viewer that it is impossible to trust the words of the landowners, spoken even sincerely and excitedly. Returning from the auction at which the cherry orchard was sold, Gaev does not hide his tears. However, his tears instantly disappear as soon as he hears the blows of the cue. This proves that deep experiences are alien to him.
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The former serf Gaev and Ranevskaya became the new owner of the cherry orchard. In the recent past, his ancestors were serfs who worked on the estate, "his grandfather and father were slaves," "they were not even allowed into the kitchen." Lopakhin exclaims: "If my father and grandfather stood up from the graves and looked at the whole incident, like their Yermolai, the beaten, illiterate Yermolai, who ran barefoot in winter, like this same Ermolai bought an estate, which is the most beautiful in the world." Ermolai managed to get out of poverty and achieve material well-being without outside help. he has many positive traits: he remembers the goodness of Ranevskaya, is hardworking ("You know, I get up at five o'clock in the morning, I work from morning to evening ..."), friendly, "a man of the greatest mind," as Pischik says about him. The enterprising merchant has a lot of energy and acumen. His hard work and perseverance were formed in difficult living conditions, and they tempered his purposeful nature. Lopakhin lives for today. His ideas are rational and practical. He correctly assesses the position of Ranevskaya and Gaev, and gives them very valuable advice. If they accepted the offer to break the cherry orchard into summer cottages and lease the land, they could save their estate and get out of a difficult financial situation. The characters have different attitudes towards Lopakhin. Ranevskaya considers him a good, interesting person, Gaev is a boor and a fist, Simeonov-Pischik is a man of great intelligence, and Petya Trofimov compares him to a beast of prey. Such a contradictory perception of Lopakhin reflects Chekhov's attitude towards him. A fashionably dressed and successful businessman lacks culture and education, and he himself often feels inferior. Business acumen etched spirituality into him (Chekhov notes the predatory nature of capitalism). By contributing to the economic progress of the country, the lopakhins are unlikely to be able to eliminate poverty, injustice, lack of culture, because in the first place they have personal interest, profit and profit. The knock of the ax cutting down the cherry orchard symbolizes the transition from the past to the present. And the future looks great when the younger generation plants and grows their new garden.
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SECONDARY CHARACTERS
Supporting characters take part in the play along with the main characters. They often repeat the thoughts of the main characters. In addition, the author has put thoughts important for understanding the play into their mouths. The governess Charlotte Ivanovna turns everything serious into funny. With her tricks and ventriloquism, she emphasizes the comedic nature of what is happening. It belongs to her that the phrase that any character could express: “where I am from and who I am - I don’t know…” Servants Yash and Dunyasha are ridiculous in their desire to be like masters in everything. In fact, these are images of Ranevskaya and Gaev brought to the grotesque. Dunyasha always powders herself, declares that she "has become tender, so delicate" and is very reminiscent of Ranevskaya. Cheeky Yasha, accusing everyone of ignorance, is a recognizable parody of Gaev. The old servant Firs personifies the "old life", "the old order." He rarely appears in the play, nevertheless he plays a significant role - he is entrusted with the final monologue. In the image of Firs, those features are emphasized that his owners are deprived of: solidity, thrift.
Chekhov dislikes Gaev, who has nothing left in his head except the rules of billiards. Lopakhin, a representative of the newly born Russian capitalism, piques his curiosity. But the author does not accept pragmatic people, for him it is obvious that nothing will come of smug Lopakhin. (Everything is miraculously arranged for non-pragmatic characters: for example, a rare white clay was suddenly found in Simeonov-Pishchik's estate, and he received money for his rent in advance). Ermolai Lopakhin is waving his arms all the time, Petya gives him advice: “Get out of this habit of waving. And, too, to build summer cottages, to expect that individual owners will eventually come out of summer residents, to count like this is also to wave ... ”Lopakhin has Napoleonic plans, but, in the author's opinion, they are not destined to come true. This is a temporary character, other times will come and the lopakhins, having done their job, will pass. Chekhov's sympathies are on the side of Petya and Anya. The eternal student Trofimov is ridiculous (pitiful galoshes, falls down the stairs), but he gets Anya's love.
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THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF RUSSIA
The Cherry Orchard is often called a work about the past, present and future of Russia. The past - Ranevskaya and Gaev. They live on memories, they are not satisfied with the present, and they do not even want to think about the future. These are educated, sophisticated people, full of inactive love for others. When they are in danger, the heroes behave like children who close their eyes in fear. Therefore, they do not accept Lopakhin's proposal to save the cherry orchard and hope for a miracle, without even trying to change anything. Ranevskaya and Gaev are not able to be masters of their land. Such people cannot influence the development of their country. The present is Lopakhin. The smug Lopakhin is a bright representative of the nascent bourgeoisie in Russia. Society has high hopes for people like him. The hero feels himself the master of life. But Lopakhin remained a "man", unable to understand that the cherry orchard is not only a symbol of beauty, but also a kind of thread that connects the past with the present. You can't cut your roots. And Yermolai recklessly destroys the old, not having built and having no plans to build something new. It cannot become the future of Russia, because it destroys beauty (cherry orchard) for its own benefit. The future is Petya and Anya. It cannot be said that the future belongs to a 17-year-old girl, full of only strength and desires to do good. Or behind an eternal student, a ridiculous "shabby gentleman" (his whole appearance is rather pathetic), who is trying to reorganize life on the basis of only vague ideas. Chekhov does not see a hero in Russian life who would become the real master of the cherry orchard. The question in the play remains open. Chekhov sees that there is no connection between times (a broken string is a symbol of a gap between generations). But Anya and Petya have to look for the answer, because so far there is no one else but them.
Dawn. Outside the window is a blooming cherry orchard.
Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya with her daughter Anya returns to her estate from Paris. The day is spent talking with family and guests. Everyone is excited by the meeting, they speak without listening to each other.
In a confidential conversation with Varya, Ranevskaya's adopted daughter, Anya learns that the merchant Lopakhin, who is considered to be Varya's fiancé, never made an offer, and this event is not expected. Anya, on the other hand, complains about the eternal lack of money in Paris and her mother's misunderstanding of the situation: she thoughtlessly scatters the last money, orders the most expensive in restaurants, gives the lackeys a ruble for tea. In response, Varya says that there is money here too
no, moreover, the estate will be sold in August.
Petya Trofimov is still in the estate. This is a student, a former tutor of the late son of Ranevskaya, Grisha, who drowned in the river at the age of seven. Anya, having learned about Petya's presence, is afraid that the sight of the latter will evoke bitter memories in her mother.
Old footman Firs appears, puts on white gloves and begins to set the table.
Enter Lubov Andreevna, her brother Leonid Andreevich Gaev and Lopakhin. The merchant had to leave at five o'clock, but he wanted so much to look at Lyubov Andreyevna, to talk to her, she is just as magnificent.
His father was her father's serf, but she once did so much for him that he forgot everything and loves her more than his own. Ranevskaya is happy to return home. Gayev, telling her the news, from time to time takes a box of candies from his pocket and sucks. Lopakhin says that the estate is being sold for debts, and offers to divide this land into summer cottages and lease them.
Then they will have twenty-five thousand income a year. True, the old buildings will have to be demolished and the garden cut down. Lyubov Andreevna categorically objects: the garden is the most wonderful place in the whole province.
According to Lopakhin, they have no other way out, the only wonderful thing about the garden is that it is very large, and a cherry is born every two years, and no one buys that one either. But Firs remembers that in the past, dried cherries were transported by carts to Moscow and Kharkov, they rescued a lot of money. Varya gives her mother two telegrams from Paris, but the past is over, and Lyubov Andreyevna tears them up. Gaev, changing the subject,
turns to the closet, which is a hundred years old, and begins to make a sentimental, high-flown speech, bringing himself to tears. The sister sums it up. that he is still the same, Gaev is embarrassed. Lopakhin reminds that if they decide about summer cottages, he will lend money and leave. Lyubov Andreevna and Leonid Andreevich admire the garden, remember their childhood.
Petya Trofimov enters in a worn student's uniform. Lyubov Andreyevna hugs him, cries. and, looking closely, asks why he has grown so old and ugly, and after all he was once a sweet student. Petya says that in the carriage, a woman called him a shabby gentleman and, probably, he will be an eternal student.
Gaev and Varya remain in the room. Gaev notices that her sister has not lost the habit of wasting money. he has a lot of ideas on how to improve matters: it would be nice to get an inheritance, it would be nice to marry Anya to a very rich man, it would be nice to go to Yaroslavl and ask for money from his aunt-countess. The aunt is very rich, but does not like them: firstly, Ranevskaya married a faithful juror, not a nobleman, and secondly, she did not behave very virtuous.
Lyubov Andreyevna is kind, glorious, but she is vicious. Then they notice that Anya is standing at the door. The uncle kisses her, the girl reproaches him for the last words and asks him to be silent, then he himself will be calmer. He agrees and excitedly changes his plans to save the estate: it will be possible to arrange a loan against promissory notes in order to pay the interest to the bank, Anya's mother will talk to Lopakhin, he will not refuse her, and Anya will rest and go to her grandmother in Yaroslavl. This is how things will work out. He swears that he will not allow the estate to be sold. Anya
reassured you and, happy, hugs your uncle. Firs appears, reproaches Daev that he had not yet gone to bed, and everyone left.
The work "The Cherry Orchard" was created by Chekhov in 1903. This is a play about the decline of noble life on estates, about the imaginary and real masters of the Russian land, about the inevitable renewal of Russia. Chekhov presented the obsolete past of Russia with the play "The Cherry Orchard". A summary will follow below.
First, let's introduce the main actors:
Landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya. Her own daughter Anya is 17 years old. The adopted daughter Varya is 24 years old. Ranevskaya's brother - Gaev Leonid Andreevich. Student Trofimov Petr Sergeevich. Governess Charlotte Ivanovna. Merchant Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich. Landowner Semionov-Pischik Boris Borisovich. The maid Dunyasha. Young footman Yasha. Old footman Firs. Clerk Semyon Panteleevich Epikhodov.
"The Cherry Orchard": a summary of the first act
Dawn. Outside the window, spring, cherry trees in bloom can be seen. Only the garden is still cold, so all the windows are closed. Lopakhin and Dunyasha enter the room. They talk about the train that was late. And Lopakhin is upset that he could not meet Lyubov Andreevna, who recently lived abroad, at the station.
Then Epikhodov enters, he recently proposed to Dunyasha. Everyone hears two carriages approaching. A commotion begins. Enter Firs, a footman, dressed in an antique livery. And behind him is Ranevskaya, Gaev, Anya, Simionov-Pischik and Charlotte Ivanovna. Anya and Ranevskaya recall the past.
Then Anya talks to Varya. She talks about her own story about how she found her mother there without money, among strangers. But Ranevskaya did not seem to understand her position. She gives the footmen a ruble for tea, order the most exquisite and expensive dishes. But in fact, the money was barely enough to get home. And now the estate must be sold, the auction is scheduled for August.
"The Cherry Orchard": a summary of the second act
Evening. Sunset. The action takes place at an abandoned chapel. Lopakhin is interested in plots for summer cottages. He believes that the land should be divided into plots and leased. Only for this you will have to cut down the cherry orchard. But Ranevskaya and Gaev are against this, they call it vulgarity. Gaev dreams of some kind of inheritance, of the Yaroslavl aunt, who promised to give money, but how much it will be and when is unknown. Merchant Lopakhin once again recalls the auction.
"The Cherry Orchard": a summary of the third and fourth acts
A Jewish orchestra is playing. Couples dancing around. Varya worries that the musicians have been invited, but they have nothing to pay. Ranevskaya cannot wait for her brother to arrive from the auction. Everyone hopes that he bought the estate for the money sent by the Yaroslavl aunt. Only she sent only fifteen thousand, and they won't even be enough for interest. Gaev and Lopakhin are returning from the auction. Gaev is crying. Ranevskaya learns that the garden has been sold, its new owner is Lopakhin. She almost faints.
The rooms have little furniture, no curtains or paintings. There is luggage. Lopakhin warns that in a few minutes you have to go. Gaev went to work at a bank. Ranevskaya goes to Paris with her aunt's money sent from Yaroslavl. Yasha is traveling with her. Gaev and Ranevskaya are depressed, they say goodbye to the house. Anya thinks that her mother will return to her soon. And she will go to school, go to work and help her mother. All noisily get out and go to the station. And only the forgotten Firs remained in the closed house. Silence. The clatter of an ax becomes audible.
The Cherry Orchard: Analysis. Highlights
A brief summary tells us that Gaev and Ranevskaya are an obsolete past. The cherry orchard is dear to them as a memory of childhood days, well-being, youth, an easy and graceful life. And Lopakhin understands this. He is trying to help Ranevskaya by offering to lease out plots. There is simply no other way out. Only the lady, as always, is careless, she thinks that everything will somehow resolve itself. And when the garden was sold, she did not grieve for long. The heroine is not capable of serious experiences, she easily passes from anxiety to cheerful animation. And Lopakhin is proud of his purchase and dreams of his new life. Yes, he bought the estate, but he still remained a man. And although the owners of the cherry orchard have gone bankrupt, they are, as before, gentlemen.
Konstantin Stanislavsky as Gaev. Production of "The Cherry Orchard" at the Moscow Art Theater. 1904 year
Leonid Leonidov as Lopakhin. Production of "The Cherry Orchard" at the Moscow Art Theater. 1904 year© Album "Plays of A. Chekhov". Supplement to the magazine "Sun of Russia", No. 7, 1914
Alexander Artyom as Firs. Production of "The Cherry Orchard" at the Moscow Art Theater. 1904 year© Album "Plays of A. Chekhov". Supplement to the magazine "Sun of Russia", No. 7, 1914
Vasily Katchalov as Petit Trofimov and Maria Lilina as Ani. Production of "The Cherry Orchard" at the Moscow Art Theater, Act II. 1904 year © Album "Plays of A. Chekhov". Supplement to the magazine "Sun of Russia", No. 7, 1914
Firs: "They left ... They forgot about me." Production of "The Cherry Orchard" at the Moscow Art Theater, Act IV. 1904 year© Album "Plays of A. Chekhov". Supplement to the magazine "Sun of Russia", No. 7, 1914
Cotillion. Staging of The Cherry Orchard at the Moscow Art Theater, Act III. 1904 year© Album "Plays of A. Chekhov". Supplement to the magazine "Sun of Russia", No. 7, 1914
In this very first production of The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov did not like a lot. The author's disagreements with Konstantin Stanislavsky, who staged a play written specifically for the Moscow Art Theater, concerned the distribution of roles between performers, mood and genre (Stanislavsky was convinced that he was staging a tragedy), even staging means reflecting the naturalistic aesthetics of the early Moscow Art Theater. “I will write a new play, and it will begin like this: 'How wonderful, how quiet! There are no birds, no dogs, no cuckoos, no owls, no nightingales, no clocks, no bells and not a single cricket, ”Stanislavsky quoted Chekhov's snide joke about the sound score that recreates the life of the estate. Today not a single Chekhov biography or history of the Moscow Art Theater bypasses this conflict between the writer and the theater. But the oppressive atmosphere, streams of tears and everything that frightened Chekhov is at odds with the few surviving fragments of later versions of The Cherry Orchard - a performance that remained in the theater's repertoire until the second half of the 1930s and was constantly changing, including thanks to Stanislavsky. For example, with a short final scene with Firs recorded on film: the voice of a footman performed by Mikhail Tarkhanov sounds in it - despite the situation of a forgotten servant in the house, how hard every movement is given to this decrepit old man, in spite of everything - suddenly unusually young. Just now, Ranevskaya, sobbing, said goodbye to her youth on stage, and she miraculously returned to Firs in these very last minutes.
1954 year. "Company Renault - Barrot", Paris. Director - Jean Louis Barrot
Scene from Jean Louis Barrot's production of The Cherry Orchard. Paris, 1954© Manuel Litran / Paris Match Archive / Getty Images
Scene from Jean Louis Barrot's production of The Cherry Orchard. Paris, 1954© Manuel Litran / Paris Match Archive / Getty Images
Scene from Jean Louis Barrot's production of The Cherry Orchard. Paris, 1954© Manuel Litran / Paris Match Archive / Getty Images
Outstanding European productions of The Cherry Orchard began to appear only after the war. Historians of the theater explain this by the extremely strong impression of Western directors from the Moscow Art Theater performance, which more than once took Chekhov's play on tour. The Cherry Orchard staged by Jean Louis Barrot did not become a breakthrough, but it is a very interesting example of how the European theater, in search of its Chekhov, was slowly getting out of the influence of the Moscow Art Theater. From the director Barrot, who in these years discovered for himself and the audience his theater Camus and Kafka, who continued to stage his main author, Claudel, one could expect Chekhov to be read through the prism of the latest theater. But there is nothing of this in Barro's Cherry Orchard: listening to the surviving recording of his radio broadcast, you remember about absurdism only when Gaev, in response to Lopakhin's business proposal to arrange dachas on the site of the estate, is outraged: "Absurde!" The Cherry Orchard staged by the Renault Barrot Company is first of all (and strictly according to Chekhov) a comedy, in which a huge place was given to music. Pierre Boulez, with whom the theater collaborated during these years, was responsible for her in the play. The role of Ranevskaya was played by Barrot's wife, the co-founder of the theater, who earned her fame as a comic actress "Comedie Francaise", Madeleine Reno. And Barro himself unexpectedly chose the role of Petya Trofimov for himself: perhaps the great mime was close to the hero who deciphered the character of the merchant Lopakhin by his hands - "gentle fingers, like an artist."
1974 year. Teatro Piccolo, Milan. Director - Giorgio Strehler
Rehearsal of Giorgio Strehler's play The Cherry Orchard. Milan, 1974© Mondadori Portfolio / Getty Images
Tino Carraro directed by Giorgio Strehler "The Cherry Orchard"
Tino Carraro and Enzo Tarasho, directed by Giorgio Strehler "The Cherry Orchard"© Mario De Biasi / Mondadori Portfolio / Getty Images
“Craig wants the set to be as fluid as music and help to perfect certain places in a piece, just as with music it is possible to follow the turns of an action and emphasize them. He wants the scenery to change with the play, ”wrote artist Rene Pio in 1910 after meeting with English director and set designer Gordon Craig. The set by Luciano Damiani in The Cherry Orchard directed by Giorgio Strehler, due to its striking simplicity, has become perhaps the best example of this way of working with space in modern theater. Above the snow-white stage, a wide, in the entire depth of the stage, a translucent curtain was stretched, which at different moments either quietly swayed over the heroes, then dropped dangerously low over them, then sprinkled them with dry leaves. The scenery turned into a partner for the actors, and they themselves were reflected in their own way in very few objects on the stage, such as children's toys taken from a century-old closet. The plastic score of Ranevskaya, played by the actress Valentina Cortese for Strehler, was based on rotation, and the top launched by Gayev rhymed with this movement, spinning for a minute and then suddenly flying off its axis.
1981 year. Theater "Buff-du-Nord", Paris. Director - Peter Brook
"The Cherry Orchard" by Peter Brook at the Theater "Buff du Nord". 1981 year© Nicolas Treatt / archivesnicolastreatt.net
In his lectures on the history of literature, Naum Berkovsky called the subtext the language of enemies, and his appearance in the drama he associated with the changing relationships of people at the beginning of the 19th century. In The Cherry Orchard by Peter Brook, the characters have no enemies among each other. Nor did the director have them in the play. And the subtext in Chekhov's work suddenly radically changed its quality, ceased to be a method of concealment, but, on the contrary, turned into a means of revealing to each other that which cannot be conveyed through words. Played with little or no decorations (the walls and floors of the old Parisian theater "Buff-du-Nord" were covered with carpets), this performance was closely associated with post-war literature: “Chekhov writes extremely succinctly, using a minimum of words, and his writing style is reminiscent of Pinter or Beckett - said Brooke in an interview. "For Chekhov, like them, composition, rhythm, purely theatrical poetry of the only exact word, pronounced then and in the right way, plays a role." Among the countless, still emerging interpretations of The Cherry Orchard as a drama of absurdity, perhaps the most unusual thing about Brook's performance was precisely the fact that, read through Beckett and Pinter, his Chekhov sounded in a new way, but remained himself.
2003 year. Stanislavsky International Foundation and Meno Fortas Theater, Vilnius. Director - Eimuntas Nyakrosius
The play "The Cherry Orchard" by Eimuntas Nyakrosius. Festival "Golden Mask". Moscow, 2004
Evgeny Mironov as Lopakhin in the play "The Cherry Orchard" by Eimuntas Nyakrosius. Festival "Golden Mask". Moscow, 2004 © Dmitry Korobeinikov / RIA Novosti
The first thing that the audience saw on the stage was the garments of the inhabitants of the house thrown on top of each other, standing behind low columns, two hoops that came from nowhere: a seemingly manor house, but as if reassembled from almost random objects. In this "Cherry Orchard" there were references to Strehler, but there was not even a trace of the poetry of the Italian Chekhovian performance. However, the performance of Nyakrosius itself was built rather according to the laws of a poetic text. The six hours he walked, connections between things, gestures (as always in Nyakrosius, an unusually rich plastic score), sounds (like the unbearably loud cry of swallows) and music, unexpected animal parallels of the heroes - these connections multiplied at an extraordinary speed, penetrating all levels ... "A gloomy and splendid mass," wrote the theater expert Pavel Markov about Meyerhold's "The Inspector General", and this is exactly what the impression of the Lithuanian director's performance staged together with Moscow artists for the centenary
plays.