“The Cherry Orchard” is one of his best works. The action of the play takes place on the estate of the landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, on an estate with a cherry orchard, surrounded by poplars, with a long alley that “goes straight, straight, like a stretched belt” and “glitters on moonlit nights.” This garden is going to be sold due to the numerous debts of L.A. Ranevskaya. She does not want to agree that the garden should be sold for dachas.

Ranevskaya, devastated by love, returns to her estate in the spring. In the cherry orchard, doomed to auction, there are “white masses of flowers,” starlings sing, and there is a blue sky above the garden. Nature is preparing for renewal - and hopes for a new one awaken in Ranevskaya’s soul, clean life: “All, all white! O my garden! After a dark stormy autumn and cold winter again you are young, full of happiness, the angels of heaven will not leave you... If only the heavy stone could be removed from my chest and shoulders, if only I could forget my past!” And for the merchant Lopakhin, the cherry orchard means something more than the object of a profitable commercial deal. Having become the owner of a garden and an estate, he experiences an ecstatic state... He bought an estate, the most beautiful of which is nothing in the world!”

Ranevskaya is impractical, selfish, she is petty and gone in her love interest, but she is also kind, sympathetic, and her sense of beauty does not fade. Lopakhin sincerely wants to help Ranevskaya, expresses genuine sympathy for her, and shares her passion for the beauty of the cherry orchard. Lopakhin's role is central - he is a gentle person by nature.

Ranevskaya was not able to save the orchard from destruction, and not because she was unable to turn the cherry orchard into a commercial, profitable one, as it was 40-50 years ago: “...It used to be that dried cherries were carried by carts and sent to Moscow and Kharkov . There was money!”

When they only talk about the possibility of a sale, Ranevskaya “tears up the telegram without reading it,” when the buyer is already named, Ranevskaya, before tearing up the telegram, reads it, and when the auction took place, Ranevskaya does not tear up the telegrams and, having accidentally dropped one of them, confesses her decision to go to Paris to the man who robbed and abandoned her, confesses her love for this man. In Paris, she is going to live on the money that Anya’s grandmother sent to buy the estate. Ranevskaya turned out to be inferior to the idea of ​​the cherry orchard, she betrays it.

The comedy “The Cherry Orchard” is considered Chekhov’s pinnacle work. The play reflects such a socio-historical phenomenon of the country as degradation " noble nest", the moral impoverishment of the nobility, the development of feudal relations into capitalist ones, and behind this - the emergence of a new, ruling class of the bourgeoisie. The theme of the play is the fate of the homeland, its future. “All of Russia is our garden.” The past, present and future of Russia seem to emerge from the pages of the play “The Cherry Orchard”. The representative of the present in Chekhov's comedy is Lopakhin, the past - Ranevskaya and Gaev, the future - Trofimov and Anya.

Starting from the first act of the play, the rot and worthlessness of the owners of the estate - Ranevskaya and Gaev - are exposed. Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, in my opinion, is a rather empty woman. She sees nothing around her except love interests, strives to live beautifully, carefree. She is simple, charming, kind. But her kindness turns out to be purely external. The essence of her nature is selfishness and frivolity: Ranevskaya distributes gold, while poor Varya, out of “savings, feeds everyone milk soup, in the kitchen the old people are given one pea”; throws an unnecessary ball when there is nothing to pay off debts with. He remembers his deceased son, talks about maternal feelings and love. And she herself leaves her daughter in the care of a careless uncle, without worrying about her daughters’ future. She resolutely tears up telegrams from Paris, at first without even reading them, and then goes to Paris. She is saddened by the sale of the estate, but rejoices at the opportunity to go abroad. And when he talks about love for his homeland, he interrupts himself with the remark: “However, you need to drink coffee.” For all her weakness and lack of will, she has the ability for self-criticism, for disinterested kindness, for sincere, ardent feeling.

Gaev, Ranevskaya’s brother, is also helpless and lethargic. In his own eyes, he is an aristocrat of the highest circle; “coarse” smells bother him. He doesn’t seem to notice Lopakhin and tries to put “this boor” in his place. In Gaev’s language, colloquialism is combined with lofty words: after all, he loves liberal rantings. His favorite word is “whom”; he is partial to billiard terms.

The present of Russia in Chekhov's play “The Cherry Orchard” is represented by Lopakhin. In general, his image is complex and contradictory. He is decisive and compliant, calculating and poetic, truly kind and unconsciously cruel. These are the many facets of his nature and character. Throughout the entire play, the hero constantly repeats about his origin, saying that he is a 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 row... Just now he's rich, there's a lot of money, but if you think about it and figure it out, then he's a man..." Although, it seems to me, he still exaggerates his common people, because he already came from the family of a village kulak-shopkeeper. Lopakhin himself says: “...my father is deceased - he then traded here in the village in a shop...” And he himself this moment a very successful businessman. According to him, one can judge that things are going very well for him and there is no need to complain to him about life and his fate in relation to money.

In his image one can see all the features of an entrepreneur, a businessman who personifies the real state of Russia and its structure. Lopakhin is a man of his time, who saw the real chain of development of the country, its structure and became involved in the life of society. He lives for today.

Chekhov notes the merchant's kindness and his desire to become a better person. Ermolai Alekseevich remembers how Ranevskaya stood up for him when his father offended him as a child. Lopakhin recalls this with a smile: “Don’t cry, he says, little man, he’ll live until the wedding... (Pause.) Little man...” He sincerely loves her, willingly lends Lyubov Andreevna money, not expecting to ever receive it. For her sake, he tolerates Gaev, who despises and ignores him. The merchant strives to improve his education and learn something new. At the beginning of the play, he is shown with a book in front of the readers. Regarding this, Ermolai Alekseevich says: “I read the book and didn’t understand anything. I read and fell asleep."

Ermolai Lopakhin, the only one in the play who is busy with business, leaves for his merchant needs. In one of the conversations about this you can hear: “I have to go to Kharkov now, at five o’clock in the morning.” He differs from others in his vitality, hard work, optimism, assertiveness, and practicality. He alone offers a real plan to save the estate.

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Homework on the topic: Description of the image of Ranevskaya in the play “ The Cherry Orchard» .

Characteristic literary hero Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna is a landowner. 5 years ago I went abroad after the death of my husband and the death of my little son. She lived in Paris, received guests, and spent a lot of money.
R. is easy to talk to and also very sentimental. She says about Russia: “God knows, I love my homeland, I love it dearly...” Returning to the estate, she cries at the sight of her nursery.
But R. is frivolous and helpless in everyday affairs. She leaves everything to chance or relies on others to solve everyday issues.
The heroine understands that she lives wrong: she sins and wastes money. But she is used to living luxuriously, denying herself nothing, and now she cannot and does not want to change.
The cherry orchard of R. is a memory of childhood and youth, as a symbol of the homeland, as a symbol of the nobility. But she does not want to understand the seriousness of what is happening. R. does not believe that he can lose his garden. Out of sentimental ideas, she does not listen to Lopakhin’s advice to rent out the garden to summer residents: “dachas and summer residents - it’s so vulgar.” It seems to the heroine that everything will work out by itself. But R.’s world collapses. The garden goes to Lopakhin. The heroine, having lost her estate and her homeland, goes back to Paris.

Essay on literature on the topic: Ranevskaya (Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard)

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1. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's play “The Cherry Orchard” is rightfully considered one of the most famous in Russian literature. She is an example of innovation, an opportunity to convey old ideas in a new style. The author laughs at the heroes of the work, revealing the true depth of their feelings and experiences and Read More......
2. In Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard,” the nobility is represented by two main characters – bankrupt landowners Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya and her brother Leonid Andreevich Gaev. Critics who responded to the production of the play at the Art Theater regarded it as the final verdict on the noble class. One of the reviewers of the play Read More......
3. Gaev Characteristics of the literary hero Leonid Andreevich Gaev - Ranevskaya’s brother, landowner. G. says about himself that he is a man of the 80s and that he suffered for his beliefs. Sentimental and sensitive. He is very worried about the sale of the estate. To hide this, the hero Read More......
4. Petya Trofimov Characteristics of the literary hero Trofimov Petya - former teacher dead son Ranevskoy, commoner, 26 or 27 years old. T. is an eternal student who never finishes the course. Fate throws him from place to place. This hero preaches faith in the best Read More......
5. Despite the fact that the play “The Cherry Orchard” was perceived by many of Chekhov’s contemporaries, in particular Stanislavsky, as a tragic work, the author himself believed that “The Cherry Orchard” was “a comedy, sometimes even a farce.” First of all, if we proceed from the definition of the genre, then tragedy is characterized by Read More ......
6. Anya Characteristics of a literary hero Anya is the daughter of Ranevskaya. A girl of 17 years old. A. is in love with Petya Trofimov and is under his influence. I am fascinated by his ideas that the nobility is guilty before the Russian people and must atone for their guilt. A. says that Read More......
7. The main themes of the play “The Cherry Orchard,” written in 1904, are: the death of a noble nest, the victory of an enterprising merchant-industrialist over the obsolete Ranevskaya and Gaev, and an essay on the future of Russia, associated with the images of Petya Trofimov and Anya. Farewell to the new one, Read More......
8. A.P. Chekhov was not only a master of the story, his talent extended to other genres. Thus, Chekhov’s plays, filled with subtle symbolism and vitality, have long become immortal. One of the best and famous works This genre is considered to be “The Cherry Orchard”. This play Read More......

Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna is the main character of the play “The Cherry Orchard,” written by Chekhov. The basis of the plot is the fate of the family estate due to debts. The play clearly shows the alignment of social strata inherent in that time. The nobles are represented by Gaev and Ranevskaya, the entrepreneurs by Lopakhin, and the future and young Russia by Anya and Petya.

All characters are involved in the most important matter - the sale of The Cherry Orchard. Ranevskaya is a landowner and mistress of an estate with a garden; after the death of her husband and son, she moved to Paris. The heroine was accustomed to a luxurious life, she spent money on herself and her lover, dined in restaurants without restrictions, and in the end was left without money and housing.

Characteristics of the heroine

(Actress Olga Knipper as Ranevskaya L.A.)

Ranevskaya’s nature is kind, she is characterized by sentimentality, but in everyday life this turns into helplessness. She looks longingly at the former nursery, but most vividly she remembers the cherry orchard, its fate upsets the lady, it is clear to her that she is not living according to her conscience, but she does not find the strength to change. Since childhood, she has been accustomed to luxury.

The main qualities include:

• sentimentality. He loves his homeland, misses the past, cries when he sees the nursery;
• helpless and frivolous. The heroine cannot behave correctly, spends a lot, sins;
• generous;
• responsive. Can give away the last;
• not serious. The estate is dear to her, but she does not want to understand the importance of her behavior.

It was her fault that Varenka ate poorly, and the estate became overgrown with debts. She does not agree with the idea of ​​​​building dachas on the site of the garden; Ranevskaya hopes that everything will return to normal on its own.

(Maria Ignatova as L.A. Ranevskaya, Bolshoi Drama Theater)

Psychological characteristics of Ranevskaya

The heroine cannot move away from luxury; her way of life does not change even to save the Cherry Orchard. She refuses to organize dachas for rent, considering it vulgar, and does not want to cut down the garden. He is dear to her as a symbol of her homeland, childhood and even nobility. Contrary to common sense, Ranevskaya hopes that her relatives will help her, that everything will pass and smooth out. She wants to live brightly and richly, she is attached to the one with whom she lived in France, and is ready to return, although she knows for sure that she will not be happy. They have features inherent in Russian nobles of that era.

The image of the heroine in the play

(Renata Litvinova as Ranevskaya L.A., Moskovsky Art Theater them. Chekhov)

Lyubov Andreevna went abroad after the death of her husband and the drowning of her son Grisha, and lived there for 5 years. They talk about it as simple and easy person, she lived openly in Paris, receiving guests and wasting her budget. She is sensitive and affectionate towards the butler and daughters. She is the main character, since it was her spending and inaction that led to the sale of the mansion for debts, and its purchase by Lopakhin during the bidding process. The lady's hopes were not justified; she lost both her garden and her estate, and returned to Paris heartbroken. Ranevskaya is a true noblewoman, and behaves accordingly. Even when leaving, she appropriates the money sent to her daughter.

(Galina Nizova— Ranevskaya L.A., Theater and Cinema Studio)

What does the image of Ranevskaya show?

Each character in the play shows a certain moment Russian reality. Ranevskaya is a symbol of the country in the past; she remembers how the garden gave abundant harvests, and regrets that this is no longer the case. At the same time, she tries to maintain the previous level, party and organize balls. In symbolic forms, Chekhov predicted future events in Russia.

Ranevskaya's past

Noblewoman. Landowner. At one time, she “married a lawyer, not a nobleman,” and, according to Gaev, “she behaved in a very virtuous manner.”

Six years ago her husband died (“he drank terribly”), she fell in love with another man. A month later, seven-year-old son Grisha drowned. Ranevskaya couldn’t stand it and left. “Mom couldn’t bear it, she left, left without looking back.”

Her new lover I went after her. She lived abroad for five years. I bought a dacha near Menton. He fell ill there, and she looked after him for three years. Then she went broke, sold her dacha, and went to Paris.

He robbed her and went to someone else. His love, by her own admission, tormented her. She tried to poison herself. “My soul has dried up,” she says about herself.

Anya tells Varya: “We arrive in Paris, it’s cold and snowy there. I speak French terrible. Mom lives on the fifth floor, I come to her, she has some French ladies, an old priest with a book, and it’s smoky and uncomfortable. I suddenly felt sorry for my mother, so sorry, I hugged her head, squeezed her with my hands and couldn’t let go. Mom then kept caressing and crying...”

What a contrast this French home of Ranevskaya looks like compared to her estate: some people, it’s smoky, it’s uncomfortable. And in the middle of all this is a priest!

Let's think about it: Ranevskaya lost her son and, as Anya says, could not bear it, she left. But we note that she left her twelve-year-old daughter, leaving her in the care of nineteen-year-old Varya.

Having lost one child due to circumstances, she leaves the second at will. She leaves the girl practically an orphan. From twelve to seventeen years old, Anya grows up alone. Then how exactly at this age (and not only at this age) a girl needs a mother! Did Ranevskaya think about this?

It is believed that Ranevskaya, returning to Russia, is running away from her unhappy love, just as she once ran away from her from Russia. But she doesn’t come on her own! Her daughter went after her (and what else?) Would Ranevskaya have returned to this house, to this so beloved garden in words, if Anya had not gone to her (for her) herself? Maybe, after all, there, in the smoky rooms, with a series of familiar and unfamiliar faces, she wasn’t as bad as she might seem now?

Maybe Varya is so unhappy because the whole house is left to her? She fulfilled her duty (this sounds too high), she helped Anya grow up, and who will help her? She was not used to relying on anyone, only herself. And to God. Maybe that’s why she became so devout because there was no help from people.

And uncle? Did he help? Why did the estate go bankrupt? No answer. But, on the other hand, it is on the surface. And who took care of him? Who needed it? Varya was unable to do this.

Present Ranevskaya

So, Ranevskaya returned home after a five-year absence. I'm glad to see my home again, because this is where she spent her childhood. “I slept here when I was little... And now I’m like a little girl...” (Laughs.) I want to jump, wave my arms... I can’t sit, I’m not able to... (Jumps up and walks around in great excitement.)

He speaks joyfully, through tears; cries, kisses Varya, brother, Dunyasha.

Her estate is ruined, an auction is scheduled for August 22, but she does nothing to save it. Moreover, despite the fact that she is ruined, Ranevskaya wastes money. He lends money to Pishchik and gives a hundred rubles to a stranger.

Anya says: “I also don’t have a penny left, I barely got there. And mom doesn't understand! We sit down at the station for lunch, and she demands the most expensive thing and gives the footmen a ruble each as a tip.” Varya: “If she had her way, she would give everything away.”

The symbol of Ranevskaya and her life is coffee. Expensive, refined drink. Symbol of prosperity. She's broke, but she can't give up coffee. And he doesn't want to.

Ranevskaya about the garden

“What an amazing garden! White masses of flowers, blue sky..."; “The garden is all white. Oh my childhood, my purity! I slept in this nursery, looked at the garden from here, happiness woke up with me every morning, and then he was exactly the same, nothing has changed. (Laughs with joy.) All, all white! O my garden! After a dark stormy autumn and a cold winter, you are young again, full of happiness, the heavenly angels have not left you... If only the heavy stone could be removed from my chest and shoulders, if only I could forget my past!”

For Ranevskaya, the garden is the last outlet, the last refuge, the last happiness, all that is left for her. Ranevskaya cannot cut down the garden and destroy the house! Let us remember how she reacts to Lopakhin’s proposal: “Knock 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.”

Let's pay attention to the symbolism of color: the garden is all white. White - pure, untouched, spiritual, immaculate. " White color symbolizes purity, spotlessness, innocence, virtue, joy. It is associated with daylight... Associated with whiteness is the idea of ​​the obvious, the generally accepted, the legal, the true.”

Looking at the garden, Ranevskaya exclaims: “Oh my childhood, my purity!” The White Garden is a symbol of the heroine’s childhood and purity, a symbol of happiness. But the last part of Ranevskaya’s monologue sounds tragic. She talks about the autumn and winter that the garden experienced. After autumn and winter, nature inevitably awakens and spring comes.

Leaves appear again, flowers bloom. “You are young again, full of happiness.” And the man? Man, unfortunately, is built differently. And we will never be able to say: “I am young again. Childhood, youth cannot be returned. It is impossible to forget the past. Misfortunes and sorrows cannot go away without a trace. Absolutely with clean slate a person probably cannot begin to live. That's why he's a man. And Ranevskaya’s last exclamation confirms this.

This is the pain that childhood is gone, youth is gone, more that's life passed, and not the best in the best possible way. And when did this happen? How, where and with whom did your life pass?

On the one hand, I’m very sorry for Ranevskaya. Especially at that moment when Petya Trofimov mercilessly throws it in her face: “Whether the estate is sold today or not, does it matter? It has long been finished, there is no turning back, the path is overgrown. Calm down, darling. There is no need to deceive yourself, you need to look the truth straight in the eye at least once in your life.”

For her, the garden is childhood, youth, happiness, and she cannot erase these memories, she cannot give up her garden so easily. “After all, I was born here, my father and mother lived here, my grandfather, I love this house, without cherry orchard I don’t understand my life, and if you really need to sell, then sell me along with the garden... (Hugs Trofimov, kisses him on the forehead). After all, my son drowned here... (Crying.) Have pity on me, good, kind man.”

But at the same time, Petya is right! Ranevskaya is too dependent on her memories, on her past. She doesn’t want to face the truth, doesn’t want to understand, for example, that the garden has long become a memory, and her lover is a scoundrel.

Of course, Trofimov is harsh. But he tells the truth, which Ranevskaya does not want to listen to.

It turns out there is no way out? There is an exit. You just need to stop and think, rethink your life, your actions, listen to yourself and make some effort on yourself.

I also remember Gaev’s words that his sister is vicious... What is Ranevskaya in reality? Why does her brother talk about her like that? By individual details one can only guess.

Is Ranevskaya ready to change, is she ready to realize why she has all this? I think not. Varya, for example, says about her: “Mommy is still the same as she was, she hasn’t changed at all.”

Can the house where she spent her childhood and the garden help Ranevskaya find peace and regain her lost happiness? Let's pay attention to how she reacts to telegrams coming to her from Paris.

"Varya. Here, mommy, there are two telegrams for you...
R a nevskaya. This is from Paris. (Tears up the telegrams without reading them.) It’s over with Paris.”

Doesn't read the telegram. Is the past over?

Thus, no matter what the result of the auction was, Ranevskaya would still have left. This decision was made, as we see, much earlier than the sale of the estate. Neither “the whole white garden” nor anyone else would have helped her find happiness. She returned to her garden, but it is impossible to return to her youth and start all over again.

Does Ranevskaya have a choice? Without a doubt. I think a person always has a choice. Live the same way as before (with a scoundrel who robs and tortures her), or stay here. Yes, the garden will be sold (if she decides to do so), but something more important will remain. For example, daughter.

But, having stopped at a certain point, she did not move towards her happiness, but went in the same circle: Paris, he, tough love with betrayal, betrayal, scenes of jealousy, tears, the desire to commit suicide, “some French, ladies, an old priest with a book, and it’s smoky and uncomfortable.” After this, who should you blame for your failed life?

The future of Ranevskaya

Everything is clear with Ranevskaya’s future. But what kind of future does Ranevskaya prepare for her daughter Anya, still so young, open and naive? Some remarks make you think that Anya is very similar to her mother.

Probably just as dreamy, enthusiastic, wanting to fly and enjoy life. Ranevskaya, like her daughter, dreamed of happiness, love... And she didn’t think about the bad, and it seemed that there would never be troubles and adversity... Where did it all go if Ranevskaya was exactly like that? Did she think that life would turn out this way?

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The play "The Cherry Orchard" - last piece A.P. Chekhov. It is called a play about the decline of noble life and the rise of the imaginary and true masters of Russia.

The scene takes place on the estate main character works by Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya. She is one of the representatives of the noble class who were unable to adapt to new living conditions, namely the abolition of serfdom.

Ranevskaya was born and raised in Russia, but after the death of her husband and son she moved to Paris.

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All her important and unforgettable moments of life are connected with her homeland, with the cherry orchard: “...Oh, my childhood, my purity! I slept in this nursery, looked at the garden from here, happiness woke up with me every morning, and then he was exactly the same, nothing has changed. All, all white! Oh, my garden, after the dark, stormy autumn and cold winter, you are young again, full of happiness, the angels of heaven have not left you..."

We see that this woman is very simple, but at the same time frivolous. She was used to living in luxury and wasting money by receiving various guests in Paris. The heroine realizes her mistakes, but cannot correct them herself: “...Yesterday there was a lot of money, but today there is very little. My poor Varya, to save money, feeds everyone milk soup, in the kitchen the old people are given one pea, and I spend it somehow senselessly...” Lyubov Andreevna tries to blame all her problems on others.

After an unsuccessful love, she returns to her estate five years later. She has to solve the problem with her debts, because of which the cherry orchard could be sold. To get rid of debts, Lopakhin invites her to cut down the old cherry orchard and hand it over to summer residents, to which she sharply objects: “Cut down? My dear, forgive me, you don’t understand anything. If there is anything interesting, even wonderful, in the entire province, it’s only our cherry orchard...” Although, we see that she doesn’t make any decisions, as if everything will pass and be settled. From such inaction, Ranevskaya loses her estate and goes back to Paris.

As we see, Ranevskaya has been trying to escape from troubles and suffering all her life. She is not ready for sharp turns in her life. The essence of this work is not that Ranevskaya and her family lost their cherry orchard, but that their feelings became crushed.

Updated: 2014-05-13

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