Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard" combines several key ideas and thoughts - the conflict of generations, the end of the Russian nobility, attachment to home and family. In the center of the story is a cherry orchard owned by the landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya. The difficult financial situation makes her go for the sale of the garden, to which Ranevskaya herself is strongly attached by soul. For her, this place is the personification of family, comfort, calm, measured life without change.
Chekhov paid great attention to female images in his works. The character of Ranevskaya in the productions of The Cherry Orchard is one of the brightest Chekhov's images, around which critics are constantly arguing. Despite the external complexity of this heroine, there are no contradictions in her, she is true to her thoughts and principles.
Lyubov Andreevna was married to a "sworn attorney" of non-noble origin. The husband had huge debts, drank a lot, from which he died soon. Not experiencing happiness in marriage, but experiencing the loss of a spouse, Ranevskaya starts an affair with another. However, the woman has to experience a new grief - the tragic death of her little son, after which Ranevskaya tries to escape from her grief to Paris. The lover goes with her, but instead of support and sincere sympathy, Lyubov Andreevna receives only a waste of her fortune, after which she remains alone. Then the landowner returns home.
The characterization of this heroine is dual: on the one hand, Lyubov Andreevna is well educated, has an excellent upbringing, she is true to her convictions, kind to others and generous. On the other hand, the depravity of Ranevskaya, her inability to think rationally, is clearly visible. A woman loves to live for her own pleasure, without denying herself anything, which eventually leads to a sad end: the need to sell the garden.
Ranevskaya herself speaks of her inability to manage money and her habit of littering them. Despite this recklessness and even viciousness, others love this woman, are drawn to her. In the situation with the garden, there is also a duality in the character of Lyubov Andreevna: she is very attached to this place, therefore she is very worried about the need to sell it, but she tries to disguise her feelings with ease of behavior. Ranevskaya sings melodies and throws a ball at the estate before the auction. And in these actions - the whole essence of Ranevskaya.
The reluctance to sell the cherry orchard, the fear of change is not a reason to take any action for Lyubov Andreevna. Lopakhin offers several real ways to save the site, but Ranevskaya prefers to express her suffering only in words, without putting the merchant's ideas into practice. The landowner is somewhat detached from the real world, she lives in her fantasies, and this detachment more than once leads to a sad ending. Cultured, educated, sensitive Ranevskaya is a bright representative of a disappearing aristocratic society, literally in front of her eyes, being forced out by people of a new formation - active and down to earth.
The play "The Cherry Orchard" became the pearl of A.P. Chekhov's work. Literary critics continue to argue about what the cherry orchard symbolized. And the created characters of the characters cause conflicting opinions, but they will not leave readers indifferent. Below is a description of Ranevskaya from The Cherry Orchard.
Heroine's story
You need to start characterizing Ranevskaya from The Cherry Orchard with an acquaintance with the history of her life. This will allow you to better understand the character of the heroine. And in the play itself, the reader learns about the events of her life from Lyubov Andreevna herself. At the very beginning, it is said that Ranevskaya is returning from Paris with her youngest daughter Anya. Lyubov Andreevna spent five years in this city, and she did not return from longing for Russia.
She had to return due to the fact that their family estate with a cherry orchard could be sold for debts. Ranevskaya married some barrister who was not a nobleman. The husband did only one thing - he drank a lot, and died from alcohol abuse (namely, champagne). The reader understands that marriage with such a person hardly made the heroine happy.
She has a short romance. Her son, being small, drowns, and, feeling guilty, Lyubov Andreevna goes abroad. But the lover leaves after her, and after several years of a passionate romance, he leaves her without regret. At the same time, he robs her, leaving her without a livelihood. After his betrayal, Lyubov Andreevna tried to poison herself, but, fortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful.
Her daughter Anna follows her. And no matter how strange it may seem, this vulnerable and impressionable girl understands and pities her mother. In Russia, Lyubov Andreevna lived only 5 months, and after the sale of the estate, she returns to Paris to her lover. Such is the sad story of Ranevskaya from The Cherry Orchard.
The inner world of the heroine
When characterizing Ranevskaya from The Cherry Orchard, one should try to reveal the contradictory nature of the heroine. Lyubov Andreevna is attractive, kind, has a sense of humor, but at the same time she cannot be called an intelligent and reasonable woman. After all, she does not seek to change the situation in which she finds herself. She rejects a reasonable decision that would not only save the family estate, but also improve the financial situation.
Of course, this was short-sighted on her part, but it showed her as a sentimental woman who could not agree to sell the house and cut down the cherry orchard because of the memories associated with it. Lyubov Andreevna is a very frivolous woman, because she does not think about the future, what will happen to her daughters, for her there is love, because of which she returns to Paris. And this can be considered not only as windiness and stupidity on her part, but also as a hope that she will also have happiness. That is why the image of Ranevskaya in the play "The Cherry Orchard" turned out to be so contradictory.
Relationships with other characters
In the characterization of Ranevskaya from The Cherry Orchard, a brief description of her relationship with other characters should be given. She developed the closest relationship with her youngest daughter, who, due to her age, is an impressionable nature and understands and pities her mother. She has a close relationship with her brother, Gaev, because they share common memories and kinship. Lopakhin is the complete opposite of Lyubov Andreevna, he is guided by reason, and she is guided by emotions. Despite the difference in characters, everyone sympathizes with Ranevskaya and tries to help her save the estate.
Relationship to the estate
In the characterization of Ranevskaya from The Cherry Orchard, one should also talk about how she relates to the garden itself. For Lyubov Andreevna, he is associated with her happiest time in her life - her childhood, youth. Walking along it, Ranevskaya saw herself as a little girl enjoying life. Therefore, she could not agree to his sale, perhaps this was the only thing that connected Lyubov Andreevna with Russia. Ranevskaya is one of the main characters of the play with a controversial character, so she is one of the brightest Chekhov heroines.
Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya.
| Quotes. | Comment. |
| Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, landowner. | |
| “She is a good person. Easy, simple man. | About her Lopakhin. |
| “Six years ago my father died, a month later my brother Grisha, a pretty seven-year-old boy, drowned in the river. Mom couldn’t bear it, she left, left, without looking back ... (Starts.) How I understand her, if she knew!” | Anya about the tragedy in the family. |
| “God knows, I love my homeland, I love dearly, I couldn’t look from the car, I kept crying. (Through tears.) However, you need to drink coffee. | High-flown words about love for the motherland Ranevskaya immediately interrupts with ordinary phrases about coffee. There is a lot of artistry, ostentation in her speech and behavior. |
| “... I won’t survive this joy ... Laugh at me, I’m stupid ... My closet is dear ... (Kisses the closet.) My table.” Gaev. And without you here the nanny died. Lyubov Andreevna (sits down and drinks coffee). Yes, the kingdom of heaven. They wrote to me. | Glad to be home. But again, everything is ostentatious: love for things and indifference to the fate of people. Too calmly perceived the death of the nanny. |
| “Oh, my garden! After a dark, rainy autumn and cold winter, you are young again, full of happiness, the angels of heaven have not abandoned you ... If only a heavy stone could be removed from my chest and shoulders, if I could forget my past! | The past weighs on the soul of the heroine. |
| Gaev. Yes, and the garden will be sold for debts, oddly enough ... | Ranevskaya does not seem to hear these words of her brother about the fate of the garden, she is not trying to do anything to save the estate. |
| “She married a non-nobleman and behaved, one cannot say, very virtuously. She is good, kind, nice, I love her very much, but no matter how you think of extenuating circumstances, nevertheless, I must admit she is vicious. It is felt in her slightest movement. | Gaev speaks about his sister in a very contradictory way. |
| Lyubov Andreevna (looks in his wallet). Yesterday there was a lot of money, and today there is very little. My poor Varya, out of economy, feeds everyone with milk soup, in the kitchen they give old people one pea, and I spend like a meaningless. | Ranevskaya just squanders money. At a time when the family has no money even for a normal meal. |
| « I've always been throwing money away without restraint, like a madwoman, and married a man who did nothing but debt. | Critical of himself. |
| « You boldly look ahead, and is it not because you do not see and do not expect anything terrible, since life is still hidden from your young eyes? You are bolder, more honest, deeper than us, but think about it, be generous at the tip of your finger, spare me. After all, I was born here, my father and mother lived here, my grandfather, I love this house, without a cherry orchard I don't understand my life, and if you really need to sell it, then sell me along with the garden ... (Hugs Trofimov, kisses him on the forehead.) After all, my son drowned here ... " | Trofimov. Ranevskaya asks to spare her feelings, because the garden is so dear to her. At the same time, she understands that young people are more honest, bolder than the older generation. |
| Lyubov Andreevna. This is a telegram from Paris. I receive every day. Both yesterday and today. This wild man fell ill again, it’s not good with him again ... He asks for forgiveness, begs to come, and really I should have gone to Paris to be near him. ... he is sick, he is lonely, unhappy, and who will look after him there, who will keep him from making mistakes, who will give him medicine in time? And what is there to hide or be silent, I love him, that's clear. Love love…" | Trofimov. Ranevskaya admits that she loves the person who is now there, in Paris, who needs her help. And if at first she did not read his telegrams, then after a while she already wants to go to him. |
| Trofimov. After all he is a scoundrel only you don't know this! He's a petty scoundrel, a nonentity... | About her lover Ranevskaya, when she said that she wanted to go to Paris with him, because he needed him. |
| "You have to be a man, at your age need to understand those who love. And you need to love yourself ... you need to fall in love! | He accuses Trofimov of not understanding her feelings, says that he needs to fall in love, then he will be able to understand her. |
| “I am leaving for Paris, I will live there with the money that your Yaroslavl grandmother sent to buy an estate - long live grandmother! “But that money won’t last long.” | Anya before leaving. Ranevskaya does not think about the future, about where she will take the money. As long as she has them, and she is ready to go to her beloved again. |
| “I am leaving with two concerns. The first is sick Firs. My second sadness is Varya. She was used to getting up early and working, and now without difficulty she is like a fish without water. She lost weight, turned pale and cries, poor thing ... ". | Ranevskaya leaves, not caring about the fate of people close and devoted to her. She never made sure that Firs a was taken to the hospital. She leaves Anya, Varya, and her brother to the mercy of fate. So many unfinished business, and she's leaving. This is indifference, love is only ostentatious, external, in the foreground are her interests and feelings. |
General conclusion.
- Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya- landowner, one of the mistresses of the family estate. Once she was rich, littered with money. Generals and barons danced at her evenings. A blooming cherry orchard for her is a symbol of a beautiful past life.
- However, that time has long passed. Her husband drank, dying from this, she went abroad for her lover, but he robbed her. At the beginning of the play, the author showed how she and her daughter Anya return to their native estate. But he is about to be sold for debts.
- The heroine has two daughters - Anya, she is 17 years old, and Varya, her adopted daughter, her 24 years old.
- She is very happy to return, everything in the house is dear to her, because it reminds her of her childhood, her parents, her dead son Grisha. It seems to her that she is able to start a new life.
- There are many attractive features in Ranevskaya: kindness, charm, enthusiasm, love for nature, music, emotionality.
- However, Ranevskaya is not capable of decisive action. So, she doesn’t want to hear about Lopakhin’s proposal to sell the estate to summer residents. He continues to waste money: he eats in an expensive restaurant, orders musicians, distributes money to a passer-by and peasants. Ranevskaya, like her brother Gaev, it seems that everything will somehow be decided by itself, that something will happen and the estate will again belong to them.
- She is very frivolous, even helpless in solving everyday problems. Someone has to decide for her.
- By nature, she is a kind, considerate woman. It is no coincidence that Lopakhin recalls all his life how she reassured him as a child after his father's beatings. Peasants, servants love her, everyone regrets when she goes abroad again.
- However, she does not undertake anything serious in the fate of her loved ones. Ranevskaya leaves the children (Anya will study, work, Varya entered the service of the landowners), did not complete the deal with Firs, because he was never admitted to the hospital. So many unfinished business, and she's leaving. This is indifference, love is only ostentatious, external, in the foreground is her interests and feelings.
- Ranevskaya is selfish, she lives with feelings. It is no coincidence that her brother calls her "vicious."
- Attitude towards the heroine is ambiguous. She evokes sympathy, because fate was sometimes so cruel to her. At the same time, she herself is largely to blame for her situation: inability to work, idle life, inability to live, some indifference to the fate of people, although kindness to them - all this cannot cause sympathy. The author showed that the time of the nobility, as an estate that is not able to keep up with the times, has already gone. You have to change, otherwise you just end up with nothing. Namely, this is what awaits Ranevskaya after a certain time, when the money runs out.
The material was prepared by: Melnikova Vera Alexandrovna.
Anya is one of the truly sincere and open characters in A.P. Chekhov's play, which has become a classic of Russian fiction.
The image and characterization of Anya Trofimova in the play "The Cherry Orchard" is a hope for the spiritual rebirth of Russia.
The role of the heroine in the play
Anya Ranevskaya is not the main character of the work. She is assigned a role of secondary importance, she complements the plot of the play, helps to understand the problem raised by the author of the play. A.P. Chekhov himself tries to characterize the role of the character in his letters. In one of the letters, he says that Anya's role is "short and uninteresting." This young and thin girl is an example of childishness, naivety and burning hopes for a better life. For actors, the author simplifies the task. In his opinion, it can be "played by anyone." The main thing is external similarity. Youth, a sonorous voice, the ability to hold back tears and be cheerful and carefree. But if you do not think about the significance of literature, you can deny the importance of many insignificant characters. Anna cannot be removed from the text. It helps to understand the character of many heroes:
- loss and fear of Vari's life;
- isolation from the real perception of the mother's life;
- laziness and parasitism of representatives of the nobility;
- love for the chatter of the learned Peter;
- the insincerity of Gaev's words;
- vanity of Lopakhin.
Girl character
Anya is 17 years old, she has not yet matured and feels like a naive child in her soul. Anya's mother is an impoverished noblewoman who does not understand the complexity of her position. She is in the air, making plans that are not destined to come true. Part of her demeanor passed on to her daughter. Anya flew in a balloon in Paris, she admires ordinary things, enjoys life and does not understand people. Anya spent most of her life abroad. She was educated by a governess of French origin with an unknown past. Governess Charlotte is a circus performer. It cannot be assumed that her knowledge is sufficient for a girl. Anya independently searched for what helped her become interesting and educated. She read a lot, looking for correct life principles in books. The books did their job: the girl grew up enthusiastic and emotional. She easily succumbs to the ideas of Peter, believes his every word. The young man was the teacher of the deceased brother, but it is likely that his lessons were also interesting for Anya.The daughter loves her mother very much, she chooses the most tender words for her: beautiful, kind, good. Anya loves her half-sister Varya, she treats her as affectionately as her mother: beautiful, darling.
Anya and eternal student Petya
Ranevskaya is friends with Peter Trofimov. Young people talk, looking for the meaning of happiness and freedom. They do not accept the possibility of feelings of love between them, trying to deny love in existence. Their goal is a bright star that shines in the distance and beckons them with its light. The author does not give the exact content of their conversations. The reader is forced to guess what the heroes of the play dream about. There is only fragmentary data of their hopes:- new cherry orchard;
- quiet cozy house;
- reading books in the evenings;
- happy people around.
Connection with nature
The play describes the loss of a beautiful old cherry orchard. Few objects from the author give the reader the opportunity to imagine real beauty. Anya grew up in a quiet estate, among beautiful trees. It was nature that allowed the girl to maintain the purity of her soul and thoughts. Young Russia is a new cherry orchard, it is the aroma of freedom and movement towards a dream. Anya will help her loved ones, she will change the usual way of life of the nobility. The girl will be able to start working and achieve her goals not with the help of rich relatives, but on her own, like a truly happy person."The Cherry Orchard" is the last work of A.P. Chekhov, which completed his creative biography, his ideological and artistic searches. This play embodies the new stylistic principles worked out by the writer, new methods of plot construction and composition.
Having started work on the play in March 1903, Chekhov sent it to the Art Theater in October, on the stage of which the first performance of The Cherry Orchard took place on January 17, 1904. The premiere of the performance coincided with the writer's stay in Moscow, with his name day and birthday, and the theater actors arranged a solemn celebration of their beloved playwright.
Consider one of the main images of the play - the image of Ranevskaya.
The action of the play, as the author informs in the very first remark, takes place on the estate of the landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya. This is a real “noble nest”, with a cherry orchard surrounded by poplars, with a long alley that “goes straight, straight, like an outstretched belt” and “glitters on moonlit nights”.
The Cherry Orchard is a symbolic image in the play. He brings together very different characters, each of which has his own idea of him. But the cherry garden will separate all the characters at the end of the play.
The Cherry Orchard as a beautiful home for Ranevskaya exists only in her beautiful past. It is associated with the memory of childhood, of youth.
Ranevskaya appears in her house, where she has not been for five years. And this is her last, farewell visit to the Motherland. The heroine comes from abroad, from a man who robbed her, but whom she still loves very much. At home, Ranevskaya thought to find peace. Nature itself in the play seems to remind her of the need for spiritual renewal, beauty, and the happiness of human life.
Ranevskaya, devastated by love, returns to her estate in the spring. In the cherry orchard - "white masses of flowers", starlings sing, the blue sky glistens over the garden. Nature is preparing for renewal - and hopes for a new, clean, bright life awaken in Ranevskaya's soul: “All, all white! O my garden! After a dark, miserable autumn and a cold winter, you are young again, full of happiness, the angels of heaven have not abandoned you. If only I could remove a heavy stone from my chest and shoulders, if only I could forget my past!”
But the past does not allow itself to be forgotten, since Ranevskaya herself lives with a sense of the past. She is the creation of a noble culture, which disappears before our eyes from the present, remains only in memories. A new class takes its place, new people - the emerging bourgeois, businessmen, ready to do anything for the sake of money. Both Ranevskaya and the garden are defenseless against the threat of death and ruin. When Lopakhin offers her the only real means to save the house, Ranevskaya replies: "Dachas and summer residents - it's so vulgar, I'm sorry."
It turns out that, on the one hand, Ranevskaya does not want to cut down the garden, as it is a symbol of her happy youth, her aspirations, hopes. Yes, besides, the garden in the spring is simply magnificent in its color - it's a pity to cut down such beauty because of some dachas. But, on the other hand, the author shows us Ranevskaya's indifference to the fate of the cherry orchard, and to the fate of loved ones. All her spiritual strength, energy was absorbed by love passion, which gradually enslaved the will of this woman, drowned out her natural responsiveness to the joys and misfortunes of the people around her.
Emphasizing the feeling of Ranevskaya's indifference, Chekhov shows us the attitude of the heroine towards the telegrams from Paris. This ratio is directly dependent on the degree of threat hanging over the garden. In the first act, while they are only talking about the possibility of selling, Ranevskaya "tearing the telegram without reading it." In the second act, the buyer is already known - Ranevskaya reads and tears the telegram. In the third act, the bidding took place - she confesses that she decided to go to Paris to the man who robbed and abandoned her. In Paris, Ranevskaya is going to live on the money that her grandmother sent to buy the estate.
The heroine completely forgot all the insults caused to her by her former lover. In Russia, she leaves everyone to the mercy of fate. Varya, the adopted daughter of Ranevskaya, is forced to become a housekeeper to the Ragulins. Lyubov Andreevna does not care about her fate at all, although she made an attempt to marry Varya to Lopakhin. But this attempt was unsuccessful.
Ranevskaya is impractical, selfish, careless. She forgets about Firs, the servant who has worked for them all his life. She does not like the life of her daughters - neither Ani nor Varya, forgetting about them in the heat of her passion. It is not known for what whim, Ranevskaya arranges a ball, while auctions are going on in the city, although she herself understands the inappropriateness of what is happening: “And the musicians came inopportunely, and we started the ball inopportunely ... Well, nothing ... (Sits down and cries softly) ".
But, at the same time, the heroine is kind, sympathetic, her sense of beauty does not fade. She is ready to help everyone, ready to give the last money. So, Ranevskaya gives the last gold to the drunkard. But this also shows its impracticality. She knows that at home Varya feeds everyone with milk soup, and the servants with peas. But such is the nature of this heroine.
The image of Ranevskaya is very contradictory, one cannot say whether she is good or bad. In the play, this image is not unambiguously regarded, since it is a living, complex and contradictory character.
