Lyubov Andreevna is the main character in Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard. This woman is the main representative of the female half of the nobility of that time with all their vices and positive features. It is in her house that the play takes place.

She skillfully combines both positive and negative traits of her character.

Ranevskaya is a naturally beautiful woman with good manners, a true noblewoman, kind, but very trusting in life. After the death of her husband and the tragic death of her son, she goes abroad, where she lives for five years with her lover, who eventually robs her. There, Lyubov Andreevna leads a wasteful lifestyle: balls, receptions, all this takes a lot of money. Meanwhile, her daughters live in poverty, but she has a cool attitude towards them.

She is far from reality, lives in her own world. Her sentimentality is manifested in longing for the Motherland, for the bygone youth. Arriving, after a long absence home, where she returns in the spring, Ranevskaya finds peace. Nature itself with its beauty helps her in this.

At the same time, she does not think about the future, throws a ball, knowing that she does not have money for later life. It's just that Lyubov Andreevna cannot give up a beautiful life.

She is kind, helps others, especially old Firs. But on the other hand, leaving the estate, she forgets about him, leaving him in an abandoned house.

Leading an idle life can not be happy. It is her fault in the death of the garden. She did nothing good in her life, so she remained in the past, very unhappy. Having lost the cherry orchard and the estate, she also loses her homeland, returning to Paris.

Leonid Gaev

The landowner Leonid Gaev is endowed with a peculiar character in the play "The Cherry Orchard". In some ways, he is similar to his sister Ranevskaya. He is also inherent in romanticism, sentimentality. He loves the garden and is very worried about selling it, but does absolutely nothing to save the estate.

His idealism is manifested in the fact that he makes unrealistic plans, thinking that his aunt will give money, or Anya will marry successfully, or someone will leave them an inheritance and the garden will be saved.

Leonid Andreevich is very talkative, likes to make speeches, but at the same time he can say nonsense. His nieces often ask him to be quiet.

Completely impractical, lazy, not adapted to change. He lives on everything ready, leading a wild life in his old world, not understanding new trends. The servant even helps him to undress, although over time he will not even remember his devoted Firs.

He does not have a family, because he believes that he needs to live for himself. He lives for himself, visiting gambling establishments, playing billiards and having fun. At the same time, he scatters money, having a lot of debts.

You cannot rely on him. He swears that the garden will not be sold, but does not fulfill his promise. Gaev takes the loss of his garden and estate hard, even gets a job as an employee in a bank, but few people believe that he will stay there because of his laziness.

Ermolai Lopakhin

Merchant Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin is a representative of a new class - the bourgeoisie, which replaced the nobility.

Coming from the common people, he never forgets this and treats the common people well, because his grandfather and father were serfs on the Ranevsky estate. Since childhood, he knew what ordinary people were and always considered himself a peasant.

Thanks to his intelligence, perseverance, hard work, he got out of poverty and became a very rich man, although he is always afraid of losing his acquired capital. Ermolai Alekseevich gets up early, works hard and has achieved success.

Lopakhin is sometimes gentle, kind and affectionate, he notices beauty and, in his own way, he feels sorry for the cherry orchard. He offers Ranevskaya a plan to save the garden, while not forgetting that in her time she did a lot for him. And when Ranevskaya refuses to hand over the garden for dachas, the vein of a predator, a conqueror, appears in his features. He buys an estate and a garden in which his ancestors were slaves, and triumphs, because his old dream has come true. Here you can clearly see his merchant's grip. “I can pay for everything,” he says. Destroying the garden, he does not worry, but rejoices at his own benefit.

Anya

Anya is one of the heroes who aspire to the future.

From the age of twelve, she was brought up on her uncle's estate, left by her mother, who went abroad. Of course, she could not get a proper education, because the governess in the past was just a circus performer. But Anya stubbornly, using books, filled in the gaps in knowledge.

The beauty of the cherry orchard, which she loved very much, and the abundance of time on the estate gave impetus to the formation of her delicate nature.

Anya is sincere, spontaneous and childishly naive. She believes in people, which is why Petya Trofimov, her younger brother's former teacher, had such a strong influence on her.

After four years of the girl's stay abroad, with her mother, seventeen-year-old Anya returns home and meets Petya there. Having fallen in love with him, she sincerely trusted the young schoolboy and his ideas. Trofimov changed her attitude to the cherry orchard and to the surrounding reality.

Anya wants to leave her parental home and start a new life by passing the exams for the gymnasium course and live by working herself. The girl is ready to follow Petya anywhere. She no longer feels sorry for either the cherry orchard or the old life. She believes in a bright future and strives for it.

Believing in a happy future, she sincerely says goodbye to her mother: “We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this ...”.

Anya is a representative of the youth who can change the future of Russia.

Petya Trofimov

The image of Petya Trofimov in the work is inextricably linked with the theme of the future of Russia.

Petya is a former teacher of Ranevskaya's son. They call him an eternal student, because he will never finish his studies at the gymnasium. Moving from place to place, he wanders around the country, dreaming of a better life, in which beauty and justice will triumph.

Trofimov really perceives the events taking place, realizing that the garden is beautiful, but its death is inevitable. He hates the nobility, is convinced that their time is up, condemns people who use the labor of others and preaches the ideas of a bright future where everyone will be happy. But the bottom line is that he only preaches and does nothing for this future himself. For Trofimov, it is not important whether he himself will reach this future, or whether he will show the way to others. And he knows how to speak and convince perfectly.

Petya convinced Anya that it was impossible to live the old life, that changes were needed, that it was necessary to get rid of poverty, vulgarity and dirt and become free.

He considers himself a free man and refuses Lopakhin's money, just as he refuses love, denying it. He tells Anya that their relationship is higher than love and calls to believe him, his ideas.

At the same time, Petya is petty. That's when he lost his old galoshes, he was very upset, but he was happy when the galoshes were found.

Here he is, Petya Trofimov - an ordinary intellectual of advanced views, who has many shortcomings.

Varya

Varya, unlike other characters in the work, lives in the present, and not in the past and future.

At 24, she is simple and rational. When the mother went abroad, all the household chores fell on her shoulders, and she coped with this for the time being. Varya works from morning to evening, saving every penny, but the extravagance of her relatives made it possible to save the estate from ruin.

She is very religious and dreams of going to a monastery, only she could not raise money to go to holy places. Others do not believe in her religiosity, but in fact she is.

Varya is direct and strict, she is not afraid to make comments, but she does them correctly. At the same time, she has a feeling of love and tenderness. She loves her sister Anya very much, calls her a darling, a beauty, and is very worried that she is in love with Petya Trofimov, because he is not a match for her.

Varya likes Lopakhin, whom her mother hopes to marry, but she understands that he will not propose to her, because he is busy accumulating his own wealth.

But Trofimov for some reason considers Varia limited, not understanding what is happening. But this is not so, the girl understands that the estate has fallen into decay and ruined, that it will be sold and the cherry orchard will not be saved. This is the reality in her understanding, and in this reality one must continue to live.

In a new life, Varya will survive without money, because she has a practical character and is adapted to life's difficulties.

Charlotte Ivanovna

Charlotte Ivanovna is a minor character in the play. She is the governess of the Ranevsky family. She herself comes from a family of circus performers who earned their living by performing.

From early childhood, Charlotte also helped her parents perform circus acts, and when her parents died, she was raised by a German lady, who gave her an education. Growing up, Charlotte began to work as a governess, earning her living.

Charlotte knows how to show tricks and tricks, speaks in different voices. All this remained with her from her parents, although she knows nothing more about them, even her own age. Some heroes consider her an attractive woman, but nothing is said about the heroine's personal life.

Charlotte is very lonely, as she says: "... I don't have anyone." But on the other hand, she is a free person and does not depend on circumstances, she only observes what is happening from the outside and evaluates what is happening in her own way. So, she speaks with a slight reproach about the extravagance of her masters, but she says it with such ease that it is noticeable that she does not care.

The image of Charlotte is in the background, but some of her remarks are connected with the actions of the main characters of the play. And at the end of the work, Charlotte worries that she has nowhere to live and needs to leave the city. This highlights the fact that she is just as homeless as her owners.

Heroes of the work The Cherry Orchard

Main characters

Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya- a woman who does not have money, but wants to prove to herself and the public that they are. Irresponsible and emotional. As a rule, he does not think about what will happen “after”, he lives one day. We can say that in a cocoon of pompous fun, she hides from everyday difficulties, worries and responsibilities. Her bankruptcy occurred during her life abroad - having hastily sold the estate, she returned to France.

Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin- a wealthy merchant from a simple class. Quite cunning, enterprising. Rough, but incredibly resourceful. Calculating. It is he who buys the estate of the main character.

Minor Heroes

Leonid Andreevich Gaev- the sentimental brother of Ranevskaya. In order to "sweeten" her sister's grief after the sale of the estate, she begins to develop plans to overcome difficulties. Quite often they are absurd and ineffective.

Trofimov Petr Sergeevich- a person quite incomprehensible, with oddities. His main hobby is reasoning. Trofimov has no family, does not serve anywhere, he is a man without a fixed place of residence. Despite the fact that he is a person of extraordinary views, sometimes Pyotr Sergeevich contradicts himself.

Anya- a young, fragile, romantic girl. Despite the fact that the heroine supports her parent, some innovative features and a thirst for change are already beginning to appear in her.

Varya- realist. One might say, even a somewhat mundane, peasant girl. She manages the estate, is the adopted daughter of Ranevskaya. He has feelings for Lopakhin, but is afraid to admit it.

Simeonov - Pishchik- a ruined nobleman, who is "in debt as in silks." He tries in vain to cover all his debts. Always in search of livelihood. In order to be rescued financially, he grovels and humiliates himself, without feeling remorse. Sometimes Fortune really is on his side.

Charlotte Ivanovna- governess. Age unknown. Even among the crowd feels lonely. She is able to perform tricks, which indicates that it is possible that her childhood was spent in a circus family.

Epikhodov- if there are "darlings of fate", then he is the complete opposite. Something always happens to the hero, he is clumsy, unlucky and “offended by Fortune”. Despite a decent education, he does not know how to express his thoughts properly.

Dunyasha– This girl is a simple maid, but she has ambitions and demands. As a rule, the details of her wardrobe are not much different from the outfits of a secular lady. However, the essence of man remains the same. Therefore, even among the pompous gloss, you can see the fact that Dunya is a peasant woman. Her attempts to look more respectable are pathetic.

Firs, servant- He treats the masters well, but he takes care of them as if they were babies, he is too patronizing. By the way, the hero even dies with the thought of the owners.

Yasha- Once upon a time he was a lackey. Now a soulless and empty dandy who has been to Paris. Treats native people with disrespect. He condemns the fact that Russia is chasing the West, considers this a manifestation of ignorance and ignorance.

Option 3

The play The Cherry Orchard was written by Chekhov in 1903. It shows the main problems of the dying nobility. The heroes of the play are saturated with the vices of the society of that time. In this work there is a discussion about the future fate of Russia.

Lyubov Andreevna is the mistress of the house in which all the events of the play take place. She is a beautiful woman, well-mannered, educated, kind and trusting in life. After heavy losses in life, the death of her husband and son, she goes abroad, more than her lover robbed her. Living abroad, she leads a chic lifestyle, while her daughters are in poverty in their homeland. She is on cold terms with them.

And then one spring she decided to return home. And only at home she found peace, the beauty of her native nature helped her in this.

Even without money, he cannot give up a beautiful life.

But being a bad housewife, she loses everything: the house, the garden, and, as a result, the Motherland. She returns to Paris.

Leonid Gaev was a landowner, and had a peculiar character. He was the brother of the main character, he, like her, was romantic and sentimental. He loved his house and garden, but does nothing to save it. He loves to talk very much, and, moreover, does not think about what he says. And nieces often ask him to be quiet.

He does not have his own family, he decided to live for himself, and he lives. He goes to gambling establishments, plays billiards, has fun. He has a lot of debt. You cannot rely on him. Nobody believes him.

In this hero, the writer showed almost all the vices of the youth of that period.

Yermolai Lopakhin was a merchant, a representative of the new bourgeois class. He was a native of the people. Remembers the good, and does not break away from the people. He knew that his ancestors were from serfs. With his perseverance and work, he got out of poverty, earned a lot of money.

He offered a plan to save the garden and the estate, but Ranevskaya refused. Then he buys the entire estate at an auction, and becomes the owner, where his ancestors were slaves.

His image shows the superiority of the bourgeoisie over the nobility.

He buys the garden, and when everyone left the estate, he cut it down.

Anya is the daughter of Lyubov Andreevna. She lived abroad with her mother, returned to her homeland at the age of 17 and immediately fell in love with her brother's former teacher. Peter Trofimov. She trusts his ideas. He completely reconfigured the girl. She became a prominent representative of the new nobility.

Petya once taught his son Ranevskaya. He was nicknamed the eternal student, because he could not finish his studies at the gymnasium. He convinced Anya that life must be changed, it is necessary to get rid of poverty. He does not believe in Anna's love, tells her that their relationship is higher than love. Encourages her to go with him.

Varya is the adopted daughter of Ranevskaya, she began to housekeeping on the estate early, she really understands what is happening. In love with Lopakhin.

She lives in the present, not the past and the future. Varya will survive in the new life, because she has a practical character.

Charlotte Ivanovna, Dunyasha, Yasha, Firs servants in the Ranevsky estate, do not know where to go after the sale of the estate. Firs, due to his old age, did not know what to do, and when everyone left the estate, he dies in the house.

This work showed the decline of the nobility.

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How does the perception of the cherry orchard and their attitude towards it characterize the heroes of A.P. Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard"?

Chekhov's last play became the most famous work of Russian dramaturgy of the 20th century. Each critic interprets the play in his own way: someone from a psychological point of view, and someone from a social point of view, but, probably, there is no person who would not admit that the cherry orchard is one of the main images of the play.

If there is a noticeable disunity between the characters of The Cherry Orchard, often they simply do not see or hear each other (this is felt in some dialogues, when everyone throws remarks into the void and does not wait for an answer), then the cherry orchard is the character that is addressed all without exception. He is loved, idolized, admired or indifferent to him, but no one ignores him.

Through the relationship to the cherry orchard, many characters are revealed. So, we simply could not imagine Ranevskaya with her sensitive soul without heartfelt appeals to the cherry orchard. For her, he is almost a synonym for paradise. She animates him with the power of her imagination, turning to him, as to the guardian of her youth, enthusiastic appeals: "Oh my dear, my tender, beautiful garden! .. My life, my youth, my happiness ..." Saying goodbye to the garden, she says goodbye to youth, although in her heart she is still a young girl, but rather a child in her touching helplessness. Ranevskaya, of course, is a very sensitive, gentle nature, but all the pathos of her speeches addressed to the garden is ordinary idle talk, behind which there is not even a thought about how to keep the garden in reality. In this, Ranevskaya is very reminiscent of her brother, who can turn with a rant to any object, even to a closet. And the garden for him is nothing more than a kind of romantic symbol. As soon as it comes to bidding, that is, about something mundane, Gaev dismisses it - "what nonsense." Both Ranevskaya and Gaev live according to the laws of their imagination, not realizing that they have no power in the real world. People for whom the garden has become part of their destiny do not even try to actually save it. They hope for an inheritance, for Varya's marriage, for some other miracle. It doesn't occur to them that salvation is just around the corner. It is offered to them by Lopakhin with great insistence.

Lopakhin, who at the end of the play began cutting down the garden, ironically is the only person who is able to truly appreciate it. For Gaev and the Ranevskaya garden, they are only a beautiful decoration, another attribute of their worthless life. Lopakhin is a businessman (so, with a touch of contempt, everyone on the estate calls him), and it is his commercial instinct that suggests the only way out, not only to improve the financial situation of the family, but also to save the garden - dividing it into summer cottages. This proposal causes frightened exclamations of brother and sister, but meanwhile they cannot but understand that otherwise the garden will be sold and even more certain death awaits it.

Lopakhin, acting in the unattractive role of a successful low-class crafty man, is the owner of a much more sensitive soul than the same Gaev, let this soul be hidden behind rude manners and stumbling speech. Lopakhin's initial intentions could not have been more noble. Oi wants to save the cherry orchard for the sake of Lyubov Andreevna, for whom he has unspoken and completely conscious feelings. Alas, Lopakhin's social activity is completely at odds with the good intentions that live in his soul. Nobility turned into ridicule. Chekhov, in his laconic manner, through the perception of the cherry orchard, showed the best qualities of the human soul, and his love, and unfortunate fate.

In the end, the purchase of a cherry orchard does not bring happiness to the former owners, who are forced to hear the sound of an ax leaving beautiful hemp trees in place, nor to the new owner, who, rejoicing at the "accidental" acquisition, cannot but feel the pain caused by it.

If for the older generation the cherry orchard is practically a living being, to which enthusiastic speeches are addressed, the attitude towards which reveals purity, cordiality, youthfulness of the soul, then the younger generation does not suffer from sentimentality in relation to the garden. That is why Varya, Anya and Petya seem much older than the people of the previous generation.

In the soul of Petya and Anya there is no place for the past, their thoughts are directed to the future, although most often Trofimov's speeches, which Anya admires so much, are nothing more than rhetoric. Petya is shown as a person who is sensitive to the dictates of the time, but somewhat dull in the perception of beauty, which is the embodiment of the cherry orchard. Petya is absolutely unresponsive to the beauty of nature, but, unable to avoid the silent presence of the cherry orchard, he is forced to at least pay attention to its existence and reckon with it. Op cannot ignore the cherry orchard, but he can talk about abstract concepts even when it comes to a specific garden: "All Russia is our garden", "We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this ..." Anya is exclusively passionate about Petya, so she listens into the sound of his speeches, strives somewhere, and the cherry orchard simply remains out of her field of vision, especially since she, unlike her mother and uncle, does not have pleasant memories associated with this place. Her half-sister Varya is a pragmatic and rather down-to-earth person, which is why she is just as indifferent to the garden.

Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin
I. Life story: “I remember when I was a boy of about fifteen, my deceased father hit me in the face with his fist, blood came out of my nose ... Then we came together for some reason to the yard, and he was drunk. Lyubov Andreevna, as I remember now, still young, so thin, led me to the washstand, in this very room, in the nursery ”(Lopakhin about himself); “My dad was a peasant, an idiot, he didn’t understand anything, he didn’t teach me, but only beat me drunk, and that’s all with a stick. In fact, I'm the same blockhead and idiot. I didn’t study anything, my handwriting is bad, I write in such a way that people are ashamed, like a pig ”(Lopakhin about himself);
II. Attitude to what is happening: “You already know that your cherry orchard is being sold for debts, auctions are scheduled for August 22, but don’t worry, my dear, sleep well, there is a way out ... Here is my project. Attention please!" ; “The remarkable thing about this garden is that it is very large. Cherry will be born at two years old, and there is nowhere to put it, no one buys it ”; “I remind you gentlemen: on the twenty-second of August, the cherry orchard will be sold. Think about it!.. Think!..»
III. The opinion of the surrounding characters: “Your brother, here is Leonid Andreevich, says about me that I am a boor, I am a kulak, but it absolutely does not matter to me” (Lopakhin’s quote to Ranevskaya); “He is a good man” (Ranevskaya about Lopakhin); “A man, you must tell the truth ... worthy ...” (Simeon-Pishchik about Lopakhin); “... You are a rich man, you will soon be a millionaire. That's how, in terms of metabolism, a predatory beast is needed, which eats everything that comes in its way, so you are needed ”(Trofimov about Lopakhin); “You have thin, tender fingers, like an artist, you have a thin, tender soul ...” (Trofimov to Lopakhin);

Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya
I. Life story: “I have always quarreled with money without restraint, like crazy, and married a man who only made debts. My husband died of champagne - he drank terribly - and, unfortunately, I fell in love with another, got together, and just at that time - it was the first punishment, a blow right in the head - right here on the river ... drowned my boy, and I went abroad, left completely, never to return, not to see this river ... I closed my eyes, ran, not remembering myself, and he followed me ... ruthlessly, rudely. I bought a cottage near Menton, because he fell ill there, and for three years I did not know rest day or night; the sick man tormented me, my soul dried up, I tried to poison myself... So stupid, so ashamed. And suddenly I was drawn to Russia, to my homeland, to my girl ... ”(Ranevskaya about herself); “Six years ago my father died, a month later my brother Grisha, a pretty seven-year-old boy, drowned in the river. Mom couldn’t bear it, she left, left without looking back ... ”(Anna about her mother); “Children’s, my dear, beautiful room ... I slept here when I was little ... (Cries.) And now I’m like a little ...” (Ranevskaya about herself); “She has already sold her dacha near Menton, she has nothing left, nothing” (Anya about her mother);
II. Attitude to what is happening: “If there is anything interesting, even wonderful, in the whole province, it is our cherry orchard”; "What do we do? Teach what? “But Leonidas is still gone. What he's been doing in the city for so long, I don't understand! After all, everything is already over there, the estate has been sold or the auction has not taken place, why keep it in the dark for so long! “The Yaroslavl grandmother sent fifteen thousand to buy the estate in her name,” she does not believe us, “and this money would not even be enough to pay the interest. (He covers his face with his hands.) Today my fate is decided, fate ... ”; “Just to know: is the estate sold or not? The misfortune seems to me so unbelievable that somehow I don’t even know what to think, I’m at a loss ... I can shout now ... I can do something stupid. Save me, Petya"; “... Without a cherry orchard, I don’t understand my life, and if you really need to sell it, then sell me along with the garden ...”; “Actually, everything is fine now. Before the sale of the cherry orchard, we all worried, suffered, and then, when the issue was finally resolved, irrevocably, everyone calmed down, even cheered up ... "
III. The opinion of the surrounding characters: “Lyubov Andreevna lived abroad for five years, I don’t know what she has become now ... She is a good person. An easy, simple person ”(Lopakhin about Ranevskaya); “I only wish that your amazing, touching eyes looked at me as before” (Lopakhin to Ranevskaya); “My sister has not lost the habit of wasting money” (Gaev about Ranevskaya); “Mommy is the same as she was, has not changed at all. If her will, she would give everything away ”(Varya about Ranevskaya);
Anya
I. Life story: “We arrive in Paris, it's cold there, it's snowing. I speak French terribly. Mom lives on the fifth floor, I come to her, she has some French, ladies, an old parterre with a book, and it’s smoky, uncomfortable”; “My room, my windows, like I never left. I'm home! Tomorrow morning I'll get up and run to the garden...
II. Attitude to what is happening: “What have you done to me, Petya, why I no longer love the cherry orchard, as before. I loved him so dearly, it seemed to me that there is no better place on earth than our garden ”; “We will plant a New Garden, more luxurious than this, you will see it, understand it, and joy, quiet, deep joy will descend on your soul, like the sun in the evening hour, and you will smile, mother!”
III. The opinion of the surrounding characters: "How you look like your mother!" (Gaev about Anya); “You are not my niece, you are my angel, you are everything to me. Believe me, believe ... ”(Gaev about Anya);
IV.
Varya
I. Life story: “I go, my dear, all day long doing housework and dreaming all the time ...” (Turns to Anya); “He's been muttering like that for three years now. We are used to it” (Varya about Firs).
II. Attitude to what is happening: “If the Lord would help!”; "Uncle bought it, I'm sure of it";
III. The opinion of the surrounding characters: “But Varya is still the same, she looks like a nun” (Ranevskaya about Varya); “She is a good girl”, “She is one of the simple ones, she works all day ...” (Ranevskaya about Varya); “She cannot understand with her narrow head that we are above love” (Trofimov about Var); “She is already very zealous, poking around in her own business” (Trofimov about Varya);
Leonid Andreevich Gaev
I. Life story: “Once you and I, sister, slept in this very room, and now I’m already fifty-one years old, oddly enough ...” (Gaev about himself);
II. Attitude to what is happening: “This is how we will act from three ends - and our business is in the bag. We will pay the interest, I am convinced ... By my honor, whatever you want, I swear, the estate will not be sold! I swear by my happiness! Here's my hand, then call me a lousy, dishonest person if I let you go to the auction! I swear with all my being!”;
III. The opinion of the surrounding characters: “I believe you, uncle. Everyone loves you, respects you ... but, dear uncle, you need to be silent, just be silent”, “If you keep silent, then you yourself will be calmer” (Anya about Gaev); “How good you are, uncle, how smart!” (Anna about Gaev);
Pyotr Alekseevich Trofimov
I. Life story: "And Petya Trofimov was Grisha's teacher, he can remind ..." (Anya about Petya); “I am not yet thirty, I am young, I am still a student, but I have already endured so much! Like winter, so I am hungry, sick, anxious, poor, beggar, and - wherever fate has not driven me, wherever I have been! (Trofimov about himself);
II. Attitude to what is happening: All Russia is our garden. The earth is great and beautiful, there are many wonderful places on it”; “Is the estate sold today or not sold - isn’t everything even? It has long been finished with him, there is no turning back, the path is overgrown. Calm down, dear. No need to deceive yourself, you need to look the truth straight in the eye at least once in your life ”;
III. The opinion of the surrounding characters: “You were then just a boy, a sweet student, and now your hair is thin, glasses” (Ranevskaya about Petya); “Our eternal student always walks with young ladies” (Lopakhin about Petya); "How smart you are, Petya!" (Ranevskaya about Petya); "Shabby master" (Varya about Trofimov); “How ugly you have become, Petya, how old you have become!” (Varya about Trofimov); “You boldly look ahead, and is it not because you do not see and do not expect anything terrible, since life is still hidden from your young eyes? You are bolder, more honest, deeper than us, but think about it, be generous even at the tip of your finger ... ”(Ranevskaya to Trofimov); “I love you like my own” (Ranevskaya to Trofimov); “You have to be a man, at your age you need to understand those who love. And you need to love yourself ... you need to fall in love! (Angry.) Yes, yes! And you don’t have cleanliness, and you are just a clean, funny eccentric, freak ...”, “You are not above love, but simply, as our Firs says, you are a klutz” (Ranevskaya to Trofimov);
Firs
I. Life story: “I have been living for a long time. They were going to marry me, but your dad was not yet in the world ... (Laughs.) And the will came out, I was already the head valet. Then I did not agree to freedom, I remained with the masters ... ";
II. Attitude to what is happening: “In the old days, forty or fifty years ago, cherries were dried, soaked, pickled, jam was cooked, and it happened ...”;
III. The opinion of the surrounding characters: “Thank you, Dear”, “Thank you, my old man”, “I am so glad that you are still alive” (Ranevskaya about Firs); “You are tired, grandfather. If only I had died sooner” (Yasha to Firs);

The image of the garden in the play "The Cherry Orchard" is ambiguous and complex. This is not just a part of the estate of Ranevskaya and Gaev, as it might seem at first glance. This is not what Chekhov wrote about. The cherry orchard is an image-symbol. It means the beauty of Russian nature and the lives of the people who raised him and admired him. With the death of the garden, this life also perishes.

Center uniting characters

The image of the garden in the play "The Cherry Orchard" is the center around which all the characters unite. At first it may seem that these are only old acquaintances and relatives who have gathered by chance on the estate to solve everyday problems. However, it is not. It is no coincidence that Anton Pavlovich united characters representing various social groups and age categories. Their task is to decide the fate of not only the garden, but also their own.

Connection of Gaev and Ranevskaya with the estate

Ranevskaya and Gaev are Russian landowners who own a manor and a cherry orchard. They are brother and sister, they are sensitive, smart, educated people. They are able to appreciate beauty, they feel it very subtly. Therefore, the image of the cherry orchard is so dear to them. In the perception of the heroes of the play "The Cherry Orchard" he personifies beauty. However, these characters are inert, which is why they cannot do anything to save what is dear to them. Ranevskaya and Gaev, with all their spiritual wealth and development, are deprived of responsibility, practicality and a sense of reality. Therefore, they cannot take care not only of loved ones, but also of themselves. These heroes do not want to heed Lopakhin's advice and rent out their land, although this would bring them a decent income. They believe that dachas and summer residents are vulgar.

Why is the estate so dear to Gaev and Ranevskaya?

Gaev and Ranevskaya are unable to rent out the land because of the feelings that bind them to the estate. They have a special relationship with the garden, which is like a living person for them. Much connects these heroes with their estate. The Cherry Orchard appears to them as the personification of a bygone youth, a past life. Ranevskaya compared her life to "cold winter" and "dark rainy autumn". When the landowner returned to the estate, she again felt happy and young.

Lopakhin's attitude to the cherry orchard

The image of the garden in the play "The Cherry Orchard" is also revealed in Lopakhin's attitude towards it. This hero does not share the feelings of Ranevskaya and Gaev. He finds their behavior illogical and strange. This person wonders why they do not want to listen to seemingly obvious arguments that will help find a way out of a predicament. It should be noted that Lopakhin is also able to appreciate beauty. The Cherry Orchard delights this hero. He believes that there is nothing more beautiful than him in the world.

However, Lopakhin is a practical and active person. Unlike Ranevskaya and Gaev, he cannot just admire the cherry orchard and regret it. This hero seeks to do something to save him. Lopakhin sincerely wants to help Ranevskaya and Gaev. He never ceases to convince them that both the land and the cherry orchard should be leased. This must be done as soon as possible, as the auction will be soon. However, the landowners do not want to listen to him. Leonid Andreevich can only swear that the estate will never be sold. He says he won't allow the auction.

New garden owner

Nevertheless, the auction still took place. The owner of the estate was Lopakhin, who cannot believe his own happiness. After all, his father and grandfather worked here, "were slaves", they were not even allowed into the kitchen. Buying an estate for Lopakhin becomes a kind of symbol of his success. This is a well-deserved reward for years of hard work. The hero would like his grandfather and father to rise from the grave and be able to rejoice with him, to see how their descendant succeeded in life.

Negative qualities of Lopakhin

The Cherry Orchard for Lopakhin is just land. It can be bought, mortgaged or sold. This hero, in his joy, did not consider himself obliged to show a sense of tact in relation to the former owners of the purchased estate. Lopakhin immediately begins cutting down the garden. He did not want to wait for the departure of the former owners of the estate. The soulless footman Yasha is somewhat similar to him. It completely lacks such qualities as attachment to the place in which he was born and raised, love for his mother, kindness. In this respect, Yasha is the exact opposite of Firs, a servant who has these senses unusually developed.

Attitude towards the garden of Firs's servant

Revealing, it is necessary to say a few words about how Firs, the oldest of all in the house, treated him. For many years he faithfully served his masters. This man sincerely loves Gaev and Ranevskaya. He is ready to protect these heroes from all troubles. We can say that Firs is the only one of all the characters in The Cherry Orchard who is endowed with such a quality as devotion. This is a very whole nature, which is manifested in its entirety in the relation of the servant to the garden. For Firs, the estate of Ranevskaya and Gaev is a family nest. He seeks to protect it, as well as its inhabitants.

Representatives of the new generation

The image of the cherry orchard in the play "The Cherry Orchard" is dear only to those heroes who have important memories associated with it. The representative of the new generation is Petya Trofimov. The fate of the garden does not interest him at all. Petya declares: "We are above love." Thus, he admits that he is not capable of experiencing serious feelings. Trofimov looks at everything too superficially. He does not know the real life, which he is trying to remake, based on far-fetched ideas. Anya and Petya are outwardly happy. They crave a new life, for which they seek to break with the past. For these heroes, the garden is "the whole of Russia", and not a specific cherry orchard. But is it possible to love the whole world without loving your own home? Petya and Anya lose their roots in the pursuit of new horizons. Mutual understanding between Trofimov and Ranevskaya is impossible. For Petya, there are no memories, no past, and Ranevskaya is deeply worried about the loss of the estate, since she was born here, her ancestors also lived here, and she sincerely loves the estate.

Who will save the garden?

As we have already noted, it is a symbol of beauty. Only people who can not only appreciate her, but also fight for her can save her. Active and energetic people who replace the nobility treat beauty only as a source of profit. What will happen to her, who will save her?

The image of the cherry orchard in Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard" is a symbol of the native hearth and the past, dear to the heart. Is it possible to boldly go forward if the sound of an ax is heard behind your back, which destroys everything that used to be sacred? It should be noted that the cherry orchard is, and it is no coincidence that such expressions as "hit a tree with an ax", "trample a flower" and "cut roots" sound inhuman and blasphemous.

So, we briefly examined the image of the cherry orchard in the understanding of the heroes of the play "The Cherry Orchard". Reflecting on the actions and characters of the characters in Chekhov's work, we also think about the fate of Russia. After all, it is for all of us a "cherry orchard".

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 Theater, becoming the pinnacle of Chekhov's work as a playwright and a textbook classic of the theatrical repertoire.

Analysis of the play

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 deep monologue by Firs, which the owners in a hurry forgot in 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 diligence, prudence, enterprise and rudeness, a "muzhik" beginning. In the finale of the play, Lopakhin does not share the feelings of Ranevskaya, 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 life concept, which is characterized by extraordinary attention to small, at first glance, 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.