The future as the main theme of the play
In 1904, on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater was staged last play A.P. Chekhov " The Cherry Orchard", which became the result of the entire work of the playwright. Greeted enthusiastically by the audience, this production caused mixed assessment critics. Both the heroes and the circumstances in which they found themselves were controversial. The theme and idea of the play were also controversial. There is no doubt that Chekhov tried to understand what kind of future awaits the heroes in the play “The Cherry Orchard,” and that’s all Russian society generally. What caused this desire? More than 40 years have passed since the abolition of serfdom. The usual way of life, built over centuries, has collapsed, and not everyone has the strength and ability to rebuild for a new one. Moreover, not only the nobility suffered from the loss of their peasants, but also many peasants had a hard time getting used to freedom. Some were accustomed to living off the labor of others, while those others simply did not know how to think and make decisions independently. In the play this sounds quite often: “Men are with the gentlemen, gentlemen are with the peasants.”
But that's the past. And what awaits all of them in the future - this is exactly what the playwright wanted to understand. To provide a clear explanation, Chekhov used the image of a cherry orchard as a symbol of Russia, and through his attitude towards it, 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 does the future hold for the heroes of The Cherry Orchard? After all, each of the heroes is very vital. The past is irretrievably lost and this is a fact; symbolic proof is the cutting down of the garden and the death of Firs. “...I don’t understand my life without the cherry orchard...” says Ranevskaya, who runs abroad again after selling it, to waste her last money. Gaev gets a job in a bank, with a certain annual salary. For brother and sister, the future is completely unclear, because their whole life is closely connected with the past, and remains 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 their 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 working on their land and belonging to them. Therefore, the behind-the-scenes scene of the peasants’ farewell to their owners is also very symbolic. He understands that the future belongs to summer residents, to whom the land does not belong, 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 in view Chekhov's heroes"The Cherry Orchard" at Petya and Anya's. Petya very beautifully reflects on the good of all humanity, 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 notes: “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 have a presentiment of happiness...I already see it.” Anya strives for the future almost as enthusiastically. She sincerely believes that she will be able to pass the exam at the gymnasium and find a job. "We will build new garden!” - says a young seventeen-year-old girl. Petya and Anya are new people, an emerging layer - the intelligentsia, for whom the most important thing is moral beauty. However, Petya is not entirely like that, he is only trying to show it, and this can be seen from the words of Ranevskaya, who called him “neat,” and later, when this free and proud person was looking for old galoshes.
What awaits Varya? adopted daughter Ranevskaya and young servants Yasha and Dunyasha? Varya is a very economical 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's obvious that she doesn't have any ahead of her vivid impressions what awaits her future, 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, without strict moral principles, they are capable of much in order to satisfy their desires. They treat their owners without respect, and in some ways are even able to use them. So arrogant and boorish Yasha begs to go back to Paris with Ranevskaya, since life in Russian outback, among ordinary peasants. He even disdains 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 destroy the Winter Palace, destroy noble estates and shoot former owners.
It can be argued that the future in the comedy “The Cherry Orchard” is very vague. Chekhov only indicated in which direction the heroes could move, because the future of Russia was of great concern to 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 as imagined by Chekhov’s characters can be used by 10th grade students when writing an essay on the topic “The Future in the play “The Cherry Orchard”.”
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Essay on literature.
Here she is - open secret, the secret of poetry, life, love!
I. S. Turgenev.
The play "The Cherry Orchard", written in 1903, - last piece Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, completing it creative biography. In it, the author raises a number of problems characteristic of Russian literature: the problems of fathers and children, love and suffering. All this is united in the theme of the past, present and future of Russia.
The Cherry Orchard - central image, uniting heroes in time and space. For the landowner Ranevskaya and her brother Gaev, the garden is a family nest, an integral part of their memories. It’s as if they have grown together with this garden; without it they “don’t understand their life.” To save the estate, decisive action is needed, a change in lifestyle - otherwise the magnificent garden will go under the hammer. But Ranevskaya and Gaev are unaccustomed to all activities, impractical to the point of stupidity, unable to even seriously think about the impending threat. They betray the idea of the cherry orchard. For landowners, he is a symbol of the past. Firs, Ranevskaya’s old servant, also remains in the past. He considers the abolition of serfdom a misfortune, and to his former owners attached as to his own children. But those whom he devotedly served all his life abandon him to his fate. Forgotten and abandoned, Firs remains a monument to the past in a boarded-up house.
Currently represented by Ermolai Lopakhin. His father and grandfather were serfs of Ranevskaya, and he himself became a successful merchant. Lopakhin looks at the garden from the point of view of the “circulation of the matter.” He sympathizes with Ranevskaya, but the cherry orchard itself is doomed to death in the plans of a practical entrepreneur. It is Lopakhin who brings the agony of the garden to its logical conclusion. The estate is divided into profitable dacha plots, and “you can only hear how far away in the garden an ax is knocking on a tree.”
The future is personified by the younger generation: Petya Trofimov and Anya, Ranevskaya’s daughter. Trofimov is a student working hard to make his way into life. His life is not easy. When winter comes, he is “hungry, sick, anxious, poor.” Petya is smart and honest, understands the difficult situation the people live in, and believes in a bright future. “All of Russia is our garden!” - he exclaims.
Chekhov puts Petya in ridiculous situations, reducing his image to the extremely unheroic. Trofimov is a “shabby gentleman”, an “eternal student”, whom Lopakhin constantly stops with ironic remarks. But the student’s thoughts and dreams are close to the author’s. The writer, as it were, separates the word from its “carrier”: the significance of what is spoken does not always coincide with social significance"carrier".
Anya is seventeen years old. For Chekhov, youth is not only a sign of age. He wrote: “...that youth can be considered healthy, which does not put up with the old orders and... fights against them.” Anya received the usual upbringing for nobles. Trofimov had a great influence on the formation of her views. The girl’s character contains sincerity of feelings and mood, spontaneity. Anya is ready to start new life: pass exams for the gymnasium course and break ties with the past.
In the images of Anya Ranevskaya and Petya Trofimov, the author embodied everything best features inherent in the new generation. It is with their lives that Chekhov connects the future of Russia. They express the ideas and thoughts of the author himself. The sound of an ax is heard in the cherry orchard, but young people believe that the next generations will plant new orchards, more beautiful than the previous ones. The presence of these heroes enhances and strengthens the notes of vivacity that sound in the play, the motives of the future have a wonderful life. And it seems that it was not Trofimov, no, it was Chekhov who took the stage. “Here it is, happiness, here it comes, coming closer and closer... And if we don’t see it, don’t know it, then what’s the harm? Others will see him!”
The play "The Cherry Orchard", the last dramatic work Anton Pavlovich Chekhov can be considered a kind of testament of the writer, which reflected Chekhov’s cherished thoughts, his thoughts about the past, present and future of Russia.
The plot of the play is based on the history of a noble estate. As a result of the changes taking place in Russian society, the former owners of the estate are forced to give way to new ones. This plot outline is very symbolic, it reflects important stages socio-historical development of Russia. The destinies of Chekhov's characters turn out to be connected with the cherry orchard, in the image of which the past, present and future intersect. The characters remember the past of the estate, about those times when the cherry orchard, cultivated by serfs, still generated income. This period coincided with the childhood and youth of Ranevskaya and Gaev, and they remember these happy, carefree years with involuntary nostalgia. But serfdom canceled long ago, the estate is gradually falling into disrepair, the cherry orchard is no longer profitable. The time of telegraphs is coming and railways, era business people and entrepreneurs.
Representative of this new formation Lopakhin, who comes from the family of former serfs Ranevskaya, appears in Chekhov's play. His memories of the past are of a completely different nature; his ancestors were slaves on the very estate of which he now becomes the owner.
Conversations, memories, arguments, conflicts - all external action Chekhov's play centers around the fate of the estate and the cherry orchard. Immediately after Ranevskaya’s arrival, conversations begin about how the mortgaged and remortgaged estate can be saved from auction. As the play progresses, this problem will become increasingly acute.
But, as is most often the case with Chekhov, there is no real struggle, no real clash between the former and future owners of the cherry orchard in the play. Just the opposite. Lopakhin is doing everything possible to help Ranevskaya save the estate from sale, but a complete lack of business skills prevents the hapless owners of the estate from taking advantage of useful tips; they are enough only for complaints and empty rantings. It is not the struggle between the emerging bourgeoisie and the nobility that is giving way to it that interests Chekhov; the fate of specific people, the fate of all of Russia, is much more important to him.
Ranevskaya and Gaev are doomed to lose the estate that is so dear to them and with which it is connected
so many memories, and the reason for this lies not only in their inability to heed Lopakhin’s practical advice. The time is coming to pay old bills, but the debt of their ancestors, the debt of their family, the historical guilt of their entire class has not yet been atoned for. The present stems from the past, their connection is obvious, it’s not for nothing that Lyubov Andreevna dreams of her late mother in a white dress in a blooming garden. This reminds us of the past itself. It is very symbolic that Ranevskaya and Gaev, whose fathers and grandfathers did not allow those at whose expense they fed and lived, even into the kitchen, are now entirely dependent on Lopakhin, who has become rich. In this Chekhov sees retribution and shows that the lordly way of life, although it is covered in a poetic haze of beauty, corrupts people, destroys the souls of those who are involved in it. This is, for example, Firs. For him, the abolition of serfdom is a terrible misfortune, as a result of which he, useless and forgotten by everyone, will be left alone in an empty house... The same lordly way of life gave birth to the footman Yasha. He no longer has the devotion to masters that distinguishes old Firs, but without a twinge of conscience he enjoys all the benefits and conveniences that he can derive from his life under the wing of the kindest Ranevskaya.
Lopakhin is a man of a different type and a different formation. He is businesslike, has a strong grip and firmly knows what and how to do today. It is he who gives specific advice on how to save the estate. However, being a businesslike and practical person, and differing favorably from Ranevskaya and Gaev, Lopakhin is completely devoid of spirituality and the ability to perceive beauty. The magnificent cherry orchard is interesting to him only as an investment, it is remarkable only because it is “very large”; and based on purely practical considerations, Lopakhin proposes to cut it down in order to rent out the land for summer cottages - this is more profitable. Disregarding the feelings of Ranevskaya and Gaev (not out of malice, no, but simply because of a lack of spiritual subtlety), he orders the garden to begin to be cut down, without waiting for the former owners to leave.
It is noteworthy that in Chekhov's play there is not a single happy person. Ranevskaya, who came from Paris to repent of her sins and find peace in the family estate, is forced to return back with old sins and problems, since the estate is being auctioned off and the garden is being cut down. The faithful servant Firs is buried alive in a boarded-up house, where he served all his life. Charlotte's future is unknown; years pass without bringing joy, and dreams of love and motherhood are never realized. Varya, who did not wait for Lopakhin’s offer, is hired by some Ragulins. Perhaps Gaev's fate turns out a little better - he gets a place in the bank, but it is unlikely that he will become a successful financier.
The cherry orchard, in which the past and present intersect so intricately, is also associated with thoughts about the future.
Tomorrow, which, according to Chekhov, should be better than the day of today, are personified in the play by Anya and Petya Trofimov. True, Petya, this thirty-year-old “eternal student”, is hardly capable of real deeds and actions; he only knows how to talk a lot and beautifully. Another thing is Anya. Realizing the beauty of the cherry orchard, she at the same time understands that the garden is doomed, just as her past slave life is doomed, just as the present, full of unspiritual practicality, is doomed. But in the future, Anya is sure, there must be a triumph of justice and beauty. In her words: “We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this,” there is not only a desire to console her mother, but also an attempt to imagine a new, future life. Inheriting Ranevskaya’s spiritual sensitivity and sensitivity to beauty, Anya is at the same time full of a sincere desire to change and remake life. She is focused on the future, ready to work and even sacrifice in its name; she dreams of a time when the whole way of life will change, when it will turn into a blooming garden, giving people joy and happiness.
How to arrange such a life? Chekhov does not give recipes for this. Yes, they cannot exist, because it is important that every person, having experienced dissatisfaction with what is, is fired up with a dream of beauty, so that he himself seeks the path to a new life.
“All of Russia is our garden” - these significant words are heard repeatedly in the play, turning the story of the ruin of the estate and the death of the garden into a capacious symbol. The play is full of thoughts about life, its values, real and imaginary, about the responsibility of each person for the world in which he lives and in which his descendants will live.
(482 words) “The Cherry Orchard” is the last play by A.P. Chekhov. It was written by him in 1903, shortly before the 1905 revolution. The country then stood at a crossroads, and in the work the author skillfully conveyed the atmosphere of that time through events, characters, their characters and actions. The Cherry Orchard is the embodiment of pre-revolutionary Russia, and the heroes different ages- the personification of the past, present and future of the country.
Ranevskaya and Gaev represent earlier times. They live in memories and do not want to solve the problems of the present at all. Their house is under threat, but instead of making any attempts to save it, they in every possible way avoid conversations with Lopakhin on this topic. Lyubov Andreevna constantly wastes money that could be used to buy out a house. In the second act, she first complains: “Oh, my sins... I’ve always wasted money without restraint, like crazy...” - and literally a minute later, having heard the Jewish orchestra, she suggests “inviting him somehow, having an evening.” There is a feeling that before us are not adult, experienced, educated heroes, but foolish children who are unable to exist independently. They hope that their problem will be solved miraculously, but do not take any action themselves, leaving everything to the mercy of fate. In the end, they are deprived of the entire past that they treasured so much.
The present time is personified by the merchant Ermolai Lopakhin. He is a representative of the growing class in Russia - the bourgeoisie. Unlike Ranevskaya and Gaev, he is not childish, but very hardworking and enterprising. It is these qualities that help him eventually buy the estate. He grew up in a family of serfs who used to serve the Gaevs, so he is very proud of himself: “... beaten, illiterate Ermolai... bought an estate where his grandfather and father were slaves, where they were not even allowed into the kitchen.” For Ermolai, the garden is not a memory of past years; for him, the plot is only a means for making money. Without any doubt, he cuts it down, thereby destroying the old, but at the same time, without creating anything new.
Anya and Petya Trofimov are heroes of the future. They both talk about the future as something absolutely bright and beautiful. But in reality, for the two of them it is quite vague. Petya talks a lot, but does little. At 26, he still hasn't graduated from university, earning him the nickname "the 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 represents 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 most terrible tragedy and you can plant a new garden, just as you can start a new life. Although the author does not claim anything, perhaps Anya is the true future of Russia.
A.P. Chekhov showed readers heroes of different generations, classes and views on life of that time, but was never able to give a definite answer as to who the future of the country lay behind. But still, he sincerely believed that Russia’s future would certainly be bright and beautiful, like a blooming cherry orchard.
Features of Chekhov's dramaturgy
Before Anton Chekhov, Russian theater was going through a crisis; it was he who made an invaluable contribution to its development, breathing new life into it. The playwright snatched small sketches from Everyday life their heroes, bringing dramaturgy closer to reality. His plays made the viewer think, although they did not contain intrigues or open conflicts, but they reflected the internal anxiety of a turning point in history, when society froze in anticipation of imminent changes, and all social strata became heroes. The apparent simplicity of the plot introduced the stories of the characters before the events described, making it possible to speculate what would happen to them after. In this way, the past, present, and future were mixed in an amazing way in the play “The Cherry Orchard,” by connecting people not so much from different generations, but different eras. And one of the “undercurrents” characteristic of Chekhov’s plays was the author’s reflection on the fate of Russia, and the theme of the future took center stage in “The Cherry Orchard.”
Past, present and future on the pages of the play “The Cherry Orchard”
So how did the past, present and future meet on the pages of the play “The Cherry Orchard”? Chekhov seemed to divide all the heroes into these three categories, depicting them very vividly.
The past in the play “The Cherry Orchard” is represented by Ranevskaya, Gaev and Firs - the oldest character in the entire performance. They are the ones who talk most about what happened; for them, the past is a time in which everything was easy and wonderful. There were masters and servants, each had their own place and purpose. For Firs, the abolition of serfdom became greatest sorrow, he did not want freedom, remaining on the estate. He sincerely loved the family of Ranevskaya and Gaev, remaining devoted to them until the very end. For aristocrats Lyubov Andreevna and her brother, the past is a time when they did not need to think about such base things as money. They enjoyed life, doing what brings pleasure, knowing how to appreciate the beauty of intangible things - it is difficult for them to adapt to the new order, in which highly moral values are replaced by material values. For them, it is humiliating to talk about money, about ways to earn it, and Lopakhin’s real proposal to rent out land occupied by an essentially worthless garden is perceived as vulgarity. Unable to make decisions about the future of the cherry orchard, they succumb to the flow of life and simply float along it. Ranevskaya, with her aunt’s money sent for Anya, leaves for Paris, and Gaev goes to work in a bank. The death of Firs at the end of the play is very symbolic, as if to say that the aristocracy as a social class has outlived its usefulness, and there is no place for it, in the form in which it was before the abolition of serfdom.
Lopakhin became a representative of the present in the play “The Cherry Orchard”. “A man is a man,” as he says about himself, a thinking in a new way who knows how to make money using his mind and instincts. Petya Trofimov even compares him to a predator, but a predator with a subtle artistic nature. And this brings Lopakhin a lot of emotional distress. He is perfectly aware of the beauty of the old cherry orchard, which will be cut down according to his will, but he cannot do otherwise. His ancestors were serfs, his father owned a shop, and he became a “white farmer”, amassing a considerable fortune. Chekhov placed special emphasis on the character of Lopakhin, because he was not a typical merchant, whom many treated with disdain. He made himself, paving the way with his work and desire to be better than his ancestors, not only in terms of financial independence, but also in education. In many ways, Chekhov identified himself with Lopakhin, because their pedigrees are similar.
Anya and Petya Trofimov personify the future. They are young, full of strength and energy. And most importantly, they have a desire to change their lives. But, it’s just that Petya is a master at talking and reasoning about a wonderful and fair future, but he doesn’t know how to turn his speeches into action. This is what prevents him from graduating from university or at least somehow organizing his life. Petya denies all attachments - be it to a place or to another person. He captivates the naive Anya with his ideas, but she already has a plan for how to arrange her life. She is inspired and ready to “plant 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 are also Yasha and Dunyasha, and they, too, are the future. Moreover, if Dunyasha is just a stupid peasant girl, then Yasha is a completely different type. The Gaevs and Ranevskys are being replaced by the Lopakhins, but someone will also have to replace the Lopakhins. If you remember history, then 13 years after this play was written, it was precisely these 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, but they were not united by an internal desire to be together and exchange their dreams, desires, and experiences. The old garden and house hold them together, and as soon as they disappear, the connection between the characters and the time they reflect is severed.
Connection of times today
Only the greatest creations are able to reflect reality even many years after their creation. This happened with the play “The Cherry Orchard”. History is cyclical, society develops and changes, moral and ethical standards are also subject to rethinking. Human life is not possible without memory of the past, inaction in the present, and without faith in the future. One generation is replaced by another, some build, others destroy. This is how it was in Chekhov’s time, and this is how it is now. The playwright was right when he said that “All of Russia is our garden,” and it depends only on us whether it will bloom and bear fruit, or whether it will be cut down at the very root.
The author's discussions about the past, present and future in comedy, about people and generations, about Russia make us think even today. These thoughts will be useful for 10th graders when writing an essay on the topic “Past, present, future in the play “The Cherry Orchard”.”
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