Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard": description, characters, analysis of the play. A.P

Other writings:

1. M. A. Bulgakov had a rather ambiguous, complex relationship with the government, like any writer of the Soviet era who did not write works praising this government. On the contrary, it is clear from his works that he accuses her of the devastation that came with her arrival. Read More ......
2. The Cherry Orchard is a complex and ambiguous image. This is not only a specific garden, which is part of the estate of Gaev and Ranevskaya, but also an image-symbol. It symbolizes not only the beauty of Russian nature, but, most importantly, the beauty of the life of the people who nurtured this garden and admired it, that Read More ......
3. “The Cherry Orchard”, which is one of the last works of A.P. Chekhov, is a very deep work, where behind the author’s ironic mockery of the characters, the tragedy of their situations is almost always guessed. So, for example, the fate of the representatives of the outgoing era, Gaev and Ranevskaya, is hard. Both of them are worth Read More ......
4. In the play, Chekhov generalizes the theme of the death of noble nests, reveals the doom of the nobility and the coming of new social forces to replace it. The Russia of the past, the Russia of cherry orchards with their elegiac beauty, is represented by the images of Ranevskaya and Gaev. These are fragments of the local nobility. They are indecisive, not Read More ......
5. The play "The Cherry Orchard" was written by A.P. Chekhov in 1903, at the turn of the era. At this time, the author is full of the feeling that Russia is on the threshold of huge changes. Like any person, Chekhov dreamed of the future, of a new life that would bring Read More ......
6. Goncharov, like any other writer, tries to be loyal to what he describes, and as a result, we cannot find specific words expressing his author's position. But it can be learned through the opinions of the characters, through the situations in which they find themselves. In Read More ......
7. The Cherry Orchard is one of the most famous plays by A.P. Chekhov. It was first shown to the audience in 1904 and since then has not left the theater stage all over the world. In his play, Chekhov reflected an important period in the history of Russia. Read More ......

The Cherry Orchard depicts the farewell of the owners, now former, with their family noble nest. This topic was repeatedly covered in Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century, both tragically, dramatically and comically. What are the features of Chekhov's solution to this problem? In many respects, it is determined by the writer's attitude to the nobility that is disappearing into social oblivion and the capital that is coming to replace it, which he expressed in the images of Ranevskaya and Lopakhin, respectively. In both estates and their interaction, Chekhov saw the continuity of the bearers of national culture. The nest of nobles for Chekhov is primarily a center of culture. Of course, this is also a museum of serfdom, and this is mentioned in the play, but the author sees in the noble estate, first of all, a cultural nest.

Ranevskaya is his mistress and the soul of the house. That is why, despite all her frivolity and vices (some theaters even imagine that she became a drug addict in Paris), people are drawn to her. The hostess returned, and the house came to life, and the former inhabitants, who seemed to have left it forever, rushed there.

Lopakhin to match Ranevskaya. He is sensitive to poetry in the broadest sense of the word, he, as Petya Trofimov says, has "thin, tender fingers, like an artist's ... a thin, tender soul." And in Ranevskaya he feels the same kindred spirit. The vulgarity of life attacks the hero from all sides, he acquires the features of a vulgar merchant, begins to boast of his democratic origin and flaunt his lack of culture, which was considered fashionable in the then "advanced circles". But he, too, is waiting for Ranevskaya to cleanse himself around her, to reveal the artistic and poetic beginning in himself again. This depiction of capitalism was based on real facts. After all, many Russian merchants and capitalists, who had grown rich by the end of the century, showed interest and concern for culture. Mamontov, Morozov, Zimin kept theaters, the Tretyakov brothers founded an art gallery, the merchant son Alekseev, who took the stage name Stanislavsky, brought to the Art Theater not only creative ideas, but also his father's wealth, and quite a lot. So Lopakhin is a “non-standard” capitalist. Therefore, his marriage to Varya failed - they are not a couple to each other. The subtle, poetic nature of a wealthy merchant and the mundane, everyday, everyday, adopted daughter of Ranevskaya, who has completely gone into the prose of life.

And now comes another socio-historical turning point in Russian life. The place of the nobility is occupied by the bourgeoisie. How do the owners of the cherry orchard behave in this case? In theory, you need to save yourself and the garden. How? To be reborn socially, also to become a bourgeois, which is what Lopakhin proposes. But for Gaev and Ranevskaya, this means changing themselves, their habits, tastes, ideals, life values. And so they silently reject Lopakhin's proposal and fearlessly go towards their social and life collapse. In this regard, the figure of a secondary character, Charlotte Ivanovna, carries a deep meaning. At the beginning of the 2nd act, she says about herself: “I don’t have a real passport, I don’t know how old I am ... where I am from and who I am - I don’t know ... Who are my parents, maybe they didn’t get married ... I don’t know. I so want to talk, but not with anyone ... I don’t have anyone. ” Charlotte personifies the future of Ranevskaya - all this will soon await the owner of the estate. But both Ranevskaya and Charlotte (in different ways, of course) show amazing courage and even maintain good spirits in others, because for all the characters in the play one life will end with the death of the cherry orchard, and whether there will be another is very guessing.

Former masters and their servants behave ridiculously, and in the light of the social non-existence approaching them - stupid, unreasonable. They pretend that everything is the same, nothing has changed and will not change. This is deception, and self-deception, and mutual deception. But this is the only way they can resist the inevitability of inevitable fate. Lopakhin is sincerely grieving, he does not see class enemies in Ranevskaya and even in Gaev, who treats him, for him these are dear, dear people. The universal, humanistic approach to the individual dominates in the play over the estate-class approach. So, the past world is collapsing. And how do young people behave at this time? Anya, due to her youth, has the most uncertain and at the same time rosy idea of ​​the future that awaits her. She is delighted with the chatter of Petya Trofimov. The latter, although 26 or 27 years old, is considered young and seems to have turned his “youth” into a profession. There is no other way to explain his infantilism and, most surprisingly, the general recognition he enjoys. Ranevskaya cruelly but rightly scolded him, in response he fell down the stairs. Only Anya believes his beautiful appeals, but, we repeat, her youth excuses her. Much more than what he says, Petya is characterized by his galoshes, "dirty, old." But we, who know about the bloody social cataclysms that shook Russia in the 20th century and began literally immediately after the applause died down at the premiere of the play and its creator died, Petya’s words, his dreams of a new life, Anya’s desire to plant another garden - all of us this should lead to more serious conclusions about the essence of Petya's image.

Chekhov was always indifferent to politics; both the revolutionary movement and the struggle against it passed him by. But in one of the modern productions, Petya appears in the night scene of the 2nd act in a student cap and jacket and ... with a revolver, almost hung with grenades and machine-gun belts. Waving all this arsenal, he shouts out words about a new life in the same way as the commissars spoke at rallies fifteen years later. And at the same time, he is very reminiscent of another Petya, more precisely, Petrusha, as Pyotr Stepanovich Verkhovensky is called in Dostoevsky’s novel “Demons” (apparently, it’s not for nothing that Chekhov’s surname Petya is formed from the patronymic of Petrusha’s father, Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky, a liberal of the 40s). Petrusha Verkhovensky is the first image of a revolutionary terrorist in Russian and world literature. The rapprochement of both Sing is not unreasonable. The historian would have found in the speeches of Chekhov's Petit both Socialist-Revolutionary motives and Social Democratic notes. Silly girl Anya believes these speeches. Other characters chuckle, ironically: this Petya is too big a fool to be afraid of him. And the garden was cut down not by him, but by a merchant who wants to arrange dachas on this site. Chekhov did not live to see other "dachas" arranged in the open spaces of his and our long-suffering homeland by the successors of the work of Petya Trofimov or Verkhovensky on the numerous islands of the Gulag archipelago. Fortunately, most of the characters in The Cherry Orchard did not have to "live in this beautiful time" either.

For the first time A.P. Chekhov announced the start of work on a new play in 1901 in a letter to his wife O.L. Knipper-Chekhov. Work on the play progressed very difficult, this was due to the serious illness of Anton Pavlovich. In 1903, it was completed and presented to the leaders of the Moscow Art Theater. The play premiered in 1904. And from that moment on, the play "The Cherry Orchard" has been analyzed and criticized for over a hundred years.

The play "The Cherry Orchard" became the swan song of A.P. Chekhov. It contains reflections on the future of Russia and its people, accumulated in his thoughts for years. And the very artistic originality of the play became the pinnacle of Chekhov's work as a playwright, showing once again why he is considered an innovator who breathed new life into the entire Russian theater.

Theme of the play

The theme of the play "The Cherry Orchard" was the situation of auctioning the family nest of impoverished nobles. By the early 20th century, such stories were not uncommon. A similar tragedy occurred in Chekhov's life, their house, together with his father's shop, was sold for debts back in the 80s of the nineteenth century, and this left an indelible mark on his memory. And already, being an accomplished writer, Anton Pavlovich tried to understand the psychological state of people who lost their homes.

Characters

When analyzing the play "The Cherry Orchard" by A.P. Chekhov's heroes are traditionally divided into three groups, based on their temporal affiliation. The first group, representing the past, includes the aristocrats Ranevskaya, Gaev and their old footman Firs. The second group is represented by the merchant Lopakhin, who has become a representative of the present. Well, the third group is Petya Trofimov and Anya, they are the future.
The playwright does not have a clear division of heroes into main and secondary ones, as well as into strictly negative or positive ones. It is this representation of characters that is one of the innovations and features of Chekhov's plays.

Conflict and plot development of the play

There is no open conflict in the play, and this is another feature of A.P. Chekhov. And on the surface there is a sale of the estate with a huge cherry orchard. And against the background of this event, one can discern the opposition of a bygone era to new phenomena in society. The ruined nobles stubbornly hold on to their property, unable to take real steps to save it, and the proposal to receive commercial profit by leasing land to summer residents is unacceptable for Ranevskaya and Gaev. Analyzing the work "The Cherry Orchard" by A.P. Chekhov, we can talk about a temporary conflict in which the past collides with the present, and the present with the future. In itself, the conflict of generations is by no means new to Russian literature, but never before has it been revealed at the level of a subconscious premonition of changes in historical time, so clearly felt by Anton Pavlovich. He wanted to make the viewer or reader think about their place and role in this life.

It is very difficult to divide Chekhov's plays into phases of the development of a dramatic action, because he tried to bring the unfolding action closer to reality, showing the everyday life of his characters, of which most of life consists.

Lopakhin's conversation with Dunyasha, who are waiting for Ranevskaya's arrival, can be called an exposition, and almost immediately the plot of the play stands out, which consists in pronouncing the apparent conflict of the play - the sale of the estate at auction for debts. The twists and turns of the play are trying to convince the owners to rent out the land. The climax is the news of the purchase of the estate by Lopakhin, and the denouement is the departure of all the heroes from the empty house.

Composition of the play

The play "The Cherry Orchard" consists of four acts.

In the first act, you get to know all the characters in the play. Analyzing the first action of The Cherry Orchard, it is worth noting that the inner content of the characters is conveyed through their relationship to the old cherry orchard. And here one of the conflicts of the whole play begins - the confrontation between the past and the present. The past is represented by brother and sister Gaev and Ranevskaya. For them, the garden and the old house are a reminder and a living symbol of their former carefree life, in which they were rich aristocrats who owned a huge estate. For Lopakhin, who is opposed to them, owning a garden is, first of all, an opportunity to make a profit. Lopakhin makes an offer to Ranevskaya, by accepting which she can save the estate, and asks the impoverished landowners to think about it.

Analyzing the second act of The Cherry Orchard, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the masters and servants are walking not in a beautiful garden, but in a field. From this we can conclude that the garden is in an absolutely neglected state, and it is simply impossible to walk through it. This action perfectly reveals Petya Trofimov's idea of ​​what the future should be like.

In the third act of the play comes the climax. The estate is sold, and Lopakhin becomes the new owner. Despite being satisfied with the deal, Lopakhin is saddened that he must decide the fate of the garden. This means that the garden will be destroyed.

Fourth act: the family nest is empty, the once united family is falling apart. And just as a garden is cut down to its roots, so this surname remains without roots, without shelter.

Author's position in the play

Despite the seeming tragedy of what is happening, the characters of the author himself did not cause any sympathy. He considered them narrow-minded people, incapable of deep feelings. This play has become more of a philosophical reflection of the playwright about what awaits Russia in the near future.

The genre of the play is very peculiar. Chekhov called The Cherry Orchard a comedy. The first directors saw drama in it. And many critics agreed that The Cherry Orchard is a lyrical comedy.

Artwork test

The author's play "The Cherry Orchard" by the famous writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was written in a mixture of two styles. Anton Pavlovich wrote the play, more inclined towards the comedy genre, trying to reveal the theme of family estates, resorting to such a valuable concept as "estate", to develop an idea about the future of the population of his country. However, literary critics note that this work belongs to tragedy and drama. Thanks to such discrepancies in genre, every reader can watch the drama flow into a tragicomedy.

The plot of The Cherry Orchard contains various stories of people who at that time fell into a crisis of their own finances, lost their own family estates.

The central image of the play is actually the cherry orchard. The owner of such a property is Lyubov Ranevskaya, who is persuaded by one of the heroes to sell the family estate. The cherry orchard itself is the leitmotif of all scenes, combining various time plans. For Ranevskaya, the garden is something so reverent from a bright childhood that gives warm memories, this is a place where the soul feeds on positive energy. The plot of the play is built around the fate of the family estate. In the first act, a plan is built to save the mortgaged estate from auctions, in the third, the estate is sold, and the fourth act reveals to the reader the lyrical note of parting with the past.

A characteristic feature of this work is that Chekhov does not divide the heroes into good or bad and main and secondary. He divides them into three groups, highlighting them by time frame. The first group includes representatives of the past generation - this is Lyubov Ranevskaya herself, Gaev, lackey Firs. People of the present time fall into the second group; in the plot of the play, this is the only hero in the person of the enterprising merchant Lopakhin. And, finally, the third group brings together the progressive youth of that time, Peter Trofimov and Anya.

In the center of the plot lies the fate of the cherry orchard, the sale of the family estate, in which the confrontation between the new and the old era unfolds. The culmination of the storyline lurks in the third act of the play, where the family estate is sold and the final denouement is revealed in the final fourth scene. The old habitual nobility of Russia is being replaced by young people and budding entrepreneurs. The main reason for the emergence of conflict is not social confrontation, but the struggle of the characters themselves with the conditions surrounding them. Such a conflict in time is revealed only through the knowledge of future changes in the life of the people.

Chekhov in The Cherry Orchard wanted to encourage his reader to think philosophically about the coming future, about the new era that is reborn around, resorting to introspection.

Option 2

The work is a lyrical comedy, the key theme of which is the author's reflections on the future of the country and its population. The play is based on the story of the forced auction sale of a family estate by an impoverished noble family.

The peculiarity of the work is its genre presentation, which from the point of view of the writer is a comedy, and from the point of view of the literary society and theatergoers, it demonstrates dramatic elements. Thus, alternating dramatic and comic scenes, the writer achieves the artistic reality of the play.

A distinctive feature of the work is the author's innovation, expressed in the absence of a division of the heroes of the play as either negative or positive characters, dividing them into only three categories, the first of which represents people of the past generation in the person of noble aristocrats Ranevskaya, Gaev and lackey Firs, to the second the group includes people of the present time in the vivid presentation of the enterprising merchant Lopakhin, and the third category includes the people of the future in the person of the progressive youth of that period, Pyotr Trofimov and Anya.

The structural composition of the play consists of four acts that are not divided into independent scenes, while the time span of the work is about six months, starting in spring and ending in mid-autumn. In the first act, the mise-en-scene of the plot line is presented, which increases with tension in the second act, the third act is characterized by the climax of the plot in the form of the sale of the family name, and the fourth comes the final denouement. The artistic content of the play develops the emotional and psychological background, which consists in describing the inner experiences of the characters.

The work is also distinguished by the complete absence of pronounced external conflicts, as well as dynamism and unpredictable plot twists, which are emphasized by the author's remarks, monologues, pauses, creating the impression of special understatement and giving the work a unique exquisite lyricism.

Analysis 3

The famous writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov managed to compose not only stories, but also original plays. His play known today is The Cherry Orchard, which was written from 1903 to 1904. Zealous over his creation, Chekhov clearly showed the change in social structures.

Getting acquainted with the work, it becomes clear that the Cherry Orchard itself is in the center of the play. Its owner is Lyubov Ranevskaya, whom Lopakhin persuades to sell the beautiful beauty in order to rent it out and receive a decent amount of income. But what is the problem? The bad luck lies in the fact that for Ranevskaya the garden is, first of all, childhood, these are bright memories that are fanned at the mere idea of ​​the wonderful expanses of their native place. This is joy, this is happiness, this is her soul mate. She can't imagine her own life without him! For the heroine, as well as for her brother, the Cherry Orchard is neither real estate nor a means of subsistence, as Lopakhin thinks. No, it's not. A garden is a house where their heart is, a house where you feel at ease, a house where you are free, the soul receives aesthetic pleasure!

Anton Pavlovich not only analyzed the state of Russian society, its behavior, but also reflected in his heroes an analysis of Russia's past, reflections on its future. Any of Chekhov's characters is associated with the theme of the past, either the theme of the present or the future.

The old owners who manage the garden are responsible for the personification of the past of our country. This is Lyubov Ranevskaya and, accordingly, her brother Leonid Gaev. The main thing that gives them away is their inability to work.

It should be understood that the fate of the characters depends on the fate of the Cherry Orchard. But Ranevskaya's decision leaves much to be desired, because she is selling the garden, which was a spiritual asset, the best cure for adversity. Together with him, the millennial culture of the nobility is leaving. Those who own the Cherry Orchard are indecisive, weak-willed in difficult situations. And because of their cowardice, these people fail, because their time has passed ... It turns out that the place of the heroine Ranevskaya is taken by Lopakhin, this is a new generation, greedy, looking for benefits for themselves in everything. And this is tragic, since the replenishment of the world with such behavioral people negatively affects the lives of others.

While reading Chekhov's book, loneliness is felt, the end blows, a cliff into darkness, from where there is no way out. This shows that the decision that Ranevskaya makes about the garden is erroneous, because along with the Cherry Orchard her childhood, her soul are being sold ...

Therefore, the work of Anton Pavlovich is so striking in its content and unusual. The play posed many problems that Chekhov saw in his time, he took every detail seriously. Thus, he depicted what disturbed and worried him: submission, cowardice of a person before a serious decision. You should never give away what belongs to you, what brings happiness and incredible joy. Don't let this go easy! It is important to stand up for yourself to the end! You need to be strong and courageous, have a strong character, strong willpower, so as not to break down under another problem. This is why Chekhov is amazing: he writes so penetratingly that thoughts after reading his stories do not leave him alone! That's how it should be!

Cherry Orchard - analysis for grade 10

The plot of the play by A.P. Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" is based on numerous stories related to the sale of family estates by nobles. At that time, many of them lost their property, suffered serious financial difficulties, and, among other things, were often forced to auction their family nests. It is interesting that a similar situation happened with the author himself, when his father had to sell the shop and the house due to debts. All this greatly influenced Chekhov's life and his future writing activity. In the play The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov considers a similar problem, analyzes the psychological state of people who were destined to lose their own home.

The classical approach to the analysis of Chekhov's play is as follows. The heroes of the work are divided into three groups according to the time criterion. The first of them includes the aristocrats Gaev, Ranevskaya and the lackey Firs - representatives of the old era. The second category of present time is represented by a single character - the merchant Lopakhin. The third group is the people of the future, which include Petya Trofimov and Anya. At the same time, the play lacks the division of heroes into “good” and “bad”, main and secondary. Such a presentation of the plot became a characteristic feature of Chekhov's authorial style, which was later traced in his future plays.

In the center of the plot is the story of the sale of a family estate with a cherry orchard, while there is no open conflict in the play. If there is some kind of opposition here, then it is expressed in a kind of contradiction between two different eras - the new and the old. Ruined nobles categorically do not want to part with their property, while they are also not ready to lease a piece of land and receive commercial profit for it. For them, this is too new and incomprehensible. The temporal conflict in the play is revealed through the realization of future changes in the life of society, so clearly felt by the author himself. With his work, Chekhov wanted to show this situation from the outside in order to make the reader think about his place and role in this life.

The author's position here is ambiguous. Despite the tragedy of what is happening, the heroes of the play do not cause pity or sympathy. Chekhov portrayed them as narrow-minded people, incapable of introspection and deep feelings. The work is rather a philosophical discussion of the author about the future, about that new era, which Russian society will soon enter.

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The Cherry Orchard is the pinnacle of Russian drama at the beginning of the 20th century, a lyrical comedy, a play that marked the beginning of a new era in the development of the Russian theater.

The main theme of the play is autobiographical - a bankrupt family of noblemen is selling their family estate at auction. The author, as a person who has gone through a similar life situation, describes with subtle psychologism the state of mind of people who are forced to leave their homes soon. The novelty of the play is the lack of division of heroes into positive and negative, into main and secondary. All of them fall into three categories:

• people of the past - aristocratic nobles (Ranevskaya, Gaev and their footman Firs);
• people of the present - their bright representative merchant-entrepreneur Lopakhin;
• the people of the future are the progressive youth of that time (Pyotr Trofimov and Anya).

History of creation

Chekhov began work on the play in 1901. Due to serious health problems, the writing process was rather difficult, but nevertheless, in 1903 the work was completed. The first theatrical production of the play took place a year later on the stage of the Moscow Art Theatre, becoming the pinnacle of Chekhov's work as a playwright and a textbook classic of the theatrical repertoire.

Play analysis

Description of the artwork

The action takes place in the family estate of the landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, who returned from France with her young daughter Anya. They are met at the railway station by Gaev (Ranevskaya's brother) and Varya (her adopted daughter).

The financial situation of the Ranevsky family is nearing complete collapse. Entrepreneur Lopakhin offers his own version of the solution to the problem - to divide the land into shares and give them for use to summer residents for a certain fee. The lady is weighed down by this proposal, because for this she will have to say goodbye to her beloved cherry orchard, with which many warm memories of her youth are associated. Adding to the tragedy is the fact that her beloved son Grisha died in this garden. Gaev, imbued with the experiences of his sister, reassures her with a promise that their family estate will not be put up for sale.

The action of the second part takes place on the street, in the courtyard of the estate. Lopakhin, with his characteristic pragmatism, continues to insist on his plan to save the estate, but no one pays attention to him. Everyone switches to the appeared teacher Peter Trofimov. He gives an excited speech dedicated to the fate of Russia, its future and touches on the topic of happiness in a philosophical context. The materialist Lopakhin is skeptical about the young teacher, and it turns out that only Anya is able to imbue his lofty ideas.

The third act begins with the fact that Ranevskaya invites an orchestra with the last money and arranges a dance evening. Gaev and Lopakhin are absent at the same time - they left for the city for auction, where the Ranevsky estate should go under the hammer. After a long wait, Lyubov Andreevna finds out that her estate was bought at the auction by Lopakhin, who does not hide his joy from his acquisition. The Ranevsky family is in despair.

The finale is entirely devoted to the departure of the Ranevsky family from their home. The parting scene is shown with all the deep psychologism inherent in Chekhov. The play ends with a remarkably profound monologue by Firs, which the hosts hastily forgot on the estate. The final chord is the sound of an axe. They cut down the cherry orchard.

Main characters

Sentimental person, owner of the estate. Having lived abroad for several years, she has become accustomed to a luxurious life and, by inertia, continues to allow herself a lot that, in the deplorable state of her finances, according to the logic of common sense, should be inaccessible to her. Being a frivolous person, very helpless in everyday matters, Ranevskaya does not want to change anything in herself, while she is fully aware of her weaknesses and shortcomings.

A successful merchant, he owes a lot to the Ranevsky family. His image is ambiguous - it combines industriousness, prudence, enterprise and rudeness, a "muzhik" beginning. At the end of the play, Lopakhin does not share Ranevskaya's feelings; he is happy that, despite his peasant origin, he was able to afford to buy the estate of the owners of his late father.

Like his sister, he is very sensitive and sentimental. Being an idealist and a romantic, to console Ranevskaya, he comes up with fantastic plans to save the family estate. He is emotional, verbose, but completely inactive.

Petya Trofimov

Eternal student, nihilist, eloquent representative of the Russian intelligentsia, advocating for the development of Russia only in words. In pursuit of the "higher truth", he denies love, considering it a petty and illusory feeling, which greatly upsets his daughter Ranevskaya Anya, who is in love with him.

A romantic 17-year-old young lady who fell under the influence of the populist Peter Trofimov. Recklessly believing in a better life after the sale of her parental estate, Anya is ready for any difficulties for the sake of joint happiness next to her lover.

An 87-year-old man, a footman in the Ranevskys' house. Type of servant of the old time, surrounds with paternal care of his masters. He remained to serve his masters even after the abolition of serfdom.

A young footman, with contempt for Russia, dreaming of going abroad. A cynical and cruel person, rude to old Firs, disrespectful even to his own mother.

The structure of the work

The structure of the play is quite simple - 4 acts without division into separate scenes. The duration of action is several months, from late spring to mid-autumn. In the first act there is an exposition and a plot, in the second - an increase in tension, in the third - a climax (sale of the estate), in the fourth - a denouement. A characteristic feature of the play is the absence of genuine external conflict, dynamism, and unpredictable twists in the storyline. The author's remarks, monologues, pauses and some understatement give the play a unique atmosphere of exquisite lyricism. The artistic realism of the play is achieved through the alternation of dramatic and comic scenes.

(Scene from a contemporary production)

The play is dominated by the development of the emotional and psychological plan, the main engine of action is the inner experiences of the characters. The author expands the artistic space of the work by introducing a large number of characters who never appear on stage. Also, the effect of expanding the spatial boundaries is given by the symmetrically emerging theme of France, which gives arched form to the play.

Final conclusion

Chekhov's last play can be said to be his "swan song". The novelty of her dramatic language is a direct expression of a special Chekhovian concept of life, which is characterized by extraordinary attention to small, seemingly insignificant details, focusing on the inner experiences of the characters.

In the play The Cherry Orchard, the author captured the state of critical disunity of the Russian society of his time, this sad factor is often present in scenes where the characters hear only themselves, creating only the appearance of interaction.