Speaker A
Hello everyone. I remind you that in this section I briefly retell the books that I’ve read.
A detailed retelling and analysis of Anton Chekhov's play 'The Cherry Orchard,' exploring its themes, characters, and critical reception.
Key Takeaways
- The Cherry Orchard is a tragic-comedy highlighting social and economic changes in Russia.
- Denial and nostalgia prevent the characters from saving their estate.
- Lopakhin represents new wealth and social mobility, contrasting with the fading aristocracy.
- The cherry orchard symbolizes both cultural heritage and economic impracticality.
- Critical reception includes debate about the play’s realism and symbolism.
Summary
- The video is a brief retelling of Anton Chekhov's last play, 'The Cherry Orchard,' written shortly before his death.
- The story is set at the estate of landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya in early 20th century Russia.
- Lyubov returns from abroad with her daughter Anya, facing financial ruin and the impending sale of their estate including the cherry orchard.
- Merchant Ermolai Lopakhin, whose family were former serfs of Lyubov's ancestors, proposes cutting down the orchard to lease plots for income.
- Lyubov and her brother Gaev reject Lopakhin's practical business advice, hoping for a miraculous solution.
- The estate is auctioned and bought by Lopakhin, who plans to cut down the orchard and build cottages, symbolizing social change.
- Themes include the clash between old aristocracy and rising bourgeoisie, denial of reality, and the loss of heritage.
- The video also discusses the significance of the word 'vishnevy' (cherry) and its accents affecting meaning—commercial vs. poetic value.
- Criticism by writer Ivan Bunin is mentioned, who doubted the realism of the cherry orchard setting and some plot details.
- The video ends with reflections on characters’ fates and the symbolic destruction of the orchard.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
It means that if you view this story, you will know about the book as much as the person who read it.
Speaker A
Today's classic play is Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard." This was the last play he wrote. A year later, he died.
Speaker A
Chekhov believed that "The Cherry Orchard" is a comedy. What should I say? There is not much fun in it. But the play itself is really cool.
Speaker A
Its action takes place in the estate of the landowner Ranevskaya at the beginning of the 20th century.
Speaker A
Mistress Lyubov Andreevna returns home from abroad, where she lived for five years. Along with her comes her 17-year-old daughter Anya.
Speaker A
The maid Dunyasha and the merchant Ermolai Lopakhin were very excited to meet them. Adopted daughter Varya, 24 years old, went to meet her mom and sister.
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Anya was in Paris for not a very long time. She told her sister that her mother had to sell everything in Paris. There was nothing left.
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And there was no money too. And that her mother does not understand the complexity of the situation: she orders the most expensive dishes in the restaurant and leaves a big tip.
Speaker A
The merchant Lopakhin is in love with Varya (the daughter of Lyubov Andreevna). And she also treats him with sympathy.
Speaker A
That's just Lopakhin does not ask her to marry him. And by itself, it will not arise.
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Lopakhin doesn’t think about wedding because he's a businessman; he earns money. Lyubov Andreevna once helped Lopakhin. And the author didn’t write how.
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Father and grandfather Lopakhin were serfs at the time, which means that they were slaves of the grandfather and father of Lyubov Andreevna.
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Mistress loves her home literally all in it: rooms, wardrobe, chairs, and especially the cherry orchard, which will be sold very soon at auction for debts.
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Lopakhin, as a man of business, proposed to Lyubov Andreevna a way out of this difficult situation.
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It needs to lay out the garden plots and lease them. The location is good (near the river).
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There will be numerous tenants. The garden, of course, will need to be cut down.
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- How to cut down? It's the attraction of all the province! - But it gives cherries only once in two years. And no one buys it.
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And if you are going to chew snot, you will lose not only the garden but all the estate too!
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Nobody wants to listen to Lopakhin's words. Somehow, with God's help, everything will be resolved. Brother of Lyubov Andreevna, Gaev, outlined some steps to rescue the situation.
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Let Lyubov Andreevna ask for money from Lopakhin – he will not refuse. And she can also get the money from her aunt from Yaroslavl (the old Countess).
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"Something will work out," swears Gaev. Well, well... Let's look at what will happen... Lopakhin is trying to convince Lyubov Andreevna to separate her garden into plots and save her family estate.
Speaker A
- Oh, garden, gardeners, it is so vulgar. - Your estate will be taken away. Are you stupid? (not in those words, of course, but the meaning is correct) And this silly woman argues that yes – she is not able to dispose of money:
Speaker A
litters them on the left and to the right. This is her God punishing her for sins. Here she justifies the dullness.
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Local eternal student Peter Trofimov is hitting on Anna. The merchant Lopakhin constantly trolls him, saying that at 50 he will still be a student.
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Anna likes it. Here came the day of the auction. Lyubov Andreevna did not go there. She sent her brother instead.
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He got back together with Lopakhin. The brother was keeping silent, Lopakhin looked kind of weird.
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Lyubov Andreevna is excited: - Is it sold? - Sold. - Who bought? - Me!
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Pause... And then Lopakhin "broke through": - If my father and grandfather only saw it. Slaves here were not allowed even to go to the kitchen.
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But now I am the master of this estate! I’ll cut down the cherry orchard and will build cottages!
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Lyubov Andreevna was in tears! Despite the fact that all is honest. At a time when he earned money, Lyubov Andreevna was losing them.
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He offered a solution – she had rejected it. What claim can be there? In two months, the former owners leave the estate. And Lopakhin too.
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Lyubov Andreevna with her brother crying bitterly, leaving the house. It was necessary to think earlier and not to chew snot!
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Lopakhin still didn’t marry Varya. He had thought about it. But, apparently, business for him was more important.
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No one stays in the estate in winter except the forgotten old footman. And only in the distance, the noise of the axe could be heard.
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Further, the speech about accents in the Russian word "vishnevy." The sense of the word changes depending on where the accent is - on the first or second syllable.
Speaker A
At an accent on the first syllable, the sense is such: it is a business, commercial garden which brings in income.
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At an accent on the second syllable, the sense is such: the garden does not give profit. It stores in itself the poetry of former lordly life.
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Such a garden grows and blossoms for a whim, for the eyes of the spoiled aesthetes. It is a pity to destroy it. And it is necessary.
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Writer Ivan Bunin criticized this play. He said that Chekhov didn’t know estates because there were no solid cherry orchards anywhere in them.
Speaker A
Because the cherry is an ugly tree, clumsy, with small leaves, small flowers. And it’s not true that Lopakhin cut down the garden in the presence of the former mistress and did not wait for her departure.
Topics:Anton ChekhovThe Cherry OrchardRussian literatureclassic playsocial changearistocracybourgeoisieestatecherry orchardliterary analysis
