A short essay-discussion on the topic: The past, present and future of Russia in the play “ Cherry Orchard" Three generations in the comedy "The Cherry Orchard". The fate of the Cherry Orchard
In the play “The Cherry Orchard,” Chekhov portrayed several generations of people at once, each of which represents the past, present or future of Russia. The author does not idealize any of them: each era has its own advantages and disadvantages. This is why we value Chekhov’s work: he is extremely objective in relation to reality. The writer is not trying to convince us that the future is cloudless or the past is worthy of worship, and he treats the present most strictly.
The past in the play “The Cherry Orchard” is presented in the images of Ranevskaya, Gaev and Firs. All of them cannot adapt to the new realities of life. Their situation in some places seems funny to us, because their actions are absurd. To save the estate, the owners just need to rent it out at a profit, but they are too scrupulous and arrogant, they are embarrassed by the vulgarity of the summer residents who will desecrate their cherry orchards. Instead, they ended up with Lopakhin buying the estate and completely cutting down the paradise. This example suggests that the nobles cannot even take care of themselves, let alone Russia. Their behavior is not rational, and their character is capricious, because they are accustomed to living carefree through the labor of others. It is obvious that they did not justify the privileges of their class, therefore harsh reality left them in the past: they couldn’t keep up with her, they kept imagining that she had to adapt to them. However, Chekhov does not set himself the task of denigrating the past. We see that these people are not devoid of spiritual subtlety, tact and other genuine virtues. They are well-mannered, educated and kind. For example, the devotion of the old servant Firs makes us sympathize with him and recognize the moral superiority of the older generation over modern people Lopakhin type.
The future in the play “The Cherry Orchard” is the young generation: Trofimov and Anya. They are dreamers, maximalists, divorced from reality. They are romantic and elevated, but at the same time independent and intelligent, being able to find mistakes of the past and present and try to correct them. Student Trofimov says: “We are at least two hundred years behind, we still have absolutely nothing, there is no definite attitude towards the past, we only philosophize, complain about melancholy or drink vodka,” it is obvious that the young man looks soberly at things. But at the same time, the hero demonstrates indifference towards the cherry orchard: “We are above love,” he declares, abdicating all responsibility for the fate of the garden, and, therefore, of all of Russia. He and Anya, of course, want to change something, but they are losing their roots. This is precisely what worries the author.
Chekhov knew well the vices of the past and present of his country, but he could only predict the future, so the debate about what the writer wanted to say when depicting Peter and Anna is still open. I think he had hopes for a bright future, but was still afraid that he would not recognize his country if he traveled back in time.
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Essay on literature.
Here she is - open secret, the secret of poetry, life, love!
I. S. Turgenev.
The play "The Cherry Orchard", written in 1903, - last piece Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, completing it creative biography. In it, the author raises a number of problems characteristic of Russian literature: the problems of fathers and children, love and suffering. All this is united in the theme of the past, present and future of Russia.
Cherry Orchard - central image, uniting heroes in time and space. For the landowner Ranevskaya and her brother Gaev, the garden is family nest, an integral part of their memories. It’s as if they have grown together with this garden; without it they “don’t understand their life.” To save the estate, decisive action is needed, a change in lifestyle - otherwise the magnificent garden will go under the hammer. But Ranevskaya and Gaev are unaccustomed to all activities, impractical to the point of stupidity, unable to even seriously think about the impending threat. They betray the idea of the cherry orchard. For landowners, he is a symbol of the past. Firs, Ranevskaya’s old servant, also remains in the past. He considers the abolition of serfdom a misfortune, and to his former owners attached as to his own children. But those whom he devotedly served all his life abandon him to his fate. Forgotten and abandoned, Firs remains a monument to the past in a boarded-up house.
Currently represented by Ermolai Lopakhin. His father and grandfather were serfs of Ranevskaya, and he himself became a successful merchant. Lopakhin looks at the garden from the point of view of the “circulation of the matter.” He sympathizes with Ranevskaya, but the cherry orchard itself is doomed to death in the plans of a practical entrepreneur. It is Lopakhin who brings the agony of the garden to logical conclusion. The estate is divided into profitable dacha plots, and “you can only hear how far away in the garden an ax is knocking on a tree.”
The future is personified by the younger generation: Petya Trofimov and Anya, Ranevskaya’s daughter. Trofimov is a student working hard to make his way into life. His life is not easy. When winter comes, he is “hungry, sick, anxious, poor.” Petya is smart and honest, understands the difficult situation the people live in, and believes in a bright future. “All of Russia is our garden!” - he exclaims.
Chekhov puts Petya in ridiculous situations, reducing his image to the extremely unheroic. Trofimov - “ shabby gentleman"," the "eternal student", whom Lopakhin constantly stops with ironic remarks. But the student’s thoughts and dreams are close to the author’s. The writer, as it were, separates the word from its “carrier”: the significance of what is spoken does not always coincide with social significance"carrier".
Anya is seventeen years old. For Chekhov, youth is not only a sign of age. He wrote: “...that youth can be considered healthy, which does not put up with the old orders and... fights against them.” Anya received the usual upbringing for nobles. Great influence Trofimov influenced the formation of her views. The girl’s character contains sincerity of feelings and mood, spontaneity. Anya is ready to start new life: pass exams for the gymnasium course and break ties with the past.
In the images of Anya Ranevskaya and Petya Trofimov, the author embodied everything best features inherent in the new generation. It is with their lives that Chekhov connects the future of Russia. They express the ideas and thoughts of the author himself. The sound of an ax is heard in the cherry orchard, but young people believe that the next generations will plant new orchards, more beautiful than the previous ones. The presence of these heroes enhances and strengthens the notes of vivacity that sound in the play, the motives of the future have a wonderful life. And it seems - not Trofimov, no, it was Chekhov who came on stage. “Here it is, happiness, here it comes, coming closer and closer... And if we don’t see it, don’t know it, then what’s the harm? Others will see him!”
Features of Chekhov's dramaturgy
Before Anton Chekhov, Russian theater was going through a crisis; it was he who made an invaluable contribution to its development, breathing new life into it. The playwright snatched small sketches from everyday life their heroes, bringing dramaturgy closer to reality. His plays made the viewer think, although they did not contain intrigues or open conflicts, but they reflected the internal anxiety of a turning point in history, 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 what would happen to them after. So amazingly past, present, future mixed in the play “The Cherry Orchard”, by connecting people not so much different generations, How many 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 central place 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 on the pages of the play “The Cherry Orchard”? Chekhov seemed to divide all the heroes into these three categories, depicting them very vividly.
The past in the play “The Cherry Orchard” is represented by Ranevskaya, Gaev and Firs - the oldest character in the whole action. They are the ones who talk most about what happened; for them, the past is a time in which everything was easy and wonderful. There were masters and servants, each had their own place and purpose. For Firs, the abolition of serfdom became greatest sorrow, he did not want freedom, remaining on the estate. He sincerely loved the family of Ranevskaya and Gaev, remaining devoted to them until the very end. For the aristocrats Lyubov Andreevna and her brother - past this is a time when they did not need to think about such base things as money. They enjoyed life, doing what brings pleasure, knowing how to appreciate the beauty of intangible 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 to earn it, and Lopakhin’s real proposal to rent out land occupied by an essentially worthless 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 along it. Ranevskaya, with her aunt’s money sent for Anya, leaves for Paris, and Gaev goes to work in a bank. The death of Firs at the end of the play is very symbolic, as if to say 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 a representative of the present in the play “The Cherry Orchard”. “A man is a man,” as he says about himself, a thinking in a new way who knows how to make money using his mind and instincts. Petya Trofimov even compares him to a predator, but a predator with a subtle artistic nature. And this brings Lopakhin a lot of emotional distress. He is well aware of the beauty of the old cherry orchard, which will be cut down according to his will, but he cannot do otherwise. His ancestors were serfs, his father owned a shop, and he became a “white farmer”, amassing a considerable fortune. Chekhov placed 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 identified himself with Lopakhin, because their pedigrees 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, it’s just that Petya is a master at talking and reasoning about a wonderful and fair future, but he doesn’t know how to turn his speeches into action. This is what prevents him from graduating from university or at least somehow organizing his life. Petya denies all attachments - be it to a place or to another person. He captivates the naive Anya with his ideas, but she already has a plan for how to arrange her life. She is inspired and ready to “plant new garden, even more beautiful than before.” However, the future in Chekhov's play “The Cherry Orchard” is very uncertain and vague. In addition to the educated Anya and Petya, there are also Yasha and Dunyasha, and they, too, are the future. Moreover, if Dunyasha is just a stupid peasant girl, then Yasha is a completely different type. The Gaevs and Ranevskys are being replaced by the Lopakhins, but someone will also have to replace the Lopakhins. If you remember history, then 13 years after this play was written, these are the Yashas 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 collected in one place, but they were not united inner desire be together and exchange your dreams, desires, experiences. Old Garden and the house holds them, and as soon as they disappear, the connection between the heroes and the time they reflect is severed.
Connection of times today
Only the greatest creations are able to reflect reality even many years after their creation. This happened with the play “The Cherry Orchard”. History is cyclical, society develops and changes, moral and ethical standards are also subject to rethinking. Human life is not possible without memory of the past, inaction in the present, and without faith in the future. One generation is replaced by another, some build, others destroy. This is how it was in Chekhov’s time, and this is how it is now. The playwright was right when he said that “All of Russia is our garden,” and it depends only on us whether it will bloom and bear fruit, or whether it will be cut down at the very root.
The author's discussions about the past, present and future in comedy, about people and generations, about Russia make us think even today. These thoughts will be useful for 10th graders when writing an essay on the topic “Past, present, future in the play “The Cherry Orchard”.”
Work test
What is conflict? Conflict is disagreement between people. In the play “The Cherry Orchard,” Chekhov examines various conflicts, the main one of which is the conflict of times, which can be compared to the conflict of generations. Because all the heroes represent representatives of different generations and different times. We can conditionally divide into three groups, so past, present, future.
Young people are for the future tense, and older people are for the past.
The conflict is that it is not of a pronounced nature - this is one of the features dramatic works. Chekhov can note a certain semblance of a philosophical conflict, which is based on different time levels.
Some of the heroes live in memories and a past in which it was cozy and calm (Examples of heroes were Ranevskaya, Gaev and Firs). Others live in the present, in which they feel like they are the managers of life; examples are the characters Lopakhin and Varya.
The third group of characters is focused on the future, progressively; the future seems wonderful to them, but they do not know how to achieve what they want. Anya and Petya fall into this category. These heroes are young and inexperienced, so they are waiting for a bright fate.
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Past, present and future in A. P. Chekhov’s play “The Cherry Orchard.”
“The Cherry Orchard” by A.P. Chekhov is a unique work in which all three periods of life are connected: past, present and future.
The action takes place at a time when the outdated nobility is being replaced by merchants and entrepreneurship. Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, Leonid Andreevich Gaev, the old footman Firs are representatives of the past.
They often reminisce about the old days when there was no need to worry about anything, especially money. These people value something more sublime than material. Cherry orchard for Ranevskaya - memories and her whole life, she will not allow the thought of selling it, cutting it down, destroying it. For Gaev, even such things as a hundred-year-old wardrobe matter, to which he addresses with tears in his eyes: “Dear, respected wardrobe!” And what about the old footman Firs? He did not need the abolition of serfdom, because he devoted his whole life and all of himself to the family of Ranevskaya and Gaev, whom he sincerely loved. “The men are with the gentlemen, the gentlemen are with the peasants, and now everything is fragmented, you won’t understand anything,” this is how Firs spoke about the state of things after the abolition 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 a shop in the village, but thanks to his own efforts, Lopakhin was able to achieve a lot and make a fortune. Money mattered to him; he saw the cherry orchard only as a source of profit. Yermolai was smart enough to develop a whole project and help Ranevskaya in her deplorable situation. It is the ingenuity and craving for material benefits were characteristic of the present generation.
But sooner or later the present must also be replaced by something. Any future is changeable and vague, and this is exactly how A.P. Chekhov shows it. The future generation is quite diverse, it includes Anya and Varya, student Petya Trofimov, maid Dunyasha and young footman Yasha. If the representatives of the old days are similar in almost everything, then the young ones are completely different. They are full of new ideas, strength and energy. However, among them there are those who are only capable of beautiful speeches, but they don't really change anything. This is Petya Trofimov. “We are at least two hundred years behind, we have absolutely nothing, no definite attitude towards the past, we only philosophize, complain about melancholy and drink vodka,” he says to Anya, while doing nothing to make life become it’s better to stay that way” eternal 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 one,” she says, ready to change the future in better side. But there is another type of youth, which includes the young lackey Yasha. A completely unprincipled, empty person, capable of only grins and not attached to anything. What will happen if the future is built by people like Yasha?
“All of Russia is our garden,” notes Trofimov. That’s right, the cherry orchard personifies the whole of Russia, where there is a connection between times and generations. It was the garden that connected all representatives of the past, present and future into one whole, just as Russia unites all generations.
Updated: 2018-06-15
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