Why does Lopakhin cut down the cherry orchard? A.P

Question

How is the image of Lopakhin interpreted? Why doesn't Gaev like him?

Answer

Lopakhin is a representative of the bourgeoisie, replacing the nobility. Chekhov wrote to Stanislavsky: “Lopakhin, it’s true, is a merchant, but a decent person in every sense, he should behave quite decently, intelligently, without tricks.”

The vulgarity of life comes at him from all sides, he acquires the features of a rogue merchant, and begins to flaunt his origin and lack of culture.

Answer

“Good God! My father was a serf to your grandfather and father..."

“...My dad was a man, an idiot, he didn’t understand anything, he didn’t teach me, he just beat me when he was drunk, and that was with a stick. In essence, I’m just as much of a blockhead and an idiot. I haven’t studied anything, my handwriting is bad, I write in such a way that people are ashamed of me, like a pig.”

Question

Why does Petya say about him “a beast of prey” and “a gentle soul”? How to understand this?

Answer

This character is no stranger to sentimentality. He is sensitive to poetry in the broad sense of the word, he has, as Petya Trofimov says, “thin, gentle fingers, like an artist... a subtle, gentle soul.”

Lopakhin is sincerely ready to help Ranevskaya, he is almost in love with her. In the end he buys a cherry orchard, i.e. acts contrary to his wishes.

Lopakhin is very dependent on time. He constantly looks at his watch, urging himself and others: “It’s time,” “Hurry up.” He is so dependent on time that he does not dare follow his feelings: he wants to see Ranevskaya, talk to her - and leaves, postponing the conversation. His life has its own “ghosts,” ambiguities, and uncertainties, for example, his relationship with Varya. Bitterly, Lopakhin admits to Petya: “And how many people, brother, are there in Russia who exist for no one knows why.” Lopakhin has taken possession of the cherry orchard, but feels the fragility of his position and anticipates a radical change in life. Thus, in Lopakhin a “beast of prey” and a “tender soul” coexist.

Question

What quality will win in Lopakhino?

Answer

Pragmatism

Question

What features of Lopakhin are attractive?

Question

Why do Gaev and Ranevskaya refuse Lopakhin’s offer?

Answer

Lopakhin is a pragmatist, a man of action. Already in the first act, he joyfully announces: “There is a way out... Here is my project. Please pay attention! Your estate is located only twenty miles from the city, near the railway, and if the cherry orchard and the land along the river are divided into dacha plots and then rented out as dachas, then you will have at least twenty-five thousand a year in income.”

True, this “exit” into a different, material plane - the plane of benefit and benefit, but not beauty, therefore it seems “vulgar” to the owners of the garden.

Conclusions

The meaning of Lopakhin’s complex and contradictory image is to show the new “masters of life.” Lopakhin's remarks contain judgments that are not typical of his image. Most likely, thoughts about the homeland, about an awkward, unhappy life are the voice of the author himself.

Questions

Why doesn't Lopakhin propose to Varya?

What future of Russia is he talking about?

Why does he more than once call life “stupid”, “awkward”?

What is unique about Lopakhin’s speech?

How does his attitude towards Ranevskaya and Gaev characterize?

Literature

1. D.N. Murin. Russian literature second half of the 19th century century. Methodological recommendations in the form of lesson planning. 10th grade. M.: SMIO Press, 2002.

2. E.S. Rogover. Russian literature XIX century. M.: Saga; Forum, 2004.

3. Encyclopedia for children. T. 9. Russian literature. Part I. From epics and chronicles to the classics of the 19th century. M.: Avanta+, 1999.

Based on the famous play by A.P. Chekhov “ Cherry Orchard“It’s a completely everyday situation - the sale of an old noble estate. But it is not the fate of the beautiful cherry orchard that worries the writer: the garden is only a symbol that personifies the whole of Russia. Therefore, the fate of the country, its past, present and future become main theme Chekhov's work.

The relationships between the characters show the historical process of replacing the old class of nobility with a new class of entrepreneurs in Russia.

Ranevskaya and Gaev are representatives of a bygone era; they are the old owners of the cherry orchard. They were replaced by a new social force - the bourgeoisie, embodied in the image of the entrepreneur Lopakhin.

This character is one of the main ones in the drama “The Cherry Orchard”, and Chekhov paid special attention to him. He wrote: “Lopakhin’s role is central. If it fails, then the entire play has failed.” Therefore, readers (viewers) are presented with a complex and contradictory character. Ermolai Alekseevich is generally a simple, kind, warm-hearted person. He came from a peasant background. But he has no aggressiveness or hidden anger towards the Gaevs and Ranevskys, who lived by the labor of his ancestors. On the contrary, he sincerely wants to help Lyubov Alekseevna’s family and offers the right plan to save his beloved cherry orchard. His sober practical mind suggests right decisions. This hero is businesslike and enterprising, but he thinks only about his own benefit and money. Everything that Lopakhin achieved, he achieved only thanks to his intelligence, hard work and ambition. This distinguishes him from Gaev and Ranevskaya, landowners who are a thing of the past, who are accustomed to living only at the expense of their peasants.

But Lopakhin cannot become a true savior cherry orchard. Firstly, because he is spiritually limited. Ermolai Alekseevich is not able to understand the beauty of the garden. Instead of beautiful flowering trees, he sees only good plots for dachas and, wanting to get as much personal gain as possible, barbarously destroys the cherry orchard, which for Gaev and Ranevskaya was a symbol of an idyllic time, purity, innocence, dreams, hopes and memories. And secondly, this character is only a temporary master of life. The dominance of the capitalists is short-lived, because they seek to build a new Russia, destroying its past and everything that was beautiful that was in it. And here it is clearly visible author's position: The new class of entrepreneurs, despite their energy and strength, brings destruction with them.

And Lopakhin himself understands that he is only the temporary owner of the cherry orchard. He feels that new, young forces will come that will turn Russia into a blooming garden. And from the feeling that he is only an intermediate link in the historical chain, that he cannot save the cherry orchard, Lopakhin remains dissatisfied with life. It seems to him that everything is going wrong and therefore exclaims: “Oh, if only all this would pass, if only our awkward, unhappy life would somehow change.”

Updated: 2018-03-14

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His father was a serf of Ranevskaya’s grandfather and father, and traded in a shop in the village. Now Lopakhin has become rich. His characterization is given by Chekhov, including in the first person. However, he speaks of himself with irony that he remained a “man and man.” Talking about his childhood, the hero notes that his dad was a man who did not understand anything. He did not teach his son, but only beat him when he was drunk. Lopakhin admits that he, too, is, in essence, “a blockhead and an idiot.” He didn’t learn anything, his handwriting is bad.

Lopakhin's business acumen

Of course, Lopakhin, whose characteristics interest us, has enterprise, business acumen and intelligence. The scale of its activities is much wider than that of its previous owners. He's energetic. Moreover, the bulk of this hero’s fortune was earned by his own labor. The path to wealth was not easy for him. Individual remarks and remarks indicate that this merchant has some kind of big “business”. He is completely absorbed in it. At the same time, Lopakhin easily parted with his money, lending it to Simeonov-Pishchik and Ranevskaya, persistently offering it to Petya Trofimov. This hero always lacks time: he either goes on business trips or returns. By his own admission, he gets up at five o'clock in the morning and works from morning to evening. Ermolai Alekseevich says that he cannot live without work. It is Lopakhin who looks at his watch more often than others in the work. His characterization is supplemented by this essential detail already at the beginning of the work. His first line in the play is: "What time is it?" This merchant is constantly mindful of time.

Perception of Lopakhin by the characters in the play

This hero is perceived differently characters plays. Their reviews of him are very contradictory. This is "good" interesting person" for Ranevskaya, "fist" and "boor" for Gaev, "a man of enormous intelligence" for Simeonov-Pishchik. Petya Trofimov gives him a playful description, saying that he is a predatory beast, eating everything that comes in his way, and this needs an exchange substances."

Lopakhin's moment of supreme triumph

Lopakhin seeks to help Ranevskaya. He invites her to divide the garden into plots and rent them out. This hero feels his enormous power, which requires release and application. In the end, Lopakhin buys the cherry orchard. His characterization is supplemented in this important scene with some significant features. For him, the episode when he announces the purchase to the former owners of the garden is a moment of supreme triumph. Now Lopakhin is the owner of the estate where his grandfather and father were slaves, where they were not even allowed into the kitchen. He begins to “wave his arms” more and more - he is intoxicated by the consciousness of his own luck and strength. Compassion for Ranevskaya and triumph in him are in conflict in this episode.

A businessman with the soul of an artist

Chekhov said that Lopakhin's role in the work is central, that the whole play will fail if it fails. He wrote that Ermolai Alekseevich is a merchant, but a decent person in every sense; he must behave decently, “without tricks,” and intelligently. At the same time, Chekhov warned against a petty, simplified understanding of the image of Lopakhin. He is a successful businessman, but he has the soul of an artist. His reasoning about Russia sounds like Lopakhin’s words remind lyrical digressions Gogol in It is to this hero that the most heartfelt words spoken about the cherry orchard in the play belong: “an estate that is not more beautiful in the world.”

Chekhov introduced features characteristic of some Russian entrepreneurs of the early 20th century into the image of Lopakhin, a merchant, but at the same time an artist at heart. We are talking about such names that left their mark on Russian culture as Savva Morozov, Shchukin, Tretyakov, and the publisher Sytin.

The final assessment that Petya Trofimov gives to his seemingly antagonist is very significant. The characterization of Lopakhin’s image given by this character is ambiguous. As we have already said, he compared it to a predatory beast. But at the same time, Petya Trofimov tells Lopakhin that he still loves him: like an artist, he has delicate, thin fingers and a vulnerable soul.

The illusory nature of victory

Lopakhin does not want to destroy the cherry orchard. His characterization would be incorrect if we thought so. He only proposes to reorganize it, dividing it into plots for dachas, making it “democratic” and accessible to the public for a reasonable fee. However, at the end of the play, Lopakhin ("The Cherry Orchard") is not shown as a triumphant winner who has achieved success. His characterization in the finale is very contradictory. And the old owners of the garden are depicted not only as defeated. Intuitively, Lopakhin feels the relativity and illusory nature of his own victory. He says that he wants this unhappy, awkward life to change as soon as possible. These words are supported by his fate: Ermolai Alekseevich alone is able to appreciate the significance of the cherry orchard, but he destroys it with his own hands.

The characterization of Lopakhin from “The Cherry Orchard” is noted as follows: good intentions, personal good qualities for some reason this hero is at odds with reality. Neither those around him nor he himself are able to understand the reasons for this.

Lopakhin was not given personal happiness either. His relationship with Varya results in his actions that are incomprehensible to others. He still does not dare to propose to this girl. Lopakhin, moreover, has a special feeling for Lyubov Andreevna. He awaits Ranevskaya’s arrival with special hope and wonders whether she will recognize him after five years of separation.

Relationship with Varya

In the last act, in the famous scene, when the failed explanation between Varya and Lopakhin is described, the characters talk about a broken thermometer, about the weather - and not a word about what is most important to them at that moment. What’s the matter, why didn’t the explanation take place, why didn’t this love work out? Varya’s marriage is discussed throughout the entire play almost as a done deal, and yet...

What separates Lopakhin and Varya?

Apparently, the point is not that the groom is a businessman incapable of showing love. It is in this spirit that Varya explains to herself their relationship. She believes that he simply has no time for her, since Lopakhin has a lot to do. Probably, Varya is still not a match for this hero: he is a broad-minded person, an entrepreneur, a person of great scope and at the same time an artist at heart. Varin’s world is limited by economy, housekeeping, and keys on his belt. This girl, moreover, is homeless and has no rights even to the now ruined estate. Lopakhin, for all the subtlety of his soul, lacks tact and humanity in order to bring clarity to their relationship.

The dialogue of the characters described in the second act does not clarify anything at the textual level in the relationship between Varya and Lopakhin. But it becomes clear at the subtext level that these people are infinitely distant. The characterization of the hero Lopakhin allows us to judge that with Varya he would hardly have found his happiness. Ermolai Alekseevich had already decided that he should not be with this girl. Here Lopakhin plays the role of the provincial Hamlet, who decides for himself the famous question: “To be or not to be?” And he decides: “Okhmelia, go to the monastery...”.

What separates Varya and Lopakhin? Perhaps the relationship of these heroes is determined largely by the motive of the fate of the cherry orchard, their attitude towards it? Varya, like Firs, worries about the fate of the estate and garden. And Lopakhin “sentenced” him to felling. Thus, the death of the cherry orchard comes between the heroes.

But, probably, there is another reason, which is not formulated in the play (like many other things, sometimes the most important thing in Anton Pavlovich) and lies in the sphere of the subconscious. This is Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya.

Lopakhin and Ranevskaya

The characterization of Lopakhin from The Cherry Orchard would be incomplete without an analysis of the relationship between these two characters. The fact is that Ranevskaya, when Lopakhin was still a “boy” with his nose bloody from his father’s fist, took him to the washstand and said: “He will heal before the wedding.” Ranevskaya's sympathy, in contrast to her father's fist, was perceived by Lopakhin as a manifestation of femininity and tenderness. Lyubov Andreevna, in fact, did what a mother was supposed to do. Perhaps it is she who is involved in the fact that this merchant has such a “subtle, gentle soul.” But it is precisely this characteristic of Lopakhin in the play “The Cherry Orchard” that makes the image of the merchant we are interested in contradictory. Ermolai Alekseevich kept a wonderful vision in his soul. So, in the first act, he tells Lyubov Andreevna that she once did so much for him, and that he loves her “more than his own.” This is the characteristic of Ranevskaya and Lopakhin, their relationship.

Lopakhin’s words in the first act are a “confession” of Ermolai Alekseevich’s first, long-standing love, filial gratitude, bright love for a beautiful vision that does not require anything in return and is not obligatory to anything.

Farewell to the past

However, what is once experienced is irrevocable. This “dear” for Lopakhin was not understood or heard. This moment probably became a turning point for him psychologically. For Lopakhin it became a reckoning with the past, a farewell to it. And a new life began for him. But now this hero has become more sober.

This is the characteristic of Ermolai Lopakhin, central character plays, according to Chekhov.

To answer the question that became the title of the work, let’s try to understand the cause-and-effect relationship of the events described in Chekhov’s last play.

What's happening? After a long absence, the owner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya and her daughter Anya return to their native estate. They are met by the landowner's brother Gaev, the neighbor-landowner Simeonov-Pishchik and the merchant Lopakhin. The latter was born into a family of serfs and considers himself a “man-man,” even though he has money. He reminds Ranevskaya of her urgent sadness: soon her cherry orchard, her family nest with Gaev, will be sold at auction for debts. But then the fun begins.

For Lyubov Andreevna and Leonid Andreevich, the estate with the cherry orchard is very expensive. They passed here; the warmest and most painful memories are associated with this estate (Ranevskaya’s six-year-old son drowned in a local river several years ago). The very thought of parting with the estate horrifies Lyubov Andreevna, and her brother is also not happy about this prospect. However, none of them takes any real action to save their shrine. Both brother and sister are poorly adapted to life, wasteful and short-sighted. But they have a fair tendency towards reflective nostalgia, and one could enjoy their suffering with them if there were no reason for the latter. But alas. Attachment to one's native place is not something to be ridiculed.

Lopakhin, having talked about the situation and the upcoming auction, immediately offers a solution: you need to divide the garden into summer cottages and rent them out. In this way, it will be possible to preserve the estate and at the same time significantly increase income. But both Ranevskaya and Gaev reject this proposal without any hesitation. How so? Cut it out?! The most interesting and wonderful place in the entire province - to ruin?

Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin is a man of action. This is a merchant, but a merchant not by origin, but by current social status. Earned by the sweat of your brow. He is a hard worker who is alien to unnecessary reflections, accustomed to working “from the plow” and increasing his fortune with work. At the same time, he cannot be classified as a soulless and callous person, ready to sell everyone and everything for a penny.

Returning to the topic of the work - why can’t Lopakhin become the savior of the cherry orchard? It’s more likely not “why can’t he”, but why would he give in, generally speaking? For what reason should he save the cherry orchard? He does not seek to destroy it. And he doesn’t strive to get his hands on it at any cost. In order for Lopakhin to “save” him, one condition would have to be met.

From the very first lines we see that Ermolai Alekseevich is not indifferent to his former mistress. He waits with trepidation for her arrival, worries whether she will recognize him when she meets... He remembers Ranevskaya’s kindness when she, while still a girl, helped him, a boy, wash off the blood from his face from his father’s blow. He is full of desire to help. Instead of simply buying out the estate, cutting down the garden and implementing the idea with the summer residents himself, he proposes this idea to Lyubov Andreevna. And your help in doing so. The desire to make money from the sale of the cherry orchard gives way to affection for its owners, and Lopakhin tries to reason with them to the last.

If Ranevskaya could have seen her destiny in this hero, everything might have turned out differently. And the cherry orchard would remain safe and sound. But the landowner continues to see in Ermolai Alekseevich the same boy with a broken nose, no match for herself - she doesn’t even think about anything like that, she’s all in her Parisian dramas.

Lopakhin is no longer a boy. Tender feelings are wonderful, but he is first and foremost a man of action. And he buys the estate at auction. With the same calculation that he once offered to the now former landowners - to cut down the trees and rent out their summer cottages. Alas, the analogies are obvious: without destroying the old, you cannot build a new one. At the beginning of the twentieth century, this topic was more pressing than ever. Another question is that Lopakhin is not the true personification of novelty; he will be surpassed by Petya Trofimov and Anechka, who are rushing into a bright future, sweeping away bridges behind them.

In this regard, it would probably be possible to single out three main figures: the past (Ranevskaya and Gaev, with their absolute helplessness in the face of the time of change and the inability to adapt in any way to the changing reality surrounding them), the present with memory (Lopakhin, who, although becomes the new owner of the estate, but remembers everything that happened there previously, including the fact that as a boy, he did not dare to go beyond the threshold of the kitchen on this estate) and the future, reckless and merciless (Trofimov, Anya). There are characters who will not find a place anywhere in the listed time dimensions, but we are not talking about them now.

The final scene makes you think. Lopakhin, having received Ranevskaya’s estate at his disposal, does not feel triumphant. Pride in front of my father and grandfather, former serfs on this land - yes. But not a real celebration. There is also bitterness in his words. This is a temporary victory, but is it really a victory? The living warm threads connecting the successful entrepreneur Lopakhin with the yard boy, who has a kind and grateful memory, are torn. Ranevskaya will leave for her Paris. The past will hurt and stop; Who cares much about what's left behind anymore? But the future, which is being built with the loss of elements of spiritual warmth dear to the heart...

Lopakhin didn’t save the cherry orchard. He did not save the era of the nobility, which was fading into oblivion, which was replaced by people of action guided not by the heart, not by the memory of their ancestors, not by respect for their native culture, but by pure reason and banal commercial gain. The tragedy of the hero is that he, a hard worker and a truly talented businessman, will not be able to join the new time without again paying for it with a piece of his concern and warmth. And only the measured knock of the ax will become the accompaniment of the onset of a new round of history on its eternal serpentine...

The Mystery of Lopakhin

And who main character"The Cherry Orchard"? Most often they answer: Ranevskaya. No, the main character is Lopakhin. Number five on the list of characters.

But the first line is his! The play begins with him.

LOPAKHIN. Lyubov Andreevna lived abroad for five years, I don’t know what she’s like now... She’s a good person. An easy, simple person. I remember when I was a boy of about fifteen, my late father hit me in the face with his fist, blood started coming out of my nose... he was drunk. Lyubov Andreevna, as I remember now, still young, so thin, led me to the washstand. “Don’t cry, he says, little man, he’ll heal before the wedding...”

It is he who confesses to the master's maid. You should be very worried...

It couldn't be simpler. At the age of fifteen, he fell in love with Ranevskaya, when she washed his face, which had been bloodied by his father. She was a little over twenty. He remembered her hands, her smell, and remembered her words “don’t cry, little man.” They sit in his brain - “just as I remember now” - so each of us has the brightest moments of life imprinted in our memory (in our souls), strange, sometimes shameful, sometimes trivial, but for some reason incredibly important (since we remember to death) – someone’s look, someone’s phrase, someone’s touch.

Now this barefoot teenager has become rich, and the gentlemen have gone bankrupt. And now he hears how she suffers.

RANEVSKAYA. Spare me. After all, I was born here, my father and mother, my grandfather lived here. I love this house, I don’t understand my life without the cherry orchard, and if you really need to sell, then sell me along with the orchard...

He heard her say “sell me and the garden,” and realized (wrongly!) that he could buy the garden with her, that she was an addition to the dacha. But no. The fauna is not the same.

Every time he pestered with his plan, the gentlemen winced.

LOPAKHIN. Don't worry, my dear, there is a way out. If the cherry orchard and the land along the river are divided into dacha plots and then rented out as dachas, then you will have at least twenty-five thousand a year in income.

GAEV. Sorry, what nonsense!

LOPAKHIN. You will take at least twenty-five rubles a year per tithe from summer residents... Congratulations! You just need to cut down the old cherry orchard...

RANEVSKAYA. Cut it out?! My dear, forgive me, you don’t understand anything. If there is anything interesting, even wonderful, in the entire province, it is only our cherry orchard.

LOPAKHIN. The only remarkable thing about this garden is that it is very large. Cherries are born once every two years, and there’s nowhere to put them, no one buys them.

She is about the soul, he is about profitability, about capitalization.

They speak different languages. But he doesn’t understand this, he insists; for two months in a row he insists:

LOPAKHIN. I teach you every day. Every day I say the same thing. Both the cherry orchard and the land must be rented out for dachas. They will give you as much money as you want, and then you are saved.

RANEVSKAYA. Dachas and summer residents are so vulgar, sorry.

Every time the gentlemen add “sorry”, “sorry”, but this does not change the essence. They are delicate, don’t want to offend, don’t say “vulgar” to your face, but say that his idea is vulgar, the dacha is vulgar.

In their eyes he is vulgar, bad manners.

He has a soul, and maybe more than the master's. But there is no secularism, he does not behave like that. And I didn’t study at universities. Doesn't even know the word "vulgarity".

And then he bought it and rejoiced, blind man. RANEVSKAYA. Who bought it?

LOPAKHIN. I bought it. Pause.

Lyubov Andreevna is depressed; she would have fallen if she had not been standing near the chair and table. Varya takes the keys from her belt, throws them on the floor in the middle of the living room, and leaves.

This is a remark by the author. “Pause,” writes Chekhov. Lopakhin is silent, probably waiting for shouts of “hurray.” “Ranevskaya is oppressed,” writes Chekhov. But Lopakhin did not notice or decided that she had not yet realized how wonderfully everything was working out. Now he will explain to her.

LOPAKHIN. I bought it! Wait, gentlemen, do me a favor, my head is clouded, I can’t speak... (Laughs.) We came to the auction, Deriganov was already there. Leonid Andreich had only fifteen thousand, and Deriganov immediately gave thirty on top of the debt. I see this is the case, I tackled him and gave him forty. He's forty-five. I'm fifty-five. That means he adds five, I add ten... Well, it’s over. I gave ninety over and above my debt; that was left to me. The cherry orchard is now mine! My! (Laughs.) My God, my God, my cherry orchard! Tell me that I'm drunk, out of my mind, that I'm imagining all this<…>I bought an estate, the most beautiful of which there is nothing in the world. (He picks up the keys, smiling affectionately.) Well, whatever.

Let's interrupt his monologue. This is the place where he understood her condition.

...In “Three Sisters,” where the eldest remained a virgin, the middle one does not love or respect her husband, the youngest’s fiancé was killed, and the good doctor’s patient died through his fault, and he went on a drinking binge—more than twenty times in this play characters say “whatever”... Good writer tries not even to repeat the same expression twice. And if there are dozens, that means it’s not a coincidence. This phrase from Chekhov means giving up the fight. The frog doesn't want to flounder anymore.

So Lopakhin... - he can’t happy man in the highest stage of delight to say “well, whatever.” It was he who finally saw that she was depressed. And I realized: I didn’t buy it. Yes, he didn’t believe the dream before, he was afraid that it was an illusion, self-delusion; and now I’m convinced. Well, if that’s the case, I’ll cut it down and burn it.

LOPAKHIN. Hey musicians, play, I want to listen to you! Come and watch how Ermolai Lopakhin takes an ax to the cherry orchard and how the trees fall to the ground! We will set up dachas, and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will see here new life...Music, play!

Vulgarity? I'll show you vulgarity!

He will score the house and cut down the garden. But if there is no more beautiful estate in the world than this, why destroy the house? why cut down the garden? Why destroy what is beautiful and what is yours?

When I guessed about Lopakhin (about the gentle soul), confirmation was found immediately - from the most important person, from the indisputable authority.

If Chekhov had written a predator, a redneck, he would not have assigned the role to Stanislavsky - a sophisticated gentleman, a soft, imposing handsome man.

PETYA. You have thin, delicate fingers, like an artist. You have a subtle, gentle soul!

Petya is not talking about Lopakhin. This is Chekhov. For he wrote the role, mentally seeing Stanislavsky; wrote in Stanislavsky; tried his best to persuade him to play and was very upset that Stanislavsky took the role of Gaev.

Perhaps Stanislavsky (in the world - merchant Alekseev, manufacturer) was simply embarrassed, afraid to go out in front of the public as a merchant - it would have been too autobiographical, too frank.

CHEKHOV – OLGA KNIPPER

The merchant should only be played by Const. Serg. (Stanislavsky - A.M.). After all, this is not a merchant in the vulgar sense of the word, you need to understand this.

Lopakhin's role is central. If it fails, then that means the entire play will fail. Lopakhin should not be played as a loudmouth; It doesn’t have to be a merchant. This is a soft person.

Everyone is pushing him to take Varya. And Varya agrees. And Petya teases Varya “Madame Lopakhina.” And everything is decided. They are brought together, left alone... But again and again he does not propose. He promises, but doesn't deliver.

He wants Ranevskaya. He is ready to do anything for Ranevskaya. She openly offers Varya to him.

RANEVSKAYA. Ermolai Alekseich, I dreamed of marrying her to you, and from everything it was clear that you were getting married. She loves you, you like her, why are you really avoiding each other? I don't understand!

LOPAKHIN. I don’t understand it myself either, I must admit. Everything is somehow strange... If there is still time, then at least I’m ready now... Let’s finish it right away and that’s it, and without you, I feel I won’t make an offer.

Let's finish it right away - either in the pool or on the chopping block.

RANEVSKAYA. And excellent. After all, it only takes one minute. I’ll call you now... (At the door.) Varya, leave everything, come here. Go! (Leaves.)

LOPAKHIN (one). Yes…

Pause. Varya comes in and examines things for a long time. LOPAKHIN. What are you looking for? VARYA. I laid it myself and don’t remember. Pause.

LOPAKHIN. Where are you going now, Varvara Mikhailovna? VARYA. I? To the Ragulins... as housekeepers... LOPAKHIN. So life in this house has ended... VARYA (looking at things). Where is this... Or maybe I put it in a chest... Yes, life in this house is over...

LOPAKHIN. Last year it was already snowing at this time, if you remember, but now it’s quiet and sunny. It’s just cold... Three degrees below zero.

It sounds like a mockery. He called me to explain, beckoned me and - about the weather. Varya understood.

VARYA. I didn't look. (Pause.) And our thermometer is broken...

LOPAKHIN (as if he had been waiting for this call for a long time). This minute! (Quickly leaves.)

Varya, sitting on the floor, resting her head on the bundle with her dress, quietly sobs.

I couldn't. He promised and failed.

Lopakhin is ready to give money; and in such a way as not to confuse, not to make you kiss your hands. But getting married is not. Doesn't like it. And giving yourself away is too much. He doesn’t have any... how to put it politely... he has no attraction to Varya. And she doesn't love him. She knows that he is her chance. From poverty, hanger-on, housekeeper - to housewife, to wealth. He is her salvation, not her love. She, like him, has no cravings. And they both agree in theory that they should get married, “it will be better,” but in practice it doesn’t work out. While Ranevskaya persuades him to propose, he agrees. But as soon as Lopakhin sees Varya, he understands that he doesn’t want her. That this is not a crown, but a collar.

(Isn’t this farcical? At the most pathetic (especially for Varya) moment, Lopakhin not only begins to talk about the weather, but utters Epikhodov’s line from the first act about “three degrees frost.”)

LOPAKHIN. ...don’t cry, he says, little man<…>My father, it’s true, was a man, but here I am in a white vest and yellow shoes. With a pig's snout in a Kalash line. Only he’s rich, he has a lot of money, but if you think about it and figure it out, he’s a man... (He flips through the book.) I read the book and didn’t understand anything. I read and fell asleep<… >My dad was a man, an idiot, he didn’t understand anything, he didn’t teach me, he just beat me when he was drunk and kept hitting me with a stick. In essence, I’m just as much of a blockhead and an idiot. I haven’t studied anything, my handwriting is bad, I write in such a way that people are ashamed of me, like a pig.

This is what the character says about himself. Chekhov has a different opinion about him. The author knows better who is who.

When I wrote Lopakhin, I thought that this was your role. Lopakhin, it is true, is a merchant, but a decent person in every sense; he must behave quite decently, intelligently, not petty, without tricks. This role is central to the play, and you would have done it brilliantly.

Central – that is, it decides everything. But to say “I read and didn’t understand anything”, to say about myself “idiot”, “with a pig’s snout in a Kalash line” - this was unbearable for Stanislavsky.

When Lopakhin says about himself “I’m an idiot,” etc., this is self-deprecation rather than pride. He hears Gaev saying “boorish” about him behind his back and almost to his face, but he cannot be offended. To be offended means to quarrel, to slam the door. No, he can’t leave, there’s too much here that’s too dear to him. And then he talks about himself so derogatory, puts himself so low, that any insult flies higher, whistles over his head.

GAEV. Once upon a time, you and I, sister, slept in this very room, and now I’m already fifty-one years old, oddly enough...

LOPAKHIN. Yes, time is ticking.

GAEV. Whom?

LOPAKHIN. Time, I say, is ticking. GAEV. And here it smells like patchouli.

It was Lopakhin who tried to enter into conversation. Tried twice. It didn't work out. The aristocrat does not answer, does not object in essence, he demonstratively and insultingly “does not hear.” And after the second attempt, the aristocrat sniffs and wrinkles his nose.

Frankly, all my life I thought that “smells like patchouli” means “smells bad.” How? - foot wraps? rusty herring? - in general, some kind of poor, unwashed, sour rubbish.

Last December, in the underground passage under Arbat Square, I saw in a kiosk countless cheap riches - very suitable for New Year's gifts, including incense sticks: if you light it, there will be a smell, incense, oriental aromas. Here is cinnamon, here is lavender, and suddenly in Latin letters “patchouli” - Lord! I came home, looked in the dictionary, it says: tropical plant, essential oil, strong-smelling perfume. What was I supposed to see forty years ago?

And Lopakhin, it turns out, put on perfume! He smells not like foot wraps, but a hairdresser's. IN Soviet era they would say “Chyprom”. He's wearing perfume, he has hopes, he wants to make a good impression, yeah...

If he (Stanislavsky - A.M.) took Lopakhin... After all, if Lopakhin is pale, then both the role and the play will be lost.

He still hopes, intrigues, asks. Then, having given up hope that the main role will be played correctly, he begins to worry about the details out of despair.

Dusik, the dog needed in Act 1 is furry, small, half-dead, with sour eyes, but Schnap is no good.

Poetic theater!

The play runs for two hours. But in life, the whole summer passes. While waiting for the auction, we somehow lived, ate, drank, sang, and managed to give a ball. And after the auction they were packing - this is a long process: books, sets... During these days they discussed the future. And when Ranevskaya talks about her life in Paris for fifteen thousand (long live grandma!), no one is surprised or indignant, precisely because both leaving and money - everything has been discussed a hundred times, just as everything in this family is discussed a hundred times .

The only impromptu (also, perhaps, discussed and planned by the ladies) was a sudden, although not the first, attempt to force Lopakhin to propose. And only his refusal causes a strong reaction (Varya sobs). Everything else is without passion, without disputes, because it was decided long ago.

...On stage in Act IV (last) it is quiet and calm. Even old Firs dies without screams, without speeches, quietly - as if falling asleep.

It's hard to understand how there can be such a finale - without daggers, hugs, curses, without shooting and without a wedding march.

Only for some reason the audience is crying.

What an exciting day yesterday was, my dear, my beloved! I had been waiting for the play for three days already and was worried that I hadn’t received it. Finally yesterday morning, still in bed, they brought it to me. With what trepidation I took it and unwrapped it - you can’t imagine! She crossed herself three times. She never got out of bed until she swallowed it all. In the 4th act I started crying.

Telegram

STANISLAVSKY - CHEKHOV

The play was read to the troupe. An exceptional, brilliant success. Listeners are captivated from the first act. Every subtlety is appreciated. They cried in the last act.

STANISLAVSKY - CHEKHOV

I'm afraid this is all too subtle for the public. Nevertheless, it will be a huge success... I was afraid that during a second reading the play would not captivate me. Where to go!! I cried like a woman; I wanted to, but I couldn’t help myself.

This text is an introductory fragment.

The secret of life and work The name of Carlos Castaneda (1925? 1931? - 1998), anthropologist and writer, hoaxer and myth-maker, is shrouded in a veil of mystery, which was created by the author himself, and is now supported by his many fans. Books about learning from