"The Cherry Orchard" is a lyrical play by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov in four acts, the genre of which the author himself defined as a comedy.
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The success of the play, written in 1903, was so obvious that on January 17, 1904, the comedy was shown in the Moscow art theater. « The Cherry Orchard"- one of the most famous Russian plays created at that time. It is noteworthy that it is based on Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's own painful impressions of his friend A.S. Kiselev, whose estate was also auctioned off.
An important thing in the history of the creation of the play is that Anton Pavlovich Chekhov wrote it already at the end of his life, being seriously ill. That is why the work on the work progressed very difficult: about three years passed from the beginning of the play to its production.
This is the first reason. The second lies in Chekhov's desire to fit into his play, intended for staging on the stage, the whole result of reflections on the fate of his characters, the work on the images of which was carried out very scrupulously.
Artistic originality plays became the pinnacle of Chekhov's work as a playwright.
Step one: meeting the characters in the play
The heroes of the play - Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich, the maid Dunyasha, the clerk Epikhodov Semyon Panteleevich (who is very clumsy, "22 misfortunes", as those around him call him) - are waiting for the mistress of the estate, the landowner Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna, to arrive. She is due to return after a five-year absence, and the household is in turmoil. Finally, Lyubov Andreevna and her daughter Anya crossed the threshold of their house. The hostess is incredibly glad that she has finally returned to her native land. Nothing has changed here in five years. Sisters Anya and Varya are talking to each other, rejoicing at the long-awaited meeting, the maid Dunyasha is preparing coffee, ordinary household trifles make the landowner tender. She is kind and generous - and to the old lackey Firs, and to other household members, she willingly talks with her own brother, Leonid Gaev, but her beloved daughters evoke special quivering feelings. Everything, it would seem, goes on as usual, but suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, the message of the merchant Lopakhin: "... Your estate is being sold for debts, but there is a way out... Here is my project..." , after cutting it out. He claims that this will bring a considerable income to the family - 25 thousand a year and save him from complete ruin, but no one agrees to such a proposal. The family does not want to part with the cherry orchard, which they consider the best and to which they are attached with all their hearts.
So, no one listens to Lopakhin. Ranevskaya pretends that nothing is happening and continues to answer meaningless questions about the trip to Paris, not wanting to accept reality as it is. Again, a casual conversation starts about nothing.
Entered Petya Trofimov, former teacher dead son Ranevskaya Grisha, at first unrecognized by her, with his reminder causes tears in his mother. The day is ending... Finally, everyone goes to bed.
Action two: there is very little left before the sale of the cherry orchard
The action takes place in nature, near an old church, from where you can see both the cherry orchard and the city. There is very little time left before the sale of the cherry orchard at auction - literally a matter of days. Lopakhin is trying to convince Ranevskaya and her brother to rent the garden for summer cottages, but no one wants to hear him again, they hope for the money that the Yaroslavl aunt will send. Lyubov Ranevskaya recalls the past, perceiving her misfortunes as a punishment for sins. First, her husband died from champagne, then Grisha's son drowned in the river, after which she left for Paris so that memories of the area where such grief happened would not stir her soul.
Lopakhin suddenly opened up, talking about his difficult fate in childhood, when his father "did not teach, but only beat him drunk, and everything with a stick ..." Lyubov Andreevna invites him to marry Varya, his adopted daughter.
Enter student Petya Trofimov and both daughters of Ranevskaya. Trofimov and Lopakhin start a conversation. One says that “in Russia, very few people are still working”, the other calls to evaluate everything that is given by God and start working.
The attention of the conversers is attracted by a passerby who recites poetry, and then asks to donate thirty kopecks. Lyubov Andreevna gives him gold coin, for which her daughter Varya reproaches her. “People have nothing to eat,” she says. “And you gave him the gold…”
After Varya leaves, Lyubov Andreevna, Lopakhina and Gaev Anya and Trofimov are left alone. The girl confesses to Petya that she no longer loves the cherry orchard, as before. The student argues: “... To live in the present, you must first redeem the past ... by suffering and continuous work ...”
Varya is heard calling for Anya, but her sister is only annoyed, not responding to her voice.
Act Three: The Day the Cherry Orchard is for Sale
The third act of The Cherry Orchard takes place in the living room in the evening. Couples dance, but no one feels joy. Everyone is depressed about looming debt. Lyubov Andreevna understands that they started the ball quite inopportunely. Those in the house are waiting for Leonid, who should bring news from the city: whether the garden has been sold or the auction has not taken place at all. But Gaev is still no and no. The family is starting to get worried. The old footman Firs confesses that he does not feel well.
Trofimov teases Varya with Madame Lopakhina, which irritates the girl. But Lyubov Andreevna really offers to marry a merchant. Varya seems to agree, but the catch is that Lopakhin has not yet made an offer, and she does not want to impose herself.
Lyubov Andreevna is experiencing more and more: whether the estate has been sold. Trofimov reassures Ranevskaya: "Does it matter, there is no turning back, the path is overgrown."
Lyubov Andreevna takes out a handkerchief, from which a telegram falls, in which it is reported that her beloved has fallen ill again and calls her. Trofimov begins to argue: “he is a petty scoundrel and a nonentity,” to which Ranevskaya replies with anger, calling the student a klutz, a clean-cut and a funny eccentric who does not know how to love. Petya is offended and leaves. A roar is heard. Anya reports that a student has fallen down the stairs.
The young lackey Yasha, talking with Ranevskaya, asks to go to Paris if she has the opportunity to go there. Everyone seems to be busy talking, but they are anxiously waiting for the outcome of the auction for the cherry orchard. Lyubov Andreevna is especially worried, she literally cannot find a place for herself. Finally, Lopakhin and Gaev enter. It can be seen that Leonid Andreevich is crying. Lopakhin reports that the cherry orchard has been sold, and when asked who bought it, he answers: “I bought it.” Ermolai Alekseevich reports the details of the auction. Lyubov Andreevna sobs, realizing that nothing can be changed. Anya consoles her, trying to focus on the fact that life goes on, no matter what. She seeks to inspire hope that they will plant " new garden more luxurious than this ... and a quiet, deep joy will descend on the soul, like the sun.
Action four: after the sale of the estate
The property has been sold. In the corner of the children's room are packed things ready for pickup. Peasants come to say goodbye to their former owners. The sounds of cherries being cut down can be heard from the street. Lopakhin offers champagne, but no one except Yasha, the footman, wants to drink it. Each of the former residents of the estate is depressed by what happened, family friends are also depressed. Anya voices her mother's request that, until she leaves, they do not cut down the garden.
“Really, is there really a lack of tact,” says Petya Trofimov, and leaves through the hall.
Yasha and Ranevskaya are going to Paris, Dunyasha, in love with a young lackey, asks him to send a letter from abroad.
Gaev hurries Lyubov Andreevna. The landowner sadly says goodbye to the house and garden, but Anna admits that it begins for her new life. Gaev is also happy.
Governess Charlotte Ivanovna, leaving, sings a song.
Simeonov-Pishchik Boris Borisovich, a neighbor-landowner, comes into the house. To the surprise of everyone, he repays both Lyubov Andreevna and Lopakhin. He tells the news about a successful deal: he managed to lease the land to the British for the extraction of rare white clay. The neighbor did not even know that the estate was sold, so he is surprised to see the packed suitcases and the preparations of the former owners for departure.
Lyubov Andreevna, firstly, worries about the sick Firs, because it is still not known for certain whether he was sent to the hospital or not. Anya claims that Yasha did it, but the girl is mistaken. Secondly, Ranevskaya is afraid that Lopakhin will never make an offer to Varya. They seem to be indifferent to each other, however, no one wants to take the first step. And although Lyubov Andreevna makes the last attempt to leave young people alone to solve this difficult question, nothing comes out of such a venture.
After former mistress Houses last time looks longingly at the walls and windows of the house, everyone goes out.
In the bustle, they did not notice that they locked up the sick Firs, who mutters: “Life has passed, as if it had not lived.” The old lackey does not hold a grudge against the owners. He lays down on the sofa and passes into another world.
We bring to your attention the story of Anton Chekhov, where, with the subtle and inimitable irony inherent in the writer, he describes the character main character- Shchukina. What was the peculiarity of her behavior, read in the story.
The essence of the play "The Cherry Orchard"
From literary sources It is known that Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was very happy when he came up with the name for the play - The Cherry Orchard.
It seems natural, because it reflects the very essence of the work: the old way of life is changing to a completely new one, and the cherry orchard, which was cherished former owners, is mercilessly cut down when the estate passes into the hands of the enterprising merchant Lopakhin. "The Cherry Orchard" is a prototype old Russia, which is gradually disappearing into oblivion. The past is fatefully crossed out, giving way to new plans and intentions, which, according to the author, are better than the previous ones.
The Cherry Orchard - summary plays by A.P. Chekhov
5 (100%) 2 votesThe play "The Cherry Orchard" (1903) is the last work of A.P. Chekhov, completing his creative biography.
The action of the play, as the author reports with the very first remark, takes place on the estate of the landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, on an estate with a cherry orchard, surrounded by poplars, with a long avenue that "goes straight, straight, like an outstretched belt" and "glistens on moonlit nights."
Ranevskaya and her brother Leonid Andreevich Gaev are the owners of the estate. But they brought him with their frivolity, complete misunderstanding real life to a pitiful state: it is to be sold at auction. The rich peasant son, the merchant Lopakhin, a family friend, warns the owners about the impending catastrophe, offers them his projects of salvation, urges them to think about the impending disaster. But Ranevskaya and Gaev live in illusory representations. Gaev rushes about with fantastic projects. Both of them shed many tears over the loss of their cherry orchard, without which they think they cannot live. But things go on as usual, auctions take place, and Lopakhin buys the estate himself. When the trouble happened, it turns out that there seems to be no special drama for Ranevskaya and Gaev. Lyubov Andreevna returns to Paris, to her ridiculous "love", to which she would have returned anyway, despite all her words that she cannot live without a homeland. Leonid Andreevich also comes to terms with what happened. The “terrible drama” does not turn out to be so difficult for its heroes for the simple reason that they cannot have anything serious at all, nothing dramatic. Such is the comedic, satirical basis of the play.
An interesting way in which Chekhov emphasized the illusory, frivolous world of Gaev-Ranev-
sky. He surrounds these central characters comedies with characters reflecting the comic worthlessness of the main figures. The figures of Charlotte, the clerk Epikhodov, the lackey Yasha, the maid Dunyasha are caricatures of the "gentlemen".
In the lonely, absurd, unnecessary fate of Charlotte Ivanovna's hanger-on, there is a resemblance to the absurd, unnecessary fate of Ranevskaya. Both of them treat themselves as something incomprehensible, unnecessary, strange, and both life seems foggy, unclear, some kind of ghostly. Like Charlotte, Ranevskaya also "everything seems to be young," and Ranevskaya lives like a host during her lifetime, not understanding anything about her.
The buffoon figure of Epikhodov is remarkable. With his "twenty-two misfortunes" he is also a caricature - both of Gaev, and of the landowner Simeon-va-Pishchik, and even of Petya Trofimov. Epikhodov is a "clunker", using old Firs's favorite proverb. One of Chekhov's contemporary critics correctly pointed out that "The Cherry Orchard" is "a play of klutzes." Epikhodov concentrates this theme of the play in himself. He is the soul of all "nonsense". After all, both Gaev and Simeonov-Pishchik also have constant “twenty-two misfortunes”; like Epikhodov, nothing comes out of all their intentions, comical failures follow at every step.
Simeonov-Pishchik, who is constantly on the verge of complete bankruptcy and, out of breath, running around all his acquaintances asking for a loan, also represents "twenty-two misfortunes." Boris Borisovich is a man "living on credit", as Petya Trofimov says about Gaev and Ranevskaya; these people live at someone else's expense - at the expense of the people.
Petya Trofimov does not belong to the number of advanced, skillful, strong fighters for the future happiness. In all his appearance, one can feel the contradiction between the strength, scope of the dream and the weakness of the dreamer, which is characteristic of some Chekhov's heroes. "Eternal student", "shabby gentleman", Petya Trofimov is clean, sweet, but eccentric and not strong enough for a great struggle. It has the features of "non-warmth" that are common to almost all the characters in this play. But everything that he says to Anya is dear and close to Chekhov.
Anna is only seventeen years old. And youth for Chekhov is not only a biographical age sign. He wrote: "... That youth can be taken healthy, which does not put up with the old order and stupidly or cleverly fights against them - this is how nature wants and progress is based on this."
Chekhov does not have "villains" and "angels", he does not even distinguish between heroes into positive and negative. In his works, very often there are "good bad" characters. Such principles of typology, unusual for the former dramaturgy, lead to the appearance in the play of characters that combine contradictory, moreover, mutually exclusive features and properties.
Ranevskaya is impractical, selfish, she is petty and went in her love interest, but she is also kind, sympathetic, her sense of beauty does not fade. Lopakhin sincerely wants to help Ranevskaya, expresses genuine sympathy for her, shares her passion for the beauty of the cherry orchard. Chekhov emphasized in letters related to the production of The Cherry Orchard: “The role of Lopakhin is central ... After all, this is not a merchant in vulgar sense words ... This is a gentle person ... a decent person in every sense, he must behave quite decently, intelligently, not petty, without tricks. But this soft man is a predator. Petya Trofimov explains to Lopakhin his life's purpose in this way: "That's how, in terms of metabolism, a predatory beast is needed, which eats everything that comes in its way, so you are needed." And this soft, decent, intelligent person"eats" the cherry orchard...
The Cherry Orchard appears in the play and is the personification of the beautiful creative life, and the "judge" of the characters. Their attitude to the garden as to the highest beauty and purposefulness - this is the author's measure of the moral dignity of this or that hero.
Ranevskaya is not given to save the garden from destruction, and not because she was unable to turn the cherry orchard into a commercial, profitable one, as it was 40-50 years ago ... Her spiritual strength, energy was absorbed by love passion, drowning out her natural responsiveness on the joys and troubles of those around her, making her indifferent to the ultimate fate of the cherry orchard, and to the fate of loved ones. Ranevskaya turned out to be below the idea of the Cherry Orchard, she betrays her.
This is precisely the meaning of her confession that she cannot live without the person who left her in Paris: not a garden, not an estate, the focus of her innermost thoughts, hopes and aspirations. Does not rise to the idea of the Cherry Orchard and Lopakhin. He sympathizes and worries, but he is only concerned about the fate of the owner of the garden, while the cherry orchard itself is doomed to death in the plans of the entrepreneur. It is Lopakhin who brings to its logical conclusion the action that develops in its climactic inconsistency: “Silence sets in, and you can only hear how far in the garden they knock on wood with an axe.”
I.A. Bunin blamed Chekhov for his "Cherry Orchard", since in Russia there were no orchards entirely of cherry trees, but were mixed. But Chekhov's garden- not a concrete reality, but a symbol of a fleeting and at the same time eternal life. His garden is one of the most complex symbols of Russian literature. The modest radiance of cherry blossoms is a symbol of youth and beauty; Describing in one of the stories a bride in a wedding dress, Chekhov compared her to a cherry tree in blossom. The cherry tree is a symbol of beauty, kindness, humanity, confidence in tomorrow; this symbol contains only a positive meaning and does not have any negative meanings.
Chekhov's symbols have been transformed ancient genre comedy; it had to be staged, played and viewed in a completely different way than the comedies of Shakespeare, Moliere or Fonvizin were staged.
The Cherry Orchard in this play is least of all a decoration against which the characters philosophize, dream, and quarrel. The garden is the personification of the value and meaning of life on earth, where each new day branches off from the past, like young shoots coming from old trunks and roots.
The Cherry Orchard, thanks to Chekhov's play, has become a kind of symbol of Russia. And, despite the difficulty of growing this crop, we must adhere to the tradition and be sure to grow cherry trees. Let me share my experience in this area.
planting cherries
I plant my cherries in the spring in April before bud break in a sufficiently lit place, on well-drained warm soil. The fact is that cold air stagnates in low-lying places, so they should be avoided. I plant felt cherries at a distance of 2 m from each other, and ordinary ones - with an interval of 3 m.
Before planting, I carefully examine the root system of a one-year-old or two-year-old cherry seedling about 1 m high, cut off the tips of the roots by 2 cm to a healthy tissue. I remove the broken and rotten parts of the roots. I put the tree in water for several hours, so that the root system is saturated with moisture and the plant tolerates planting more easily.
I prepare a hole 50 deep and 80 cm in diameter in advance so that the root system of the tree is freely placed in it, the roots do not twist, do not break and are not directed upwards. I loosen the bottom and cover it with a layer of raw compost with a mixture of fertilizers. I mix the soil selected from the planting pit with compost, mineral and organic fertilizers, and sand to improve the soil structure.
I lower the seedling strictly vertically so that its root neck is about 5 cm above the soil surface. It will have to sink to the surface level after the earth settles. I fill the pit with prepared fertilized soil, compact it. to keep the tree firmly in the ground.
At the end of planting, I form a watering circle around the entire circumference. Planted cherries are abundantly watered with two buckets of water heated in the sun. I mulch the trunk circle with compost with a layer of 5 cm.
Variety to variety - discord
When choosing varieties for planting, I always take into account the factor of cherry self-fertility. Most cultivars are self-infertile, meaning they cannot be pollinated by the pollen of their cultivar's flowers, and even when blooming profusely, such cultivars are unable to produce fruit unless there is a pollinating cultivar in the garden. I have one of these varieties available, for example. Orlovskaya early and Zhukovskaya.
There are also self-fertile cherry varieties that do not require a pollinator variety. Of these, I grow Lubskaya, Youth, Generous. They, in turn, themselves can serve as pollinators for other varieties of cherries.
There are also varieties of cherries with partial self-fertility. One of the most famous is Turgenevka. Without a pollinator variety, such plants bear fruit, but the yield is reduced.
I also grow felt cherries of varieties Summer and Rapture. They require fertile, light, well-drained soil and a sunny location. These are small plants in the form of a shrub, frost-resistant, with high yields, resistant to fungus. The fruits stick around the branch on very short stalks.
Cherry Orchard: Pruning
My young cherries grow well and branch well, so I make sure that the crown of the tree does not thicken. The first time I cut the plants in the fourth year after planting. In early spring, four weeks before the buds swell, I cut out all diseased and dry branches, as well as shoots that are directed inside the crown, so that by the end of formation, the cherry has about 10 skeletal branches, which should be placed evenly along the trunk.
When the growth of the shoots weakens, I spend a rejuvenating pruning. I constantly remove the root growth from the tree, which takes a lot of strength and juice from the cherry. I noticed that after pruning, the fruits become larger.
At a temperature of minus 1-2 degrees, I advise you to use smoke to protect against frost. Before the onset of frost, I light one smoke pile on three trees, which can smoke for about 6 hours.
Watering the cherry orchard
Be sure to water the cherry after flowering at the end of May - June, during fruit ripening in July and September-October, and infrequently, but plentifully. After watering, I carefully loosen the soil so that there is no crust on it, I try not to damage the roots, since they are not deep, I remove the weeds. At the same time, for 1 sq. I spend about 6-7 buckets of water, I try to keep the soil well moistened.
To protect ripening cherry berries from birds, I recommend attaching several plastic bags made of thin polyethylene with handle holes cut into them to tree branches. In the wind, the bags inflate and scare away the birds.
top dressing
Since I am already fertilizing when planting cherry seedlings, I no longer fertilize the soil this year. In the future, the soil under the cherry will be limed once every 3 years (300 g of lime per 1 sq. M). Before autumn digging, I apply organic fertilizers in the form of compost.
6 fruiting period cherry consumes a large number of nutrients and needs 8 of their introduction. In autumn, for digging under a bush or tree, I apply 150-200 g of phosphorus and 60-80 g of potash fertilizers in solid form. For cherries, I also do a useful foliar (spraying on the leaves) top dressing with nitrogen: the first time - 10 days after flowering, the second time - two weeks after the first. The consumption of urea in this case is 40-50 g per 10 liters of water.
In the period from bud break to bud separation, I spray cherries with Bordeaux liquid, copper sulphate against various pests.
Medicinal properties of cherries
The benefits of cherries are enormous. The substances contained in the berries reduce blood clotting, prevent the formation of blood clots, and are used to prevent anemia. Cherry regulates the activity of the intestines, improves appetite, improves immunity.
I like to brew vitamin tea from spring cherry leaves, which has anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and hemostatic effects, and I also brew fragrant, insanely delicious tea from the flowers themselves. which contains many organic acids, trace elements and minerals.
I love cherry honey.
It has a tonic, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory effect on the human body, improves immunity.
Contraindications to the use of cherries
But we must remember that with a stomach ulcer, diabetes, diseases of the lungs, cherry fruits should be consumed with caution, and the seeds in the kernels are poisonous.
Sign of ancestors
Our ancestors had a sign: a cherry tree planted near the house will bring good luck and prosperity, and the first date of lovers under this plant will give them happiness. Try to plant a cherry and may luck, happiness and love never leave you!
The Cherry Orchard is not Chekhovian
Every man should build a house, plant a tree…. One tree is not enough! And two is not enough, and three is also not enough! We need to plant a garden! Ours was cherry.
Berry is not a garden
Planting a garden... At our first dacha, although it never turned into a real dacha, we planted several seedlings of cherry, an apple tree, and a pear. However, an apple tree and a pear tree were stolen from us, they could not buy new seedlings. So there were cherries and three currant bushes alone. But is it supposed to be real garden? So, in bewilderment, bleakly, the laying of the first tiny garden took place. And the understanding came that the garden should not be somewhere far away on a summer cottage where you come for the weekend, but next to the house where you live.
IN new house we moved at the very end of August, the children went to school, and my husband and I began to think: where and what kind of garden will we plant in the spring. The place was determined immediately - from the northeast side of the house. Doesn't seem very convenient? But behind our house there were only two houses, and then a field, almost a steppe. With winds and lack of protection. But there was enough space, because this part of the estate was large, even larger than our old summer cottage. With all the rules, we were able to place 28 trees on it! There are more cherries than apples, pears and plums together.
It all starts in a hole
The holes began to be dug early spring, it’s good that it turned out to be warm and early, because all the work had to be done on the summer cottage, but by April 28 they even planted potatoes. In the new place, very deep holes were required, because clay lay under a layer of 20 cm. There was nowhere for roots to grow. 80 cm is the side of the cube, these are the dimensions of our dimples.
From the world - by carnation
Planting without drainage is pointless. Where to get materials?
Our house, although it was new, but the remnants building materials was not in the area. There was no garbage that would play the role of drainage! And I went through the village with a cart. And put everything in it that caught my eye. And tins, and paper, and pebbles are big and not very big. And even old branches. Nails came across - and there was a place for them in the cart. It turned out that I was collecting garbage, which people were happy to get rid of, otherwise they would have to take all 28 wheelbarrows that I collected to the landfill.
This work took almost a month. There was not even real wood ash, because the houses were heated with coal. Only crumbs came from a huge number of bottles that were removed from the site and burned in the fall. But this was not enough for our number of trees.
Profession - supplier
I laughed that the profession is called a garbage supplier. So it happened quite by accident that we turned the waste of other people's yards and streets into a fruit-bearing garden. There were plenty of berries, and not only for us, but for all relatives, even neighbors. I had to queue up, because there was only one stepladder. At first our garden was the only one in the village. In other yards there were one or two fruit trees, and some even had not a single bush - only potatoes in the garden. And in the spring, under the cherries, we listened to the bees buzzing, the aroma was perceived as a dope, it beckoned to itself, like the nightingales who liked our thickets. Ripe berries made me remember Chekhov's cherry orchard. Happinnes exists!
Almost the entire land of the old noble estate, owned by Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya and her brother, Leonid Andreevich Gaev, is occupied by a huge cherry orchard known throughout the province. Once it gave the owners a large income, but after the fall of serfdom, the economy on the estate was upset, and the garden remained for him one unprofitable, albeit charming decoration. Ranevskaya and Gaev, people no longer young, lead a scattered, carefree life typical of idle aristocrats. Occupied only with her feminine passions, Ranevskaya leaves for France with her lover, who soon robs her cleanly there. Management of the estate falls on the adopted daughter of Lyubov Andreevna, 24-year-old Varya. She tries to save on everything, but the estate is still mired in unpaid debts. [Cm. full text of The Cherry Orchard on our website.]
Act 1 of The Cherry Orchard begins with the return scene on a May morning to native home ruined abroad Ranevskaya. Her youngest comes with her, own daughter, 17-year-old Anya, who has lived with her mother in France for the past few months. Lyubov Andreevna was met at the estate by acquaintances and servants: the wealthy merchant Yermolai Lopakhin (son of a former serf), the neighbor-landowner Simeonov-Pishchik, the elderly lackey Firs, the frivolous maid Dunyasha and " eternal student» Petya Trofimov, in love with Anya. The scene of Ranevskaya's meeting (like all other scenes of The Cherry Orchard) is not distinguished by the richness of the action, but Chekhov, with extraordinary skill, reveals in her dialogues the features of the characters of the heroes of the play.
The businesslike merchant Lopakhin reminds Ranevskaya and Gaev that in three months, in August, their estate will be put up for auction for an outstanding debt. There is only one way to prevent its sale and the ruin of the owners: to cut down the cherry orchard and turn the vacant land into dachas. If Ranevskaya and Gaev do not do this, the garden will almost inevitably be cut down by the new owner, so that it will not be possible to save it in any case. However, the weak-willed Gaev and Ranevskaya reject Lopakhin's plan, not wanting to lose dear memories of their youth along with the garden. Those who have their head in the clouds, they avoid ruining the garden with my own hands, hoping for a miracle that will help them out in unknown ways.
Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard", act 1 - summary full text of the 1st act.
"The Cherry Orchard". Performance based on the play by A.P. Chekhov, 1983
Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard", act 2 - briefly
A few weeks after Ranevskaya's return, most of the same characters gather in the field, on a bench by the old abandoned chapel. Lopakhin again reminds Ranevskaya and Gaev of the approaching deadline for the sale of the estate - and again suggests that they cut down the cherry orchard, giving the land for summer cottages.
However, Gaev and Ranevskaya answer him out of place and absent-mindedly. Lyubov Andreevna says that “summer residents are vulgar,” and Leonid Andreevich hopes for a rich aunt in Yaroslavl, from whom you can ask for money - but hardly more than a tenth of what is needed to pay off debts. Ranevskaya is in France with all her thoughts, from where a fraudulent lover sends telegrams to her every day. Shocked by the words of Gaev and Ranevskaya, Lopakhin in his hearts calls them "frivolous and strange" people who themselves do not want to save themselves.
After everyone else left, Petya Trofimov and Anya remained at the bench. Untidy Petya, who is constantly expelled from the university, so that for many years he cannot finish the course, crumbles before Anya in high-flown tirades about the need to rise above everything material, above even love itself and, through tireless work, go to some (incomprehensible) ideal. The existence and appearance of the raznochinets Trofimov are very different from the lifestyle and habits of the nobles Ranevskaya and Gaev. However, in the depiction of Chekhov, Petya appears as an impractical dreamer, as worthless a person as those two. Petya's sermon is enthusiastically listened to by Anya, who is very reminiscent of her mother in her tendency to be carried away by any emptiness in a beautiful wrapper.
For more details, see a separate article by Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard", act 2 - summary. On our website you can read the full text of the 2nd act.
Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard", act 3 - briefly
In August, on the very day of the auction for the estate with a cherry orchard, Ranevskaya, on a strange whim, hosts a noisy party with an invited Jewish orchestra. Everyone is anxiously awaiting news from the auction, where Lopakhin and Gaev have gone, but, wanting to hide their excitement, they try to dance and joke merrily. Petya Trofimov venomously criticizes Varya for wanting to become the wife of the wealthy predator Lopakhin, and Ranevskaya for love affair with a clear swindler and unwillingness to face the truth. Ranevskaya, on the other hand, accuses Petya of the fact that all his bold idealistic theories are based only on a lack of experience and ignorance of life. At the age of 27, he does not have a mistress, he preaches labor, and he himself cannot even graduate from the university. Frustrated, Trofimov runs away almost in hysterics.
Pre-revolutionary playbill based on Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard
Lopakhin and Gaev are returning from the auction. Gaev goes, wiping away tears. Lopakhin, at first trying to restrain himself, and then with increasing triumph says that he bought the estate and the cherry orchard - the son of a former serf, who before was not even allowed into the kitchen here. The dancing stops. Ranevskaya cries, sinking into a chair. Anya tries to console her with the words that instead of a garden they have beautiful souls left, and now they will start a new, pure life.
For more details, see a separate article by Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard", act 3 - summary. You can also read the full text of Act 3 on our website.
Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard", act 4 - briefly
In October, the old owners leave their former estate, where the tactless Lopakhin, without waiting for their departure, already orders to cut down the cherry orchard.
A rich Yaroslavl aunt sent Gaev and Ranevskaya some money. Ranevskaya takes them all for herself and again goes to France to her old lover, leaving her daughters in Russia without funds. Varya, whom Lopakhin never marries, has to go as a housekeeper to another estate, and Anya will take an exam for a gymnasium course and look for work.
Gaev was offered a place in the bank, but everyone doubts that due to his laziness he will sit there for a long time. Petya Trofimov belatedly returns to Moscow to study. Imagining himself a "strong and proud" person, he intends in the future to "reach the ideal or show others the way to it." True, the loss of his old galoshes causes Petya great anxiety: without them he has nothing to set off on his journey. Lopakhin travels to Kharkov to immerse himself in work.
After saying goodbye, everyone leaves the house and locks it up. Finally, the 87-year-old footman Firs, forgotten by the owners, appears on the stage. Mumbling something about past life, this sick old man lies down on the sofa and calms down in immobility. In the distance there is a sad, fading sound, similar to the bursting of a string - as if something in life has gone without return. The ensuing silence is broken only by the sound of an ax in the garden on a cherry tree.
For more details, see Chekhov's separate article "The Cherry Orchard", act 4 - summary. On our website you can read
The Cherry Orchard as the central image of the play
Action last work A.P. Chekhov takes place on the estate of Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna, which in a few months will be sold at auction for debts, and it is the image of the garden in the play The Cherry Orchard that occupies a central place. However, from the very beginning, the presence of such a huge garden is puzzling. This circumstance was subjected to rather harsh criticism by I.A. Bunin, a hereditary nobleman and landowner. He wondered how one could extol the cherry trees, which are not particularly beautiful, have gnarled trunks and small flowers. Bunin also drew attention to the fact that in manor estates gardens of only one direction are never found, as a rule, they were mixed. If you count, the garden covers an area of about five hundred hectares! To care for such a garden, a very large number of people are needed. Obviously, before the abolition of serfdom, the garden was kept in order, and it is quite possible that the harvest brought profit to its owners. But after 1860, the garden began to fall into disrepair, as the owners had no money or desire to hire workers. And it’s scary to imagine what impassable jungle the garden has become in 40 years, since the action of the play takes place at the turn of the century, as evidenced by the walk of the owners and servants not through beautiful bushes, but across the field.
This all shows that the specific household value the image of the cherry orchard was not intended in the play. Lopakhin singled out only its main advantage: "The remarkable thing about this garden is that it is large." But it is precisely the image of the cherry orchard in the play that Chekhov renders as a reflection of the ideal value of the object. art space, built from words actors, which throughout stage history idealize and embellish old garden. For the playwright, the blooming garden has become a symbol of ideal, but receding beauty. And this transient and destructible charm of the past, contained in thoughts, feelings and actions, is attractive both for the playwright and for the audience. Linking the fate of the estate with the characters, Chekhov connected nature with social significance by contrasting them, thereby revealing the thoughts and actions of his characters. He tries to remember what it's like true purpose people, for which spiritual renewal is necessary, in which lies the beauty and happiness of being.
Cherry Orchard - a means of revealing the characters' characters
image of a cherry orchard plot development plays has great importance. It is through the attitude towards him that one gets acquainted with the attitude of the heroes: it becomes clear their place in the historical changes that have befallen Russia. The viewer's acquaintance with the garden takes place in May, at a wonderful time of flowering, and its aroma fills the surrounding space. The mistress of the garden, who had been absent for a long time, returns from abroad. However, in the years she traveled, nothing had changed in the house. Even the nursery, in which there has not been a single child for a long time, bears the former name. What does a garden mean to Ranevskaya?
This is her childhood, she even imagines her mother, her youth and not very successful marriage to a man, like her, a frivolous spender; the love passion that arose after the death of her husband, burning her; death younger son. From all this, she fled to France, leaving everything, hoping that the escape would help her forget. But she did not find peace and happiness abroad either. And now she has to decide the fate of the estate. Lopakhin offers her the only way out - to cut down the garden, which does not bring any benefit and is very neglected, and give the vacated land for summer cottages. But for Ranevskaya, who was brought up in the best aristocratic traditions, everything that is replaced by money and measured by it is gone. Rejecting Lopakhin's offer, she again and again asks for his advice, hoping that it is possible to save the garden without destroying it: “What should we do? Learn what?" Lyubov Andreevna does not dare to step over her convictions, and the loss of the garden becomes a bitter loss for her. However, she admitted that her hands were untied with the sale of the estate, and without much thought, leaving her daughters and brother, she was again going to leave her homeland.
Gaev goes over ways to save the estate, but all of them are ineffective and too fantastic: get an inheritance, marry Anya to a rich man, ask a rich aunt for money, or re-borrow from someone. However, he guesses about it: "... I have a lot of money... that means... not a single one." He is also saddened by the loss. family nest, but his experiences are not as deep as he would like to show it. After the auction, his sadness is dispelled as soon as he hears the sounds of the billiards he loves so much.
For Ranevskaya and Gaev, the cherry orchard is a link to the past, where there was no place for thoughts about financial side life. This is a happy carefree time when there was no need to decide anything, no shocks happened, and they were the owners.
Anya loves the garden as the only bright thing that was in her life “I'm at home! Tomorrow morning I'll get up and run to the garden... She sincerely worries, but cannot do anything to save the estate, relying on the decisions of her older relatives. Although in fact, she is much more reasonable than her mother and uncle. In many ways, under the influence of Petya Trofimov, the garden ceases to mean the same for Anya as it does for the older generation of the family. She outgrows this somewhat painful attachment to her native land, and later she herself is perplexed that she has fallen out of love with the garden: “Why do I no longer love the cherry orchard, as before ... it seemed to me that there was no better places like our garden." And in the final scenes, she is the only one of the inhabitants of the sold estate who looks to the future with optimism: "... We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this, you will see it, you will understand ..."
For Petya Trofimov, the garden is a living monument to serfdom. It is Trofimov who says that the Ranevskaya family still lives in the past, in which they were the owners of "living souls", and this imprint of slavery on them: "... you ... no longer notice that you live in debt, at someone else's expense ...", and openly declares that Ranevskaya and Gaev are simply afraid of real life.
The only person who is fully aware of the value of the cherry orchard is the "new Russian" Lopakhin. He sincerely admires him, calling the place "more beautiful than which there is nothing in the world." He dreams of clearing the territory of trees as soon as possible, but not for the purpose of destruction, but in order to transfer this land into a new hypostasis, which "grandchildren and great-grandchildren" will see. He sincerely tried to help Ranevskaya save the estate and pities her, but now the garden belongs to him, and unbridled jubilation is strangely mixed with compassion for Lyubov Andreevna.
Symbolic image of the cherry orchard
Written at the turn of the epochs, the play "The Cherry Orchard" became a reflection of the changes taking place in the country. The old is already gone, and it is being replaced by an unknown future. For each of the participants in the play, the garden is its own, but symbolic image the cherry orchard - like the outgoing past for everyone except Lopakhin and Trofimov, one. “The earth is great and beautiful, there are many wonderful places on it,” says Petya, thereby showing that people new era, to which he refers, attachment to their roots is not characteristic, and this is alarming. People who loved the garden easily abandoned it, and this is frightening, because if “All Russia is our garden,” as Petya Trofimov says, what will happen if everyone gives up on the future of Russia? And remembering history, we see: just over 10 years later, such upheavals began to occur in Russia that the country really became a ruthlessly destroyed cherry orchard. Therefore, we can draw an unambiguous conclusion: main image plays became a true symbol of Russia.
The image of the garden, an analysis of its meaning in the play and a description of the attitude of the main characters towards it will help 10th grade students in preparing an essay on the topic “The image of the garden in the play “The Cherry Orchard” by Chekhov”.
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