Anton Chekhov’s

M.T. 31401418

ANTON CHEKHOV

Russian writer Anton Chekhov is recognized as a master of the modern short story and a leading playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Anton Chekhov was born on January 29, 1860, in Taganrog, Russia.

The prolific writer emphasized the depths of

human nature, the hidden significance of everyday events and the fine line between comedy and tragedy.

Chekhov died of tuberculosis on July 15, 1904, in Badenweiler, Germany.

MADAME LYUBOV ANDREYEVNA RANEVSKY - The owner of the cherry orchard estate.

ANYA - Madame Ranevsky’s daughter, she is a high school student, sweet and loving.

VARYA - Madame Ranevsky’s adopted daughter, she has been managing the estate since her mother’s departure.

LEONID ANDREYEVITCH GAEV - Madame Ranevsky’s brother, he lives in the past and spends much of his time shooting imaginary billiards and talking nonsense.

CHARACTERS:

ERMOLAI ALEXEYEVITCH LOPAKHIN - A wealthy merchant, the descendant of a long line of serfs who has made his way in the world through his own hard-nosed efforts.

PETER SERGEYEVITCH TROFIMOV - A perpetual student, he views himself as an intellectual and revolutionary.

BORIS BORISOVITCH SIMEONOV-PISCHIN - A local landowner, like Madame Ranevsky unable to pay his bills, who can do nothing during the

SIMEON PANTELEYEVITCH EPIKHODOV - A clerk, nicknamed “twenty-two misfortunes” because he is an accident-prone; he is in love with Dunyasha, though she has little interest in him.

DUNYASHA - Madame Ranevsky’s maid, in love with Yasha.

FIERS - An elderly servant of the family, he has seen it all over the years and

remains steadfast.

YASHA - A servant who traveled abroad with Madame Ranevsky, he professes

love for Dunyasha, though he desires no more than immediate gratification.

CHARLOTTA - Anya’s governess, a musician who also does magic tricks.

SETTING: Act 1: Month of May, inside Madame Ranevsky’s estate. Act 2: Outdoors in summer time. Act 3: In a party on august. Act 4: October, inside Madame Ranevsky’s estate.

PlotExposition:

The play is set in Russia, in the late 1800's. Act I opens at dawn, in the month of May, inside Madame Ranevsky's estate. Lopakhin, a wealthy neighbor, and Dunyasha, a maid, are waiting for Madame Ranevsky, her daughter Anya, and their companions to return to their cherry orchard estate from France, where they have spent five years. The room they are in is called the nursery.

Rising Action:

Madame Ranevsky finally arrives, bringing her daughters Varya and Anya, her brother Gaev, Anya's governess Charlotta, and Pishchin, a neighbor, along with her. Madame Ranevsky cries, as she often does. Later, Gaev discusses the family's financial problems with his nieces, referring to a distant aunt as an obscure source of economic hope.  

Gaev continues to describe what a small hope it is; in his opinion, the aunt, although wealthy, would disapprove of Madame Ranevsky's "sinful" life. Madame Ranevsky faces two alternative solutions that that it finds equally unacceptable: either to lose the estate on the auction block because of its unpaid mortgage, or to destroy its uniqueness by chopping down its cherry trees and razing the residence to replace it with summer cottages. The second option, which will be exercised by the businessman who buys the orchard at auction, Lopakhin, offers what the gentry considers a vulgar economic solution at the expense of its cherished values of beauty and inspiration.

Climax: Inside the estate, during a party in August on the day of the auction of the cherry orchard. Madame Ranevsky begins to panic about the outcome of the auction; Trofimov points out that now it is far too late to panic, as she in essence lost the cherry orchard long before through her inaction. She announces that the cherry orchard is a symbol of her family and of herself; when they sell it, they sell her as well.

Falling Action: Anya announces that she has heard that the cherry orchard has been sold, although no one knows to whom. Everyone rushes in to hear what happened at the sale. Finally, Lopakhin answers the question; he has bought the cherry orchard, Madame Ranevsky falls into a chair

Denouement: October, inside Madame Ranevsky's estate. Gaev and Madame Ranevsky stand outside, saying good-bye to the peasants. Madame Ranevsky acts excited about her new life, and Gaev looks forward to his new job. Anya is not going with her mother; she is going to study, and she and her mother plan their anticipated reunion.

Gradually everyone leaves the room, save Madame Ranevsky and Gaev, who share one final moment of nostalgia while Anya calls them away from without. Finally, he responds to her calls, and the room is empty for a moment. As the doors are locked from without, Fiers enters. He has been forgotten, left behind. He complains that he does not feel well, and lies on an old bench. He is still for a moment, and the play ends.

STYLESymbolism

The Cherry orchard- It is the most important part of the setting of three of these acts is the visible symbol of the fragile and doomed beauty of Madame Ranevsky’s world, the cherry orchard itself. To Trofimov, the orchard represents the serfdom and oppression of the people who tended the property in former days. To Lopakhin, it represents commercialism and money.

Breaking string- It could be the melancholy, nostalgic sound of a breaking guitar string. It could symbolize the discontinuation of memory. Overtly political productions have featured the sound of a snapping whip, a reminder of the family's dependence on slavery.

Fiers’ death: Fiers' death at the end of the play symbolizes the death of the old Russia.

Nursery room: This room symbolizes the comfortable and secure past of Ranevsky and Gaev.

Conflict: Conflict of the play is the battle between the values of the old Russia and the values of the new Russia.

Tragedy/Comedy:

Chekhov referred to The Cherry Orchard as a farce, which is a type of comedy characterized by broad humor, outlandish incidents, and often vulgar subject matter.

Foreshadowing: the early frost in Act 1.

Irony: Madame Ranevsky, who once had power and money, ends up with nothing. Lopakhin, who once had nothing as the son of a serf, ends up as a man of power and wealth who owns the cherry orchard and the rest of Madame Ranevsky’s estate.

THEME: There’s nothing permanent in life. Everything is constantly changing.