THE CHERRY ORCHARDNiyathi C, Joy W, L T, Maria B, and Wiktoria Z

Cultural, social, and historical background for

Are the wealthy people in the play losing money or gaining money?

Review

What happened the serfs about 30 years before the book’s first

performance? (Think back to the last IO)

Czar Alexander II established:

• Emancipation of the serfs, 1861

• Western-style courts, 1864

• Provinces and districts, 1864

• Elected city councils, 1870

Westernization

• March 3, 1861 – 20 million serfs freed

• Czar Alexander II believed that the landlords would thrive without serfs and the peasants improve exports.

• Emancipation was a Western philosophy seen as more advanced.

• Serfs were peasants tied to the land and owned by the landowner (like slaves).

• They worked in return for protection, justice, and food.

Emancipation of the Serfs

• The government gave serfs land in return for “redemption fees,” but this land was poor and there was little agricultural technology.

• Low harvests Serfs were unable to pay their redemption fees.

Emancipation of the Serfs

Effect on the Landlords

• The government gave the landlords bonds as compensation.

• Without the serfs’ redemption payments, the government was unable to pay the landlords the value of their bonds.

• Without serfs or bond money, landlords had to sell their land.

• Alexander II assassinated in 1881, Alexander III succeeded

• Alexander III died in 1894, Sergey Witte (minister of finance) succeeded

• Tripled coal, iron, steel, oil production during a depression in 1890-1900

• But doubled spending and imported more than exports

Royal Changes and Industrialization

• Open your envelope to find your social class and money. Are you in the upper or a lower class?

Social Class Game

• 1917 (14 years after publication)

• Struggle between the aristocracy/Czar's power and the emerging middle class

• Led by the middle class

• Destroyed the Czarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union.

The Russian Revolution

• Chekhov writes elements of the buildup to the Revolution in Trofimov's monologues, many of which were censored in the plays because the Czar thought they were too radical.

• "They lived off the labor of others, they always have, and they've never even noticed! They owe their entire lives to those other people, people they wouldn't even let walk through the front gate of their beloved cherry orchard! ...If we want to have any real life in the present...the only way to do that is to make sacrifices, gt down to work, and work harder than we've ever worked before." (360-361)

• Remember that Chekhov doesn’t insert his own views into works. He just describes everyday life, which is tumultuous at this time leading up to the Revolution!

Differences between urban and rural Russia

• Rural:

• About 85 % of the population lived in rural areas.

• Deeply religious and older style population.

• Mostly farming, and manual labor.

Why is this distinction important for The Cherry Orchard?

• Urban:

• Westernization and the Industrial Revolution starting in urban centers.

• Working class and aristocrats.

• More specialized jobs, meaning less manual labor.

• Religious renaissance: intellectuals were drawn to spiritualism and redemption.

• 1901-1903: meetings were held in St. Petersburg to explore ways of reconciling the Church.

• After 1905: renewed vitality in religious life among the lower classes

• 1917 (Revolution!): Russian Orthodox Church forced to give up most of its property

Role of religion

“

”

“LIUBOV: FINALLY ALL I WANTED WAS TO COME BACK HOME, TO WHERE I WAS BORN, TO MY DAUGHTER.

OH, DEAR GOD, DEAR GOD, FORGIVE ME! FORGIVE ME MY SINS! DON’T PUNISH ME AGAIN!” (354).

• Also relates to the Emancipation of the Serfs--the nobles see their loss of wealth and paradise as punishment for their personal sins

• Chekhov conveys religion in times of desperation, especially in social dilemmas

• Associates religious views with chaos and social progress.

WHY? What are some of the religious changes at this time (remember the last slide!)

• Women are gaining rights in the 20th century.

• 1903 suffragette movement: Women’s Social and Political Union

• By 1928, women’s voting rights were the same as men’s!

Role of women

Do the women seem any less powerful than the men in the book?

WHY DID CZAR ALEXANDER II ALLOW THE EMANCIPATION OF SERFS?

He believed that peasants could produce more crops for their own benefit, which would provide

more exports for the country.

HOW DID THE LACK OF INDUSTRIALIZATION IN RUSSIA AFFECT

THE SERFS?

Serfs were unable to harvest enough crops to pay their redemption fees. The lack in

industrialization gave little agriculture technology for the serfs.

HOW WERE LANDLORDS AFFECTED BY SERFS' EMANCIPATION?

Most landlords did not know how to work on their land, so they had to sell it.

WHICH CHARACTERS IN THE CHERRY ORCHARD WOULD HAVE LOST MONEY FROM THE SERFS'

EMANCIPATION?

Liubov, Gayev, Pischik, Anya, and Varya.

WHO LED THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION?

The middle class (aka. Liberated serfs)

WHICH CHARACTER DOES CHEKHOV OFTEN USE TO TALK ABOUT RELIGION?

Liubov.

URBAN RUSSIA HAD WHAT KIND OF JOBS THAT RURAL RUSSIA LACKED?

They had more specialized jobs, meaning less manual labor was needed.

WHICH CHARACTER DOES CHEKHOV OFTEN USE TO PORTRAY RUSSIAN REVOLUTION CONCEPTS?

Trofimov.

WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN THIS TIME?

Women were gaining many rights, especially thanks to suffrage movements.

WHERE IN THE CHERRY ORCHARD DO WE SEE THE ROLE OF WOMEN BE EMBRACED?

Liubov Andreyevna owned an estate. Previously in Russia when women had fewer rights, they could not

own any property.

Woman and man characters in the story have fairly equal roles.

Baehr, Stephen .. "The Machine in Chekhov's Garden." JSTOR. ITHAKA, Spring 1999. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich. The Plays of Anton Chekhov. New York: HarperCollins, 1997. Print.

Harper Perennial"Has Your Vote Been Brought?" Citizen Tom. World Press, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

Lewitter, David. “Peter the Great, Poland, and the Westernization of Russia.” Journal of the History of Ideas (1958): 493-506. JSTOR. University of Penssylvania Press. Web. 21 Sept 2014.

"Russian Revolution (1917)." Princeton University. Princeton University, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

"Transformation of Russia in the Nineteenth Century." Countryside US. US Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

Works Cited