Past, present and future in the play "The Cherry Orchard". The Cherry Orchard "- a play about the past, present and future How do the heroes of the play The Cherry Orchard understand the future

The play "The Cherry Orchard", the last dramatic work of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, can be considered a kind of testament of the writer, which reflects 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 the important stages of the socio-historical development of Russia. The fates 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 heroes reminisce about the past of the estate, about those times when the cherry orchard, cultivated by serfs, still brought income. This period coincided with the childhood and youth of Ranevskaya and Gaev, and they recall these happy, carefree years with involuntary nostalgia. But serfdom has long been abolished, the estate is gradually falling into decay, the cherry orchard is no longer profitable. The time of telegraphs and railways is coming, the era of business people and entrepreneurs.

The representative of this new formation is Lopakhin in Chekhov's play, who comes from a family of former serfs Ranevskaya. His memories of the past are of a completely different nature, his ancestors were slaves in the very estate, of which he is now becoming the owner.

Conversations, memories, disputes, conflicts - all the external action of the Chekhov play is centered around the fate of the estate and the cherry orchard. Immediately after the arrival of Ranevskaya, conversations begin about how to save the mortgaged and remortgaged estate from bidding. As the play progresses, this problem will become more and more acute.

But, as is most often the case with Chekhov, there is no real struggle, a real clash between the former and future owners of the cherry orchard in the play. Just the opposite. Lopakhin does everything possible to help Ranevskaya save the estate from sale, but the complete lack of business skills prevents the hapless owners of the estate from taking advantage of useful advice; they are only enough for lamentations and empty rantings. Chekhov is not at all interested in the struggle between the emerging bourgeoisie and the nobility giving up their place to it, the fate of specific people, the fate of all of Russia, is much more important for him.

Ranevskaya and Gaev are doomed to lose the estate, which is so dear to them and with which they are 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 the old bills, and the debt of their ancestors, the debt of their family, the historical guilt of their entire estate has not yet been redeemed. The present stems from the past, their connection is obvious, it is not for nothing that Lyubov Andreevna dreams of her late mother in a white dress in a blooming garden. It reminds of the past itself. It is very symbolic that Ranevskaya and Gaev, whose fathers and grandfathers did not let those at the expense of whom they fed and lived, even into the kitchen, are now completely dependent on Lopakhin, who has become rich. In this, Chekhov sees retribution and shows that the lordly way of life, although it is covered with a poetic haze of beauty, corrupts people, destroys the souls of those who are involved in it. Such, for example, is Firs. For him, the abolition of serfdom is a terrible misfortune, as a result of which he, needed by no one and forgotten by everyone, will be left alone in an empty house ... The lackey Yasha was born from the same aristocratic way of life. He no longer has the devotion to the masters that distinguishes old Firs, but he, without a twinge of conscience, uses 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 stock and a different formation. He is businesslike, has a strong grip and knows exactly 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 favorably differing in this from Ranevskaya and Gaev, Lopakhin is completely devoid of spirituality, 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 proceeding from purely practical considerations, Lopakhin proposes to cut it down in order to lease the land for summer cottages - this is more profitable. Ignoring the feelings of Ranevskaya and Gaev (not out of malice, no, but simply because of the lack of spiritual subtlety), he orders to start cutting down the garden, without waiting for the departure of the former owners.

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, as the estate is being sold under the hammer, and the garden is being cut down. 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 never come true. Varya, who did not wait for Lopakhin's offer, is hired by some Ragulins. Perhaps the fate of Gaev is a little better - he gets a place in the bank, but he is unlikely to make a successful financier.

With the cherry orchard, in which the past and the present intersect so intricately, reflections on the future are also connected.

Tomorrow, which, according to Chekhov, should be better than today, is personified in the play by Anya and Petya Trofimov. True, Petya, this thirty-year-old "eternal student", is hardly capable of real deeds and deeds; he just knows how to talk a lot and beautifully. Anya is another matter. Realizing the beauty of the cherry orchard, she at the same time understands that the garden is doomed, just as the past slave life is doomed, as the present, full of spiritual practicality, is also doomed. But in the future, Anya is sure, the triumph of justice and beauty should come. In her words: "We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this" is not only a desire to console the mother, but also an attempt to imagine a new, future life. Inheriting from Ranevskaya spiritual sensitivity and susceptibility to the beautiful, Anya at the same time is full of a sincere desire to change, to remake life. She is directed to the future, ready to work and even sacrifice in its name; she dreams of the time when the whole way of life will change, when she 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 be, because it is important that every person, having experienced dissatisfaction with what is, catches fire with a dream of beauty, so that he himself would look for a way to a new life.

“All of Russia is our garden” - these significant words are repeatedly heard 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.

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.

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Essay on literature.

Here it is - an open secret, the secret of poetry, life, love!
I. S. Turgenev.

The play "The Cherry Orchard", written in 1903, is the last work of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, completing his 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 is the central image that unites the characters in time and space. For the landowner Ranevskaya and her brother Gaev, the garden is a family nest, an integral part of their memories. They seem to have grown together with this garden, without it they "do not 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 any activity, impractical to the point of stupidity, unable to even seriously think about the impending threat. They betray the idea of ​​a cherry orchard. For landlords, he is a symbol of the past. Firs, an old servant of Ranevskaya, also remains in the past. He considers the abolition of serfdom a misfortune, and he is attached to his former masters as to his own children. But those to whom he devotedly served all his life leave him to the mercy of fate. Forgotten and abandoned, Firs remains a monument of the past in a boarded up house.

The present time is represented by Ermolai Lopakhin. His father and grandfather were serfs of Ranevskaya, he himself became a successful merchant. Lopakhin looks at the garden from the point of view of the "circulation of the case." He sympathizes with Ranevskaya, while 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 summer cottages, and "you can only hear how far in the garden they knock on wood with an ax."

The future is personified by the younger generation: Petya Trofimov and Anya, Ranevskaya's daughter. Trofimov is a student who makes his way through life with difficulty. His life is not easy. When winter comes, he is "hungry, sick, anxious, poor." Petya is smart and honest, understands the difficult situation people live in, believes in a brighter future. “All 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 stops all the time 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 said does not always coincide with the social significance of the "carrier".

Anna is seventeen years old. Youth for Chekhov is not only a sign of age. He wrote: "... that youth can be recognized as healthy, which does not put up with the old order and ... fights against them." Anya received the usual upbringing for nobles. Trofimov had a great influence on the formation of her views. In the character of the girl there is sincerity of feelings and mood, immediacy. Anya is ready to start a new life: to pass the exams for the gymnasium course and break ties with the past.

In the images of Anya Ranevskaya and Petya Trofimov, the author embodied all the 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. 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 sounding in the play, the motives of the future wonderful life. And it seems - not Trofimov, no, it was Chekhov who entered 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 trouble? Others will see it!"

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

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

"The Cherry Orchard" by A.P. Chekhov is a unique work where all three periods of life are connected: past, present and future.

The action takes place at a time when the obsolete nobility is being replaced by merchants and entrepreneurship. Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, Leonid Andreevich Gaev, the old lackey Firs are representatives of the past.

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They often reminisce about the old days when there was no need to worry about anything, especially money. These people value something higher than the material. The cherry orchard for Ranevskaya is memories and her whole life, she will not allow the thought of selling it, cutting it down, destroying it. For Gaev, even such things as a hundred-year-old cupboard matter, to which he addresses with tears in his eyes: “Dear, respected cupboard!”. And what about old footman Firs? He did not need the abolition of serfdom, because he devoted his whole life and himself to the family of Ranevskaya and Gaev, whom he sincerely loved. “The peasants are with the masters, the gentlemen are with the peasants, and now everything is scattered, you won’t understand anything,” Firs spoke of the state of affairs after the liquidation of serfdom in Russia. He, like all representatives of the old time, was satisfied with the pre-existing orders.

To replace the nobility and antiquity, something new comes - the merchant class, the personification of the present. The representative of this generation is Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin. He comes from a simple family, his father traded in the village in a shop, but thanks to his own efforts, Lopakhin was able to achieve a lot and make a fortune. Money mattered to him, in the cherry orchard he saw only a source of profit. Yermolai's mind was enough to develop a whole project and help Ranevskaya in her deplorable situation. It was the ingenuity and craving for material goods that were inherent in the generation of the present.

But after all, sooner or later, the present must also be replaced by something. Any future is changeable and vague, and this is exactly how A.P. Chekhov shows it. The future generation is rather motley, it includes Anya and Varya, student Petya Trofimov, maid Dunyasha and young footman Yasha. If the representatives of antiquity are similar in almost everything, then the young ones are completely different. They are full of new ideas, strength and energy. However, among them there are those who are only capable of beautiful speeches, but do not really change anything. This is Petya Trofimov. “We are at least two hundred years behind, we have absolutely nothing, we have no definite attitude to the past, we only philosophize, complain about longing and drink vodka,” he says to Anya, while doing nothing to make life become better, and remaining a “eternal student“. Anya, although fascinated by Petya's ideas, goes her own way, intending to settle down in life. “We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this,” she says, ready to change the future for the better. But there is another type of youth, to which the young footman Yasha belongs. A completely unprincipled, empty, capable of nothing but sneers and a person not attached to anything. What will happen if the future will be built by people like Yasha?

“The whole of Russia is our garden,” Trofimov notes. So it is, the cherry orchard personifies the whole of Russia, where there is a connection between times and generations. It was the garden that connected all the representatives of the past, present and future into one whole, just as Russia unites all generations.

Updated: 2018-06-15

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