Past, present and future in the play "The Cherry Orchard". (Chekhov A

Features of Chekhov's dramaturgy

Before Anton Chekhov, the Russian theater was in 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 dramaturgy closer to reality. His plays made the viewer think, although there were no intrigues or open conflicts in them, but they reflected the internal anxiety of a critical 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 what will happen to them after. So the past, present, future in the play "The Cherry Orchard" were mixed up in an amazing way, by connecting people not so much of different generations as of 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 past, present and future meet on the pages of The Cherry Orchard? Chekhov, as it were, divided all the heroes into these three categories, portraying 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. It is they who speak most of all about what was, for them the past is a time in which everything was easy and beautiful. There were masters and servants, each had its own place and purpose. For Firs, the abolition of serfdom was the greatest grief, 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, the past is the time when they did not need to think about such base things as money. They enjoyed life, doing what brings pleasure, being able to appreciate the beauty of intangible things - it is difficult for them to adapt to the new order, in which material values ​​replace high moral values. It is humiliating for them to talk about money, about ways to earn it, and Lopakhin's real proposal to lease the land occupied by, in fact, a 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 serve in a 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 itself, 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, thinking in a new way, able to earn money using his mind and instinct. 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 do otherwise. His ancestors were serfs, his father owned a shop, and he became a "white-summer", having made a considerable fortune. Chekhov placed special emphasis on the character of Lopakhin, because he was not a typical merchant, who was treated with disdain by many. 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 the 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 does not 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 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 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 the educated Anya and Petya, there is also Yasha and Dunyasha, and they, too, are the future. Moreover, if Dunyasha is just a stupid peasant girl, then Yasha is already a completely different type. Gaev and Ranevsky are being replaced by the Lopakhins, but the Lopakhins will also have to be replaced by someone. If you recall the story, then 13 years after the writing of this play, it was precisely such 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 gathered in one place, only they were united not by an inner desire to be together and exchange their dreams, desires, experiences. The old garden and house holds them, and as soon as they disappear, the connection between the characters and the time they reflect is broken.

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 norms are also subject to rethinking. Human life is not possible without the memory of the past, inaction in the present, and without faith in the future. One generation is replaced by another, some build, others destroy. So it was in Chekhov's time, so 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 to the very root.

The author's reasoning about the past, present and future in comedy, about people and generations, about Russia makes us think even today. These thoughts will be useful for grade 10 when writing an essay on the topic "Past, present, future in the play" The Cherry Orchard "".

Artwork test

The future of Russia is represented by the images of Anya and Petya Trofimov.

Anya is 17 years old, she breaks with her past and convinces the weeping Ranevskaya that there is a whole life ahead: “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.” The future in the play is unclear, but it captivates and beckons purely emotionally, as always attractive and promising youth. The image of a poetic cherry orchard, of a young girl welcoming a new life, is the author's own dreams and hopes for the transformation of Russia, for turning it into a flowering garden in the future. The garden is a symbol of the eternal renewal of life: “A new life begins,” Anya exclaims enthusiastically in the fourth act. The image of Anya is festive and joyful in spring. "Sweetheart! My spring, ”Petya says about her. Anya condemns her mother for the lordly habit of overspending, but she understands her mother's tragedy better than others and severely reprimands Gaev for bad words about his mother. Where does a seventeen-year-old girl get this life wisdom and tact, which are not available to her far from young uncle?! Her determination and enthusiasm are attractive, but they threaten to turn into disappointment judging by how recklessly she believes Trofimov and his optimistic monologues.

At the end of the second act, Anya turns to Trofimov: “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.

Trofimov answers her: "All Russia is our garden."

Petya Trofimov, like Anya, represents young Russia. He is a former teacher of the drowned seven-year-old son Ranevskaya. His father was a pharmacist. He is 26 or 27 years old, he is an eternal student who has not completed the course, wears glasses and resonates that we need to stop admiring ourselves, but “just work”. True, Chekhov specified in his letters that Petya Trofimov did not graduate from the university against his will: “After all, Trofimov is in exile every now and then, he is constantly expelled from the university, but how do you portray these things.”

Petya most often speaks not on behalf of himself, but on behalf of the new generation of Russia. Today for him is “...dirt, vulgarity, Asianism”, the past is “feudal lords who owned living souls”. “We are at least two hundred years behind, we still have absolutely nothing, we have no definite attitude to the past, we only philosophize, complain about longing or drink vodka. After all, it is so clear that in order to begin to live in the present, we must first redeem our past, put an end to it, and it can only be redeemed by suffering, only by extraordinary, uninterrupted labor.

Petya Trofimov is one of Chekhov's intellectuals, for whom things, tithes of land, jewels, and money are not of the highest value. Refusing Lopakhin's money, Petya Trofimov says that they do not have the slightest power over him, that's like fluff that floats in the air. He is “strong and proud” in that he is free from the power of worldly, material, materialized things. Where Trofimov speaks of the disorder of the old life and calls for a new life, the author sympathizes with him.

For all the “positivity” of the image of Petya Trofimov, he is doubtful precisely as a positive, “author's” hero: he is too literary, his phrases about the future are too beautiful, his calls to “work” are too general, etc. Chekhov's distrust of loud phrases, of any exaggerated manifestation of feelings is known: he "could not stand phrase-mongers, scribes and Pharisees" (I.A. Bunin). Petya Trofimov is characterized by something that Chekhov himself avoided and which is manifested, for example, in the following monologue of the hero: “Humanity is moving towards the highest truth, towards the highest happiness that is possible on earth, and I am in the forefront!”; “To get around that petty and illusory thing that prevents us from being free and happy — that is the goal and meaning of our life. Forward! We are advancing irresistibly towards the bright star that burns far away!”

Chekhov's "new people" - Anya and Petya Trofimov - are also polemical in relation to the tradition of Russian literature, like Chekhov's images of "little" people: the author refuses to recognize as unconditionally positive, to idealize "new" people only because they are "new", for that they act as debunkers of the old world. Time requires decisions and actions, but Petya Trofimov is not capable of them, and this brings him closer to Ranevskaya and Gaev. In addition, human qualities have been lost on the way to the future: “We are above love,” he happily and naively assures Anya.

Ranevskaya rightly reproaches Trofimov for ignorance of life: “You boldly solve all important issues, but, tell me, my dear, is it because you are young, that you have not had time to suffer through any of your questions? ..” But this is what makes you attractive young heroes: hope and faith in a happy future. They are young, which means that everything is possible, there is a whole life ahead... Petya Trofimov and Anya are not the spokesmen for some specific program for the reorganization of the future Russia, they symbolize the hope for the revival of Russia-garden...

The future as the main theme of the play

In 1904, the last play by A.P. was staged on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard", which was the result of all the work of the playwright. It was enthusiastically received by the audience and received mixed reviews from critics. The characters and the circumstances in which they found themselves caused controversy. The theme and idea of ​​the play were also controversial. There is no doubt that Chekhov tried to understand what future awaits the characters in the play "The Cherry Orchard", and indeed the whole of Russian society as a whole. What prompted this desire? More than 40 years have passed since the abolition of serfdom. The usual way of life, built over the centuries, fell apart, and not everyone had the strength and ability to rebuild for the new. And not only the nobility suffered from the loss of their peasants, but it was hard for many peasants to get used to freedom. Some are accustomed to living at the expense of the work of others, while those others simply did not know how to think and make decisions on their own. In the play, this sounds quite often: "Men with gentlemen, gentlemen with men."

But this is the past. And what awaits all of them in the future - this is exactly what the playwright wanted to understand. In order to have a visual explanation, Chekhov used the image of a cherry orchard as a symbol of Russia, and through his attitude towards him - his attitude towards his homeland. The future of the cherry orchard is the future of Russia.

The future and the heroes of the play "The Cherry Orchard"

So what is the future of the heroes of The Cherry Orchard waiting for? After all, each of the characters is very vital. The past is irretrievably lost and this is a fact, the cutting down of the garden and the death of Firs serve as a symbolic proof. “... without a cherry orchard, I don’t understand my life ...” - says Ranevskaya again flees abroad after selling it, wasting her last money. Gaev gets a job in a bank, with a certain annual salary. For a brother and sister, the future is completely unclear, because their whole life is closely connected with the past, and it has remained there. At the cellular level, they are not able to get used to the present, to begin to think rationally and make decisions, and there is simply no place for such baggage in a new life.

Lopakhin with his business acumen is real. He cuts down the cherry orchard, knowing full well that he is destroying centuries-old traditions, as if breaking the knot that connected the landowners with the peasants who work on their land and belong to them. Therefore, the behind-the-scenes scene of the farewell of the peasants to the owners is also very symbolic. He understands that the future belongs to summer residents who do not own the land, and working on it is not their duty and obligation. There is a future for Lopakhin, but it is also very vague.

The most joyful future is in the representation of Chekhov's heroes of The Cherry Orchard by Petya and Anya. Petya thinks very beautifully about the good of all mankind, calls for action, but he himself does not know what awaits him, because his speeches are so different from his actions, he is an empty talker. Even Ranevskaya remarks: “You don’t do anything, only fate throws you from place to place, it’s so strange ...”. There is no past for him, he does not find a place in the present, but he sincerely believes that he will find himself in the future: "... I foresee happiness ... I already see it." Anya is almost as enthusiastic about the future. She sincerely believes that she can pass the exam at the gymnasium and find a job. "We'll build a new garden!" says a young seventeen-year-old girl. Petya and Anya are new people, an emerging layer of intelligentsia, for whom moral beauty is at the forefront. However, Petya is not quite like that, he only tries to show it, and this can be seen from the words of Ranevskaya, who called him “clean”, and after, when this free and proud person was looking for old galoshes.

And what awaits Varya, the adopted daughter of Ranevskaya and the young servants Yasha and Dunyasha? Varya is a very economic and sensible girl, but she is so down to earth that she does not arouse any interest in Lopakhin, who wanted to marry her. It is obvious that she has no bright impressions ahead of her, what awaits her future, which is no different from the present.

But the future of Yasha and Dunyasha can cause a lot of controversy. They are cut off from their roots, being poorly educated, not having strict moral principles, in order to satisfy their desires, they are capable of much. They treat their owners with no respect, in some ways they are even able to use them. So the impudent and boorish Yasha, begs Ranevskaya back to Paris, since life in the Russian outback, among ordinary peasants, has become painful for him. He disparages even his own mother, and it is clear that at any moment he will also step over his mistress. It is people like Yasha who, in 13 years, will smash the Winter Palace, destroy noble estates and shoot former owners.

It can be argued that the future of The Cherry Orchard comedy is very vague. Chekhov only pointed out in which direction the heroes could move, because the future of Russia was very interesting for everyone who lived in such a difficult historical time. What is indisputable is that Anton Pavlovich clearly showed that there will be no return to the past and it is necessary to learn to live in a new way, preserving only the best in the form of a set of spiritual values.

Thoughts about the future of the cherry orchard and a description of the future in the view of Chekhov's heroes can be used by students in grade 10 when writing an essay on the topic "The Future in the play "The Cherry Orchard"".

Artwork test

A short essay-reasoning on the topic: Past, present and future of Russia in the play "The Cherry Orchard". Three generations in the comedy The Cherry Orchard. The fate of the Cherry Orchard

In the play The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov depicted 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. For this we value Chekhov's work: he is exceptionally objective in relation to reality. The writer does not try to convince us that the future is cloudless or the past is worthy of worship, but he treats the present most strictly.

The past in the play "The Cherry Orchard" is represented in the images of Ranevskaya, Gaev and Firs. All of them can not adapt to the new realities of life. Their position sometimes seems ridiculous to us, because their actions are absurd. To save the estate, the owners only need to rent it out profitably, but they are too scrupulous and arrogant, they are embarrassed by the vulgarity of summer residents who will desecrate their cherry orchards. Instead, they brought the case to the fact that Lopakhin buys the estate and cuts down the paradise at all. 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 carefree living by the labor of others. It is obvious that they did not justify the privileges of their class, so the harsh reality left them in the past: they could not keep up with her, they kept imagining that she should 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 educated, 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 like Lopakhin.

The future in The Cherry Orchard is the younger generation: Trofimov and Anya. They are dreamers divorced from reality, maximalists. They are romantic and uplifting, but at the same time independent and intelligent, being able to find the 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, we have no definite attitude to the past, we only philosophize, complain of 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 garden: “We are above love,” he declares, relieving himself of any 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 what worries the author.

(482 words) "The Cherry Orchard" - 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 the heroes of different ages are the personification of the past, present and future of the country.

Ranevskaya and Gaev represent the old times. They live in memories and absolutely do not want to solve the problems of the present. Their house is under threat, but instead of making any attempt to save it, they do everything to avoid talking to Lopakhin on this subject. Lyubov Andreevna is constantly inexpediently spending money that could be used to buy a house. In the second act, she first complains: “Oh, my sins… I have always been overflowing with money without restraint, like crazy…” – and literally a minute later, having heard the Jewish orchestra, she suggests “call him somehow, arrange an evening.” There is a feeling that before us are not adult, experienced, educated heroes, but unintelligent 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 their fate. In the end, they are deprived of all the past, which they cherished so much.

The present time is personified by the merchant Yermolai Lopakhin. He is a representative of the growing class in Russia - the bourgeoisie. Unlike Ranevskaya and Gaev, he is not infantile, but very hardworking and enterprising. It is these qualities that help him eventually buy the estate. He grew up in a family of serfs who used to serve Gaev, so he is very proud of himself: "... beaten, illiterate Yermolai ... 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 the past, the site for him is only a means to earn money. He without any doubt cuts it down, thereby destroying the old, but at the same time, without creating anything new.

Anya and Petya Trofimov are the heroes of the future. They both talk about the future as something unconditionally bright and beautiful. But in fact, for the two of them, it is rather vague. Petya talks a lot, but does little. At the age of 26, he still did not graduate 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 still a 17-year-old girl who is the personification of youth, inexhaustible strength and the desire to do good. Her future is also unknown, but it is she who reassures 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 you can plant a new garden, just like you can start a new life. Although the author does not claim anything, it is possible that Anya is the true future of Russia.

A.P. Chekhov showed readers the heroes of different generations, classes and views on the life of that time, but he could not give an unambiguous answer, behind whom the future of the country stands. But still, he sincerely believed that Russia's future would certainly be bright and beautiful, like a blooming cherry orchard.