What is a cherry orchard symbolism and image. The symbol of the garden in the play “The Cherry Orchard. Why is the estate so dear to Gaev and Ranevskaya

The final chord of the outgoing era

The symbol of the garden in the play "The Cherry Orchard" occupies one of the central places. This work drew a line under all the work of A.P. Chekhov. It is with the garden that the author compares Russia, putting this comparison into the mouth of Petya Trofimov: “All of Russia is our garden.” But why is the orchard cherry, and not apple, for example? It is noteworthy that Chekhov placed special emphasis on the pronunciation of the name of the garden precisely through the letter “Ё”, and for Stanislavsky, with whom this play was discussed, the difference between the “cherry” and “cherry” garden did not immediately become clear. And the difference, according to him, was that cherry is a garden that can make a profit, and it is always needed, and cherry is the guardian of the outgoing aristocratic life, blooming and growing to delight the aesthetic tastes of its owners.

Chekhov's dramaturgy tends to involve not only the characters, but also the environment around them: he believed that only through the description of daily life and routine affairs it is possible to fully reveal the characters' characters. It was in Chekhov's plays that "undercurrents" appeared, giving movement to everything that happens. Another feature of Chekhov's plays was the use of symbols. Moreover, these symbols had two directions - one side was real, and had a very substantive outline, and the second side was elusive, it can only be felt at the subconscious level. This is what happened in The Cherry Orchard.

The symbolism of the play lies in the garden, and in the sounds heard behind the stage, and even in Epikhodov's broken billiard cue, and in the fall of Petya Trofimov from the stairs. But of particular importance in Chekhov's dramaturgy are the symbols of nature, which include manifestations of the surrounding world.

The semantics of the play and the attitude of the characters to the garden

The meaning of the cherry orchard symbol in the play is by no means accidental. In many nations, flowering cherry trees symbolize purity and youth. For example, in China, spring flowering, in addition to the above meanings, correlates with courage and female beauty, and the tree itself is a symbol of good luck and spring. In Japan, the cherry blossom is the emblem of the country and the samurai, and signifies prosperity and wealth. And for Ukraine, cherry is the second symbol after viburnum, denoting the feminine. Cherry is associated with a beautiful young girl, and the cherry garden in songwriting is a favorite place for walking. The symbolism of the cherry orchard near the house in Ukraine is huge, it is he who drives away the evil force from the house, playing the role of a talisman. There was even a belief: if there is no garden near the hut, then devils gather around it. When moving, the garden remained untouched, as a reminder of the origins of its kind. For Ukraine, cherry is a divine tree. But at the end of the play, a beautiful cherry orchard goes under the axe. Isn't this a warning that great trials lie ahead not only for the heroes, but for the entire Russian Empire?

Not without reason, after all, Russia is compared with this garden.

For each character, the symbol of the garden in the comedy The Cherry Orchard has its own meaning. The action of the play begins in May, when the cherry orchard, whose fate is to be decided by the owners, blooms, and ends in late autumn, when all nature freezes. Flowering reminds Ranevskaya and Gaev of their childhood and youth, this garden has been with them all their lives, and they simply cannot imagine how it can not be. They love it, they admire and are proud of it, saying that their garden is listed in the book of sights of the area. They understand that they are capable of losing their estates, but they cannot figure out in their heads how it is possible to cut down a beautiful garden and set up some summer cottages in its place. And Lopakhin sees the profit that he can bring, but this is only a superficial attitude towards the garden. After all, having bought it for a lot of money, without leaving competitors at the auction the slightest chance to take possession of it, it is recognized that this cherry orchard is the best that he has ever seen. The triumph of the purchase is connected, first of all, with his pride, because the illiterate man, as Lopakhin considered himself, became the master where his grandfather and father "were slaves."

Petya Trofimov is most indifferent to the garden. He admits that the garden is beautiful, it delights the eye, attaches some importance to the life of its owners, but every twig and leaf tells him about hundreds of serfs who worked to make the garden flourish and that this garden is a relic of serfdom that needs to be put an end to. . He is trying to convey the same to Anya, who loves the garden, but not as much as her parent, ready to hold on to him to the last. And Anya understands that it is impossible to start a new life by preserving this garden. It is she who calls on the mother to leave in order to lay a new garden, implying that it is necessary to start another life that will fit into the realities of the time.

Firs is also closely connected with the fate of the estate and the garden, having served in it all his life. He is too old to start something anew, and he had such an opportunity when serfdom was abolished and they wanted to marry him, but getting freedom for him would be a misfortune, and he speaks directly about it. He is deeply attached to the garden, to the house, to the owners. He is not even offended when he finds that he was forgotten in an empty house, either because he no longer has the strength and is indifferent to him, or because he understands that the old existence has ended, and in the future there is nothing for him. And how symbolic the death of Firs looks to the sounds of a garden being cut down, this is due to the fact that in the final scene the role of symbols is intertwined - the sound of a broken string drowns in the sounds of ax blows, showing that the past has irretrievably gone.

The future of Russia: a contemporary view

Throughout the play, it is clear that the characters are connected with the cherry orchard, some more, some less, but it is through their attitude to him that the author tried to reveal their meaning in the temporary space of the past, present and future. The symbol of the cherry orchard in Chekhov's play is a symbol of Russia, which is at the crossroads of its development, when ideologies and social strata are mixed up and many people simply have no idea what will happen next. But this is so unobtrusively shown in the play that even M. Gorky, in whom the production did not arouse high appreciation, admitted that it aroused in him a deep and inexplicable longing.

An analysis of the symbolism, a description of the role and meaning of the main symbol of the play, which were performed in this article, will help 10th grade students when writing an essay on the topic “The symbol of the garden in the comedy “The Cherry Orchard””.

Artwork test

Theme of the lesson: “Symbols in the play by A.P. Chekhov “The Cherry Orchard”

Lesson Objectives:

Educational: expanding the idea of ​​A.P. Chekhov's work through the analysis of A.P. Chekhov's play; identification of symbolism in the play by A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard", determining their role in the text, the reasons for their use; consolidation of theoretical knowledge - image, symbol

Developing: development of associative, figurative thinking, the ability to analyze, generalize, draw conclusions;development of skills in working with a literary text and interpreting a dramatic work

Educational: formation of national self-consciousness, moral values; spiritual and aesthetic development of students

Lesson objectives: to consolidate students' knowledge of the literary concept of "symbol", to determine the role of symbols and the reasons for their use in the play "The Cherry Orchard".

Lesson type: lesson-conversation, lesson-research

Study methods: heuristic, reproductive, exploratory

Methodical methods: statement of the problem, a joint dialogue between the teacher and students, discussion, selection of arguments to confirm their own position.

Types of learning activities : reading a literary text, drawing up a table, conversation

Equipment: text of the work, computer, sound reproducing equipment, projector, blackboard, chalk.

During the classes

Epigraph: "All Russia is our garden." (A.P. Chekhov)

Organizing time

Hello guys! Today we continue to work with A.P. Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard". You already know that The Cherry Orchard is the last work of the writer, so it contains his innermost thoughts. This is the anxiety of a dying writer about the future of Russia, about the spiritual connection of generations, about national culture, about the Russian people.

Main part

First, let's remember what a symbol is? What is his artistic role in the work?

Symbol - a multi-valued allegorical image based on the similarity, similarity or commonality of objects and phenomena of life. A symbol can express a system of correspondences between different aspects of reality (the natural world and human life, society and the individual, real and unreal, earthly and heavenly, external and internal). In a symbol, identity or similarity with another object or phenomenon is not obvious, not fixed verbally or syntactically.

The image-symbol is multi-valued. He admits that the reader may have a variety of associations. In addition, the meaning of the symbol most often does not coincide with the meaning of the word - metaphor. The understanding and interpretation of a symbol is always wider than the similitudes or metaphorical allegories from which it is composed.

The correct interpretation of symbols contributes to a deep and correct reading of literary texts. Symbols always expand the semantic perspective of the work, allow the reader, based on the author's hints, to build a chain of associations that connects various phenomena of life. Writers use symbolization in order to destroy the illusion of lifelikeness that often arises among readers, to emphasize the ambiguity, the great semantic depth of the images they create.

In addition, the symbols in the work create more accurate, capacious characteristics and descriptions; make the text deeper and more multifaceted; allow you to touch on important issues without advertising it; evoke individual associations in each reader.

Let's talk about the symbolism of the name.

What is the role of the cherry orchard in the composition of the play?

What do we learn about the estate and the cherry orchard in the first act? How do events around the cherry orchard develop in the future?

At home, you had to write out quotes about the cherry orchard. What do the characters in the play say about him?

For clarity, let's make a table in your notebooks, and, having analyzed and comprehended the statements of the main characters, we briefly outline the attitude of each character to the cherry orchard.

Attitude to the Garden of Comedy Heroes

Ranevskaya

Gaev

Anya

Lopakhin

“If there is anything interesting, even remarkable, in the whole province, it is only our cherry orchard.”

The garden is the past, childhood, but also a sign of well-being, pride, a memory of happiness.

"And the Encyclopedic Dictionary mentions this garden."

The garden is a symbol of childhood, the garden is a home, but childhood has to be parted.

"Why do I no longer like the cherry orchard as before."

Garden - hope for the future.

"We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this."

The garden is a memory of the past: grandfather and father were serfs; hopes for the future - cut down, break into plots, rent out. The garden is a source of wealth, a source of pride.

Lopakhin: "If the cherry orchard ... then rent out for summer cottages, then you will have at least twenty-five thousand a year income."

"Cherry is born every two years, and no one buys that one"

How do Firs and Petya Trofimov feel about the cherry orchard?

Try to summarize all of the above. How do you understand the image of the cherry orchard?

The image of cherry unites all the heroes of the play around itself. At first glance, it seems that these are only relatives and old acquaintances who, by chance, gathered at the estate to solve their everyday problems. But it's not. The writer connects characters of different ages and social groups, and they must somehow decide the fate of the garden, and hence their own fate.

And how does the author feel about the cherry orchard? What is the symbol of the cherry orchard for A.P. Chekhov?

The garden for the author embodies love for the native nature; bitterness because they cannot save her beauty and wealth; the author's thought about a person who can change life is important; the garden is a symbol of a lyrical, poetic attitude towards the Motherland.

plays sound recording: vocalization No. 5 Tenderness. Garden of Eden S.V. Rachmaninov

What emotions does this song evoke in you? Can she act as a symbol?

Let's remember what sounds are spelled out in remarks.

In the works of A.P. Chekhov, not only things, objects and phenomena of the surrounding world acquire symbolic overtones, but also audio and visual range. Due to sound and color symbols, the writer achieves the most complete understanding of his works by the reader.

Find in the second act the moment where the owl's cry sounds. What do you think it symbolizes?

And the sound of a broken string? The sound of an ax? Other sounds? Comment.

Let's look at the table again.

Sound symbols

Owl cry - poses a real threat.

"Firs. It was the same way before the disaster; and the owl screamed, and the samovar hummed endlessly” (act II).

The sound of the flute - background design of tender feelings experienced by the character.

“Far beyond the garden, a shepherd is playing his flute. ... Trofimov (in emotion) My sun! My spring! (action I).

The sound of a broken string - the embodiment of impending disaster and the inevitability of death.

“Suddenly ..., the sound of a broken string, fading,

sad" (act II).

Ax sound - symbolizes the death of noble estates, the death of old Russia.

“I can hear how they knock on wood with an ax in the distance” (act IV).

Have you noticed which color is most often repeated in the play?

Of all the variety of colors in the play The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov uses only one - white, applying it in different ways throughout the first act.

“Gaev (opens another window). The garden is all white.

At the same time, the garden in the play has only just been named, it is shown only outside the windows, as the potential possibility of its death is outlined, but not specified. White color is a premonition of a visual image. The heroes of the work repeatedly talk about him: “Lyubov Andreevna. All, all white! O my garden! To the right, at the turn to the gazebo, a white tree leaned over, like a woman... What an amazing garden! White masses of flowers.

Let's continue the table:

color symbols

White color - a symbol of purity, light, wisdom.

“Gaev (opens another window). The garden is all white" (act I),

Lyubov Andreevna. All, all white! O my garden! (action I),

color spots - Details of the costume of the characters.

"Lopakhin. True, my father was a peasant, but here I am in a white waistcoat ”(act I),

"Charlotte Ivanovna in a white dress ... passage through the stage" (act II),

Lyubov Andreevna. Look ... in a white dress! (action I),

"Firs. Puts on white gloves” (act I).

Conclusion

Chekhov in the play "The Cherry Orchard" used almost the entire range of symbolic means of expression: sound, real, verbal symbolism. This helps him create a voluminous artistic canvas, bright and scenic, with its own “undercurrent”, depicting the death of noble nests.

The art of the writer, democratic in the highest sense of the word, was oriented towards the common man. The author trusts the mind, the subtlety of the reader, the ability to respond to poetry, to become a co-creator of the artist. Everyone finds something of their own in Chekhov's works. Therefore, he is read and loved so far.

You did a good job today. The following students received marks. (voice marks)

Homework: in preparation for the final essay on the play by A.P. Chekhov, in 7-8 sentences, comment on the epigraph of today's lesson: "All Russia is our garden."

One of the secrets... of the Cherry Orchard
was that it was necessary to look at what was happening
eyes ... of the garden itself.
L. V. Karasev

In dramatic works written "before Chekhov", as a rule, there was a center - an event or a character around which the action developed. There is no such center in Chekhov's play. In its place is the central image-symbol - the cherry orchard. In this image, both the concrete and the eternal, the absolute are combined - this is a garden, “there is nothing more beautiful in the world”; this is beauty, past culture, all of Russia.

Three scenic hours in The Cherry Orchard absorb five months (May-October) of the life of the heroes and almost a whole century: from the pre-reform period to the end of the 19th century. The name "The Cherry Orchard" is associated with the fate of several generations of heroes - past, present and future. The fates of the characters are correlated with the fates of the country.

According to the memoirs of K. S. Stanislavsky, Chekhov once told him that he had found a wonderful name for the play - “The Cherry Orchard”: “From this I only understood that it was about something beautiful, dearly loved: the charm of the name was not conveyed in words , but in the very intonation of Anton Pavlovich's voice. A few days later, Chekhov announced to Stanislavsky: "Listen, not the Cherry, but the Cherry Orchard." “Anton Pavlovich continued to savor the title of the play, emphasizing the gentle sound “ё” in the word Cherry, as if trying with its help to caress the former beautiful, but now unnecessary life, which he destroyed with tears in his play. This time I understood the subtlety: The Cherry Orchard is a business, commercial, income-generating garden. Such a garden is needed now. But the "Cherry Orchard" does not bring income, it keeps in itself and in its blooming whiteness the poetry of the former aristocratic life. Such a garden grows and blooms for a whim, for the eyes of spoiled aesthetes. It is a pity to destroy it, but it is necessary, since the process of the country's economic development requires it.

At the same time, the garden in Chekhov's work is significant not only as a symbol, but also as an independent natural, extremely poetic image. I. Sukhikh rightly asserts that Chekhov’s nature is not only a “landscape”, or a psychological parallel to the experiences of the characters, but also the original harmony of the “unspoiled” person J. J. Rousseau (“back to nature”). “Nature for Chekhov is a kind of independent element that exists according to its own special laws of beauty, harmony, freedom ... It ... is ultimately fair, contains the stamp of regularity, supreme expediency, naturalness and simplicity, often absent in human relations. It is necessary not to “return” to it, but to rise, join, comprehending its laws. The words of the playwright himself from his letters are consistent with this statement: “Looking at the spring, I really want to see paradise in the next world.”

It is the garden that is the ontological basis of the plot of Chekhov's play: "the story of the garden as a living being is the first link ... in the chain of transformations" of the play. “This is a kind of subsoil of the text, the foundation from which the whole world of its ideology and style grows ... The garden is doomed not because its enemies are strong - merchants, industrialists, summer residents, but because it really is time to die ".

The play is dominated by the motives of "breaking", rupture, separation. So, the billiard cue broken by Epikhodov in the third act remains declared “unclaimed” at the plot level, as Yasha tells with a laugh.

This motif continues in the final remark of the play: “A distant sound is heard, as if from the sky, the sound of a broken string, fading, sad. There is silence, and only one can hear how far in the garden they knock on wood with an ax. The clarification “just from the sky” indicates that the main conflict of the play is found outside the stage framework, to some kind of force from the outside, in front of which the characters of the play are powerless and weak-willed. The sound of a broken string and an ax remains the sound impression that Chekhov spoke about the need for in any work (he, I recall, believed that a literary work “should give not only thought, but also sound, a certain sound impression”). “What does a broken string have in common with the death of a garden? The fact that both events coincide or in any case overlap in their “form”: a break is almost the same as a cut. It is no coincidence that in the finale of the play the sound of a broken string merges with the blows of an ax.

The finale of The Cherry Orchard leaves a really ambiguous, vague impression: sadness, but also some kind of bright, albeit vague, hope. “The resolution of the conflict is in accordance with all the specifics of its content. The finale is colored by a double sound: it is both sad and bright... The arrival of the best does not depend on the elimination of private interferences, but on the change of all forms of existence. And as long as there is no such change, each individual is powerless before the common fate. In Russia, according to Chekhov, a premonition of a revolution was ripening, but vague and vague. The writer recorded the state of Russian society, when there was only one step left from general disunity, listening only to oneself to general enmity.

In accordance with the literary tradition, Chekhov's work belongs to the literature of the 19th century, although the life and creative path of the writer ended in the 20th century. His literary heritage became, in the full sense of the word, a link between the literary classics of the 19th century and the literature of the 20th century. Chekhov was the last great writer of the outgoing century, he did what, for various reasons, was not done by his brilliant predecessors: he gave new life to the short story genre; he discovered a new hero - a salaried official, an engineer, a teacher, a doctor; created a new kind of drama - the Chekhov theater.

Essay plan
1. Introduction. Artistic originality of Chekhov's plays
2. The main part. Symbolic details, images, motives of A.P. Chekhov. Sound and color effects of the play
— The image of the cherry orchard and its meaning in comedy
— White color and its meaning in The Cherry Orchard
— The role and symbolism of artistic details. The image of the keys in the play
- Sound effects, musical sounds and their role in comedy
— The motive of deafness and its meaning in the play
— Symbolism of images
3. Conclusion. The meaning of symbolic details, motives, images in Chekhov

In the plays of A.P. Chekhov, it is not the external eventfulness that is important, but the author's subtext, the so-called "undercurrents". A major role for the playwright is given to various artistic details, symbolic images, themes and motifs, as well as sound and color effects.
In Chekhov, the very title of the play is symbolic. The image of the cherry orchard, which holds together the entire plot of the play, is filled with a special meaning for each of the main characters. So, for Ranevskaya and Gaev, this image is a symbol of home, youth, beauty, perhaps, all the best that was in life. For Lopakhin, this is a symbol of his success, triumph, a kind of revenge for the past: “The Cherry Orchard is mine now! My! (Laughs.) My God, Lord, my cherry orchard! Tell me that I'm drunk, out of my mind, that all this seems to me ... (Stomps his feet.) Don't laugh at me! If my father and grandfather had risen from their graves and looked at the whole incident, like their Yermolai, beaten, illiterate Yermolai, who ran barefoot in winter, how this same Yermolai bought an estate, more beautiful than which there is nothing in the world. I bought an estate where my grandfather and father were slaves, where they were not even allowed into the kitchen. I sleep, it only seems to me, it only seems to me ... ". Petya Trofimov compares the cherry orchard with the image of Russia: “All Russia is our garden. The earth is great and beautiful, there are many wonderful places on it. At the same time, this character introduces here the motive of misfortune, suffering, life at the expense of others: “Think, Anya: your grandfather, great-grandfather and all your ancestors were serfs who owned living souls, and is it really from every cherry in the garden, from every leaf, from human beings do not look at you from every trunk, do you really not hear voices ... To own living souls - after all, this has reborn all of you who lived before and now live, so that your mother, you, uncle no longer notice that you live in debt, on someone else's account, at the expense of those people whom you do not let further than the front ... ". For the author, it seems, a blooming cherry orchard is a symbol of beauty and purity, and cutting it down is a violation of the former harmony, an attempt on the eternal, unshakable foundations of life. The symbol of the cherry orchard itself in the comedy is the bouquet sent by the gardener (the first act). With the death of the garden, the heroes are deprived of their past, in fact, they are deprived of their homes and family ties.
The image of the cherry orchard introduces white color into the play as a symbol of purity, youth, past, memory, but at the same time as a symbol of impending doom. This motif sounds both in the replicas of the characters, and in the color definitions of objects, details of clothing, interior. So, in the first act, Gaev and Ranevskaya, admiring the flowering of trees, recall the past: “Gaev (opens another window). The garden is all white. Have you forgotten, Luba? This long avenue runs straight, straight, like a stretched out belt, it glitters on moonlit nights. Do you remember? Didn't forget? - “Lyubov Andreevna (looks out the window at the garden). Oh, my childhood, my purity! I slept in this nursery, looked from here at the garden, happiness woke up with me every morning, and then it was exactly like that, nothing has changed. (Laughs with joy.) All, all white! O my garden! After a dark, rainy autumn and a cold winter, you are young again, full of happiness, the angels of heaven have not left you ... ". Lyubov Andreevna sees "the late mother in a white dress" in the garden. This image also anticipates the coming death of the garden. The white color also appears in the play in the form of details of the characters' costumes: Lopakhin "in a white waistcoat", Firs puts on "white gloves", Charlotte Ivanovna in a "white dress". In addition, one of Ranevskaya's rooms is "white". As the researchers note, this color roll-call unites the characters with the image of the garden.
Symbolic in the play and some artistic details. So, first of all, these are the keys that Varya carries with him. At the very beginning of the play, he draws attention to this detail: "Varya enters, she has a bunch of keys on her belt." This is where the motif of the hostess, the housekeeper, arises. Indeed, the author endows this heroine with some of these features. Varya is responsible, strict, independent, she is able to manage the house. The same motif of keys is developed by Petya Trofimov in a conversation with Anya. However, here this motive, given in the perception of the hero, acquires a negative connotation. For Trofimov, the keys are captivity for the human soul, mind, for life itself. So, he urges Anya to get rid of unnecessary, in his opinion, connections, duties: “If you have the keys to the household, then throw them into the well and leave. Be free as the wind." The same motive sounds in the third act, when Varya, having learned about the sale of the estate, throws the keys on the floor in despair. Lopakhin, on the other hand, picks up these keys, remarking: “She threw the keys away, she wants to show that she is no longer the mistress here ...”. At the end of the play, all doors are locked. Thus, the rejection of the keys here symbolizes the loss of a home, the breaking of family ties.
Both sound effects and musical sounds acquire their special significance in the play. So, at the beginning of the first act, birds sing in the garden. This song of birds correlates in Chekhov with the image of Anya, with the major scale of the beginning of the play. At the end of the first act, a flute is played by a shepherd. These pure and gentle sounds are also associated in the viewer with the image of Anya, the heroine whom the author sympathizes with. In addition, they emphasize Petya Trofimov's tender and sincere feelings for her: “Trofimov (in tenderness): My sun! Spring is mine! Further, in the second act, Epikhodov's song sounds: "What do I care about the noisy light, what are my friends and enemies ...". This song emphasizes the disunity of the characters, the lack of real understanding between them. The climax (the announcement of the sale of the estate) is accompanied in The Cherry Orchard by the sounds of a Jewish orchestra, creating the effect of a "feast during the plague." Indeed, Jewish orchestras at that time were invited to play at funerals. Ermolai Lopakhin triumphs to this music, but Ranevskaya weeps bitterly to it. The leitmotif in the play is the sound of a broken string. Researchers (Z.S. Paperny) noted that it is this sound in Chekhov that unites the characters. Immediately after it, everyone starts thinking in the same direction. But each of the characters in their own way explains this sound. So, Lopakhin believes that “somewhere far away in the mines a bucket broke”, Gaev says that it is screaming “some kind of bird ... like a heron”, Trofimov believes that this is an “eagle owl”. For Ranevskaya, this mysterious sound gives rise to an indistinct alarm: "It's unpleasant for some reason." And finally, Firs seems to sum up everything said by the heroes: “Before the misfortune, it was the same: the owl screamed, and the samovar hummed endlessly.” Thus, this sound symbolizes the coming death of the cherry orchard, the heroes' farewell to the past, which is gone forever. The same sound of a broken string in Chekhov is repeated at the end of the play. Its meaning is repeated here, it clearly defines the border of time, the border of the past and the future. The sounds of the ax in the final take on the same meaning in The Cherry Orchard. At the same time, the sound of the ax is accompanied by music ordered by Lopakhin. Music here symbolizes the "new" life that his descendants should see.
The motif of deafness acquires symbolic meaning in the play. And it sounds not only in the image of the old servant Firs, who "does not hear well." Chekhov's heroes do not hear and do not understand each other. Thus, researchers have repeatedly noted that the characters in The Cherry Orchard each talk about their own, as if not wanting to delve into the problems of others. Chekhov often uses the so-called "passive" monologues: Gaev turns to the closet, Ranevskaya - to her room - "nursery", to the garden. But, even when addressing others, the characters actually only indicate their inner state, experiences, without expecting any response. So, it is in this perspective that in the second act Ranevskaya addresses her interlocutors (“Oh, my friends”), in the third act Pishchik addresses Trofimov in the same way (“I am full-blooded ...”). Thus, the playwright emphasizes the disunity of people in the play, their alienation, the violation of family and friendly ties, the violation of the continuity of generations and the necessary connection of times. The general atmosphere of misunderstanding is indicated by Ranevskaya, referring to Petya: "it must be said differently." Chekhov's characters live as if in different dimensions. Lack of understanding gives rise to many internal conflicts. As many researchers note, each of the characters has its own conflict. So, Ranevskaya is a loving mother, an easy, kind and delicate nature, subtly feeling beauty, in fact, she lets everyone around the world. Petya Trofimov keeps saying that “you need to work”, but he himself is an “eternal student”, who does not know real life and whose dreams are all utopian. Lopakhin sincerely loves the Ranevskaya family, but at the same time he triumphs at the wake of the cherry orchard. Chekhov's heroes seemed to be lost in time, each of them plays his own tragicomedy.
The characters themselves are symbolic in the play. So, Epikhodov symbolizes an absurd, funny person, a loser. That's what they called him - "twenty-two misfortunes." Ranevskaya and Gaev personify the past era, Petya Trofimov and Anya - a ghostly future. The old servant Firs, who is forgotten in the house, also becomes a symbol of the past in the play. This last scene is also symbolic in many respects. The connection of times is broken, the heroes lose their past.
Thus, the symbolism of artistic details, images, motifs, sound and color effects creates emotional and psychological tension in the play. The problems posed by the playwright acquire philosophical depth, are transferred from the temporal plane to the perspective of eternity. Chekhov's psychologism also acquires depth and complexity unprecedented in dramaturgy.

Methodical development of a lesson on the topic:

“Symbols in A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard"

(literature, grade 10)

Compiled by:

Kireeva Irina Andreevna,

teacher of Russian language and literature

Volgograd 2014

Planned results:

subject: identify symbols in A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard", to determine their role in the text, to identify the reasons for their use.

metasubject: structure the material, select arguments to confirm their own position, highlight cause-and-effect relationships in oral statements, formulate conclusions.

Before the lesson, the students were divided into creative groups, received advanced tasks:

1. Find symbols in the play:

Group 1 - real and real;

Group 2 - verbal and sound;

Group 3 - color and titles

classify and organize them.

1. Prepare messages on key issues:

• What is the role of characters in text?

• What are the reasons for using them?

In the course of work and discussions of the main issues, the table is filled.

Equipment: multimedia.

During the classes:

I. Opening speech of the teacher.

The works of A.P. Chekhov is an extremely complex and interesting object for analysis. Chekhov sees their common meaning behind the little things in life, and behind the symbolic detail in the writer's artistic world lies a complex psychological, social and philosophical content. In his works, everything is significant, saturated with thought and feeling: from the title to the finale, from the author's intonations to "default figures". The audacity of Chekhov's innovation, the scale of his discoveries is sometimes difficult to fully understand and appreciate because Chekhov's skill is devoid of catchy and spectacular signs, its external manifestations are rather modest. Meanwhile, almost every innovative method of Chekhov underlies many remarkable traditions that have been continuing and successfully developing for a whole century in Russian and world literature. One such technique is the extensive use of symbolism, especially noticeable in the play The Cherry Orchard.

What is a symbol? What is his role in the work of art?

II. Prepared student's message.

Symbol in a work of art.

A symbol is a multi-valued allegorical image based on the similarity, similarity or commonality of objects and phenomena of life. A symbol can express a system of correspondences between different aspects of reality (the natural world and human life, society and the individual, real and unreal, earthly and heavenly, external and internal). In a symbol, identity or similarity with another object or phenomenon is not obvious, not fixed verbally or syntactically.

The image-symbol is multi-valued. He admits that the reader may have a variety of associations. In addition, the meaning of the symbol most often does not coincide with the meaning of the word - metaphor. The understanding and interpretation of a symbol is always wider than the similitudes or metaphorical allegories from which it is composed.

A symbolic image can arise as a result of using a wide variety of figurative means.

There are two main types of characters. The former are supported by cultural tradition. They are part of the culture, for their construction writers use language that is understandable to a more or less knowledgeable reader. Of course, each such symbol acquires individual semantic shades that are close to the writer, important for him in a particular work: “sea”, “ship”, “sail”, “road”. The latter are created without relying on cultural tradition. Such symbols arose on the basis of semantic relationships within one literary work or a series of works (for example, the image of the Beautiful Lady in Blok's early poems).

The correct interpretation of symbols contributes to a deep and correct reading of literary texts. Symbols always expand the semantic perspective of the work, allow the reader, based on the author's hints, to build a chain of associations that connects various phenomena of life. Writers use symbolization in order to destroy the illusion of lifelikeness that often arises among readers, to emphasize the ambiguity, the great semantic depth of the images they create.

In addition, the symbols in the work create more accurate, capacious characteristics and descriptions; make the text deeper and more multifaceted; allow you to touch on important issues without advertising it; evoke individual associations in each reader.

The role of a symbol in a literary text cannot be overestimated.

III. Group performances.

1 group. Real symbols.

Real symbols include everyday details, which, repeated many times, acquire the character of symbols.

In the play "The Cherry Orchard" it is a symbol of the keys. So, in the first act, the author points to a seemingly insignificant detail in the image of Varya: “Varya enters, she has a bunch of keys on her belt.” In the above remark, Chekhov emphasizes the role of the housekeeper, housekeeper, mistress of the house, chosen by Varya. She feels accountable for everything that happens on the estate.

It is no coincidence that Petya Trofimov, calling Anya to action, tells her to throw away the keys: “If you have the keys to the household, then throw them into the well and leave. Be free as the wind” (second act).

Chekhov skillfully uses the symbolism of the keys in the third act, when Varya, having heard about the sale of the estate, throws the keys on the floor. This gesture of hers is explained by Lopakhin: “She threw away the keys, she wants to show that she is no longer the mistress here ...” According to T. G. Ivleva, Lopakhin, who bought the estate, took it from the housekeeper.

There is another real symbol of the owner in the Cherry Orchard. Throughout the play, the author mentions Ranevskaya's purse, for example, "Looks in the purse" (second act). Seeing that there is little money left, she accidentally drops it and scatters the gold. In the last act, Ranevskaya gives her wallet to the peasants: “Gaev. You gave them your wallet, Lyuba! You can not do it this way! Lyubov Andreevna. I could not! I could not!" In the same act, the wallet appears in Lopakhin's hands, although the reader knows from the very beginning of the play that he does not need money.

In the artistic world of Chekhov's dramaturgy, a number of images-symbols can be distinguished that are inextricably linked with the idea of ​​home, these symbols begin to perform not the function of unification, but separation, disintegration, break with the family, with the house.

Real symbols.

In the play "The Cherry Orchard" to increase the ideological and semantic significance, artistic persuasiveness and emotional and psychological tension, real symbolism is also widely used. It lurks both in the title and in the setting. The blooming garden of the first act is not only the poetry of noble nests, but also the beauty of all life. In the second act, a chapel surrounded by large stones, which were apparently once gravestones, and the distant outlines of a large city, which “visible only in very good, clear weather"symbolize the past and the future, respectively. The ball on the day of the auction (third act) indicates the frivolity and impracticality of the owners of the garden. The circumstances of the departure, the emptiness of the house, the remnants of the furniture, which “is stacked in one corner, as if for sale”, the suitcases and bundles of the former owners characterize the liquidation of the noble nest, the final death of the nobility-serf system that has become obsolete.

2 group. Word symbols.

Revealing the socio-psychological essence of the characters, showing their internal relations, Chekhov often turns to the means of the indirect meaning of the word, to its ambiguity, ambiguity. While honing his deeply realistic images into symbols, the writer often uses the methods of verbal symbolism.

For example, in the first act, Anya and Varya are talking about selling the estate, and at this time Lopakhin looks in the door, mumbles(“me-e-e”) and immediately leaves. This appearance of Lopakhin and his playful mockingly mocking lowing is clearly significant. It, in fact, anticipates all the future behavior of Lopakhin: after all, it was he who bought the cherry orchard, became its sovereign owner and rudely refused Varya, who was patiently waiting for his proposal. Somewhat later, Ranevskaya, having taken telegrams from Paris from Varya, tears them up without reading them, and says: “It’s over with Paris ...” With these words, Lyubov Andreevna says that she decided to end her nomadic life outside her native land, and that she irrevocably broke with his "keeper". These words are a kind of summary of Anya's story about the bohemian lifestyle of her mother in Paris. They demonstrate the joy with which Ranevskaya returns home. The same Lopakhin, after Gaev’s speech addressed to the closet, only says “Yes…” But this word contains both surprise at Gaev’s naive childishness and contemptuous condemnation of his frivolity and stupidity.

In the second act, Anya and her mother thoughtfully repeat one phrase: "Epikhodov is coming," but each puts into it a completely different, meaningful meaning associated with their understanding of life and thoughts about it. Trofimov's words are clearly significant, really symbolic: “Yes, the moon is rising.(Pause a.) Here it is, happiness, here it comes, coming closer and closer, I can already hear its steps. Trofimov does not mean here his personal happiness, but the approaching happiness of the whole people, he expresses faith in the imminent triumph of truth. But the appearance of the changeable moon, which has always been a symbol of deception, leads him to think about the well-being of the people. This shows the unfulfillment of the student's hopes. Such words as "bright star", "duty" also have a real-symbolic meaning in his mouth. Trofimov puts a particularly deep meaning into his statement: “All of Russia is our garden” (second act). These words revealed his fiery love for the Motherland, his admiration for everything that is great and beautiful in it, the desire to change it for the better and devotion to it.

Trofimov’s statement is clearly echoed by Anya’s words in the third act: “We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this.” With these words, the heroine speaks of creating life on completely new principles, where there will be no selfish struggle for one's personal, where all people will be equal and happy, enjoying a common garden that will bloom and bear fruit for the joy of every person.

Sound symbols.

In the works of A.P. Chekhov, not only things, objects and phenomena of the surrounding world acquire symbolic overtones, but also audio and visual range. Due to sound and color symbols, the writer achieves the most complete understanding of his works by the reader.

So, the cry of an owl in the second act carries a real threat. An illustration of this can be the words of the old footman Firs: “Before the misfortune, it was also: the owl screamed, and the samovar buzzed endlessly.”

A large place in Chekhov's dramaturgy is occupied by the sounds of music. Such, for example, is the sound that completes the first act: “Far beyond the garden, a shepherd is playing the flute. Trofimov walks across the stage and, seeing Varya and Anya, stops. Trofimov (in emotion). Sweetheart! Spring is mine! The high, clear and gentle sound of the flute is here, first of all, the background design of the tender feelings experienced by the character.

T. G. Ivleva notes that "the semantic significance of the sound remark in Chekhov's last comedy becomes, perhaps, the highest." The drama is filled with sounds. A flute, a guitar, a Jewish orchestra, the sound of an ax, the sound of a broken string accompany almost every significant event or image of a character.

In the second act, the heroes are alarmed by an unexpected sound - "as if from the sky, the sound of a broken string." Each of the characters in their own way tries to determine its source. Lopakhin believes that it was far away in the mines that the tub broke off. Gaev thinks it's

the cry of a heron, Trofimov - an owl. Ranevskaya felt uncomfortable, and this sound reminded Firs of the times “before misfortune”.

But the strange sound is mentioned a second time in the final note to the play. It obscures the sound of an ax, symbolizing the death of old Russia.

Thus, the sound of a broken string and the sound of an ax serve as the embodiment of impending disaster and the inevitability of death and play an important role in Chekhov's play. With the help of sounds, those facets of stage action that cannot be conveyed verbally are revealed.

3rd group. Color symbols.

Of all the variety of colors in the play The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov uses only one - white, applying it in different ways throughout the first act.

“Gaev (opens another window). The garden is all white.

At the same time, the garden in the play has only just been named, it is shown only outside the windows, as the potential possibility of its death is outlined, but not specified. White color is a premonition of a visual image. The heroes of the work repeatedly talk about him: “Lyubov Andreevna. All, all white! O my garden! To the right, at the turn to the gazebo, a white tree leaned over, like a woman... What an amazing garden! White masses of flowers.

Despite the fact that the garden itself is practically hidden from us, its white color appears throughout the first act in the form of color spots - details of the costumes of characters that are directly connected with it and whose fate completely depends on the fate of the garden: “Lopakhin. True, my father was a peasant, but here I am in a white vest”; Firs enters; he is in a jacket and a white waistcoat”; "Firs puts on white gloves"; “Charlotte Ivanovna, in a white dress, very thin, pulled together, with a lorgnette on her belt, passes through the stage.”

T.G. Ivlev, referring to the letters of the writer K.S. Stanislavsky, comes to the conclusion that "This feature of the stage realization of the image of the garden - the color game - was probably assumed by Chekhov himself." Through color spots, the unity of the characters with the garden and dependence on it is shown.

Title symbolism.

The very title of the work is symbolic. Initially, Chekhov wanted to name the play "In and shnevy garden", but then rearranged the accent. K. S. Stanislavsky, recalling this episode, told how Chekhov, having announced to him about the change of the title, savored it, “pressing on the gentle sound ё in the word“ cherry ”, as if trying with its help to caress the former beautiful, but now unnecessary life, which he tearfully destroyed in his play. This time I understood the subtlety: "In and shnevy garden" is a business, commercial garden that generates income. Such a garden is needed now. But the "Cherry Orchard" does not bring income, it keeps in itself and in its blooming whiteness the poetry of the former aristocratic life. Such a garden grows and blooms for a whim, for the eyes of spoiled aesthetes.

But why is the symbol of the outgoing, obsolete - the cherry orchard - the personification of poetry and beauty? Why is the new generation called upon to destroy rather than use the beauty of the past? Why is this beauty associated with "klutzes" - Ranevskaya, Gaev, Simeonov-Pishchik? The title "The Cherry Orchard" refers to the useless beauty of the obsolete, as well as the narrowly possessive, selfish aspirations of its owners. The garden, which previously brought a huge income, has degenerated. Anya overcomes this selfishness in herself: "I no longer love the cherry orchard, as before." But the future also takes on the image of a garden, only more luxurious, capable of bringing joy to all people, and not just the chosen ones. The title contains both concrete and generalized poetic content. The Cherry Orchard is not only a characteristic affiliation of a noble estate, but also the personification of the Motherland, Russia, its wealth, beauty, and poetry. The motive for the death of the garden is the leitmotif of the play: “Your cherry orchard is being sold for debts” (first act), “On August 22, the cherry orchard will be sold” (second act), “The cherry orchard is sold”, “Come, everyone, watch how Yermolai Lopakhin will grab an ax for cherry orchard" (third act). The garden is always in the center of attention, most of the images in the play are revealed through the attitude towards it. For the old Firs, he symbolizes the lordly expanse, wealth. In his fragmentary reminiscences of the time when the cherry orchard gave income (“There was money”) (the first act), when they knew how to pickle, dry, boil cherries, there is a slavish regret about the loss of the master's well-being. For Ranevskaya and Gaev, the garden is also the personification of the past, as well as the subject of noble pride (and this garden is mentioned in the “encyclopedic dictionary”) (first act), contemplative admiration, a reminder of bygone youth, lost carefree happiness. For Lopakhin, in the garden “it is wonderful ... only that it is very large”, “in capable hands” will be able to generate a huge income. The Cherry Orchard also evokes memories of the past in this hero: here his grandfather and father were slaves. But Lopakhin also has plans for the future connected with him: to break the garden into plots, to rent it out as summer cottages. The garden is now becoming for Lopakhin, as before for the nobles, a source of pride, the personification of his strength, his dominance. The nobility is being squeezed out by the bourgeoisie, it is being replaced by democrats (Anya and Trofimov), this is the movement of life. For a student, the cherry orchard is a symbol of the serf way of life. The hero does not allow himself to admire the beauty of the garden, parted with it without regret and inspires young Anya with the same feelings. His words “All Russia is our garden” (second act) speak of the hero’s concern about the fate of his country, Trofimov’s attitude to its history. The Cherry Orchard is to some extent symbolic for each of the characters, and this is an important characteristic point.

IV. Filling in the table by students.

V. Conclusions:

Chekhov in the play "The Cherry Orchard" used almost the entire range of symbolic means of expression: sound, real, verbal symbolism. This helps him create a voluminous artistic canvas, bright and scenic, with its own “undercurrent”, depicting the death of noble nests.

The art of the writer, democratic in the highest sense of the word, was oriented towards the common man. The author trusts the mind, the subtlety of the reader, the ability to respond to poetry, to become a co-creator of the artist. Everyone finds something of their own in Chekhov's works. Therefore, he is read and loved so far.

VI. Homework:

Write an essay on the topic "Events in the play through the eyes of the garden."

Literature:

1. Semanova M.L. . Chekhov is an artist. Moscow: Education, 1976.
2. Revyakin A.I. "The Cherry Orchard" A.P. Chekhov. Moscow: Uchpedgiz, 1960.
3. Geydeko. V.A. A. Chekhov and Iv. Bunin. Moscow: Soviet Writer, 1976.
4. Tyupa V.I. The art of Chekhov's story. Moscow: Higher School, 1989.
5. Polotskaya E.A. Ways of Chekhov's heroes. Moscow: Education, 1983.
6. Chekhov A.P. Selected works, in 2 volumes, Berdnikov G., Notes by Peresypkina V. Moscow: Fiction, 1979.
7. New illustrated encyclopedic dictionary. Moscow: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2000.
8. Averintsev S.S. Sofia Logos. Dictionary. Kyiv: Spirit i Litera, 2001.
9. Berdnikov G. Chekhov-playwright. Moscow: Art, 1957.
10. Ivleva T.G. Author in dramaturgy A.P. Chekhov. Tver: Tver State University, 2001

Preview:

Explanatory note.

This lesson is a study on the topic “Symbols in the play by A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard" is focused on work on the textbook "Literature. Grade 10 "authors: V.I. Korovin, N.L. Vershinina, L.A. Kapitonov, edited by V.I. Korovin.

The proposed lesson - research in the 10th grade, it is advisable to conduct at the final stage of studying the play by A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard". A month before the lesson, students receive advanced tasks:

1. Divide into creative groups, identify groups of characters based on the literary features of the play;
2. Prepare messages and presentations on the key points of the lesson: What is the role of symbols in the play? What are the reasons for using them?

In preparation for the lesson, students are encouraged to begin structuring the selected material in the form of a table. This work, designed to form a holistic perception of this topic, will be continued in the lesson.

Classical literature is, at first glance, the most studied branch of literary criticism. However, a number of works, including "The Cherry Orchard" by A.P. Chekhov, remain unsolved and relevant to this day. Despite the many literary works that reveal different points of view on this play, unresolved issues remain, in particular, there is no clear classification of the symbols of The Cherry Orchard. Therefore, the advantage of the presented lesson is the scrupulous selection by students of the dominant groups of symbols, their classification and the table compiled at the end of the lesson, which gives a clear interpretation of each symbol found in the work.

In this lesson, students are actively involved in research activities, which makes it possible to most effectively and consistently implement a turn from the traditional approach to teaching to a new one, aimed at developing such universal learning activities as

Ability for self-development;

Development of orientation skills in information flows;

Developing problem solving and problem solving skills.

This allows you to develop the intellectual potential of the individual: from the accumulation of knowledge and skills to self-expression in creativity and science.

Russian language and literature teacher I.A. Kireeva