Read our detailed study guide on the play The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. Our study guide cover The Cherry Orchard summary, themes, characters, and literary analysis.
The Cherry Orchard Summary
Act 1
The play is set in the late 1800s in Russia. The first act of the play opens at dawn. It is in May. The location is inside Madame Ranevsky’s estate. The acts of the play are not divided into proper scenes. However, the entrances and exits of the characters depict distinct moments of action.
At the start of the first act, Lopakhin, a wealthy neighbor, and Dunyasha, a maid, are waiting for Madame Ranevsky, her daughter Anya, and their comrades to come back to their cherry orchard estate. They are returning from France where they have spent five years. Lopakhin and Dunyasha are in a room called the nursery.
Dunyasha and Lopakhin start the conversation by discussing the timing of the trains. Lopakhin recalls his childhood memories of Madame Ranevsky. He remembers how Madame Ranevsky once brought Lopakhin into the main house to care for him because his father struck him. After Lopakhin’s talking, Dunyasha shows her uneasiness at the return of the family.
Ephikhodof enters the nursery with a bouquet. He is a clunky clerk who is love-struck with ostentatious Dunyasha. When he comes, his boots squeak the whole way. Lopakhin sends Dunyasha to get him a drink. He and Ephikhodof enjoy a brief and comic discussion on the weather and Ephikhodof’s squeaky boots.
At this moment, Dunyasha re-enters the nursery but Ephikhodof falls over on her way out. Dunyasha clarifies to Lopakhin that Ephikhodof has proposed to her. Lopakhin is not interested in their relationship. Dunyasha still explains her feelings. She says that she is attracted to the clerk’s personality. However, she doesn’t like his awkward behavior. Therefore, she is confused about what to do.
Madame Ranevsky, her daughters Barbara and Anya, her brother Gayef, Anya’s governess Charlotte, and a neighbor Pishtchik finally arrive. After the welcome chaos, there are only Anya and Dunyasha on the stage who grew up together. Dunyasha wants to discuss Ephikhodof’s matter with Anya. She tells Anya that Trophimof, the tutor of Anya’s dead younger brother Grisha, is in the house.
Barbara is the older daughter of Madame Ranevsky. She enters with a ring of keys around her waist. Dunyasha leaves both sisters to reunite and she goes to make coffee. Barbara cries after seeing her sister. She also cries with distress when Anya tells her about the financial problems the family is going through.
Madame Ranevsky used to live a luxurious life. Now, the family cannot pay the interest on the mortgage. For this reason, the cherry orchard will be sold soon. Barbara wants to marry Lopakhin. She hopes that society accepts it. She tells Anya that he has not proposed to her yet that makes her cry again. She says that she wants to become a wayfarer.
When Yasha, Madame Ranevsky’s servant, enters with bags, he does not recognize Dunyasha. After Dunyasha tells him her name, he recognizes and embraces her. He leaves before Barbara can rebuke him.
Anya thinks about the importance of the return of tutor Trophimof. She recalls and describes the death of her father that was shortly followed by the death of her younger brother who was drowned. These bad incidents make Madame Ranevsky go abroad so it will be easy for her to forget the misfortunes. Anya is concerned that Trophimof’s return might remind Madame Ranevsky of the tragedy.
After this, Firs enters the scene. He is the former serf and present servant. He talks to himself because he is half dead and half sane. He does not communicate with anyone else on stage. His personality tells that he is happy with his mistress’s return. His statements are nostalgic. They focus on events of years gone by. He says that as he has seen his mistress Madame Ranevsky come home, he is ready to die now.
Madame Ranevsky, Gayef, and Pishtchik and Lopakhin enter the scene. Gayef shows his trademark behavior. Anya says good night and exits. Firs waits for Madame Ranevsky. Barbara suggests that the guests must go home now. Madame Ranevsky thanks Firs and starts crying with joy. Firs responds with completely unrelated comments because of his hearing problems.
Pishtchik and Lopakhin start admiring Madame Ranevsky. Lopakhin complains about Gayef, who thinks that Lopakhin is a prig and insists he loves Madame Ranevsky. Madame Ranevsky gets excited and starts kissing the furniture.
Gayef destroys her mood by telling her about the members of the household that have died in her absence. Madame Ranevsky knows already but she gives an interesting reaction. She becomes very silent and still. She does not do any of her usual drama.
Before Lopakhin leaves, he discusses his plan to save Madame Ranevsky’s estate from the auction. According to him, if she cuts down the cherry orchard and the old house, she can build villas. She can sell to pay off the interest and in this way, she will make a profit. Madame Ranevsky and Gayef do not understand the plan. Pishtchik asks Madame Ranevsky about Paris.
Barbara enters with Yasha. She carries telegrams for her mother from Paris. Madame Ranevsky tears them up immediately. Gayef says that the cupboard in the room is a hundred years old. Pishtchik gets overwhelmed and it makes Gayef feel embarrassed. He gets on his knees and recites a ridiculous ode to the cupboard. When he realizes how silly and dumb he looks, he begins playing imaginary billiards again.
Pishtchik swallows a full box of pills. His act is as foolish as Gayef’s speech. Everyone gets entertained by it. Firs mumbles continuously.
Charlotte enters the scene. She has an unusual personality. She can be called a social misfit. She teases Lopakhin but he says his good-byes. Pishtchik asks Madame Ranevsky for a loan to pay his mortgage. He knows perfectly well that she cannot pay her own. She refuses him. Firs bothers over Gayef’s clothes. Barbara finds Anya asleep. Gayef and Madame Ranevsky look out over the orchard and recall the past.
Trophimof enters to greet Madame Ranevsky. At first, it seems like she does not know him. Therefore, he introduces himself as the tutor of her deceased son. Suddenly, she begins to cry. She mourns for her dead son. She is surprised to see that Trophimof has grown old.
Pishtchik and Gayef say their goodnights but once again, Pishtchik asks Madame Ranevsky for a loan to pay his mortgage. At last, she agrees. Gayef protests for a while but he eventually surrenders.
After this, Barbara tells Yasha that his mother wants to see him. Yasha behaves bitterly and exits. Gayef discusses the family’s financial issues with his nieces. He talks about a distant aunt as a source of economic hope. Gayef says that it is a small hope. The aunt is wealthy but she can disapprove of Madame Ranevsky’s sinful life.
The harsh criticism of his sister discloses the fact that Madame Ranevsky married out of her aristocratic circle. After the death of her husband, she became the mistress of another man. Anya gets hurt by Gayef’s rude words against her mother.
Gayef is also ashamed. He tries to change the subject.
He laments the fact that his own foolish words frequently embarrass him. He swears on his honor that he will do his best to save the property. After this, he says goodnight. Barbara drags a sleepy Anya towards her room. As Anya disappears, Trophimof whispers “My sunshine! My spring!” after her.
Act 2
Act II starts in the outdoors. It is summertime. The set consists of a bench only. The whole town can be seen in the background. Charlotte, Yasha, and Dunyasha are sitting on the bench. Ephikhodof is standing. He is playing the guitar. Charlotte is ready for hunting. She is cleaning her gun. She describes her past loudly. She is an orphan. She spent her childhood while performing different tricks in fairs. She mentions her never-ending feelings of isolation. No one seems to listen to her.
Ephikhodof focuses his attention on Dunyasha. Dunyasha flatters with Yasha. Charlotte tries to join the conversation; however, no one wants to talk to her. She leaves in a state of irritation.
Ephikhodof tries to be alone with Dunyasha but she sends him away. She wants to be alone with Yasha. The two of them get involved in a comic and showy conversation. It tells the audience that they have been romantically involved with each other.
Madame Ranevsky, Gayef, and Lopakhin enter the scene. Lopakhin tries to convince Madame Ranevsky to sell the cherry orchard. To change the subject, Madame Ranevsky starts complaining about Yasha’s cigar. Three conversations happen after one another: Lopakhin needs an answer but no one gives him a reply, Gayef considers the railroad to himself and Madame Ranevsky meditates about her decreasing funds and her going beyond permitted limits.
Madame Ranevsky drops her purse. Yasha picks up the coins. Madame Ranevsky strongly regrets that she has spent too much money at lunch.
Lopakhin still insists on the topic of selling the cherry orchard. According to him, there is a millionaire interested in the property. Gayef and Madame Ranevsky discuss the possibility of the wealthy aunt sending them money but Lopakhin is offended to hear the amount they expect. The amount is nowhere near enough to pay the interest on the mortgage.
Lopakhin insists that they must build villas and sell them later to protect themselves against financial issues. Madame Ranevsky and Gayef do not concentrate on the practicality of this suggestion.
Madame Ranevsky starts criticizing herself for the bad luck that she has brought on herself during her life. She married a man who was addicted to alcohol. When he died, she went off with another man. She cared for this man throughout his illness. However, he rewarded her by robbing her in Paris and finding another woman.
Madame Ranevsky tried to attempt suicide but returned to Russia later. She has just received another telegram from her lover. He asks her to come back to Paris. She tears up the telegram.
Lopakhin talks about his original peasant roots again. He refers to his poor handwriting and considers it as a symbol of the class he belongs to. Madame Ranevsky advises him to get married. She suggests to him Barbara as a wife. Gayef informs that he has been offered a position in a bank. Madame Ranevsky laughs at him with contempt.
Firs enters the scene. He brings a coat for Gayef. Because of a misunderstanding, he starts to talk about his recollections of the Liberation. Trophimof, Anya, and Barbara enter, and everyone sits. Lopakhin annoys Trophimof that he has been accompanied by two girls. He also calls Trophimof an old student.
As a response, Trophimof cites the carnivorous economic tendencies of Lopakhin. It is the truth but everyone laughs at the joke. Madame Ranevsky requests Trophimof to talk about a philosophical subject from the day before because he beautifies his concepts about the nature of man. In this way, Trophimof is an idealist man who is full of good sense.
Gayef again interrupts the philosophical conversation and attentive mood by making a ridiculous ode to nature. They hear an owl; therefore, Firs informs that a great misfortune is coming because it did before as well. He is referring to Liberation.
A vagrant enters and the arrival surprises the party. He asks for money. As Madame Ranevsky cannot find any small change, she gives him a large sum of money. When the vagrant exits, squeals in despair at unnecessary spending of her mother. Madame Ranevsky calls out that she has arranged the marriage for Barbara and Lopakhin. Barbara feels embarrassed.
Everyone leaves except Anya and Trophimof. Trophimof thinks that Barbara never leaves them alone. Anya thinks that Trophimof has made her decrease her love for the cherry orchard as she did before.
They both have huge philosophical issues in their mind. Trophimof talks about how the cherry orchard makes him feel. Although the tree is two hundred years old and has seen so much history, it frightens Trophimof that it has not seen much positive change.
They philosophically think together about the future. They share a romantic relationship. Although they both are idealists, their relationship is not sexual. Barbara calls Anya to come into the house. They both exit and the act ends.
Act 3
Act three of the play opens inside the estate. It is set during a party when it is the day of the auction of the cherry orchard. Music is heard. Pishtchik, Charlotte, Trophimof, Madame Ranevsky, Anya, Barbara, and Dunyasha enter the scene, accompanied by the guests. They start dancing together.
Firs serves drinks. Pishtchik and Trophimof come together into a sitting area. Pishtchik talks about his money troubles that keep on disturbing him from time to time. Barbara also comes into the sitting room and Trophimof starts annoying her. He calls her by “Madame Lopakhin.” She gets angry at the jokes. She is also worried about the expenses that the party represents. She leaves.
Trophimof tells Pishtchik that Pishtchik could have done great things in his life with all the energy that he has dedicated to collecting for money to pay his loans. Pishtchik agrees to this point. He starts panicking. He thinks as if he has lost his purse of money but he finds it quickly.
Charlotte performs card tricks for the group and all of them praise her. Pishtchik announces that he loves Charlotte.
She performs the final magic trick that involves making Anya appear from behind a shawl. She then performs the same trick with Barbara. After this, she exits with Pishtchik following.
Madame Ranevsky cannot put off her mind from the result of the auction. Barbara insists that their wealthy aunt will have bought the cherry orchard for the sake of Anya. However, Madame Ranevsky knows that the aunt does not trust her enough to give so much money to her.
Trophimof again teases Barbara but she is upset. It’s not that she doesn’t want to marry him but that he has never proposed to her. Barbara believes that his hesitance is because he is too occupied with money. She claims that if she has given money to join a nunnery, she would join it in an instant. Trophimof humiliates her and she starts crying.
Yasha enters the scene in a laughing mood. He announces that Ephikhodof has broken a billiard cue. Barbara rushes off to show him an expression of disapproval. Madame Ranevsky takes advantage of the opportunity and criticizes Trophimof for making fun of Barbara.
He justifies himself by saying that he teases Barabar because she always follows him and Anya around and never lets them romance. He says that her struggles are useless because he and Anya are gone above love.
Madame Ranevsky starts to panic about the result of the auction. Trophimof tells her that now it is too late to panic. He says that she has lost the cherry orchard long before because of her inaction. She says that the cherry orchard is a symbol of her family and herself. Therefore, when they sell it, they sell their family and a part of Madame Ranevsky as well.
She holds a telegram from her insulting lover during her speech. She starts to cry again. Madame Ranevsky reveals to Trophimof that her lover has asked her to return to Paris. She says that she will go. Trophimof is not happy with her choice. He starts crying and beseeches her. Madame Ranevsky at first defends herself but then she starts calling Trophimof a freak. She says that he does not understand love and he is too cool to understand her.
Trophimof becomes angry and runs out. Madame Ranevsky requests him to return. After this, a crash is heard. Anya enters while laughing and says that Trophimof has fallen down the stairs. The music starts again.
Trophimof and Barbara enter the scene. Madame Ranevsky apologizes. They start dancing. Yasha and Firs also enter. Firs begins complaining about his health. Yasha is enraged by the conversation. Firs becomes upset.
Anya says that she has heard that the cherry orchard has been sold. She says that no one knows to whom it is sold. Madame Ranevsky asks Firs where he will go if the property is sold. She says that she will not bring him with her. He tells her that he will go anywhere she tells him to.
She observes that he looks ill. Yasha interrupts the conversation and asks Madame Ranevsky to take Yasha back to Paris with her when she goes back. Pishtchik enters and asks Madame Ranevsky to dance. He begs her for another loan. She neither responds to Pishtchik nor Yasha. However, in this situation, her silence is as good as a yes.
Dunyasha enters. She is amused by a compliment she received while dancing. Yasha and Firs make annoying comments about her. Ephikhodof follows Dunyasha when she goes out. He keeps his good mood despite her attempts to make him go away.
Lopakhin enters as Ephikhodof leaves. He comes face-to-face with an angry Barbara. Everyone comes in hurriedly to hear what happened at the sale. Before Lopakhin can answer, Gayef enters the scene while wiping his tears away.
Lopakhin announces that the cherry orchard has been sold at last. Madame Ranevsky requests him to tell her if he has more information, but Gayef exits. He also takes Firs with him.
Eventually, Lopakhin answers the question and it is him who has bought the cherry orchard. Madame Ranevsky falls into a chair with shock. Barbara throws the keys to the ground and leaves.
Lopakhin starts his speech slowly with how a millionaire immediately outbid Gayef’s small sum. He gets more and more excited as he describes his triumph. By the end of his speech, he is unable to hide his happiness. He orders the musicians to play. Anya takes her crying mother off the stage. She promises her a new orchard that symbolizes a new life.
Act 4
The fourth act of the play opens in the same room as act one. The furniture in the room is piled in a corner. Gayef and Madmae Ranevsky are outside and saying good-bye to the peasants. Madame Ranevsky gives them her purse full of money but Gayef scolds her. When they go into another room, Lopakhin calls them back to have some champagne that is held by Yasha. They do not drink it; therefore, Yasha drinks it alone but criticizes its quality as he sips. However, Lopakhin defends its quality.
When Trophimof enters, he looks for his rubber boots so that he can leave. He aims to see his family in town and then go back to the university in Moscow. Lopakhin makes fun of Trophimof that he is too old to be a student. Trophimof gets irritated by the joke but he bade a tender farewell to Lopakhin.
Trophimof rejects Lopakhin’s offers of champagne and money. However, he accepts an embrace. He also advises Lopakhin that Lopakhin must not draw too much attention to himself.
When Trophimof still searches for his galoshes; Barbara throws a pair at him, although she is offstage. As a gesture of respect, Lopakhin again offers Trophimof for money. Trophimof rejects the offer again and tells him that as a free man, he cannot accept Lopakhin’s money.
After hearing the sound of the ax, Anya enters and says that they must stop cutting down the orchard until the family has left. Lopakhin is embarrassed by the request and exits when Trophimof leaves as well.
Anya asks Yasha that as Firs was not looking well so if he has been sent to the hospital. Yasha says that he is not sure. She then asks Ephikhodof to confirm it for her. Yasha feels humiliated that she does not trust his answer. Ephikhodof says that he wishes he were as close to death as Firs is.
Barbara also enters the room and inquires if Firs has visited the doctor. Anya replies to her that he has, although she is not sure that if Fars has left for the hospital, why he has left behind the note for the doctor.
Anya leaves the room to send the note after Firs. Barbara tells Yasha that his mother wants to bid farewell. It irritates Yasha. When Barbara disappears, Dunyasha enters while crying over Yasha. Yasha has become senseless to her tears. He is only excited about going to Paris; therefore, he ignores Dunyasha. He has not moved because he is emotionless but because it is unclear if Dunyasha is crying because she is disturbed or because it seems a seductive thing to do.
Madame Ranevsky, Gayef, Anya, and Charlotte enter the scene. Madame Ranevsky is excited about the new life that she is about to start in Paris. Gayef is also excited because he is looking forward to his new job.
Anya is not going to Paris with her mother. She intends to go for her studies but she and Madame Ranevsky scheme their expected reunion. Charlotte sings, holding a bundle as if it were a baby and she sings along. She immediately throws the bundle away and says that she is without a position now. Madame Ranevsky comforts her by saying she will find new work for Charlotte.
Pishtchik enters the scene. He seems tired from his walk. He has somehow got some money. He pays a small portion of the loan he has taken from Lopakhin and Madame Ranevsky. When he does all this, then he realizes that Madame Ranevsky is leaving soon. It makes him cry. He says good-byes and wishes her good life ahead. After this, he exits.
Madame Ranevsky carefully considers her final tasks. Anya confirms at last that Firs has been to the hospital. Madame Ranevsky insists on Lopakhin getting married to Barbara. Lopakhin agrees to the idea and says that he will propose to her.
When all of them leave, Barbara enters. Lopakhin asks her about her plans because the cherry orchard has been sold now. Barbara says she has held a position as a housekeeper. When Lopakhin leaves without proposing to her, she sits on the floor and starts crying for a moment.
Every member of the house re-enter. They all pick up their luggage and bid farewell. It makes the scene look chaotic. After some time, everyone exits the room except Madame Ranevsky and Gayef. They share the final moment of nostalgia. After this, the room gets empty for a moment.
Finally, Firs enters. The house members forget him and for this reason, he has been left behind. He lies on an old bench. He does not move for a brief moment. The play ends with this.
Background of the Play
The Cherry Orchard was written by Anton Chekov in 1903. It premiered in 1904 in Moscow Art Theater. The play was originally written in the Russian language. It has four acts that tell the story of a Ranevsky family who has lost its money and is in financial crises. Madame Ranevsky is the head of the family who comes back to her estate after living in Paris for five years.
The whole play revolves around the financial problems and indifferent behavior of Madame Ranevsky to save herself from further damage. In the end, a former serf purchases her property and she gets empty-handed.
The play involves two important developments in Russia in the nineteenth century. Firstly, in the 1830s, the railroads arrived in Russia. It was a significant step in Russia’s move towards a more international domain. Secondly and more importantly, in 1861, a vast population of serfs in Russia was granted freedom for good.
It bought a long-awaited social change. These two events of social change and the growing importance of the international community are shown in the play and they are the mover of the plot.
The arrival of the railroad helps Madame Ranevsky in coming and going back across borders. It also indicates the theme of social change. She loses power and money but the freed-serfs gain it. This is how changes came within the class system in Russia. There came a new wave of progress and freedom. These subjects are deeply discussed in The Cherry Orchard.
When the play was written, it was not only Russia that was going through a revolutionary process. The United States was experiencing similar changes that include growing pain and philosophical debates.
Chekhov’s writing style in the play also plays an important rule in indicating the conditions that it was written in. The aristocratic class provided full approval and support to the literature. On the other side, there was a growing middle class that was not much educated. Although the middle class has risen economically and socially, yet it was unaware of the appropriate ideas and skills for its new position. They would attend theater as well.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of Chekov’s plays is that they are written in simple language. For this reason, he wrote the most popular plays of his time. His play discusses different subjects in such a language that everyone can easily understand. It makes his plays accessible to people of all backgrounds. This is how The Cherry Orchard cracks jokes and talks about philosophical things and ideas in simple language.
Chekhov emphasized a sense of social duty. The Cherry Orchard tells that the sense of social duty towards others is vital for the development of humanity. The play presents the idea in such a way that all of its characters are sympathetic; however, they hide their feelings somehow.
There is no villain in the play. It criticizes the faults of its characters but it equally guides its audience towards the right path. The universal characters, simple language, the depiction of social change make the play critical, philosophical, and thought-provoking as well.
Characters Analysis
Madame Lyubof Andreyevna Ranevsky
Madame Ranevsky is the main protagonist of the play. She is the head of her family’s estate. Over the last five years, she has had the property into financial crises. She is a big spender. She is also a kind-hearted woman who treats everyone beyond the luxuries that she has at the present. For this reason, her selflessness has put her into financial problems. Before coming to her family house, she had spent a huge sum of money on her cruel lover in Paris. It leaves her a few options of saving her ancestor’s home by selling the cherry orchard.
She decides to cut down the trees and rent out the land so she and her entire family will come out of the crises. However, her neighbor Lopakhin and her brother Gayef suggest she borrow some money from a wealthy aunt. She is still sure that she cannot escape what is certain to happen.
When Madame Ravensky gets sure that she is about to lose her property, she goes into a world of fantasy. She arranges a high-budget party of her family members, friends, neighbors, and servants. She also hopes that she will marry off her daughters well but she knows well that she has failed to make her daughters transform into attractive and aspiring wives.
The tragedy of the death of her first husband and her youngest child still haunts her. She lives in fantasy to forget the bad memories and get rid of her responsibilities. This ignorance of the reality and her self-absorption eventually make her lose her home and estate.
Towards the end of the play, she goes back to Paris when she receives a note from her lover there. She is uncertain what will become of her there but she has no option left than to leave the drastically changing Russia. It shows that Madame Ranevsky is not just a character but a type that represents those people who have been fallen behind due to their inability to adapt and get adjusted with the changing conditions around.
Yermolai Alexeyitch Lopakhin
Lopakhin is the neighbor of Madame Ranevsky. He belongs to the middle class. He is the son of peasants but he has recently made his position in the world. By using the Liberation of the serfs to his advantage, he collects a bit of wealth. In this way, he becomes a landowner and a businessman. When Lopakhin was a boy, he suffered a lot at the hand of his father who was addicted to drinking a lot. Madame Ranevsky treated him kindly on several occasions at that time.
In the play, where Lopakhin is a grown-up man, he wants to repay the kindness of Madame Ranevsky. He tries to help to make such a plan that she does not lose her ancestral home and estate that is spread over a large area.
For doing this, Lopakhin suggests, the beautiful and costly yet worthless cherry orchard must be chopped down. He advises that the land must be then made into smaller plots that can be given on rent to different middle-class people. Madame Ranevsky does not pay attention to his idea, although he presents it so many times.
Lopakhin tries to convince her that it is the only option she can save her property and survive. Eventually, he purchases the estate at auction. He feels happy and proud after buying such an expensive piece of land.
Lopakhin experiences change in class during his lifetime. At the end of the pay, he is the only wealthy man. He becomes the owner of the land where he was born as a serf. In this way, the character of Lopakhin is the perfect example of the possible success that newly freed serfs can avail.
When Lopakhin becomes more powerful and rich than his aristocratic owners of the farm, he still has some qualities that hinder his modest start. He dresses well and is respected by all, but he is not cultured and literary. His poor handwriting embarrasses him in front of others. He misquotes Hamlet as well.
Lopakhin’s inclination and talent for business makes him different from other characters. It is his good as well as bad quality. He over-thinks about money and success. With his talent, he finishes the poverty that he was born into and achieves personal success with finances. Oppositely, he gets involved in the business too much that he stops enjoying the true aspects of humanity. He stops caring and paying attention to love and friendship.
His business talent also makes him deceive Madame Ranevsky when he cuts and buys her cherry orchard.
He can be treated like the villain in the play,
Anya
She is Madame Ranevsky’s youngest daughter. She is seventeen years old. Just like many of Chekhov’s young characters, she is an idealist and a dreamer. She feels that happiness is just around the corner. She is not very upset about the intense financial and social crises her family is going through.
She loves and supports her mother very much. She strongly believes that they will come out of all troubles and will start a new life for themselves somewhere else.
Barbara
Barbara is the oldest daughter of Madame Ranevsky. She is old but still single. Her family, especially her mother, expects that she will marry Lopakhin. Although she wants the same, Lopakhin never proposes to her.
She has been in charge of keeping the house when Madame Ranevsky stays in Paris for five years. She runs an estate during this time that is shown by the big ring of keys that she carries with herself around her waist. She is a faithful girl.
Barbara is the kind of person who suffers pain and hardship without showing emotions and complaining. She is a controlling person as well. She doesn’t like it when her mother wastes her money. For this reason, she frequently cries over her mother’s spending. The mixed signals of Lopakhin also upset her a lot.
Barbara’s controlling habit is her best and worst condition. On the one hand, her habit keeps the estate running when Madame Ranevsky loses all her money to run it. On the other hand, she feels a sense of responsibility towards the cherry orchard that causes her agony and stress. She likes to help and be productive so that she can keep the household running. Barbara’s habits also drive everyone mad.
Her greatest desire is to join a nunnery or become a pilgrim. At the end of the play, she becomes the housekeeper.
Leonid Andreyitch Gayef
Gayef is the older brother of Madame Ranevsky. He is unmarried. He has no specific occupation and uses the family fortune as a source of money. He and Lopakhin do not have a good relationship. There is evidence that shows that Gayef feels bitter about Lopakhin’s success. He ridicules all the non-aristocratic in the play.
Ironically, Gayef feels superior to other characters but he is a walking mess. He constantly says foolish things and embarrasses himself in front of others. The peculiarity of his behavior is that he plays an imaginary game of billiards. He pretends like he is playing billiards to divert himself and others’ attention.
His character is comic, but he is awkward and ungraceful. His character speaks that belonging to a noble family and being a noble person himself are two different categories.
The character of Gayef is opposite to his sister in some aspects. He can adjust to the situations that his sister does not possess. Although no one listens to his ideas, he still stops his sister from spending extra money for no reason.
Towards the end of the play, he is the only character who makes a good decision by accepting an adequate position in a bank. This job is lower than his state but it is his step into reality. In this way, he is the character who walks towards the reality that many of the characters do not.
Peter Trophimof
Trophimof is a vital character in the play because he speaks some sense. He is a student. He was the tutor of the youngest son of Madame Ranevsky. In this way, he represents the past. He is very concerned about the future. He is an idealist person like Anya. His intellectual character forces him to demand more from Russia and humanity as a whole than any other character. His character is also a little inaccessible emotionally.
He gets involved in a romantic relationship with Anya. He speaks wisely but he is not influential because he does not hold a powerful position.
Firs Nikolayevitch
He was born a serf on the estate of Madame Ranevsky. When the serfs were even freed, he remained in his miserable condition because he availed no opportunity, unlike Lopakhin. They both have the same background. Firs could not adjust to the changing times the way Lopakhin does.
His character represents passing time and the class system in a society. He is left behind at the end of the play and dies. In this way, his death symbolizes the passing of the class system, the passing of the ruling of the aristocrats on the expensive cherry orchard, and the passing of a dreadful phase in Russian society.
Simeon Panteleyitch Ephikhodof
Ephikhodof is a young clerk in the play. He works on Madame Ranevsky’s estate. He is a funny character. His nickname is “Twenty-Two Misfortunes.” His entrances and exits are identified by either falling on or off stage.
He has intention likeness for Dunyasha, but she does not respond to him the way he wants. Ephikhodof has a positive vibe around him. Despite the troubles that he constantly deals with, he is always quite happy. He accepts whatever good and bad happenings come his way. He deals with them without agitation even if he does not react gracefully.
He can laugh at his shortcomings and this is why he gets good humor. His character teaches us that whatever comes our way, we should never feel disappointed in ourselves. We need to be content under adverse situations.
Dunyasha
Dunyasha is a young servant of Madame Ranevsky on the cherry orchard. She enjoys when Ephikhodof is attentive towards her. However, she is more interested in Yasha. She establishes a romantic relationship with Yasha. She is a funny character in the play but her character symbolizes many problems of the class system at work.
Dunyasha carries herself like a noble lady and pretends otherwise of her reality. In this way, she makes some funniest moments in the play. She is hopeful about her dreams because they are all possible to come true.
Her character has a significant function in the play with other characters. Lopakhin and Firs find fault with Dunyasha for not remembering her status. The way they criticize is ironic in the sense that both these men are former serfs themselves and they reject the typical classifications of classes and statuses. As a result, Dunyasha’s character exposes the hypocrisy of the characters.
Yasha
Yasha is the male servant of Madame Ranevsky. He is a young man who belongs to a village. He is very pretentious. He feels for Dunyasha. He is also a very funny character. His character is such that he stays cool and does not care about anyone but himself. He also refuses to see her mother who has come from the village.
He follows Madame Ranevsky wherever she goes. He gains strength from her loose control over her purse. He begs her to take him along with her. He is rude toward others and insults them publicly.
Charlotte Ivanovna
She is Anya’s governess but she no longer holds the position at the end of the play. She is an orphan. Because of her amazing magic tricks, she is popular among people. Her character is strange but the rest of the characters treat her like a spectator and not like a person. Many of her dialogues indicate her state of isolation.
Despite all, she is not sad but lively and energetic. Depending on the situation, her character is either amusing or irritating.
Simeonof Pishtchik
Pishtchik is the neighbor of Madame Ranevsky. He is a landowner as well. He is impressed by Charlotte for her magic tricks. He likes to socialize and is an expert in cracking jokes in such situations where others fail to do so. He pays some of his debts at the end of the play.
He often requests Madame Ranevsky to give him some loans that can be taken as a disrespectful and selfish act because he knows well that she does not have enough money to give him.
Themes in the Play
Societal Changes and Effects
The most important theme of The Cherry Orchard is that of social change. The play was written in the early 1900s; therefore, it presents Russia when it was going through a drastic revolution. As the powers of aristocracy dwindled, former serfs, got freedom.
As a result, a middle class emerged. The main characters of the play are representative of the upper, middle, and lower classes. They struggle to maintain their relationships, loyalties, and concerns about the changing social and economic conditions of their country.
Through The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov presents the idea that the emergence of a middle class in Russia changed and adversely influenced the lives of the aristocrats because their money threatened.
Besides, the middle class also negatively impacted the servants and workers who were unable to walk in the new order of things. In this way, Chekhov suggests that rapid social change was necessary for societal growth at one side but on the other side, it ended up uplifting a very few individuals while others were left behind.
From its very first pages, The Cherry Orchard tells a story about class. Chekhov uses the cherry orchard as a symbol of the changing social order and the emergence of a new middle class that is more ambitious. The cherry orchard that shows the past and the class system gets threatened by the social circumstances.
Lopakhin tells Madame Ranevsky that the only possible way to save her property and prevent it from going for auction is to divide the land into individual plots and rent it out to the growing middle class throughout the country. Ranevsky refuses the idea and insists on a new scheme to save the property. Her rejection of the idea symbolizes her dislike towards drastic social change and her desire to remain stuck to the older position.
As the play progresses, Chekhov also portrays the idea that how social transformation affects the servant class. Dunyasha is a young maid. She tries to act and dress the way her land-lady does. Everyone around her mocks her for going out of her status.
In the same manner, Yasha is the male servant in the play. He too pretends as if he is so good than the other people of his class. When his mother comes from the village to visit him, he gets irritated and feels its burden. He treats Dunyasha, Charlotte, and Ephikhodof badly.
Firs is also a servant in the play. He does not like the fact that serfs have got the freedom to live that expresses his advancing dementia.
When Madame Ranevsky throws an expensive party in the third act of the play, it symbolizes her denial of reality as long as possible. It presents the perfect picture of aristocrats like her for whom things have always come easy so they do not care about their value.
Similarly, they always have an option B to avail. When she comes to know that the property has been purchased by Lopakhin, she cries because she never expects this. In the same way, Lopakhin feels proud that as a son of peasants, he becomes able to surpass the very family on whose charity he once relied on to survive in the world.
In the fourth act, when the family is packing to leave, they hear the sound of an ax cutting down the trees. It shows that Lopakhin had already hired the men to cut down the trees to make his reign over the area. It also suggests the fall of aristocrats and the rise of the middle class. However, Firs also dies at the end, after being left alone in the empty house.
In this way, the play tells the story of what happens when the middle class emerges. It leaves behind the rich and the poor because their concerns do not match with the middle class. The play talks about the pitiful and meaningless concerns of the higher class when they experience fall by the rise of the common people. It shows the reality that even positive and progressive societal changes can leave privileged families unprepared for the new world before them.
Dealing with Loss and Pain (Upper Class vs.Lower Class)
Another major theme in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard is a loss. Madame Ranevsky, Gayef, Barbara, and Anya suffer the loss of their ancestral house. Madame Ranvsky also experiences grief over the loss of her son, Grish, and Ephikhodof’s grief over his daily misfortunes. Almost every character within the play, even the minor one, is struggling with the experience of loss, grief, and pain.
The story of the loss of every character tells that loss, grief, hardships, and pain affect everyone without paying attention to their class, privilege, or social standing. It suggests the idea that no one is immune to these feelings. Also, no one can be protected from the feelings of loss and grief, no matter how wealthy and how poor the person is.
The play also discusses the idea that when people from the privileged class suffer any disaster, they get chaotic. They stop living and cannot decide what to do next.
At the same time, when less privileged suffer any trouble, they experience it silently and continue their daily routines because they are bound to serve out of tradition or necessity.
In this play, no one is safe from the disturbing effects of loss. It can be seen in the character of the protagonist of the play, Madame Ranevsky. Five years ago, when the drunken spendthrift husband of Madame Ranevsky died, shortly after that, she also suffered the loss of her youngest son by drowning. She starts a relationship with her new lover in Paris who treats her badly.
It shows that she uses the man as an escape from her grief. In this grief, she forgets to take care of her estate and starts living in miserable circumstances. She gets drained of funds. Her class could save her from anything but loss and pain.
The servants in the play are also often found struggling with intense grief and feelings of loss. However, the ways they express and process their feelings are very different from those of the higher-class characters.
Ephikhodof is the clerk of the family. He is the representative of the man who does not know social grace. He lives in a depressive fog. He is a comic character in the play. In the second act of the play, he reveals the fact that he always carries a revolver with him so that he can easily kill himself whenever he wants to.
Charlotte is another funny woman in the play who knows magic tricks. She reveals that she is an orphan daughter of circus performers who would carry her along with them from one continent to another to conduct shows. She never discloses where she was born. Despite her unorthodox appearance, she keeps some deep secrets. She frequently mourns the fact that how alone she feels in the world. No one listens to her words full of grief
Chekhov uses the theme of the suffering of his major and minor characters to show that how in the world he suffers seen and unseen, and private and public. Loss and grief penetrate all souls but the way people react to them is different, depending on the part of society they belong to. For example, Dunyasha, Charlotte, and Ephikhodof are forced to push their feelings under the surface. They suffer in silence because no one completely knows the reason behind their pain. No one pays attention to them as well.
On the other side, the more well-off individuals such as Madame Ranevsky can afford to lose herself in pain. She even affords to spend five long years in Paris to avoid in the house to which her bad memories are attached.
In this way, the play discusses the suffering of the characters. It makes the point clear that people belonging to different classes have different abilities to process and handle their hard times and pain.
The upper class gets selfish whenever they go through hard times. An aristocratic person only thinks about himself whenever he goes through a problem. He stops caring about the people around them and does whatever he can to pass a hard time. Oppositely, the lower-class put the needs of their masters above their own. They suppress their true feelings. Sometimes they end up expressing their grief in improper, underdeveloped, and dangerous ways.
Sentimentalism
Many of the characters in The Cherry Orchard are found struggling with feelings of love and sentimentality. Trophimof believes that he is above love, even though he has unresolved feelings for Anya. Barbara waits passively yet impatiently for a proposal from the wealthy Lopakhin.
She feels like the proposal will never come her way. Dunyasha acts well to show herself a sentimental lady to Yasha. The old lover of Madame Ranevsky treats her badly, yet she possesses feelings for him and intends to go back to Paris upon his request.
The characters in the play keep themselves limited to their feelings. Chekhov suggests that it is dangerous to possess some feelings without any consideration for the feelings of others. One must not completely deny his or her feelings. It is also necessary not to get overindulged in feelings. To become a good person, one must relate and communicate his feelings to others honestly and openly.
Many characters throughout the play try to hide their true feelings. One of them is Trophimof. He claims to be above love contradicts with his romantic feelings for Anya. The character of the Trophimof is revolutionary in the sense that he speaks philosophy. He talks about the failings of the middle class, the consequences of a lazy life, and the dangers of wealth and sentiments. He keeps his idealistic concepts above his feelings.
While doing so, he hurts Anya with whom he promises to gain happiness but he avoids her. Secondly, he hurts Madame Ranevsky as well. He witnesses the tragic death of her son but he says that her grief is sentimental. He is unaware of the pain that a woman feels when she loses her son.
The character of Trophimof conveys the message that rejection of feelings is cruel. He rejects to feel the love that is the extreme state of indifference.
Chekhov is against Trophimof’s cruel and senseless rejection of sentimentality. He is also against the idea of excessive romanticism of one’s conditions. Dunyasha has the desire to appear more like a noble lady. She gives over herself to sentimentality. She let emotions take control of her. When the middle class was rising in Russia, it made Dunyasha wish to rise as well so that she can appear like an upper-class lady, and if not, then at least like a middle-class lady.
She believes that by her nervous look, fluttering nature, and coyness, she will make herself look more refined. Dunyasha’s over-sentimentalism is shown comically in the play. She has ridiculous habits and patterns of speech. However, these habits are as dangerous as Trophimof’s calculated, self-discipline pragmatism.
Madame Ranevsky’s sentimentalism is represented in both comic and tragic manners in the play. She keeps on longing for the past. This characteristic of her is evident in her being busy in childhood memories. When she returns to her estate, she still feels for her ex-lover that confuses her whether or not she should respond to his telegrams from Paris.
Originally, The Cherry Orchard was written as a comedy but is mostly performed as a tragedy. The confusion about the genre of the play is developed from its depiction of sentimentalism and indifference. The happenings in the play and the experiences of its characters are tragic but they describe their sentiments in an exaggerated way that makes it a comedy.
Selfishness
In The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov has placed the worst human impulses under a microscope to analyze them completely. The play presents a tense and tragic situation that if Madame Ranevsky does not divide her land into smaller individual plots and rent them to middle-class people, she will lose their ancestral property forever.
Because of the poor spending habits of Madame Ranevsky, the envy and ambition of Lopakhin, and the personal dramas of Anya and Barbra, the purpose of saving the orchard is ignored somehow. Due to the selfish nature of the characters, they suffer betrayal, heartbreak, and ill will as the drama reaches towards its end. The self-obsessed behavior of a person does not only affect him but the entire community. It leaves everyone to go through despair and destruction.
The selfishness of the aristocracy is its defining characteristic. They are the major tools in their destruction as well. The selfish nature of a few characters is very clear. Madame Ranevsky goes through a tragedy herself. She considers herself a sympathetic and pitiful woman. However, she is selfish and ignorant of the needs of the people around her.
She spends extra money on her family, friends, neighbors, and servants. She throws an expensive party as well. She does all this so that she will not look poor. In this way, his real intentions are not to help poor people
She is irresponsible in her financial matters. She does not keep a check on her ancestral property for five years because she is too busy in Paris with her lover to get an escape from her troubles. It ruins her whole family. When she is presented with the idea to rent off the individual plot, she rejects it because she cannot sacrifice her beloved land.
This is cruel in the sense that her entire family depends on her decision to save the land but she loves her orchard and the sweet memories attached to it. Just because coping down the trees will hurt her, she prefers to hurt and ruin others life
Similarly, the emerging middle class also has selfishness and shameless ambitions. Chekhov uses the character of Lopakhin to symbolize those middle-class people who are so happy with their advancements and achievements that they ignore the needs of every other person around them. It also indicated the single-mindedness of his character.
At the beginning of the play, Lopakhin seems to be on Ranevsky’s side. He is thankful to her for her kindness that she showed to him when he was a young boy. He also presents ideas to her that shows that he wants to help her save the cherry orchard. She rejects his idea time and again. This frustrates him a lot. Instead of supporting Madame Ranevsky and her family by giving them money, he prefers his prosperity to theirs.
On the day of the auction, Ranevsky impatiently waits for the results of the bidding. When Gayef enters, he is fearful and defeated. She knows that she has lost her property but when she comes to know that it is Lopakhin who has purchased it, she gets devastated.
Lopakhin enters all laughing and merry-making. He is happy that he won the cherry orchard for himself. He is proud of his achievement that he, as a son of peasants, has become the owner of the most expensive property. He forgets the fact that he is hurting Madame Ranevsky and he is acting cruelly.
At the end of the play, Madame Ranevsky and her daughters pack their luggage to leave. They listen to the sound of an ax that shows that the cutting down of the cherry trees has already started. Lopakhin does not wait for the family to leave because he is selfish.
Through the examination of the characters’ selfishness, Chekov has demonstrated that egocentric behavior destroys interpersonal relationships. It damages legacies, tradition, and the basic pillars of society. The act of proving oneself above others and to gain wealth and status at the expense of others’ happiness is a selfish practice of humanity.
Indirect Action
Chekhov was most famous for the technique of using indirect action. When an important action in the plot of the play does not occur on stage but offstage, it is called indirect action. The audience comes to know about the action by the way the characters react to it on-stage.
The audience of the play does not know that it is Lopakhin who has purchased the property unless he delivers a speech at the end of the third act. It is one of the most significant events in the play but the audience does not see the sale. Additionally, the whole play revolves around the unseen action.
Choices and Consequences
All the characters in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard choose whatever they want to but they face the music as well. The Ranevsky family considers free will as the most important thing. For this reason, they remain passive and allow the auction of the cherry orchard without any interference.
When the family does not pay attention to the idea of Lopakhin, he purchases the property and gets benefits from it. In the same way, Pishchik allows mining on his land so that he will get money to pay off his debtors.
Chekhov emphasizes the fact that everyone is free to choose good and bad but they will have to face its consequences as well.
Literary Analysis of the Play
The Cherry Orchard is one of the most popular plays of Anton Chekov. The play does not only affect Russian literature but the entire literature of the twentieth century. It is because of his ability to deeply observe the social problems and discuss their causes and solutions. In The Cherry Orchard, he has written about social and psychological problems.
In this play, he has presented the idea that the newly emerging middle class is as important to the progress of a country as the aristocracy. However, it is treated as an unnecessary entity on the face of the earth. He has also highlighted the social evils of the twentieth century in the play, such as egoism, disrespect, the inability to understand one another, and the lack of love and sympathy towards each other.
The peculiarity of the genre of the play is unrecognized. Many critics have called it a comedy as well as a satirical play but the satire part of the play is weak. Therefore, the play is known as a comedy, tragedy, tragicomedy, lyrical comedy, and drama as well.
There are many outside and inside conflicts in the play. The outside conflicts start at the point when Madame Ravensky comes to know that she must sell her family estate.
Her most beautiful childhood and youth memories are attached to the land. The end of the cherry orchard will mark an end of her past life. She is impractical, indifferent, and passive. As her good days are going to decline, Lopakhin is going to achieve higher than ever. He purchases property of Madame Ravensky and he feels proud about it because he is the son of peasants. His father was a laborer at this farm that he purchases.
It highlights the social change in Russia when the middle class was emerging and it was gaining a position in the new world. The inside conflicts involve the psychological state of all the characters. Every character goes through his/her mental condition. They have different ideas and outlook on life.
Checkov has used many important and artistic tools in the play to make it remarkable. He has used different speech characteristics, the landscape, the furniture, and the author’s remarks in a unique way.
The play is an example of the larger artistic movement, called realism. Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard represents people and their everyday lives and problems naturally and authentically. For this reason, when it premiered in the Moscow Art Theater, it changed the way actors would perform. Actors got close to real life. Their unnatural style and gestures were replaced by natural movement and easily understandable dialogues.
In the play, he lets the reality speak for itself. He presents the struggle of the newly emerging middle class versus the indifferent aristocracy.
Setting
The play is set in a provincial estate in Russia at the turn of the twentieth century
In February of 1861, Alexander II granted liberation to the serfs in Russia. Serfs were treated like slaves. They were attached to a piece of land. If a piece of land was sold, serfs would stay with it and serve the new owner of the land.
Before the liberation, forty-four percent of the population of Russia was serfs. When they were freed, it did not only affect the serfs but the entire population. The former serfs became unemployed and the landowner could not work without the labor. People were experiencing drastic social change.
Act 1: The Nursery. It is in May.
Act 2: The second act is set outside, near the cherry orchard. It is in June or July.
Act 3: The third act is set in the drawing-room. It is August 22, the auction date.
Act 4: The Nursery. It is the month of October.
Significance of the Title
The Cherry Orchard is about a cherry orchard. The subject of either selling or saving the cherry orchard is the mover of the plot.
The cherry orchard symbolizes the past social order. Each character responds to it differently. On one side, Madame Ranevsky does not want to sell it because her memories are attached to it. It shows that she cannot adapt to the new changes in society. On the other side, Lopakhin purchases it that shows his progress and adjustment in the new world.
Point of View
There is no narrator in the play. The audience gets an insight into the characters and their lives through dialogues.
Tone & Genre
The tone of the play is compassionate, ironic, and full of gentle satire. He observes each character closely and depicts their strengths and weaknesses.
The play is written in the genre of tragicomedy. It has mixed elements of comedy and tragedy as well. In this way, The Cherry Orchard helped in building a new literary tradition through its innovation of genre.
Symbolism
When symbols are used to represent an idea or quality, it is called symbolism. There are many examples of symbolism in The Cherry Orchard. The cherry orchard in the play symbolizes the old social order that serfs were escaped from but the aristocracy found it hard to do so. The ancestral house of Madame Ranevsky symbolizes past, destruction, and social change.
The keys around Barbara’s waist express her pragmatism and her power. Gay’s imaginary billiards game symbolizes his affection towards escape from hard days. Similarly, Anya signifies hope and optimism. There are many symbols in the play but most of them symbolize past and social change that Russia was going through at that time.
Irony
Irony appears in many scenes throughout the play. For example, in the second act of the play, Madame Ravensky cries that she does not have enough money. However, it is ironic that she still allows Yasha, an untrustworthy character, to pick up her money purse. She talks about her weaknesses but neglects to be careful about her money. Therefore, despite her complaints, she is blind to her problems and their solution.
Allusion
There is a historical reference to the Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861. Alexander II freed the serfs.
Imagery
The Cherry Orchard presents imagery through its depiction of the nursery, home, the chilled May, and the frozen cherry blossoms. In the fourth act, the scene of Firs arrival to the empty house and lying down is presented in a way that creates a mental image.
