What are the reasons for the general trouble in the play “The Cherry Orchard”? Essay on the topic: - “The Cherry Orchard” as an example of a Chekhov play Topic: - Funny and tragic in Ranevskaya.

Essay by Chekhov A.P. - Cherry Orchard

Topic: - Funny and tragic in Ranevskaya

The play “The Cherry Orchard,” like all of Chekhov’s dramas in general, is permeated by an atmosphere of general trouble, loneliness and unhappiness. So Ranevskaya, like many other Chekhov heroes, is unlucky. The writer sympathizes with his heroine, because she is losing not just a garden - she is losing everything dear to her that was in her life. And the drama of Ranevskaya is not in her economic bankruptcy - at the very beginning of the play she has an excellent option for economic prosperity, proposed by Lopakhin: to rent out the garden for dachas, but she refuses this saving solution. And all because the main drama of her existence is deeper than elementary ruin. Money cannot improve her situation; her life, which is fading away, cannot be restored. Ranevskaya, like other heroes of The Cherry Orchard, experiences subjective dissatisfaction own life, which goes on awkwardly and awkwardly, bringing neither joy nor happiness. She feels the temporary nature of her stay in this world: old foundations are disintegrating both in the souls of people and outside, and new ones have not yet been born. That’s why Lopakhin’s words addressed to Ranevskaya sound so sad and despondent: “Why, why didn’t you listen to me? My poor, good one, you won’t get it back now.”

Indeed, in Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, Chekhov openly ridicules frivolity and emptiness of interests. Striving to live easily and beautifully, she sees nothing around her except love interests. Outwardly she is simple, charming, kind, but in essence she turns out to be a selfish person. Accustomed to wasting money, she orders Lopakhin to give her money. While the servants in her own house are starving, she gives out large alms to strangers or arranges a ball that no one needs, despite the fact that she has nothing to pay off her debts. She takes care of Firs, ordering him to be sent to the hospital, but he is forgotten in the boarded-up house. She is saddened by the sale of the estate, speaks of love for her homeland, easily interrupting her words with the remark: “However, you need to drink coffee.” In addition, she openly rejoices at the possibility of leaving for Paris. The heroine's sudden mood changes are unexpected: she moves from tears to fun. All this causes laughter, but laughter, indeed, through tears. Her disregard for maternal feelings also deserves reproach: her daughter remained in the care of a careless uncle for five years.

The contradictory nature of Ranevskaya is also reflected in her speech. Her language combines sensitivity, sincerity and mannerisms. Her speech is rich in poetic comparisons and metaphors. She likes to use words with diminutive suffixes: “dear student”, “little tree”, “darling”, “cabinet”, “my table”.

Showing that in Ranevskaya one can feel the echoes of the wonderful traditions of spiritual culture, A.P. Chekhov still strictly judges his heroine, ultimately placing the death of the cherry orchard on her conscience. Thus, the author conveys in his work the idea of ​​a person’s personal responsibility for the choice of life position and, in general, for the fate of beauty in the world.

My attitude towards Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya

Only those works remain to live for centuries and become a universal property in which the writer most accurately and deeply recreated his time, revealed spiritual world people of their generation, their people. In my opinion, A.P.’s play also belongs to such works. Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard", created by the author back in 1904, it still enjoys considerable popularity today.

One of the most striking images of the play “The Cherry Orchard” is the image of Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya. We meet her already at the beginning of the play: everyone is waiting for her arrival from Paris. But the reason for her return is completely sad: her home with a beautiful cherry orchard is about to be sold for debts. For Lyubov Andreevna, the cherry orchard is a symbol of childhood, a symbol of happiness, a symbol of the homeland. This is, after all, her way of life. Everything dear and dear to her was connected with the house and the cherry orchard. And suddenly all this should disappear. “My life, my youth, my happiness, goodbye,” the heroine says excitedly. And in human terms it can be understood. Even regret it, because her fate is bitter and hopeless. Lyubov Andreevna suffers, because, losing the cherry orchard, she loses the country of her childhood, maternal affection, beauty, poetry. But my attitude towards the heroine is ambiguous. Yes, she is a kind, sincere, sympathetic, delicate woman. Everyone loves and appreciates her. But at the same time, she is very frivolous: she throws money away, keeps a parasite and lackeys, fell in love with evil and a carefree man who only needs money from her. Tender, caring, selfless in love, she is ready to do anything for her beloved. Wonderful impulses! But why doesn’t she take care of her children - Anya and Varvara, whose lives are completely unsettled. I understand her and sympathize with the death of her son Grisha. Trying to forget this terrible tragedy, she goes to Paris. But at what cost? She spends the money that Anya’s grandmother, Lyubov Andreevna’s former mother-in-law, gave her not on her daughter, not on family needs, but on her lover, who robbed her and abandoned her. Or is this a reasonable decision for a woman who has children and is responsible for their future?

And when she loses the cherry orchard, does she understand that this is also her fault: after all, she is responsible for everything that happened around her. On the one hand, I perceive Lyubov Andreevna as a bearer of wonderful traditions, high spiritual culture, and on the other hand, it is quite obvious that the death of the cherry orchard is on her conscience, because thanks to her wastefulness, inaction, and ambition, she is losing her family nest.

Could his fate have turned out differently?

I think I could. If only she weren't so frivolous, weak-willed, irresponsible. Then she would not have gotten confused in her personal life, and perhaps the family estate would have been preserved. But then, of course, it would not be that Chekhov heroine Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, in whom good and evil, sensitivity and indifference, sacrifice and selfishness coexist.

What are the reasons for the general ill-being that characterizes the state of the characters, the general atmosphere in the play “The Cherry Orchard”?

At the center of the work is the struggle for the future of the cherry orchard, part of the Gaevs’ estate. The cherry orchard symbolically embodies the beauty of a passing life, the past, and the entire changing homeland. His former owners are devoid of any striking shortcomings; social exposure is not the element of Chekhov, who loves halftones and understatement. Everyone loves Ranevskaya, including Lopakhin. Gaev is a slacker and idle talker, but in general a completely harmless, good-natured person. Chekhov sympathizes with these heroes. The scene is poignant when the brother and sister, left alone, cry about their lost youth and fleeting life.

The indifference and deafness to the voice of the times of Ranevskaya and Gaev is surprising. Not only can they not understand the reasons for Lopakhin’s proposals to save the estate, they seem to not want to hear anything about it. Aristocratism made the heroes attractive with deep culture, respectful pride, fading beauty, but in modern conditions it turns into indifference and insensitivity, isolation from other people. Ranevskaya cannot imagine, most likely does not even realize, that Lopakhin loves her. This native of the serfs is worthy only of the most general, albeit kind, cultural feelings. Ranevskaya treats him like a humane, good gentleman treats a “man” (servant). Why, for example, not benefit a good man by marrying him to his own pupil? Neither Varya’s feelings nor Lopakhin’s desires are inaccessible to her, because she doesn’t know how to seriously think about someone else, worry deeply and sincerely, she’s not used to it.

Lopakhin in his own way social role could take the place of a typical owner of a new life, a capitalist businessman of a new formation. But Chekhov lacks sharp psychological colors and head-on conflicts. Lopakhin does not rejoice for long that he, a descendant of serfs, bought the estate in which his ancestors were flogged at the stables. The feelings of despondency and sadness in this reflective, typically Russian merchant are suppressed by others. The property remains, but beauty leaves his life forever. “The owner of life” passionately wishes for its speedy change: “Oh, if only all this would pass, if only our awkward, unhappy life would somehow change.” The writer attached special importance to this hero of the play and believed that the actors should show him as smart, subtle, and deeply feeling. The feeling of bewilderment, the feeling of general ill-being throughout life experienced by this character is the most important in The Cherry Orchard.

Does the cherry orchard have a future, will it be revived? This question is traditionally associated with the figures of the young heroes of the play by Petya Trofimov and Anya. Their abstract dreams of a bright, joyful future for their homeland evoke sympathy. But Anya is too young and inexperienced. But Petya’s personality does not inspire respect among those around him, he is an “eternal student”, a “shabby gentleman”, the hero has no will, no potential ability to do business.

The sound of a breaking string, which, according to the author's plan, should crown the action, symbolizes a historical pause, a feeling of hopelessness and homelessness, lack of rootedness in life, timelessness that gripped all the characters in the play.

Ranevskaya in the system of images of Chekhov's heroines

The play “The Cherry Orchard” became A.P.’s swan song. Chekhov, occupying the stage of world theaters for many years. The success of this work was due not only to its themes, which are controversial to this day, but also to the images that Chekhov created. For him, the presence of women in his works was very important: “Without a woman, a story is like a car without steam,” he wrote to one of his friends. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the role of women in society began to change. The image of Ranevskaya in the play “The Cherry Orchard” became a vivid caricature of Anton Pavlovich’s emancipated contemporaries, whom he observed in large numbers in Monte Carlo.

Chekhov carefully worked out each female image: facial expressions, gestures, manners, speech, because through them he conveyed an idea of ​​the character and feelings possessing the heroines. The appearance and name also contributed to this.

The image of Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna has become one of the most controversial, and this was largely due to the actresses playing this role. Chekhov himself wrote that: “It’s not difficult to play Ranevskaya, you just need to take the right tone from the very beginning...”.

Her image is complex, but there are no contradictions in it, since she is true to her internal logic of behavior.

Ranevskaya's life story

The description and characterization of Ranevskaya in the play “The Cherry Orchard” is given through her story about herself, from the words of other characters and the author’s remarks. Acquaintance with the central female character begins literally from the first lines, and Ranevskaya’s life story is revealed in the very first act. Lyubov Andreevna returned from Paris, where she lived for five years, and this return was caused by the urgent need to resolve the issue of the fate of the estate, which was put up for auction for debts.

Lyubov Andreevna married “a lawyer at law, a non-nobleman...”, “who only made debts,” and also “drank terribly” and “died from champagne.” Was she happy in this marriage? Not likely. After the death of her husband, Ranevskaya “unfortunately” fell in love with another. But her passionate romance did not last long. Her young son died tragically, and feeling guilty, Lyubov Andreevna goes abroad forever. However, her lover followed her “ruthlessly, rudely,” and after several years of painful passions, “he robbed... abandoned, got in touch with someone else,” and she, in turn, tries to poison herself. Seventeen-year-old daughter Anya comes to Paris to pick up her mother. Oddly enough, this young girl partially understands her mother and feels sorry for her. Throughout the play, the daughter's sincere love and affection is visible. Having stayed in Russia for only five months, Ranevskaya, immediately after selling the estate, taking the money intended for Anya, returns to Paris to her lover.

Characteristics of Ranevskaya

On the one hand, Ranevskaya is a beautiful woman, educated, with a subtle sense of beauty, kind and generous, who is loved by those around her, but her shortcomings border on vice and therefore are so noticeable. “She's a good person. Easy, simple,” says Lopakhin. He sincerely loves her, but his love is so unobtrusive that no one knows about it. Her brother says almost the same thing: “She is good, kind, nice...” but she is “vicious. You can feel it in her slightest movement.” Absolutely everyone is talking about her inability to manage money. characters, and she herself understands this perfectly: “I have always wasted money without restraint, like crazy...”; “...she has nothing left. And mom doesn’t understand!” says Anya. “My sister hasn’t gotten used to wasting money yet,” Gaev echoes her. Ranevskaya is used to living without denying herself pleasures, and if her family is trying to reduce their expenses, then Lyubov Andreevna simply cannot do it, she is ready to give her last money to a random passer-by, although Varya has nothing to feed her household.

At first glance, Ranevskaya’s experiences are very deep, but if you pay attention to the author’s remarks, it becomes clear that this is only an appearance. For example, while excitedly waiting for her brother to return from the auction, she hums a lezginka song. And this is a vivid example of her entire being. She seems to distance herself from unpleasant moments, trying to fill them with actions that can bring positive emotions. The phrase characterizing Ranevskaya from “The Cherry Orchard”: “You shouldn’t deceive yourself, you need to look the truth straight in the eye at least once in your life,” suggests that Lyubov Andreevna is divorced from reality, stuck in her own world.

“Oh, my garden! After a dark, stormy autumn and a cold winter, you are young again, full of happiness, the heavenly angels have not abandoned you...” - with these words Ranevskaya greets the garden after a long separation, a garden without which she “does not understand her life,” with which she is inextricably her childhood and youth are connected. And it seems that Lyubov Andreevna loves her estate and cannot live without it, but she does not try to make any attempts to save it, thereby betraying him. For most of the play, Ranevskaya hopes that the issue with the estate will be resolved by itself, without her participation, although it is her decision that is the main one. Although Lopakhin's proposal is the most realistic way to save him. The merchant has a presentiment of the future, saying that it is quite possible that “the summer resident ... will take up farming, and then your cherry orchard will become happy, rich, luxurious,” because at the moment the garden is in a neglected state, and does not bring any benefit or profit to its owners .

For Ranevskaya, the cherry orchard meant her inextricable connection with the past and her ancestral attachment to the Motherland. She is a part of him, just as he is a part of her. She realizes that selling the garden is an inevitable payment for past life, and this can be seen in her monologue about sins, in which she realizes them and takes them upon herself, asking the Lord not to send great trials, and the sale of the estate becomes their kind of atonement: “My nerves are better... I sleep well.”

Ranevskaya is an echo of a cultural past that is thinning literally before our eyes and disappearing from the present. Well aware of the destructiveness of her passion, realizing that this love is dragging her to the bottom, she returns to Paris, knowing that “this money will not last long.”

Against this background, love for daughters looks very strange. An adopted daughter, who dreams of joining a monastery, gets a job as a housekeeper for her neighbors, since she does not have at least a hundred rubles to donate, and her mother simply does not attach any importance to this. Her own daughter Anya, left at the age of twelve in the care of a careless uncle, is very worried about her mother’s future on the old estate and is saddened by the imminent separation. “...I will work, help you...” says a young girl who is not yet familiar with life.

The further fate of Ranevskaya is very unclear, although Chekhov himself said that: “Only death can calm down such a woman.”

Characteristics of the image and description of the life of the heroine of the play will be useful to 10th grade students when preparing an essay on the topic “The Image of Ranevskaya in the play “The Cherry Orchard” by Chekhov.”

Work test

Let's remember Chekhov's stories. Lyrical mood, piercing sadness and laughter... These are his plays too - unusual plays, and even more so that seemed strange to Chekhov's contemporaries. But it was in them that the “watercolor” nature of Chekhov’s colors, his soulful lyricism, his piercing accuracy and frankness were most clearly and deeply manifested.

Chekhov's dramaturgy has several plans, and what the characters say is by no means what the author himself hides behind their remarks. And what he is hiding may not be what he would like to convey to the viewer...

This diversity makes it difficult to define the genre. For example, a play

As we know from the very beginning, the estate is doomed; The heroes are also doomed - Ranevskaya, Gaev, Anya and Varya - they have nothing to live for, nothing to hope for. The solution proposed by Lopakhin is impossible for them. Everything for them symbolizes the past, some long-ago, wonderful life, when everything was easy and simple, and they even knew how to dry cherries and send them by cart to Moscow... But now the garden has grown old, fruitful years are rare, the method of preparing cherries has been forgotten... Constant trouble is felt behind all the words and actions of the heroes... And even the hopes for the future expressed by one of the most active heroes - Lopakhin - are unconvincing. Petya Trofimov’s words are also unconvincing: “Russia is our garden,” “we need to work.” After all, Trofimov himself is an eternal student who cannot begin any serious activity. The trouble is in the way the relationship between the characters develops (Lolakhin and Varya love each other, but for some reason they don’t get married), and in their conversations. Everyone talks about what interests him at the moment, and does not listen to others. Chekhov's heroes are characterized by a tragic "deafness", so the important and the small, the tragic and the stupid get in the way in the dialogues.

Indeed, in “The Cherry Orchard,” as in human life, tragic (material difficulties, inability of the heroes to act), dramatic (the life of any of the heroes) and comic (for example, Petya Trofimov’s fall from the stairs at the most tense moment) are mixed. Discord is visible everywhere, even in the fact that servants behave like masters. Firs says, comparing the past and present, that “everything is fragmented.” The existence of this person seems to remind the young that life began a long time ago, even before them. It is also characteristic that he is forgotten on the estate...

And the famous “sound of a breaking string” is also a symbol. If a stretched string means readiness, determination, efficiency, then a broken string means the end. True, there is still a vague hope, because the neighboring landowner Simeonov-Pishchik was lucky: he is no better than others, but they either found clay or had a railroad...

Life is both sad and funny. She is tragic, unpredictable - this is what Chekhov talks about in his plays. And that is why it is so difficult to determine their genre - because the author simultaneously shows all aspects of our life...

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, like other writers, was interested in writing on the theme of human happiness, love, harmony. In most of the writer’s works: “Ionych”, “Gooseberry”, “About Love” - the heroes fail in love. They cannot create their own happiness, let alone others. In the story “The Lady in a Dog” everything is different. When Gurov and Anna Sergeevna part, she returns to her city S., and he returns to Moscow. “A month would pass, and it seemed to him that Anna Sergeevna would be covered in a fog in his memory and only occasionally would he dream of her with a touching smile, as others did. But more than a month passed, a deep crisis set in, and everything was clear in his memory, as if he had broken up with Anna Sergeevna only yesterday. And the memories became more and more intense.” Here is a twist in the development of the plot. Is love not weakening? does not die from a collision with life, does not turn out to be insolvent. On the contrary, it evokes in Gurov a disgust for the drowsy, philistine prosperous existence, and a desire for a different, new life. The familiar surroundings evoke almost disgusting disgust in the hero. He clearly sees the hypocrisy and vulgarity of those around him. “- Dmitry Dmitrich! - What? - And just now you were right: the sturgeon is smelly! These words, so ordinary, for some reason suddenly outraged Gurov and seemed humiliating and unclean to him. What wild customs, what faces! What stupid nights, what uninteresting days! Furious card playing, gluttony, drunkenness, constant conversations all about one thing... a short, wingless life... and you can’t leave, as if you were sitting in a madhouse or in a prison company.” What a storm and range of feelings love gives birth to in Gurov! Its cleansing power is beneficial. It never occurs to the writer to condemn the heroes for their “sinful feelings.” They are both married, breaking their vows. But the author’s idea is clear to the reader that life without love is even more sinful. Anna Sergeevna and Gurov love each other - this is their consolation, an incentive to live, because every person has the right to happiness. “Anna Sergeevna and he loved each other like very close, dear people... it seemed to them that fate itself had destined them for each other, and it was not clear why he was married, and she was married... And it seemed that a little - and a solution will be found, and then a new, wonderful life will begin; and it was clear to both that the end was still far away and that the most difficult and difficult things were just beginning.” This is an almost romantic story by Chekhov the realist about love, its great power and purity. Reading the story, you understand that only with a loved one can you understand all the beauty of the world, feel the fullness of life and that it is necessary to protect this