Past present future in the cherry orchard. Past, present, future in the play "The Cherry Orchard
Features of Chekhov's drama
Before Anton Chekhov, the Russian theater experienced a crisis, it was he who made an invaluable contribution to its development, breathing new life into it. The playwright snatched small sketches from the everyday life of his characters, bringing the drama closer to reality. His plays made the viewer think, although there were no intrigues, open conflicts, but they reflected the inner anxiety of a turning point in historical time, when society froze in anticipation of imminent changes, and all social strata became heroes. The apparent simplicity of the plot introduced the stories of the characters before the events described, making it possible to speculate about what would happen to them after. In such an amazing way the past, present, and future were mixed in the play "The Cherry Orchard" by connecting people not so much from different generations as from different eras. And one of the "undercurrents" characteristic of Chekhov's plays was the author's reflection on the fate of Russia, and the theme of the future took center stage in "The Cherry Orchard".
Past, present and future on the pages of the play "The Cherry Orchard"
So how did the past, present and future meet in the pages of the play "The Cherry Orchard"? Chekhov, as it were, divided all the characters into these three categories, depicting them very vividly.
The past in the play "The Cherry Orchard" is presented by Ranevskaya, Gaev and Firs - the oldest character in the whole action. They are the ones who most of all talk about what happened, for them the past is a time in which everything was easy and beautiful. There were gentlemen and servants, each had its own place and purpose. For Firs, the abolition of serfdom was the greatest grief, he did not want will, remaining on the estate. He sincerely loved the family of Ranevskaya and Gaev, remaining faithful to them until the very end. For the aristocrats Lyubov Andreevna and her brother, the past is the time when they did not have to think about such base things as money. They enjoyed life, doing what brings pleasure, being able to appreciate the beauty of immaterial things - it is difficult for them to adapt to the new order, in which material values replace highly moral values. For them, it is humiliating to talk about money, about ways of earning it, and Lopakhin's real proposal to lease land occupied by an essentially useless garden is perceived as vulgarity. Unable to make decisions about the future of the cherry orchard, they succumb to the flow of life and simply float through it. Ranevskaya with her aunt's money, sent for Anya, leaves for Paris, and Gaev goes to serve in the bank. The death of Firs at the end of the play is very symbolic, as if saying that the aristocracy as a social class has outlived its usefulness, and there is no place for it, in the form in which it was before the abolition of serfdom.
Lopakhin became the representative of the present in the play "The Cherry Orchard". “A man is a man,” as he says about himself, who thinks in a new way, who knows how to make money using his mind and flair. Petya Trofimov even compares him with a predator, but with a predator with a subtle artistic nature. And this brings Lopakhin a lot of emotional experiences. He is well aware of all the beauty of the old cherry orchard, which will be cut down at his will, but he cannot act otherwise. His ancestors were serfs, his father owned a shop, and he became a "white vest," having amassed a considerable fortune. Chekhov put special emphasis on the character of Lopakhin, because he was not a typical merchant, whom many treated with disdain. He made himself, paving the way with his work and desire to be better than his ancestors, not only in terms of financial independence, but also in education. In many ways, Chekhov correlated himself with Lopakhin, because their genealogies are similar.
Anya and Petya Trofimov personify the future. They are young, full of strength and energy. And most importantly, they have a desire to change their lives. But, that's just, Petya is a master of talking and reasoning about a wonderful and just future, but he doesn't know how to expose his speeches into action. This is what prevents him from graduating from university or at least somehow arranging his life. Petya denies all attachments - be it a place or another person. He captivates naive Anya with his ideas, but she already has a plan for how to arrange her life. She is inspired and ready to "plant a new garden, even more beautiful than the previous one." However, the future in Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard" is very uncertain and vague. In addition to educated Ani and Petit, there is also Yasha and Dunyasha, and they, too, are the future. Moreover, if Dunyasha is just a silly peasant girl, then Yasha is a completely different type. The Gayevs and Ranevsky are replaced by the Lopakhins, but the Lopakhins will also have to be replaced by someone. If you recall the history, then 13 years later, after writing this play, it was just such Yash who came to power - unprincipled, empty and cruel, not attached to anyone or anything.
In the play "The Cherry Orchard" the heroes of the past, present and future were gathered in one place, but they are not united by an inner desire to be together and share their dreams, desires, and experiences. The old garden and the house keep them, and as soon as they disappear, the connection between the characters and the time they reflect is severed.
Link of times today
Only the greatest creations are capable of reflecting reality even many years after their creation. So it happened with the play "The Cherry Orchard". History is cyclical, society develops and changes, moral and ethical norms are also subject to rethinking. Human life is not possible without memory of the past, in inaction in the present, and without faith in the future. One generation is replaced by another, some build, others destroy. So it was in the days of Chekhov, and so it is now. The playwright was right when he said that "All Russia is our garden," and it depends only on us whether it will bloom and bear fruit, or whether it will be cut down to the very roots.
The author's reasoning about the past, present and future in comedy, about people and generations, about Russia makes people think about it in our days. These thoughts will be useful for 10 grades when writing an essay on the topic "Past, present, future in the play" The Cherry Orchard ".
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(482 words) "The Cherry Orchard" is the last play by A.P. Chekhov. It was written by him in 1903, shortly before the 1905 revolution. The country then stood at a crossroads, and in the work the author skillfully conveyed the atmosphere of that time through events, characters, their characters and actions. The Cherry Orchard is the embodiment of pre-revolutionary Russia, and heroes of different ages are the personification of the past, present and future of the country.
Ranevskaya and Gaev represent the old days. They live on memories and absolutely do not want to solve the problems of the present time. Their house is under threat, but instead of making any attempts to save it, they in every possible way avoid talking with Lopakhin on this topic. Lyubov Andreevna constantly spends money inappropriately that could go to buy out the house. In the second act, she first complains: "Oh, my sins ... I have always littered with money without restraint, like a madwoman ..." - and literally a minute later, having heard the Jewish orchestra, suggests "to invite him somehow, arrange an evening." There is a feeling that we are not facing adults, experienced, educated heroes, but foolish children who are unable to exist independently. They hope that their problem will be solved in a miraculous way, they themselves do not take any action, leaving everything to the mercy of fate. In the end, they are deprived of all the past that they cherished so much.
The present is personified by the merchant Yermolai Lopakhin. He is the representative of a growing class in Russia - the bourgeoisie. Unlike Ranevskaya and Gaev, he is not childish, but very hardworking and enterprising. It is these qualities that help him in the end to redeem the estate. He grew up in a family of serfs who used to serve as Gaevs, so he is very proud of himself: "... the beaten, illiterate Ermolai ... bought an estate where grandfather and father were slaves, where they were not even allowed into the kitchen." For Yermolai, the garden is not a memory of past years, the plot for him is only a means of earning money. He knocks it out without any hesitation, thereby destroying the old, but at the same time, without creating anything new.
Anya and Petya Trofimov are heroes of the future. They both talk about the future as something unconditionally bright and beautiful. But in reality, for the two of them, it is rather vague. Petya talks a lot, but does little. At the age of 26, he still has not graduated from the university, for which he received the nickname "eternal student". He criticizes the nobility and supports the bourgeoisie, calling people to work, but he himself is not capable of anything. Of all the characters in the play, only Anya supports him. She is another 17-year-old girl who is the personification of youth, inexhaustible strength and desire to do good. Her future is also unknown, but it is she who calms her mother: "We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this." She has no doubt that the loss of the estate is not the worst tragedy and that a new garden can be planted, just as it is possible to start a new life. Although the author does not assert anything, perhaps it is Anya who is the true future of Russia.
A.P. Chekhov showed the readers the heroes of different generations, estates and views on life of that time, but he could not give an unequivocal answer as to who the future of the country was behind. But still, he sincerely believed that the future of Russia will certainly be bright and beautiful, like a blossoming cherry orchard.
Past, present and future in the play by A. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard".
“The Cherry Orchard” by A. Chekhov is a unique work where all three periods of life are connected: past, present and future.
The action takes place at a time when the outdated nobility is replaced by merchants and entrepreneurship. Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, Leonid Andreevich Gaev, old lackey Firs are representatives of the past.
They often think back to the old days when there was no need to worry about anything, especially about money. These people value something more sublime than material. The cherry orchard for Ranevskaya are memories and her whole life, she will not allow the thought of selling it, cutting it down, destroying it. For Gayev, even such things as a hundred-year-old wardrobe are important, to which he turns with tears in his eyes: “Dear, dear wardrobe!”. And what about old footman Firs? He did not need to abolish serfdom, because he devoted his whole life and all of himself to the family of Ranevskaya and Gaev, whom he sincerely loved. “The peasants are with the gentlemen, the gentlemen are with the peasants, and now everything is in disarray, you will not understand anything,” Firs said about the state of affairs after the liquidation of serfdom in Russia. He, like all representatives of the old time, was satisfied with the previously existing order.
The nobility and antiquity are being replaced by something new - the merchants, the personification of the present. The representative of this generation is Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin. He comes from a simple family, his father traded in the village in a shop, but thanks to his own efforts, Lopakhin was able to achieve a lot and make a fortune. Money mattered to him, in the cherry orchard he saw only a source of profit. Yermolai's mind was enough to develop a whole project and help Ranevskaya in her deplorable situation. It is precisely the ingenuity and craving for material benefits that were inherent in the generation of the present time.
But sooner or later, the present must also be replaced by something. Any future is changeable and vague, this is how A.P. Chekhov shows it. The future generation is rather motley, including Anya and Varya, student Petya Trofimov, maid Dunyasha and young footman Yasha. If the representatives of antiquity are similar in almost everything, then the young are completely different. They are full of new ideas, strength and energy. However, among them there are those who are capable only of beautiful speeches, but do not really change anything. This is Petya Trofimov. “We are at least two hundred years behind, we have absolutely nothing, we have no definite attitude to the past, we only philosophize, complain of melancholy and drink vodka,” he says to Anya, while doing nothing to make life become better by remaining a “perpetual student”. Although Anya is fascinated by Petya's ideas, she goes her own way, intending to get settled in life. “We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this,” she says, ready to change the future for the better. But there is also another type of youth, to which the young footman Yasha belongs. Completely unprincipled, empty, capable of only grins and not attached to anything. What will happen if the future will be built by people like Yasha?
“All Russia is our garden,” notes Trofimov. Indeed, the cherry orchard embodies the whole of Russia, where there is a connection between times and generations. It was the garden that connected all the representatives of the past, present and future into one whole, just as Russia unites all generations.
Past, present and future in the play by A.P. Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard"
I. Introduction
The Cherry Orchard was written in 1903, in an era that was in many ways a turning point for Russia, when the crisis of the old order had already emerged, and the future had not yet been determined.
II. main part
1. The past is represented in the play by characters of the older generation: Gaev, Ranevskaya, Firs, but other characters in the play also talk about the past. It is associated primarily with the nobility, which by the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries was in clear decline. The past is ambiguous. On the one hand, this was a time of serfdom, social injustice, etc., as Lopakhin and Petya Trofimov talk about, for example. On the other hand, the past appears to be a happy time not only for Ranevskaya and Gaev, but also, in particular, for Firs, who perceives "will" as a misfortune. In the past, there were many good things: kindness, order, and most importantly - beauty, personified in the image of a cherry orchard.
2. The present in Russia is vague, has a transitional, unstable character. It appears the same in Chekhov's play. The main spokesman for the present is Lopakhin, but one should not forget about other heroes (Epikhodov, the lackey Yasha, Varya). Lopakhin's image is very contradictory. On the one hand, he, a merchant who has escaped from the former serfs, is the master of the present; it is no coincidence that he gets the cherry orchard. This is his pride: "the beaten, illiterate Ermolai / ... / bought an estate, which is more beautiful than there is nothing in the world / ... / bought an estate where father and grandfather were slaves." But, on the other hand, Lopakhin is unhappy. He is a subtle man by nature, he understands that he is destroying beauty, but he cannot live otherwise. The feeling of his own inferiority is especially manifested in his monologue at the end of the third act: "Oh, it would be more likely that all this would pass, it would sooner change somehow our awkward, unhappy life."
3. The future in the play is completely vague and uncertain. It would seem that it belongs to the younger generation - Trofimov and Anya. It is they, especially Trofimov, who speak passionately about the future, which seems to them, of course, wonderful. But Anya is still quite a girl, and how her life will turn out, what her future will be is completely unclear. Serious doubts arise that Trofimov will be able to build the happy future he is talking about. First of all, because he does absolutely nothing, but only speaks. When it is necessary to show the ability for at least a minimal practical action (to console Ranevskaya, take care of Firs), it turns out to be untenable. But the main thing is the attitude to the key image of the play, to the cherry orchard. Petya is indifferent to its beauty, he urges Anya not to spare the cherry orchard, to forget about the past altogether. “We will plant a new garden,” says Trofimov, and this means let it perish. Such an attitude to the past does not allow us to seriously hope for the future either.
III. Conclusion
Chekhov himself believed that the future of his country would be better than its past and present. But in what ways this future will be achieved, who will build it and at what cost - the writer did not give specific answers to these questions.
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The era of the greatest aggravation of social relations, a stormy social movement, the preparation of the first Russian revolution was clearly reflected in the last major work of the writer - the play "The Cherry Orchard". Chekhov saw the growth of the revolutionary consciousness of the people, their dissatisfaction with the autocratic regime. Chekhov's general democratic position was reflected in The Cherry Orchard: the characters of the play, being in great ideological clashes and contradictions, do not reach open enmity. However, the play depicts the noble-bourgeois world in a sharply critical sense and depicts people striving for a new life in bright colors.
Chekhov responds to the most pressing demands of the time. The play "The Cherry Orchard", being the completion of Russian critical realism, amazed contemporaries with its unusual truthfulness and convexity of the image.
Although The Cherry Orchard is based entirely on everyday material, everyday life in it has a general, symbolic meaning. This is achieved by the playwright through the use of the "undercurrent". The cherry orchard itself is not in the center of Chekhov's attention: the symbolic garden is the whole homeland (“all Russia is our garden”). Therefore, the theme of the play is the fate of the homeland, its future. The old masters, the nobles Ranevskys and Gaevs, leave the stage, the capitalists Lopakhins come to replace them. But their dominance is short-lived, for they are the destroyers of beauty.
The real masters of life will come and they will turn Russia into a blossoming garden. The ideological pathos of the play is in the denial of the noble-landlord system as outdated. At the same time, the writer claims that the bourgeoisie, which is replacing the nobility, despite its vitality, brings with it destruction and oppression. Chekhov believes that new forces will come that will rebuild life on the basis of justice and humanity. Farewell of the new, young, tomorrow's Russia to the past, obsolete, doomed to an imminent end, striving for tomorrow's homeland - this is the content of The Cherry Orchard.
The peculiarity of the play is that it is based on showing the clashes of people who are representatives of different social strata - nobles, capitalists, commoners and the people, but their clashes are not hostile. The main thing here is not in the contradictions of the property order, but in the deep disclosure of the emotional experiences of the characters. Ranevskaya, Gaev and Simeonov-Pishchik make up a group of local nobles. The work of the playwright was complicated by the fact that positive qualities had to be shown in these characters. Gaev and Pishchik are kind, honest and simple, and Ranevskaya is endowed with aesthetic feelings (love for music and nature). But at the same time they are all weak-willed, inactive, incapable of practical deeds.
Ranevskaya and Gaev are the owners of the estate, “there is nothing more beautiful in the world,” as one of the characters in the play, Lopakhin, says, a delightful estate whose beauty lies in the poetic cherry orchard. The "owners" have brought the estate to a miserable state with their frivolity, a complete lack of understanding of real life, and the sale of the estate at an auction is ahead. The rich peasant son, the merchant Lopakhin, a friend of the family, warns the owners of the impending catastrophe, offers them his projects of salvation, encourages them to think about the impending disaster. But Ranevskaya and Gaev live with illusory representations. Both shed many tears over the loss of their cherry orchard, without which, as they are sure, they will not be able to live. But business goes on as usual, auctions take place, and Lopakhin himself: he buys the estate.
When the trouble happened, it turns out that no special drama is happening for Ranevskaya and Gaev. Ranevskaya returns to Paris, to her ridiculous "love", to which she would have returned, despite all her words, that she cannot live without her homeland and without a cherry orchard. Gaev also reconciles with what happened. "Awful drama", which for its heroes, however, did not turn out to be a drama at all, for the simple reason that they cannot have anything serious, nothing dramatic at all. The merchant Lopakhin personifies the second group of images. Chekhov attached particular importance to it: “… the role of Lopakhin is central. If it fails, then the whole play will fail. "
Lopakhin replaces Ranevsky and Gaev. The playwright insistently emphasizes the relative progressiveness of this bourgeois. He is energetic, businesslike, intelligent and adventurous; he works "from morning to evening". His practical advice, if Ranevskaya had accepted them, would have saved the estate. Lopakhin has a "thin, gentle soul", thin fingers, like an artist. However, he only recognizes utilitarian beauty. In pursuit of the goal of enrichment, Lopakhin destroys beauty - he cuts down the cherry orchard.
The domination of the Lopakhins is transient. New people will come to the stage - Trofimov and Anya, who make up the third group of characters. The future is embodied in them. It is Trofimov who pronounces the verdict on the "noble nests". “Has the estate been sold today,” he says to Ranevskaya, “or not sold — is it all the same? With him has long been finished, there is no turning back ... "
In Trofimov, Chekhov embodied an aspiration for the future and dedication to public duty. It is he, Trofimov, who glorifies labor and calls on to work: “Humanity goes forward, improving its strength. Everything that is inaccessible to him now will someday become close, understandable, only now he has to work, help with all his might those who are looking for the truth. "
True, the specific ways to change the social structure are not clear to Trofimov. He only declaratively calls for the future. And the playwright endowed him with features of eccentricity (recall the episodes of searching for galoshes and falling down the stairs). Still, his service to the public interest, his appeals awakened the people around him and made them look ahead.
Trofimova is supported by Anya Ranevskaya, a poetic and enthusiastic girl. Petya Trofimov calls on Anya to turn her life around. Ani's connections with ordinary people, her reflections helped her to notice the absurdity, the awkwardness of what she observed around. Conversations with Petya Trofimov made her understand the injustice of the life around her.
Under the influence of conversations with Petya Trofimov, Anya came to the conclusion that her mother's family estate belongs to the people, that it is unfair to own it, that one must live by labor and work for the benefit of the disadvantaged people.
The enthusiastic Anya was captured and carried away by Trofimov's romantically upbeat speeches about a new life, about the future, and she became a supporter of his beliefs and dreams. Anya Ranevskaya is one of those who, having believed in the truth of working life, parted with their class. She is not sorry for the cherry orchard, she no longer loves it as before; she realized that behind him were the reproachful eyes of the people who planted and nurtured him.
Smart, honest, crystal clear in her thoughts and desires, Anya happily leaves the cherry orchard, the old manor house, where she spent her childhood, adolescence and youth. She says with delight: “Farewell, home! Goodbye, old life! " But Ani's ideas about a new life are not only vague, but also naive. Addressing her mother, she says: "We will read on autumn evenings, we will read many books, and a new, wonderful world will open before us ..."
Ani's path to a new life will be extremely difficult. After all, she is practically helpless: she is used to living, ordering numerous servants, in full abundance, carefree, not thinking about her daily bread, about tomorrow. She is not trained in any profession, not prepared for constant, hard work and daily hardships in the most necessary. Striving for a new life, she, by way of life and habits, remained a young lady of the noble-local circle.
It is possible that Anya will not withstand the temptation of a new life and will retreat before its trials. But if she finds the necessary strength in herself, then her new life will be in her studies, in the education of the people and, perhaps (who knows!), In the political struggle for their interests. After all, she understood and remembered Trofimov's words that to redeem the past, to end it "is possible only by suffering, only by extraordinary, continuous work."
The pre-revolutionary politicized atmosphere in which society lived could not but affect the perception of the play. The Cherry Orchard was immediately understood as Chekhov's most social play, embodying the fate of entire classes: the outgoing nobility, who replaced capitalism, and people of the future who were already living and acting. This superficial approach to the play was taken up and developed by the literary criticism of the Soviet period.
However, the play turned out to be much higher than the political passions that flared up around it. Already contemporaries noted the philosophical depth of the play, rejecting its sociological reading. The publisher and journalist AS Suvorin argued that the author of The Cherry Orchard is aware that "something very important is being destroyed, it is being destroyed, perhaps, out of historical necessity, but nevertheless it is a tragedy of Russian life."