Accessories to your liking 

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

Past, present and future in A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard"

I. Introduction

The Cherry Orchard was written in 1903, in an era that was in many ways a turning point for Russia, when the crisis of the old order had already emerged, and the future had not yet been determined.

II. main part

1. The past is represented in the play by the characters of the older generation: Gaev, Ranevskaya, Firs, but other characters of the play also talk about the past. It is associated primarily with the nobility, which by the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century was experiencing a clear decline. The past is ambiguous. On the one hand, it was a time of serfdom, social injustice, etc., as, for example, Lopakhin and Petya Trofimov talk about. On the other hand, the past seems to be a happy time not only for Ranevskaya and Gaev, but also, in particular, for Firs, who perceives “freedom” as a misfortune. There were many good things in the past: goodness, order, and most importantly, beauty, personified in the image of a cherry orchard.

2. The present in Russia is vague, has a transitional, unstable character. It appears in the same way in Chekhov's play. The main spokesman of the present is Lopakhin, but one should not forget about other heroes (Epikhodov, footman Yasha, Varya). The image of Lopakhin is very controversial. On the one hand, he, a merchant who has broken out of the former serfs, is the master of the present; it is no coincidence that he gets the cherry orchard. This is his pride: “beaten, illiterate Yermolai /…/ bought an estate, more beautiful than which there is nothing in the world /…/ bought an estate where his father and grandfather were slaves.” But, on the other hand, Lopakhin is unhappy. He is a delicate person by nature, he understands that he is destroying beauty, but he does not know how to live otherwise. The feeling of his own inferiority is especially evident in his monologue at the end of the third act: "Oh, if only all this would pass, if only our awkward, unhappy life would somehow change."

3. The future in the play is completely vague and uncertain. It would seem that it belongs to the younger generation - Trofimov and Anya. It is they, especially Trofimov, who speak passionately about the future, which seems to them, of course, wonderful. But Anya is still just a girl, and how her life will turn out, what her future will be, is completely unclear. Serious doubts arise that Trofimov will be able to build the happy future he is talking about. First of all, because he does absolutely nothing, but only speaks. When it is necessary to show the ability to at least minimal practical action (to console Ranevskaya, take care of Firs), he turns out to be untenable. But the main thing is the attitude to the key image of the play, to the cherry orchard. Petya is indifferent to his beauty, he urges Anya not to spare the cherry orchard, to forget about the past altogether. “We will plant a new garden,” says Trofimov, and this one, then, let it die. Such an attitude to the past does not allow one to seriously hope for the future.

III. Conclusion

Chekhov himself believed that the future of his country would be better than its past and present. But in what ways this future will be achieved, who will build it and at what cost - the writer did not give specific answers to these questions.

Searched here:

  • past present and future in Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard
  • past present and future in the play The Cherry Orchard
  • past present and future in Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard composition

Past, present and future in A. Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard"

The play "The Cherry Orchard" was written by A.P. Chekhov in 1904. For Russia, this time is associated with emerging global changes. Therefore, the main themes of this work were the death of the noble nest, embodied in the victory of an enterprising merchant-manufacturer over the obsolete Ranev and Gaevs, and the theme of the future of Russia, associated with the images of Petya Trofimov and Anya. The whole content of the play lies in the young, new Russia's farewell to the past, to the obsolete way of life and in the country's striving for tomorrow, for unknown distances.

The Russia of the obsolete past is represented in the play by the images of Ranevskaya and Gaev. The cherry orchard is dear to these heroes as a memory, as memories of childhood, youth, well-being, of their easy and graceful life. For A.P. Chekhov, the noble nest is inextricably linked with the center of culture. And therefore, in the noble estate presented by the author, we first of all see a cultural nest. Ranevskaya is the soul of a beautiful house, its mistress. That is why people are constantly drawn to her despite all her vices and frivolity. The hostess returns, and the house immediately comes to life, even those who seem to have left its walls forever come to it. Ranevskaya and Gaev are very upset because of the loss of their beloved garden, but it was they who, with their misunderstanding of life, ruined it, gave it under the axe. By her inability to adapt to the present, her frivolity and lack of will, the hostess brought the estate to complete ruin, to the sale of the estate at auction. In order to somehow save the estate, Lopakhin, an enterprising merchant-manufacturer, offers a real way out of this situation - to set up a cherry orchard for summer cottages. And although the hostess sheds rivers of tears over her deplorable situation, exclaiming that she cannot live without him, she still refuses Lopakhin's offer to save the estate. She hopes for the unlikely help of a wealthy Yaroslavl aunt, thereby rejecting a real plan to save her position. Ranevskaya seems insulting and unacceptable options for the sale or lease of garden plots. For the owners of the house, such an exit means a betrayal of themselves, their habits, life values, and ideals. And so they silently reject Lopakhin's proposal and go towards their social and life collapse. The sufferings of Ranevskaya and Gaev are completely sincere, although they take on a certain farcical form. Ranevskaya's life is not without drama: her husband dies, her little son dies tragically, her lover leaves her. Lyubov Andreevna admits that she is unable to fight her feelings even when she realizes that she has been deceived by her beloved. She is completely concentrated on her own experiences, detached from other people's experiences and suffering. She talks about the death of her old nanny just over a cup of coffee. And her brother, Leonid Andreevich Gaev, is much smaller than his sister. He is a miserable aristocrat who blew his entire fortune.

The estate is put up for auction, and Lopakhin himself turns out to be the buyer. The estate was sold, the former owners of the house were overtaken by an irreparable loss. But, as it turned out, there is no trouble for the hostess of the cherry orchard. Ranevskaya is not experiencing any drama about this. She returns to Paris to her ridiculous love, to which, apparently, she would have returned without that, despite all her loud words about the impossibility of living far from her homeland. Ranevskaya does not experience any serious feelings, she can easily move from a state of anxiety, preoccupation to a cheerful and carefree revival. That is what happened this time as well. She quickly calmed down about the loss that had befallen her and even made a confession: "My nerves are better, it's true." For the former owners of the estate and their entourage - Ranevskaya, Vari, Gaev, Pishchik, Charlotte, Dunyasha, Firs - with the death of the cherry orchard, their usual life ends, and what will happen next is very uncertain. And although they continue to pretend that nothing has changed, such behavior seems ridiculous, and in the light of the current situation, even stupid and unreasonable. The tragedy of these people is not that they lost the cherry orchard, went bankrupt, but that their feelings became very crushed.

The present in the play is represented by the image of the successful merchant-manufacturer Lopakhin. Among the Russian merchants of the late nineteenth century, people appeared who clearly did not correspond to the traditional concept of merchants. The duality, inconsistency, internal instability of these people are vividly conveyed by A.P. Chekhov precisely in the image of Lopakhin. This man is quite strange and unusual. The inconsistency of this image is especially acute also because the position in his society is extremely ambiguous.

Yermolai Lopakhin is the son and grandson of a serf. The words of Ranevskaya, spoken to the boy beaten by his father, forever stuck in his memory: “Don’t cry, little man, he will heal before the wedding ...” He feels like an indelible brand from these words: “Man ... My father, however, was a man, and here I am in a white waistcoat, yellow shoes ... and if you think about it and figure it out, a peasant is a peasant ... " Lopakhin suffers deeply from this duality. He cuts down a cherry orchard, and it may seem that a rude, uneducated merchant destroys beauty, without thinking about what he does, only for his own profit. But in fact, he does this not only for profit and not for her sake. There is another reason, much more important than your own enrichment - this is revenge for the past. He cuts down the garden, knowing full well that this is "an estate better than which there is nothing in the world." But with such an act, he hopes to kill the memory, which, against his will, constantly reminds him that he is a “man”, and the ruined owners of the cherry orchard are “gentlemen”. By any means, by all his strength, he wants to erase this line that separates him from the “masters”. He is the only one of the characters who appears on stage with a book, although he admits that he still did not understand anything about it. In Lopakhin, the features of a predatory beast are visible. Money and the power acquired with it cripples his soul. “I can pay for everything!” , he says. At the auction, Lopakhin finds himself at the mercy of the merchant's excitement, and it is here that the predator wakes up in him. It is in the excitement that he becomes the owner of the cherry orchard. And, despite the requests of Anya and Ranevskaya herself, she cuts down the garden even before the departure of its former owners.

The tragedy of Lopakhin is that between his thoughts and actions lies an impassable abyss. Two people live and fight in it: one is “with a thin, tender soul”, the other is a “predatory beast”. The author's remarks help us take a closer look at the ambiguity of Lopakhin's character. At first he conducts a calm business conversation about the course of the auction, he rejoices at his purchase, he is even proud of it, and then he suddenly becomes embarrassed, treats himself with bitter irony. It has ups and downs, constant change. His speech can be emotional and amazing: “Lord, you gave us vast forests, vast fields, the deepest horizons, and living here, we ourselves must be truly giants ...” He has aspirations, he cannot live only in the world of profits and cleansing, but he does not know how to live otherwise. He exclaims: “Oh, if only all this would pass, if only our clumsy, unhappy life would somehow change…”. And then we hear, as it were, the words of a completely different person: “A new landowner is coming, the owner of a cherry orchard! I can pay for everything! In Lopakhin, completely contradictory qualities coexist at the same time, a strange combination of softness and rudeness, intelligence and bad manners, hence his deepest tragedy.

Young people are presented as deeply unhappy in the play. Twenty-seven-year-old Petya Trofimov considers himself "above love", although it is precisely this feeling that he lacks. He is an idealist and a dreamer, Ranevskaya accurately determines the reason for his disorder in life: “You are not above love, but simply, as our Firs says, you are a klutz.” Only Anya believes his beautiful appeals, but her youth excuses her. She, by virtue of the same infancy, has the most indefinite and rosy idea of ​​the future. She agrees to go with Petya to Moscow, to fully follow his advice. Other characters in the play simply chuckle and sneer at him. Trofimov and Anya are even somewhat happy about the sale of the garden, in their opinion, this gives them a chance to start a new life and grow their own garden. What future awaits this youth, we do not know from the play. A.P. Chekhov has always been far from politics. But for us, who are aware of the subsequent events in Russia, Petya's words, his dreams of a completely new life, and Anya's ardent desire to plant another garden, all this leads us to more serious conclusions about the essence of the image of Petya Trofimov. This passive dreamer and idealist may in the future turn out to be a man who made dreams of equality, brotherhood and justice come true. These young people are full of hope, experiencing an unprecedented surge of strength and full of an irresistible desire to work for the benefit of others.

The play "The Cherry Orchard" became the final work in the work of A.P. Chekhov. This is the past, present and future of Russia.

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" miraculously mixed up 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 rent out the land occupied, in fact, by 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 to say 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

(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 constantly wastes 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 offers to “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.