The Cherry Orchard is a characteristic of each hero. The meaning of play A
Lyubov Andreevna - main character Chekhov's plays The Cherry Orchard" This woman is the main representative female half nobility of that time with all their vices and positive features. It is in her house that the play takes place.
She skillfully combines both positive and negative traits of her character.
Ranevskaya is a naturally beautiful woman with good manners, a true noblewoman, kind, but very trusting in life. After the death of her husband and tragic death son, she goes abroad, where she lives for five years with her lover, who eventually robs her. There Lyubov Andreevna leads a lavish lifestyle: balls, receptions, all this costs a lot of money. Meanwhile, her daughters live in poverty, but she has a cool attitude towards them.
She is far from reality, lives in her own world. Her sentimentality is manifested in longing for her homeland, for her lost youth. Having arrived home after a long absence, where she returns in the spring, Ranevskaya finds peace. Nature itself, with its beauty, helps her in this.
At the same time, she does not think about the future, throws a ball, knowing that she has no money for later life. Lyubov Andreevna simply cannot give up a beautiful life.
She is kind, helps others, especially old man Firs. But on the other hand, leaving the estate, she forgets about him, leaving him in an abandoned house.
Leading an idle lifestyle cannot be happy. It is her fault for the death of the garden. She did nothing good in her life, so she remained in the past, very unhappy. Having lost the cherry orchard and estate, she also loses her homeland, returning to Paris.
Leonid Gaev
In the play “The Cherry Orchard,” landowner Leonid Gaev is endowed with a unique character. In some ways he is similar to his sister Ranevskaya. He is also characterized by romanticism and sentimentality. He loves the garden and is very worried about selling it, but does absolutely nothing to save the estate.
His idealism is manifested in the fact that he makes unrealistic plans, thinking that his aunt will give money, or Anya will marry successfully, or someone will leave them an inheritance and the garden will be saved.
Leonid Andreevich is very talkative, loves to make speeches, but at the same time he can say stupid things. His nieces often ask him to be quiet.
Completely impractical, lazy, not adapted to change. He lives on everything ready-made, leading a riotous lifestyle in his old world, not understanding new trends. The servant even helps him undress, although over time he will not even remember his devoted Firs.
He does not have a family, because he believes that he needs to live for himself. He lives for himself, visiting gambling establishments, playing billiards and having fun. At the same time, he throws money away, having a lot of debt.
You can't rely on him. He swears that the garden will not be sold, but he does not keep his promise. Gaev is having a hard time with the loss of his garden and estate, he even gets a job as a bank employee, but few people believe that he will stay there because of his laziness.
Ermolai Lopakhin
The merchant Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin is a representative of a new class - the bourgeoisie, which replaced the nobility.
Coming from the common people, he never forgets this and treats him well to the common people, because his grandfather and father were serfs on the Ranevsky estate. From childhood he knew what it was simple people and always considered myself a man.
Thanks to his intelligence, perseverance, and hard work, he rose out of poverty and became a very rich man, although he is always afraid of losing his acquired capital. Ermolai Alekseevich gets up early, works hard and achieves success.
Lopakhin is sometimes gentle, kind and affectionate, he notices beauty and, in his own way, he feels sorry for the cherry orchard. He offers Ranevskaya a plan to save the garden, not forgetting that at one time she did a lot for him. And when Ranevskaya refuses to rent out the garden for dachas, the vein of a predator, a conqueror, appears in his features. He buys the estate and garden where his ancestors were slaves, and is triumphant because his old dream has come true. Here his merchant acumen is clearly visible. “I can pay for everything,” he says. Destroying the garden, he does not worry, but rejoices at his gain.
Anya
Anya is one of the heroes who strive for the future.
From the age of twelve she was raised on her uncle's estate, abandoned by her mother, who went abroad. Of course, she could not receive a proper education, because the governess in the past was just a circus performer. But Anya persistently, using books, filled in the gaps in knowledge.
The beauty of the cherry orchard, which she loved very much, and the abundance of time on the estate gave impetus to the formation of her subtle nature.
Anya is sincere, spontaneous and childishly naive. She believes in people, and that is why Petya Trofimov, her younger brother’s former teacher, had such a strong influence on her.
After four years of the girl’s stay abroad, with her mother, seventeen-year-old Anya returns home and meets Petya there. Having fallen in love with him, she sincerely trusted the young high school student and his ideas. Trofimov changed her attitude to the cherry orchard and to the surrounding reality.
Anya wants to leave her parents' house and start new life, passing the exams for the gymnasium course and living by working alone. The girl is ready to follow Petya anywhere. She no longer feels sorry for either the cherry orchard or old life. She believes in a bright future and strives for it.
Believing in a happy future, she sincerely tells her mother goodbye: “We will plant new garden, more luxurious than this..."
Anya is a representative of the youth who can change the future of Russia.
Petya Trofimov
The image of Petya Trofimov in the work is inextricably linked with the theme of the future of Russia.
Petya is the former teacher of Ranevskaya’s son. He is called an eternal student, because he will never finish his studies at the gymnasium. Moving from place to place, he wanders around the country, dreaming of better life, in which beauty and justice will triumph.
Trofimov realistically perceives the events taking place, realizing that the garden is beautiful, but its destruction is inevitable. He hates the nobility, is convinced that their time is up, condemns people who use the work of others and preaches the ideas of a bright future where everyone will be happy. But the point is that he only preaches and does nothing for this future himself. For Trofimov, it does not matter whether he himself reaches this future or shows the way to others. And he knows how to speak and convince perfectly.
Petya convinced Anya that it was impossible to live the old life, that changes were needed, that we needed to get rid of poverty, vulgarity and dirt and become free.
He considers himself a free man and refuses Lopakhin’s money, just as he refuses love, denying it. He tells Anya that their relationship is higher than love and calls on her to believe him and his ideas.
At the same time, Petya is petty. When he lost his old galoshes, he was very upset, but was happy when the galoshes were found.
This is how he is, Petya Trofimov - an ordinary intellectual with progressive views, who has many shortcomings.
Varya
Varya, unlike other characters in the work, lives in the present, and not in the past and future.
At 24 years old, she is simple and rational. When my mother went abroad, all the housekeeping fell on her shoulders, and she coped with it for the time being. Varya works from morning to evening, saving every penny, but the extravagance of her relatives was able to protect the estate from ruin.
She is very religious and dreams of joining a monastery, but she couldn’t raise the money to go to holy places. People around her don’t believe in her religiosity, but in reality she is.
Varya is direct and strict, she is not afraid to make comments, but she makes them correctly. At the same time, she has a feeling of love and tenderness. She loves her sister Anya very much, calls her darling, beauty, and is very worried that she is in love with Petya Trofimov, because he is not a match for her.
Varya likes Lopakhin, whom her mother hopes to marry her to, but she understands that he will not propose to her, because he is busy accumulating his own wealth.
But for some reason Trofimov considers Varya limited, not understanding what is happening. But this is not so, the girl understands that the estate has fallen into disrepair and is ruined, that it will be sold and the cherry orchard will not be saved. This is reality as she understands it, and we must continue to live in this reality.
In her new life, Varya will survive even without money, because she has a practical character and is adapted to life’s difficulties.
Charlotte Ivanovna
Charlotte Ivanovna is a minor character in the play. She is the governess of the Ranevsky family. She herself comes from a family of circus performers who made their living by performing.
WITH early childhood and Charlotte helped her parents perform circus acts, and when her parents died, she was raised by a German lady, who gave her an education. Growing up, Charlotte began working as a governess, earning her living.
Charlotte knows how to perform tricks and tricks, she says in different voices. All this was left to her from her parents, although she knows nothing more about them, not even her age. Some heroes consider her attractive woman, but nothing is said about the heroine’s personal life.
Charlotte is very lonely, as she says: “...I have no one.” But she is a free person and does not depend on circumstances, she only observes what is happening from the outside and evaluates what is happening in her own way. So, she speaks with slight reproach about the wastefulness of her owners, but says it with such ease that it is noticeable that she doesn’t care.
The image of Charlotte is in the background, but some of her remarks are connected with the actions of the main characters of the play. And at the end of the work, Charlotte worries that she has nowhere to live and needs to leave the city. This highlights the fact that she is just as homeless as her owners.
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How do the heroes of A.P. Chekhov’s play “The Cherry Orchard” characterize their perception of the cherry orchard and their attitude towards it?
Chekhov's last play became the most famous work Russian drama of the 20th century. Each critic interprets the play in his own way: some from a psychological, and some from a social point of view, but, probably, there is not a person who would not admit that the cherry orchard is one of the main images of the play.
If there is a noticeable disunity between the characters in “The Cherry Orchard”, often they simply do not see or hear each other (this is felt in some dialogues, when everyone throws lines into the void and does not wait for an answer), then the Cherry Orchard is the character to whom they turn all without exception. They love him, worship him, admire him or are indifferent to him, but no one ignores him.
Many characters are revealed through their relationship to the cherry orchard. So, we simply could not imagine Ranevskaya with her sensitive soul without heartfelt appeals to the cherry orchard. For her, he is almost synonymous with heaven. She animates him with the power of her imagination, turning to him, as the guardian of her youth, with enthusiastic appeals: “Oh my dear, my gentle, beautiful garden!.. My life, my youth, my happiness...” Saying goodbye to the garden, she says goodbye to youth, although at heart she is still a young girl, but rather a child in her touching helplessness. Ranevskaya, of course, is a very sensitive, gentle nature, but all the pathos of her speeches addressed to the garden is ordinary idle talk, behind which there is not even a thought about keeping the garden in reality. In this, Ranevskaya is very reminiscent of her brother, who can address any object with a pompous speech, even a closet. And the garden for him is nothing more than some kind of romantic symbol. As soon as the conversation comes about bidding, that is, about something mundane, Gaev waves it off - “what nonsense.” Both Ranevskaya and Gaev live according to the laws of their imagination, not realizing that they have no power in real world. People for whom the garden has become part of their destiny do not even really try to save it. They hope for an inheritance, for Varya’s marriage, for some other miracle. It doesn’t occur to them that salvation is very close. It is offered to them by Lopakhin with great persistence.
Lopakhin, who at the end of the play began cutting down the garden, ironically is the only person who is able to truly appreciate it. For Gaev and Ranevskaya, the garden is just a beautiful decoration, another attribute of their worthless life. Lopakhin is a businessman (that’s what everyone on the estate calls him, with a tinge of contempt), and it is his commercial instinct that suggests the only way out, not just for correction financial situation family, but also to save the garden - dividing it into summer cottages. This proposal causes frightened exclamations from the brother and sister, and yet they cannot help but understand that otherwise the garden will be sold and even more certain destruction awaits it.
Lopakhin, who plays the unattractive role of a successful, nosy native of the lower class, is the owner of a much more sensitive soul than the same Gaev, even if this soul is hidden behind rude manners and stumbling speech. Lopakhin's initial intentions could not be more noble. He wants to save the cherry orchard for the sake of Lyubov Andreevna, for whom he has unexpressed and not fully realized feelings. Alas, social activities Lopakhina is completely at odds with the good intentions that live in his soul. Nobility turned into mockery. Chekhov, in his laconic manner, through the perception of the cherry orchard showed and best qualities the soul of man, and his love, and unhappy fate.
In the end, buying out the cherry orchard does not bring happiness either. former owners who are forced to hear the sound of an ax leaving stumps in place of beautiful trees, nor to the new owner, who, rejoicing at the “accidental” acquisition, cannot help but feel the pain it causes.
If for the older generation the cherry orchard is practically Living being, to which enthusiastic speeches are addressed, the attitude towards which reveals purity, cordiality, youth of soul, then the younger generation does not suffer from sentimentality in relation to the garden. That is why Varya, Anya and Petya seem much older than people of the previous generation.
In the souls of Petya and Anya there is no place for the past, their thoughts are directed to the future, although most often Trofimov’s speeches, which Anya admires so much, are nothing more than eloquence. Petya is shown as a man who is sensitive to the dictates of time, but somewhat dull in his perception of beauty, the embodiment of which is the cherry orchard. Petya is absolutely unresponsive to the beauty of nature, but, unable to escape the silent presence of the cherry orchard, he is forced, at least, to pay attention to its existence and reckon with it. He cannot ignore the cherry orchard, but he can talk about abstract concepts even when it comes to a specific garden: “All of Russia is our garden,” “We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this one...” Anya is exclusively passionate about Petya, so she listens attentively in the sound of his speeches, strives somewhere, and the cherry orchard simply remains outside her field of vision, especially since she, unlike her mother and uncle, has no connection with this place pleasant memories. Her stepsister Varya is a pragmatic and rather down-to-earth person, which is why she is just as indifferent to the garden.
Social statuses of the characters in the play - as one of the characteristics
In the final play by A.P. Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" there is no division into main and secondary characters. They are all important, even the apparent ones episodic roles are of great importance for revealing the main idea of the entire work. The characterization of the heroes of “The Cherry Orchard” begins with their social representation. After all, in people's heads social status is already leaving its mark, and not only on stage. Thus, Lopakhin, a merchant, is already associated in advance with a loud and tactless merchant, incapable of any subtle feelings and experiences, but Chekhov warned that his merchant is different from typical representative this class. Ranevskaya and Simeonov-Pishchik, designated as landowners, look very strange. After all, after the abolition of serfdom social statuses landowners are a thing of the past, since they no longer correspond to the new social order. Gaev is also a landowner, but in the minds of the characters he is “Ranevskaya’s brother,” which suggests some kind of lack of independence of this character. With Ranevskaya’s daughters, everything is more or less clear. Anya and Varya have their ages indicated, showing that they are the youngest characters in The Cherry Orchard. The age of the oldest character, Firs, is also indicated. Trofimov Petr Sergeevich - student, and this is some kind of contradiction, because if you are a student, then you are young and it seems too early to assign a middle name, but meanwhile it is indicated.
Throughout the entire action of the play “The Cherry Orchard,” the characters are fully revealed, and their characters are outlined in a form typical for this type of literature - in speech characteristics given by themselves or other participants.
Brief characteristics of the main characters
Although the main characters of the play are not highlighted by Chekhov as a separate line, they are easy to identify. These are Ranevskaya, Lopakhin and Trofimov. It is their vision of their time that becomes the fundamental motive of the entire work. And this time is shown through the relationship to the old cherry orchard.
Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna– the main character of “The Cherry Orchard” is a former rich aristocrat, accustomed to living according to the dictates of her heart. Her husband died quite early, leaving a lot of debts. While she was indulging in new feelings, she died tragically little son. Considering herself guilty of this tragedy, she runs away from home, from her lover abroad, who also followed her and literally robbed her there. But her hopes of finding peace were not realized. She loves her garden and her estate, but cannot save it. It is unthinkable for her to accept Lopakhin’s proposal, because then the centuries-old order in which the title of “landowner” is passed down from generation to generation will be violated, carrying with it the cultural and historical heritage, inviolability and confidence in the worldview.
Lyubov Andreevna and her brother Gaev are characterized by all the best traits of the nobility: responsiveness, generosity, education, a sense of beauty, the ability to sympathize. However, in modern times all of them positive traits are not needed and turn over in the opposite direction. Generosity becomes irrepressible spending, responsiveness and the ability to sympathize turn into slobbering, education turns into idle talk.
According to Chekhov, these two heroes do not deserve sympathy and their experiences are not as deep as they might seem.
In the play “The Cherry Orchard” the main characters talk more than they do, and the only person is the action. Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich, central character, according to the author. Chekhov was sure that if his image failed, then the whole play would fail. Lopakhin is designated as a merchant, but it would be more suitable for him modern word"businessman". The son and grandson of serfs became a millionaire thanks to his instincts, determination and intelligence, because if he were stupid and uneducated, how could he have achieved such success in his business? And it is no coincidence that Petya Trofimov talks about his subtle soul. After all, only Ermolai Alekseevich realizes the value of the old garden and its true beauty. But his commercial spirit goes too far, and he is forced to destroy the garden.
Trofimov Petya– an eternal student and “ shabby gentleman" Apparently, he also belongs to a noble family, but has essentially become a homeless vagabond, dreaming of the common good and happiness. He talks a lot, but does nothing for the speedy onset of a bright future. He also lacks deep feelings for the people around him and attachment to a place. He lives only in dreams. However, he managed to captivate Anya with his ideas.
Anya, daughter of Ranevskaya. Her mother left her in the care of her brother at age 12. That is, in adolescence, so important for the formation of personality, Anya was left to her own devices. She inherited the best qualities that are characteristic of the aristocracy. She is youthfully naive, which is perhaps why she was so easily carried away by Petya’s ideas.
Brief characteristics of minor characters
The characters in the play “The Cherry Orchard” are divided into main and secondary only according to the time of their participation in the actions. So Varya, Simeonov-Pishchik Dunyasha, Charlotte Ivanovna and the lackeys practically do not talk about the estate, and their worldview is not revealed through the garden; they seem to be cut off from it.
Varya- adopted daughter of Ranevskaya. But essentially she is the housekeeper of the estate, whose responsibilities include taking care of the owners and servants. She thinks on an everyday level, and her desire to devote herself to serving God is not taken seriously by anyone. Instead, they are trying to marry her off to Lopakhin, who is indifferent to her.
Simeonov-Pishchik- the same landowner as Ranevskaya. Constantly in debt. But his positive attitude helps overcome it difficult situation. So, he doesn’t hesitate a bit when he receives an offer to rent out his lands. Thus, solving your financial difficulties. He is able to adapt to a new life, unlike the owners of the cherry orchard.
Yasha- young footman. Having been abroad, he is no longer attracted by his homeland, and even his mother, who is trying to meet him, is no longer needed by him. His arrogance main feature. He does not respect his owners, he has no attachment to anyone.
Dunyasha– a young, flighty girl who lives one day at a time and dreams of love.
Epikhodov- a clerk, he is a chronic loser, which he knows very well. In essence, his life is empty and aimless.
Firs- most old character, for whom the abolition of serfdom became greatest tragedy. He is sincerely attached to his owners. And his death in an empty house to the sound of the garden being cut down is very symbolic.
Charlotte Ivanovna- governess and circus performer rolled into one. The main reflection of the declared genre of the play.
The images of the heroes of “The Cherry Orchard” are combined into a system. They complement each other, thereby helping to reveal main topic works.
Work test
Each character in Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard" there was an individual attitude towards the estate and the cherry orchard in particular. And if, sometimes, this feeling could hardly be called love, then it certainly was not indifference.
Each character in the play had his own story related to the garden. U Ranevskaya it was associated with childhood, serenity, purity, and an intoxicating aroma. For her, the garden is the meaning of life. The woman cannot imagine her life without him, and in the event of an auction, she says that the garden should be sold along with her.
But after the auction, the woman quickly comes to her senses and calmly accepts the loss. The author notes that in some way, she is even glad that everything is finally over. Perhaps this happens because she has money again, she has something to live on, and quite comfortably.
Gaev Just like his sister, he loves the garden very much. For a man, losing him means losing something dear and accepting complete defeat. He promises Lyubov that he will do everything to buy back the estate. The man is confident to the last that it is within his power. After the auction, Gaev is upset, does not comment on the “loss” and almost does not talk to anyone. The inspired Ermolai tells everything for him.
Lopakhin buys the garden at auction. He literally “steals it from under the nose” of another merchant, throwing in ten thousand each time throughout the auction. As a result, the amount was very significant, which led to the unconditional victory of Ermolai. The man is rejoicing. His interest in the garden is significant. The business plan he drew up will bring him a lot of profit and the garden will more than pay for itself. However, the cherries will no longer please the eye; they are all immediately sent under the ax. This shows that Ermolai did not perceive the garden as something beautiful and unearthly. This place interests him only from the point of view of profit. The man believes that admiring the garden is a relic of the past. Moreover, it does not bring money, which means it is a waste of time for a pragmatic person.
At the old footman's Firsa the garden evokes memories of the former wealth of the masters. When the harvested cherries were dried according to a special recipe, they were exported for sale. It was not for nothing that he remembered this, since he believes that cherry trees should not only please the eye, but also generate income.
U Ani, Ranevskaya’s daughter, at first, like her mother, the garden initially evokes a storm of emotions. The girl is happy to be at home again and admire the beautiful flowers. However, after communicating with Peter, she radically changes her attitude towards the estate. The girl thinks about the utopia of serf life, about the remnants of the past.
When the cherry orchard is finally sold, Anya reassures her mother, promising her to plant a new orchard that will be many times better. The girl leaves with undisguised happiness the places where she spent her childhood.
A similar situation occurs with Peter. He talks about the garden with undisguised contempt, boldly looks into the future and calmly leaves the estate, and this despite the fact that he remains practically homeless.
Each character in the story is shown through the image of a cherry orchard - their attitude to life itself. Some cling to the past, others worry about the future, and still others simply live in the present.
In the play we are interested in by A.P. Chekhov's system of images is represented by three main groups. Let us briefly consider each of them, after which we will dwell in detail on the image of Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin. This hero of "The Cherry Orchard" can be called the most striking character in the play.
Below is a photo of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, the great Russian playwright, creator of the work that interests us. The years of his life are 1860-1904. For more than a hundred years, various of his plays, especially The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters and The Seagull, have been staged in many theaters around the world.
People of the noble era
The first group of characters consists of people from the noble era, which is a thing of the past. This is Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya and Leonid Andreevich Gaev, her brother. These people own a cherry orchard. They are not old at all in age. Gaev is only 51 years old, and his sister is probably 10 years younger than him. It can also be assumed that the image of Varya also belongs to this group. This is Ranevskaya's adopted daughter. This also includes the image of Firs, the old footman, who is, as it were, part of the house and all the passing life. Such is the general outline first group of characters. Of course, this is just a brief description of heroes. "The Cherry Orchard" is a work in which each of these characters plays a role, and each of them is interesting in its own way.
The most important person
Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich is very different from these heroes, new owner cherry orchard and the entire estate. He can be called the most active person in the work: he is energetic, active, moving steadily towards his intended goal, which is to buy a garden.
Younger generation
The third group is represented by Anya, daughter of Lyubov Andreevna, and Petya Trofimov, who is former teacher Ranevskaya's son, who recently died. Without mentioning them, the characterization of the heroes would be incomplete. "The Cherry Orchard" is a play in which these characters are lovers. However, what unites them except love feeling and aspiration away from dilapidated values and all old life towards a wonderful future, which in Trofimov’s speeches is depicted as ethereal, although shining.
Relationships between the three groups of characters
In the play, these three groups are not opposed to each other, although they have different concepts, values. The main characters of the play “The Cherry Orchard,” despite all their differences in worldview, love each other, show sympathy, regret the failures of others, and are even ready to help. The main feature that separates them and defines them future life, - attitude towards the cherry orchard. IN in this case it is not just part of the estate. This is a certain value, almost an animated face. During the main part of the action, the question of his fate is decided. Therefore, we can say that there is another hero of “The Cherry Orchard”, the suffering one and the most positive one. This is the cherry orchard itself.
The role of minor characters in the play "The Cherry Orchard"
The main characters were introduced in general terms. Let's say a few words about the other participants in the action taking place in the play. They are not just minor characters needed by the plot. These are companion images of the main characters of the work. Each of them carries a certain trait of the main character, but only in an exaggerated form.
Elaboration of characters
The different degrees of character development in the work “The Cherry Orchard” are striking. The main characters: Leonid Gaev, and especially Lyubov Ranevskaya - are given to us in the complexity of their experiences, the combination of sins and spiritual virtues, frivolity and kindness. Petya Trofimov and Anya in to a greater extent intended than depicted.
Lopakhin - the brightest hero of "The Cherry Orchard"
Let us dwell in more detail on the most striking character in the play, who stands apart. This hero of The Cherry Orchard is Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin. According to Chekhov's description, he is a merchant. The author, in letters to Stanislavsky and Knipper, explains that Lopakhin is assigned a central role. He notes that this character is soft man, decent in every sense. He must behave intelligently, decently, not petty, without any tricks.
Why did the author believe that Lopakhin’s role in the work was central? Chekhov emphasized that he did not look like a typical merchant. Let's find out what are the motives for actions this character, who can be called the cherry orchard killer. After all, he was the one who knocked him out.
Peasant past
Ermolai Lopakhin does not forget that he is a man. One phrase was etched in his memory. It was uttered by Ranevskaya, consoling him, then still a boy, after Lopakhin was beaten by his father. Lyubov Andreevna said: “Don’t cry, little man, he’ll heal before the wedding.” Lopakhin cannot forget these words.
The hero we are interested in is tormented, on the one hand, by the awareness of his past, but on the other hand, he is proud that he managed to become one of the people. For his former owners, he is also a person who can become a benefactor and help them unravel a tangle of insoluble problems.
Lopakhin's attitude towards Ranevskaya and Gaev
Every now and then Lopakhin offers Gaev and Ranevskaya various rescue plans. He talks about the possibility of giving the land they own to plots for summer cottages, and cutting down the garden, since it is completely useless. Lopakhin is sincerely upset when he realizes that these heroes of the play “The Cherry Orchard” do not perceive his reasonable words. He cannot comprehend how one can be so careless on the verge of one’s own death. Lopakhin directly says that he has never met such frivolous, strange, unbusinesslike people as Gaev and Ranevskaya (the heroes of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard). There is not a shadow of deceit in his desire to help them. Lopakhin is extremely sincere. Why does he want to help his former masters?
Perhaps because he remembers what Ranevskaya did for him. He tells her that he loves her like his own. Unfortunately, the good deed of this heroine remains outside the play. However, one can guess that due to her nobility and gentle character, Ranevskaya respected Lopakhin and pitied him. In a word, she behaved like a real aristocrat - noble, cultured, kind, generous. Perhaps it is precisely the awareness of such an ideal of humanity, its inaccessibility, that forces this hero to commit such contradictory actions.
Ranevskaya and Lopakhin are the two centers in the work "The Cherry Orchard". The images of the heroes described by the author are very interesting. The plot develops in such a way that interpersonal relationships between them are still not the most important thing. What comes first is what Lopakhin does as if involuntarily, surprising himself.
How is Lopakhin's personality revealed at the end of the work?
IN nervous tension the third act takes place. Everyone expects that Gaev will soon arrive from the auction and bring news about future fate garden The owners of the estate cannot hope for the best; they can only hope for a miracle...
Finally, the fateful news was announced: the garden was sold! Ranevskaya is struck as if by thunder by the answer to a completely meaningless and helpless question: “Who bought it?” Lopakhin exhales: “I bought it!” This action of Ermolai Alekseevich decides the future of the heroes of The Cherry Orchard. It seems that Raevskaya did not expect this from him. But it turns out that the estate and garden are Ermolai Alekseevich’s lifelong dream. Lopakhin could not do otherwise. In it, the merchant avenged the peasant and defeated the intellectual. Lopakhin seems to be in hysterics. He doesn’t believe in his own happiness and doesn’t notice Ranevskaya, who is heartbroken.
Everything happens according to his passionate desire, but against his will, because a minute later, noticing the unfortunate Ranevskaya, the merchant unexpectedly utters words that contradict his delight a minute earlier: “My poor, good one, you won’t bring me back now...” But the very next moment ex-man and the merchant in Lopakhino raise their heads and shout: “Music, play clearly!”
Petya Trofimov’s attitude towards Lopakhin
Petya Trofimov says about Lopakhin that he is needed “in the sense of metabolism,” as beast of prey, eating whatever comes his way. But suddenly Trofimov, who dreams of a just structure of society and assigns the role of exploiter to Yermolay Alekseevich, says in the fourth act that he loves him for his “subtle, gentle soul". - this is a combination of predatory skills with a gentle soul.
The inconsistency of the character of Ermolai Alekseevich
He passionately craves purity, beauty, and is drawn to culture. In the work, Lopakhin is the only character appearing with a book in his hand. Although this hero falls asleep while reading it, other characters throughout the play do not hold books in their hands at all. However, the merchant’s calculation turns out to be stronger in him, common sense, earthly beginning. Realizing that he is proud of his possession, Lopakhin is in a hurry to knock him out and arrange everything according to his own understanding of happiness.
Ermolai Alekseevich argues that the summer resident will multiply to an extraordinary extent in 20 years. For now he is just drinking tea on the balcony. But one day it may happen that he will start farming on his tithe. Then the cherry orchard of Ranevskaya and Gaev will become luxurious, rich, and happy. But Lopakhin is wrong about this. A summer resident is not the person who will preserve and multiply the beauty that he has inherited. Its purely practical, predatory. It excludes all impractical things, including culture. Therefore, Lopakhin decides to cut down the garden. This merchant, who has a “subtle soul,” does not realize the main thing: you cannot cut the roots of culture, memory, and beauty.
The meaning of the play by A.P. Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard"
The intelligentsia from a serf, obedient, downtrodden slave created a talented, free, creative active person. However, she herself was dying, and her creation was dying along with her, since without roots a person cannot exist. "The Cherry Orchard" is a drama about the loss of spiritual roots. This ensures it is up to date at all times.
The play by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov shows the attitude of people to the events taking place at the junction of eras. This was the time when the capitalization of society and the death of Russian feudalism took place. Such transitions from one socio-economic formation to another are always accompanied by the death of the weak and intensified struggle various groups for survival. Lopakhin in the play is a representative of a new type of people. Gaev and Ranevskaya are characters of a dying era, who are no longer able to correspond to the changes taking place, to fit into them. Therefore they are doomed to failure.
