Chekhov's play “The Cherry Orchard” is an essay showing the process of decline of the noble class. The meaning of the work is that the country is faced with a choice, and what the next step will be is difficult to predict. The author points out the mistakes of the past, the harsh vices of the present, and instills faith in the future. In the play "The Cherry Orchard" the characters are a reflection of the society of that period.
Main characters
Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya | An emotional woman who likes to waste money. He does not deny himself anything, although he knows that there is no money and the estate is being auctioned off. Her attitude to life is irresponsible, she lives one day at a time, without thinking about the future, and trying to hide from unpleasant moments and difficulties. She almost went broke while living abroad, but even after selling her estate she went back to Paris. |
Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich | One of the main characters of The Cherry Orchard, who played a big role in the life of the Ranevskys. Originally from the peasant class, he is now a wealthy merchant with a highly developed spirit of entrepreneurship. He is a calculating and rude person; he receives satisfaction by purchasing Ranevskaya’s estate. |
People of the noble era
The first group of characters consists of people from the noble era, which is a thing of the past. This is Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya and Leonid Andreevich Gaev, her brother. These people own a cherry orchard. They are not old at all in age. Gaev is only 51 years old, and his sister is probably 10 years younger than him. It can also be assumed that the image of Varya also belongs to this group. This is Ranevskaya's adopted daughter. This also includes the image of Firs, the old footman, who is, as it were, part of the house and all the passing life. This is, in general terms, the first group of characters. Of course, this is only a brief description of the heroes. “The Cherry Orchard” is a work in which each of these characters plays a role, and each of them is interesting in its own way.
Lopakhin's attitude towards Ranevskaya and Gaev
Every now and then Lopakhin offers Gaev and Ranevskaya various rescue plans. He talks about the possibility of giving the land they own to plots for summer cottages, and cutting down the garden, since it is completely useless. Lopakhin is sincerely upset when he realizes that these heroes of the play “The Cherry Orchard” do not perceive his reasonable words. He cannot comprehend how one can be so careless on the verge of one’s own death. Lopakhin directly says that he has never met such frivolous, strange, unbusinesslike people as Gaev and Ranevskaya (heroes of Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard”). There is not a shadow of deceit in his desire to help them. Lopakhin is extremely sincere. Why does he want to help his former masters?
Perhaps because he remembers what Ranevskaya did for him. He tells her that he loves her like his own. Unfortunately, the good deed of this heroine remains outside the play. However, one can guess that due to her nobility and gentle character, Ranevskaya respected Lopakhin and pitied him. In a word, she behaved like a real aristocrat - noble, cultured, kind, generous. Perhaps it is precisely the awareness of such an ideal of humanity, its inaccessibility, that forces this hero to commit such contradictory actions.
Ranevskaya and Lopakhin are the two centers in the work “The Cherry Orchard”. The images of the heroes described by the author are very interesting. The plot develops in such a way that the interpersonal relationships between them are not the most important thing. What comes first is what Lopakhin does as if involuntarily, surprising himself.
How is Lopakhin's personality revealed at the end of the work?
The third action takes place in nervous tension. Everyone expects that Gaev will soon arrive from the auction and bring news about the further fate of the garden. The owners of the estate cannot hope for the best; they can only hope for a miracle...
Finally, the fateful news was announced: the garden was sold! Ranevskaya is struck by the answer to a completely meaningless and helpless question: “Who bought it?” Lopakhin exhales: “I bought it!” This action of Ermolai Alekseevich decides the future of the heroes of The Cherry Orchard. It seems that Raevskaya did not expect this from him. But it turns out that the estate and garden are Ermolai Alekseevich’s lifelong dream. Lopakhin could not do otherwise. In it, the merchant avenged the peasant and defeated the intellectual. Lopakhin seems to be in hysterics. He doesn’t believe in his own happiness and doesn’t notice Ranevskaya, who is heartbroken.
Everything happens according to his passionate desire, but against his will, because a minute later, noticing the unfortunate Ranevskaya, the merchant unexpectedly utters words that contradict his delight a minute earlier: “My poor, good one, you won’t bring me back now...” But the very next moment the former man and the merchant in Lopakhino raise their heads and shout: “Music, play clearly!”
Essay: Minor characters and their significance in the play “The Cherry Orchard” (A. P. Chekhov)
(572 words) The lyrical comedy “The Cherry Orchard” is often called one of the most famous works of A.P. Chekhov. It was written in 1903, and already in 1904 it was staged by the Moscow Art Theater, on whose stage its long journey began on stages around the world. The plot is built around one problem - an estate with a garden that belonged to the Ranevsky family must be sold for non-payment of debts. Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, because of whose extravagance this situation arose, hesitates for a long time: too many wonderful memories are associated with this place. Opposing her is the young merchant Lopakhin, an active materialist, for whom the main thing is to make a successful deal. In addition to the main characters developing the central conflict, Chekhov introduced many secondary and no less memorable ones. Often it is they who create various funny situations, but even behind the ostentatious gaiety one can discern the problems raised by the playwright.
Thus, Leonid Andreevich Gaev - Ranevskaya's brother - is essentially a sentimental dreamer. He ardently convinces those around him that he will do anything so that the estate remains with them. But he never fulfills his promise.
“I swear on my happiness! Here's my hand to you, then call me a crappy, dishonest person if I allow it to the auction! I swear with all my being!”
His words are at odds with his actions - he is lazy, a little stupid, and capable only of empty thoughts.
Pyotr Sergeevich Trofimov, an eternal student whose age is approaching thirty, is shown in approximately the same way. He is poor, does not consider money to be something essential in life, and calls a person’s desire to work and achieve some heights an important condition for the development of the country. He is an idealist, but only in conversation. The beautiful words he utters do not reflect his activities in any way. Because it simply doesn't exist.
Varya, Ranevskaya’s adopted daughter, is the opposite of these heroes. She is practical, works hard, and is something of a housekeeper in the house. Her seriousness, modesty and thriftiness set her apart from the rest.
Lyubov Andreevna’s second daughter, Anya, is more romantic in nature. Like a naive child, she follows Petya, listening to his speeches. She sincerely supports his position and is ready to follow him into what she thinks is a bright future. However, Chekhov himself, in a letter to Nemirovich-Danchenko, the founder of the Moscow Art Theater, reduces the role of Anya to sweet, but completely insignificant.
“...anyone can play, even a completely unknown actress, as long as she is young, looks like a girl, and speaks in a young, ringing voice. This role is not an important one..."
The comic side of the play is revealed in the images of the circus governess Charlotte, the awkward clerk Epikhodov, the cutesy maid Dunyasha and the banker Simeonov-Pishchik, who is trying to beg money from everyone he meets. They all want to appear much more educated and higher in social status than they actually are, which is why they end up in various funny stories.
The man who has collected all the existing vices turns out to be the lackey Yasha. Having lived in Paris for five years, he returned to look down on those around him and treat the Russian people, especially the peasants, with contempt. He is cruel and selfish, using others for pleasure. This is especially evident in the episodes where he plays with the feelings of Dunyasha, who is in love with him, and then leaves her.
Against the background of these characters (except for Varya and, perhaps, Anya), the image of Firs, the old servant, seems to us very touching and even positive. He doesn’t particularly argue with anyone, doesn’t participate in discord. Only quietly and unquestioningly fulfills its main function - serving the owners of the estate. And, in the end, it turns out to be forgotten by them.
“Locked. We left...<...> It’s okay... I’ll sit here...”
Through minor characters, Chekhov shows the shortcomings of the people of the bygone era, their weaknesses. They are not able to hear and understand each other, each immersed in their own worries and desires, which is why they cannot find happiness.
Author: Inna Kolokolnikova
Brief characteristics of the main characters
Although the main characters of the play are not highlighted by Chekhov as a separate line, they are easy to identify. These are Ranevskaya, Lopakhin and Trofimov. It is their vision of their time that becomes the fundamental motive of the entire work. And this time is shown through the relationship to the old cherry orchard.
Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna
– the main character of “The Cherry Orchard” is a former rich aristocrat, accustomed to living according to the dictates of her heart. Her husband died quite early, leaving a lot of debts. While she was indulging in new feelings, her little son tragically died. Considering herself guilty of this tragedy, she runs away from home, from her lover abroad, who also followed her and literally robbed her there. But her hopes of finding peace were not realized. She loves her garden and her estate, but cannot save it. It is unthinkable for her to accept Lopakhin’s offer, because then the centuries-old order in which the title of “landowner” is passed down from generation to generation will be violated, carrying with it the cultural and historical heritage, inviolability and confidence in the worldview.
Lyubov Andreevna and her brother Gaev are characterized by all the best traits of the nobility: responsiveness, generosity, education, a sense of beauty, the ability to sympathize. However, in modern times, all their positive qualities are not needed and are turned in the opposite direction. Generosity becomes irrepressible spending, responsiveness and the ability to sympathize turn into slobbering, education turns into idle talk.
According to Chekhov, these two heroes do not deserve sympathy and their experiences are not as deep as they might seem.
In the play “The Cherry Orchard” the main characters talk more than they do, and the only person who acts is Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich
, the central character, according to the author. Chekhov was sure that if his image failed, then the whole play would fail. Lopakhin is designated a merchant, but the modern word “businessman” would be more suitable for him. The son and grandson of serfs became a millionaire thanks to his instincts, determination and intelligence, because if he were stupid and uneducated, how could he have achieved such success in his business? And it is no coincidence that Petya Trofimov talks about his subtle soul. After all, only Ermolai Alekseevich realizes the value of the old garden and its true beauty. But his commercial spirit goes too far, and he is forced to destroy the garden.
Trofimov Petya
- an eternal student and a “shabby gentleman.” Apparently, he also belongs to a noble family, but has essentially become a homeless vagabond, dreaming of the common good and happiness. He talks a lot, but does nothing for the speedy onset of a bright future. He also lacks deep feelings for the people around him and attachment to a place. He lives only in dreams. However, he managed to captivate Anya with his ideas.
Anya, daughter of Ranevskaya
. Her mother left her in the care of her brother at age 12. That is, in adolescence, which is so important for the formation of personality, Anya was left to her own devices. She inherited the best qualities that are characteristic of the aristocracy. She is youthfully naive, which is perhaps why she was so easily carried away by Petya’s ideas.
Social statuses of the characters in the play - as one of the characteristics
In the final play by A.P. Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" there is no division into main and secondary characters. They are all major, even seemingly episodic roles, and are of great importance for revealing the main idea of the entire work. The characterization of the heroes of “The Cherry Orchard” begins with their social representation. After all, social status already leaves an imprint in people’s heads, and not only on stage. Thus, Lopakhin, a merchant, is already associated in advance with a loud and tactless merchant, incapable of any subtle feelings and experiences, but Chekhov warned that his merchant differs from a typical representative of this class. Ranevskaya and Simeonov-Pishchik, designated as landowners, look very strange. After all, after the abolition of serfdom, the social statuses of landowners remained a thing of the past, since they no longer corresponded to the new social order. Gaev is also a landowner, but in the minds of the characters he is “Ranevskaya’s brother,” which suggests some kind of lack of independence of this character. With Ranevskaya’s daughters, everything is more or less clear. Anya and Varya have their ages indicated, showing that they are the youngest characters in The Cherry Orchard.
The age of the oldest character, Firs, is also indicated. Trofimov Petr Sergeevich is a student, and there is some kind of contradiction in this, because if he is a student, then he is young and it seems too early to assign a middle name, but meanwhile it is indicated.
Throughout the entire action of the play “The Cherry Orchard,” the characters are fully revealed, and their characters are outlined in a form typical for this type of literature - in speech characteristics given by themselves or other participants.
Younger generation
The third group is represented by Anya, the daughter of Lyubov Andreevna, and Petya Trofimov, who is the former teacher of Ranevskaya’s son, who recently died. Without mentioning them, the characterization of the heroes would be incomplete. "The Cherry Orchard" is a play in which these characters are lovers. However, in addition to the feeling of love, they are also united by their aspiration away from dilapidated values and all old life towards a wonderful future, which in Trofimov’s speeches is depicted as ethereal, although shining.
