The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

Madame Ranevsky does not want to cut down the orchard because of the memories it holds, regarding her parents and childhood. Madame Ranevsky’s shows her fondness for the estate when she points out that her life would have no meaning if it were sold. In other words, the good memories memories of her “pure and happy childhood” (12) is what is keeps Madame Ranevsky from accepting Lophakin’s plan. She feels that her memories would be ruined if the orchard is destroyed. In fact, Madame Ranevsky acknowledges this attachment to orchard due to the good memories. She tells Lopakhin: “Oh! If only I could free my neck and shoulders from the stone that weighs them down! If only I could forget my past!” (12). Madame Ranevsky makes the point that her feelings regarding the past is “weighing” her down and preventing her from accepting Lophakin’s plan, so her debts can be relieved. The “past” that Madame Ranevsky is referring to is her happy childhood memories at the orchard. Hence, Madame Ranevsky’s happy childhood memories attach her to the orchard and makes her not want to lose it. Because of this conundrum, Madame Ranevsky essentially does not think about anything else throughout the play b

Viktor E. Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who also had survived the Holocaust, writes “When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves” (BrainyQuote). Frankl survived genocide against his own people and still chose to have a positive outlook on it because he understands that if he did not, he would continually live an unhappy, upset life. Like Frankl, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, the main character in One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, contains a similar outlook to that of Frankl. The novel takes place during Soviet Russia in a gulag in Siberia, or otherwise known as a labor work camp. The whole book is about only one day that Shukhov lives; from 5 in the morning to 10 at night and all that happens in between. In this labor camp, not only are the weather conditions very cold, making it difficult to work in such circumstances, but also the workers are punished and harshly treated if they do not obey the guards. When placed in this environment, it is easy to be discouraged and miserable, but instead of facing the negatives of his situation, Shukhov remains affirmative in his thoughts – which are most important in order to survive not only physically, but also mentally. This stoicism portrayed in the narrative can also be found in Epictetus’s work, The Handbook. In this text, Epictetus discusses how he believes people can live a happy life, despite the hard conditions they are put through

Discuss the above quote with reference to your experiences of preparing to direct/design a Chekhov play.

The stories of Anton Chekhov mark a focal moment in European fiction. This is the point where 19th realist caucus of the short stories started their transformation into modern form. As such, his work straddles two traditions. The first is that of the anti-romantic realism which has a sharp observation of external social detail. It has human behavior conveyed within tight plot. The second is the modern psychological realism in which the action in typically internal and expressed in associative narrative that is built on epiphanic moments. In consideration of the two sides, Chekhov developed powerful personal styles that presage modernism without losing traditional frills of the form. This essay will discuss the Chekhov's portrayal of women.

We are defined by the generation we were born into. Us and those born around the same time are characterized by the events and traits that shaped our formative years. Baby Boomers, for example, are defined by the high birth rate that made their generation possible. But there are some generations that are less of a success story. The Lost Generation, defined mostly by the involvement of their young men in World War I, is best described through the story of German soldier Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front. The loss of innocence and doubting of authority that is common in members of the Lost Generation is displayed throughout the book as we follow Paul and his fellow soldiers.

The end of the nineteenth century marked a brilliant period in Russian literature defined by innovation and experimentation. With political and economic changes sweeping over Russia, its literature displayed the anxious, even hostile reaction to the modernization of a nation that hadn’t seen transformations in decades. The Petty Demon, Wings, and Petersburg considered to be some of the greatest works of the time, were unique pieces of literature in the decadence period, although they borrowed and built on elements from other authors of the time. The analysis of these novels, in terms of conventional categories of literary analysis, including thematics, narration, and setting is not only a means to display the uncommon structure of the novel, but also to demonstrate its association with other influential authors. In the writings of The Petty Demon, Wings, and Petersburg these authors dismantle the ideas of other authors and then parody them, therefore subverting the norms of realist pros and making reader think of a particular style of writing and then goes to write the complete opposite.

While family structure in the Soviet Union did change significantly during the first two decades of Communist government following the social revolution, there were also many ways in which it did not change, and some ways in which there was a return to traditional family structure during this time. Although there were changes to marriage and divorce laws, the role of women in the workplace, and the social ideas of male and female roles, inequality was still a significant issue. The attempts to create a new model of family life throughout the 1920s and 1930s, without traditional boundaries but with respect for individual rights, was unsuccessful in many ways, as women were still viewed as responsible for household duties and for raising children while men had much more sexual freedom than women. The early 1920s and the revolutionary concepts and laws which it introduced resulted in social disorder, with marriage breakdown, homelessness and poverty leading to a backlash against the changes in gender roles. Rather than blaming the lack of social services, many claimed that women needed to return to traditional roles and supply stability to the family, rather than considering the nation’s economic situation and the lack of social services as being the central issue.

The Lost Generation; a generation of men who went into the war, but could never really come back. Paul Baumer, the main character in Remarque’s book, was a part of this “Lost Generation”.

The plot of this play centered around the family of Alice Sycamore. The Sycamore family includes Alice Sycamore, her parents Penny and Paul Sycamore, her sister and her sister’s husband, Essie and Ed Carmichael, and Grandpa Martin Vanderhof. The family is extremely eccentric to say the least. They are a crazy bunch by many people’s standards. They do things like eat watermelon and cornflakes for dinner, make fireworks in the basement, own a pet snake, and constantly have the house packed with interesting characters. Some of the other characters in the play are Donald and Rheba who work for the Sycamores, the Russian dance teacher of Essie named Mr. Kolenkhov, and the confidant of Paul Sycamore, Mr. De Pinna. Each character is developed with many unique traits, each having their quirks and nontraditional hobbies. Essie has a passion for ballet despite the fact that she is awful after 8 years of

The celebrated Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, in his adaptation of the play, which he created for The National Ballet of Canada in 2011, has given the familiar story a fresh and compelling re-telling. Staying true to the play’s potent theatricality and poignant commingling of romance and

The past is constantly mentioned by the characters in this play. Even the cherry orchard as property, is a symbol of the Old Russian regime. The end of the Old Regime therefore, is portrayed by Chekhov when at the end of the play Lohpakin becomes the owner of the estate and cuts the cherry orchard. Chekhov, as a contemporary observer, uses his play to criticize some aspects of the emancipation of 1861. The message he leaves is that although the emancipation was an important step towards freedom, it was not the only one to be made. This message, besides being given throughout the novel, is also stated by Trofimov, an idealist student who realizes how far Russia is from achieving real freedom. At the end of Act 2, Trofivom tells Anya, Madame Ranevskaya’s 17-year-old daughter: “...In order to start living in the present, we first have to redeem our past, make an end of it, and we can only do that through suffering…” .

In 19th century Russian literature there was often a gender inequality depicted between the male and female characters. Women were expected to get married, start a family, and obey their husbands. Women often made sacrifices and married men they weren’t fond of in order to support their families. Anton Chekhov’s writing questions these gender relationships. The female characters have a strong presence within Chekhov’s works, and they transcend typical gender roles.

    Anton Chekhov uses The Cherry Orchard, to openly present the decline of an aristocratic Russian family as a microcosm of the rapid decline of the old Russia at the end of the nineteenth century--but also provides an ominous foreshadowing of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in the disparate ideals of his characters, Trofimov and Lopakhin, however unintentionally. The Gayev family and their plight is intended as a symbolic microcosm of the fall of the aristocracy in society at large. Though the merchant Lopakhin is presented as the character who holds values of the new, post-aristocratic age, the student Trofimov espouses the political sentiments that will ultimately replace both the

  Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard projects the cultural conflict of the turn of the twentieth century of Russia. With a historical allusion, Chekhov exhibited the changing Russia with "slice of life" in his play. The Cherry Orchard is not only a depiction of Russian life but also an understatement of changing traditional value. Cultural conflict itself is an abstraction. To explain it, it is the traditional culture that is unable to resist the invading one. In the play, each character has his or her own personality, which symbolizes their individual social levels of Russian society. But these characters distinguish themselves into two sides, which are conservators and investors;

Anton Chekhov conceived The Cherry Orchard as a comedy but had trouble persuading people it was not a drama. The play fulfills all the conventional requirements of a classical and of a realist drama. It aligns the action with time, from hopeful spring to despairing autumn. It has a crux to the plot that remains unresolved until the end of the third act - Will the estate be sold or saved? It has couples who seem destined to be married, servants who fail to serve a heroine with both grave flaws and charisma. The Cherry Orchard can be read in many ways, as a conflict between hope and despair, between conflicting illusions, or nature and mankind. Above all, it can be read as an evocation of honest pessimism about the outcome of all these conflicts, with only a glimmer of hope and no false consolations. This idea is seen throughout the views of the major characters.