The era of the greatest aggravation of social relations, stormy social movement, the preparation of the first Russian revolution was clearly reflected in the last major work of the writer - the play " The Cherry Orchard". Chekhov saw the growth of the revolutionary consciousness of the people, their dissatisfaction with the autocratic regime. Chekhov's general democratic position was reflected in The Cherry Orchard: the characters of the play, being in great ideological clashes and contradictions, do not reach open enmity. However, in the play, in a sharply critical way, the world of the noble-bourgeois is shown, and in light colors outlined people striving for a new life.

Chekhov responds to the most topical demands of the time. The play "The Cherry Orchard", being the completion of the Russian critical realism, struck contemporaries with its unusual truthfulness and convexity of the image.

Although The Cherry Orchard is based entirely on everyday material, life in it has a generalizing, symbolic meaning. This is achieved by the playwright through the use of "undercurrent". The cherry orchard itself is not in the center of Chekhov's attention: the symbolic garden is the whole motherland (“the whole of Russia is our garden”) - Therefore, the theme of the play is the fate of the motherland, its future. The old masters of it, the nobles Ranevsky and Gaev, are leaving the stage, and the capitalists Lopakhins are replacing them. But their dominance is short-lived, for they are the destroyers of beauty.

The real masters of life will come, and they will turn Russia into a blooming garden. The ideological pathos of the play is in the denial of the noble-landlord system as outdated. At the same time, the writer argues that the bourgeoisie, which is replacing the nobility, despite its viability, brings destruction and oppression with it. Chekhov believes that new forces will come that will rebuild life on the basis of justice and humanity. Farewell to the new, young, tomorrow's Russia with the past, obsolete, doomed to an imminent end, the aspiration to tomorrow for the motherland - this is the content of The Cherry Orchard.

The peculiarity of the play is that it is based on showing the clashes of people who are representatives of different social strata - nobles, capitalists, raznochintsy and the people, but their clashes are not hostile. The main thing here is not in the contradictions of the property order, but in the deep disclosure of the emotional experiences of the characters. Ranevskaya, Gaev and Simeonov-Pishchik make up a group of local nobles. The work of the playwright was complicated by the fact that in these heroes it was necessary to show and positive traits. Gaev and Pishchik are kind, honest and simple, while Ranevskaya is also endowed with aesthetic feelings (love for music and nature). But at the same time, they are all weak-willed, inactive, incapable of practical deeds.

Ranevskaya and Gaev are the owners of the estate, “there is nothing more beautiful in the world,” as one of the heroes of the play, Lopakhin, says, a delightful estate, the beauty of which lies in a poetic cherry orchard. The "owners" brought the estate with their frivolity, complete misunderstanding real life to a miserable state, the estate will be sold at auction. The wealthy peasant son, the merchant Lopakhin, a family friend, warns the owners of the impending catastrophe, offers them his projects of salvation, and urges them to think about the impending disaster. But Ranevskaya and Gaev live in illusory representations. Both shed many tears over the loss of their cherry orchard, which they are sure they cannot live without. But things go on as usual, auctions take place, and Lopakhin himself: he buys the estate.

When the trouble happened, it turns out that there is no special drama for Ranevskaya and Gaev. Ranevskaya returns to Paris, to her ridiculous "love", to which she would have returned anyway, despite all her words that she cannot live without a homeland and without a cherry orchard. Gaev also comes to terms with what happened. A “terrible drama,” which, however, did not turn out to be a drama for its heroes at all, for the simple reason that they cannot have anything serious at all, nothing dramatic. The merchant Lopakhin personifies the second group of images. Him special meaning Chekhov attached: “... the role of Lopakhin is central. If it fails, then the whole play will fail.”

Lopakhin replaces Ranevsky and Gaev. The playwright insistently emphasizes the relative progressiveness of this bourgeois. He is energetic, efficient, smart and enterprising; he works from morning to evening. His practical advice if Ranevskaya had accepted them, they would have saved the estate. Lopakhin's "thin, tender soul”, thin fingers, like an artist. However, he recognizes only utilitarian beauty. Pursuing the goals of enrichment, Lopakhin destroys beauty - he cuts down the cherry orchard.

The reign of the Lopakhins is transient. New people will come to the stage for them - Trofimov and Anya, who make up the third group of characters. They embody the future. It is Trofimov who pronounces the verdict on the “noble nests”. “Is the estate sold today,” he says to Ranevskaya, “or not sold, does it matter? It’s been over for a long time, there’s no turning back…”

In Trofimov, Chekhov embodied aspiration for the future and devotion to public duty. It is he, Trofimov, who glorifies labor and calls for labor: “Humanity is moving forward, improving its strength. Everything that is inaccessible to him now will someday become close, understandable, but now you have to work, help with all your might to those who seek the truth.

True, specific ways to change the social structure are not clear to Trofimov. He only declaratively calls to the future. And the playwright endowed him with the features of eccentricity (remember the episodes of searching for galoshes and falling down the stairs). But still, his service to the public interest, his calls awakened the surrounding people and forced them to look ahead.

Trofimov is supported by Anya Ranevskaya, a poetic and enthusiastic girl. Petya Trofimov urges Anya to turn her life around. Anya's connections with ordinary people, her reflections helped her notice the absurdity, the awkwardness of what she observed around. Conversations with Petya Trofimov made clear to her the injustice of the life around her.

Under the influence of conversations with Petya Trofimov, Anya came to the conclusion that her mother's family estate belongs to the people, that it is unfair to own it, that one must live by work and work for the benefit of the disadvantaged people.

Enthusiastic Anya was captured and carried away by Trofimov's romantically upbeat speeches about a new life, about the future, and she became a supporter of his beliefs and dreams. Anya Ranevskaya is one of those who, having believed in the truth of working life, parted ways with their class. She does not feel sorry for the cherry orchard, she no longer loves it as before; she realized that behind him were the reproachful eyes of the people who planted and nurtured him.

Clever, honest, crystal clear in her thoughts and desires, Anya happily leaves the cherry orchard, the old manor house where she spent her childhood, adolescence and youth. She says with delight: “Farewell, home! Farewell, old life! But Anya's ideas about a new life are not only vague, but also naive. Turning to her mother, she says: “We will read in autumn evenings Let's read a lot of books, and a new, wonderful world will open before us ... "

Anya's path to a new life will be extremely difficult. After all, she is practically helpless: she is used to living, ordering numerous servants, in full abundance, carefree, not thinking about daily bread, about tomorrow. She is not trained in any profession, not prepared for constant, hard work and for everyday deprivation in the most necessary. Aspiring to a new life, she, in her way of life and habits, remained a young lady of the nobility and local circle.

It is possible that Anya will not withstand the temptation of a new life and will retreat before her trials. But if she finds the necessary strength in herself, then her new life will be in her studies, in the enlightenment of the people and, perhaps (who knows!), in the political struggle for their interests. After all, she understood and remembered Trofimov's words that to redeem the past, to end it "is possible only by suffering, only by extraordinary, uninterrupted labor."

The pre-revolutionary politicized atmosphere in which society lived could not but affect the perception of the play. The Cherry Orchard was immediately understood as Chekhov's most social play, embodying the destinies of entire classes: the outgoing nobility, who replaced capitalism, and the already living and acting people of the future. This superficial approach to the play was picked up and developed by the literary criticism of the Soviet period.

However, the play turned out to be much higher than the political passions that flared up around it. Already contemporaries noted the philosophical depth of the play, dismissing its sociological reading. The publisher and journalist A. S. Suvorin claimed that the author of The Cherry Orchard was aware that “something very important is being destroyed, perhaps due to historical necessity, but still this is a tragedy of Russian life.”

Introduction
1. Problems of the play by A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard"
2. The embodiment of the past - Ranevskaya and Gaev
3. Spokesman for the ideas of the present - Lopakhin
4. Heroes of the future - Petya and Anya
Conclusion
List of used literature

Introduction

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is a writer of powerful creative talent and a kind of subtle skill, manifested with equal brilliance, both in his stories and in stories and plays.
Chekhov's plays constituted an entire epoch in Russian dramaturgy and Russian theater and had an immeasurable influence on all their subsequent development.
Continuing and deepening best traditions dramaturgy of critical realism, Chekhov strove to ensure that his plays were dominated by the truth of life, unadorned, in all its usual, everyday life.
showing natural flow Everyday life ordinary people, Chekhov bases his plots on not one, but several organically connected, intertwined conflicts. At the same time, conflict is predominantly the leading and unifying one. actors not with each other, but with the entire social environment surrounding them.

The problems of the play by A.P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard"

The play "The Cherry Orchard" occupies a special place in Chekhov's work. Before her, he aroused the idea of ​​the need to change reality by showing the hostility of living conditions to a person, highlighting those features of his characters that doomed them to the position of a victim. In The Cherry Orchard, reality is depicted in its historical development. The theme of changing social structures is being widely developed. Noble estates with their parks and cherry orchards, with their unreasonable owners, are fading into the past. They are being replaced by businesslike and practical people, they are the present of Russia, but not its future. Only the younger generation has the right to purify and change life. Hence the main idea of ​​the play: the establishment of a new social force that opposes not only the nobility, but also the bourgeoisie and is called upon to rebuild life on the basis of genuine humanity and justice.
Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard" was written during the period of public upheaval of the masses in 1903. It opens to us another page of his multifaceted work, reflecting the complex phenomena of that time. The play amazes us with its poetic power, drama, and is perceived by us as a sharp denunciation of the social ulcers of society, exposing those people whose thoughts and actions are far from moral norms of behavior. The writer vividly shows deep psychological conflicts, helps the reader to see the reflection of events in the souls of the characters, makes us think about the meaning of true love and true happiness. Chekhov easily takes us from our present to the distant past. Together with his heroes, we live near the cherry orchard, we see its beauty, we clearly feel the problems of that time, together with the heroes we try to find answers to difficult questions. It seems to me that the play "The Cherry Orchard" is a play about the past, present and future not only of its heroes, but of the country as a whole. The author shows the clash of representatives of the past, the present and the future embedded in this present. I think that Chekhov succeeded in showing the justice of the inevitable departure from the historical arena of such seemingly harmless persons as the owners of the cherry orchard. So who are they, the owners of the garden? What connects their life with his existence? Why is the cherry orchard dear to them? Answering these questions, Chekhov reveals an important problem - the problem of the outgoing life, its worthlessness and conservatism.
The very name Chekhov's play tunes in a lyrical way. In our mind, a bright and unique image of a blooming garden emerges, embodying beauty and striving for a better life. The main plot of the comedy is connected with the sale of this old noble estate. This event largely determines the fate of its owners and inhabitants. Thinking about the fate of the heroes, one involuntarily thinks about more, about the ways of Russia's development: its past, present and future.

The embodiment of the past - Ranevskaya and Gaev

The spokesman for the ideas of the present - Lopakhin

Heroes of the future - Petya and Anya

All this involuntarily leads us to the idea that the country needs completely different people who will do other great things. And these other people are Petya and Anya.
Trofimov is a democrat by birth, by habits and convictions. Creating images of Trofimov, Chekhov expresses in this image such leading features as devotion public cause, striving for a better future and propaganda of the struggle for it, patriotism, adherence to principles, courage, diligence. Trofimov, despite his 26 or 27 years, has a great and difficult life experience behind him. He has already been expelled from the university twice. He has no confidence that he will not be expelled a third time and that he will not remain a "perpetual student".
Experiencing hunger, and need, and political persecution, he did not lose faith in new life which will be based on fair, humane laws and creative creative work. Petya Trofimov sees the failure of the nobility, mired in idleness and inaction. He gives a largely correct assessment of the bourgeoisie, noting its progressive role in the economic development of the country, but denying it the role of the creator and builder of a new life. In general, his statements are distinguished by directness and sincerity. With sympathy for Lopakhin, he nevertheless compares him with a predatory beast, "which eats everything that comes in its way." In his opinion, the Lopakhins are not able to decisively change life, building it on reasonable and fair principles. Petya evokes deep thoughts in Lopakhin, who in his heart envies the conviction of this "shabby gentleman", which he himself so lacks.
Trofimov's thoughts about the future are too vague and abstract. “We are moving irresistibly towards the bright star that burns there in the distance!” he says to Anya. Yes, the goal is great. But how to achieve it? Where is the main force that can turn Russia into a blooming garden?
Some refer to Petya with light irony, others with undisguised love. In his speeches, one can hear a direct condemnation of a dying life, a call for a new one: “I will come. I will reach or show others the way how to reach. And points. He points it out to Anya, whom he loves passionately, although he skillfully hides this, realizing that another path is destined for him. He tells her: “If you have the keys to the household, then throw them into the well and leave. Be free as the wind."
In the klutz and the “shabby gentleman” (as Trofimova Varya ironically calls) there is no strength and business acumen of Lopakhin. He submits to life, stoically enduring its blows, but is not able to master it and become the master of his fate. True, he captivated Anya with his democratic ideas, who expresses her readiness to follow him, firmly believing in a wonderful dream of a new flowering garden. But this young seventeen-year-old girl, who gathered information about life mainly from books, pure, naive and spontaneous, had not yet encountered reality.
Anya is full of hope, vitality, but she still has so much inexperience and childhood. In terms of character, she is in many ways close to her mother: she has love for beautiful word, to sensitive intonations. At the beginning of the play, Anya is carefree, quickly moving from concern to animation. She is practically helpless, accustomed to live carefree, not thinking about daily bread, about tomorrow. But all this does not prevent Anya from breaking with her usual views and way of life. Its evolution is taking place before our eyes. Anya's new views are still naive, but she forever says goodbye to the old house and the old world.
It is not known whether she will have enough spiritual strength, stamina and courage to go through the path of suffering, labor and deprivation to the end. Will she be able to maintain that ardent faith in the best, which makes her say goodbye to her without regret? old life? Chekhov does not answer these questions. And it's natural. After all, one can only speak about the future presumably.

Conclusion

The truth of life in all its sequence and completeness - this is what Chekhov was guided by when creating his images. That is why each character in his plays is a living human character, attracting with great meaning and deep emotionality, convincing with its naturalness, warmth of human feelings.
By the strength of his direct emotional impact, Chekhov is perhaps the most outstanding playwright in the art of critical realism.
Chekhov's dramaturgy, which responded to topical issues of their time, appealing to the everyday interests, experiences and worries of ordinary people, awakened the spirit of protest against inertia and routine, called for social activity to improve life. Therefore, it has always had a huge impact on readers and viewers. The significance of Chekhov's dramaturgy has long gone beyond the borders of our homeland, it has become global. Chekhov's dramatic innovation is widely recognized outside our great homeland. I am proud that Anton Pavlovich is a Russian writer, and no matter how different the masters of culture are, they probably all agree that Chekhov, with his works, prepared the world for a better life more beautiful, more fair, more reasonable.
If Chekhov peered hopefully into the 20th century, which was just beginning, then we live in the new 21st century, we still dream of our cherry orchard and those who will grow it. Flowering trees cannot grow without roots. Roots are past and present. Therefore, in order for a beautiful dream to come true, the younger generation must combine high culture, education with practical knowledge of reality, will, perseverance, diligence, humane goals, that is, to embody the best features of Chekhov's heroes.

Bibliography

1. History of Russian literature second half of XIX century / ed. prof. N.I. Kravtsova. Publisher: Education - Moscow 1966.
2. Exam questions and answers. Literature. 9th and 11th grades. Tutorial. - M.: AST - PRESS, 2000.
3. A. A. Egorova. How to write an essay on "5". Tutorial. Rostov-on-Don, "Phoenix", 2001.
4. Chekhov A.P. Stories. Plays. – M.: Olimp; Firma LLC, AST Publishing House, 1998.

The play "The Cherry Orchard", the last dramatic work Anton Pavlovich Chekhov can be considered a kind of testament of the writer, which reflects Chekhov's cherished thoughts, his thoughts about the past, present and future of Russia.

The plot of the play is based on the history of a noble estate. As a result of the changes taking place in Russian society, the former owners of the estate are forced to give way to new ones. This plot outline is very symbolic, it reflects the important stages of the socio-historical development of Russia. The fates of Chekhov's characters turn out to be connected with the cherry orchard, in the image of which the past, present and future intersect. The heroes reminisce about the past of the estate, about those times when the cherry orchard, cultivated by serfs, still brought income. This period coincided with the childhood and youth of Ranevskaya and Gaev, and they recall these happy, carefree years with involuntary nostalgia. But serfdom has long been abolished, the estate is gradually falling into decay, the cherry orchard is no longer profitable. It's telegraph time railways, the era of business people and entrepreneurs.

The representative of this new formation is Lopakhin in Chekhov's play, who comes from a family of former serfs Ranevskaya. His memories of the past are of a completely different nature, his ancestors were slaves in the very estate, of which he is now becoming the owner.

Conversations, memories, disputes, conflicts - all the external action of the Chekhov play is centered around the fate of the estate and the cherry orchard. Immediately after the arrival of Ranevskaya, conversations begin about how to save the mortgaged and remortgaged estate from bidding. As the play progresses, this problem will become more and more acute.

But, as is most often the case with Chekhov, there is no real struggle, a real clash between the former and future owners of the cherry orchard in the play. Just the opposite. Lopakhin is doing everything possible to help Ranevskaya save the estate from sale, but the complete lack of business skills prevents the hapless owners of the estate from taking advantage of useful tips; they are only enough for lamentations and empty rantings. Chekhov is not at all interested in the struggle between the emerging bourgeoisie and the nobility giving up their place to it, the fate of specific people, the fate of all of Russia, is much more important for him.

Ranevskaya and Gaev are doomed to lose the estate, which is so dear to them and with which they are connected.

so many memories, and the reason for this lies not only in their inability to heed Lopakhin's practical advice. The time is coming to pay the old bills, and the debt of their ancestors, the debt of their family, the historical guilt of their entire estate has not yet been redeemed. The present stems from the past, their connection is obvious, it is not for nothing that Lyubov Andreevna dreams of her late mother in a white dress in a blooming garden. It reminds of the past itself. It is very symbolic that Ranevskaya and Gaev, whose fathers and grandfathers did not let those at the expense of whom they fed and lived, even into the kitchen, are now completely dependent on Lopakhin, who has become rich. In this, Chekhov sees retribution and shows that the lordly way of life, although it is covered with a poetic haze of beauty, corrupts people, destroys the souls of those who are involved in it. Such, for example, is Firs. For him, the abolition of serfdom is a terrible misfortune, as a result of which he, needed by no one and forgotten by everyone, will be left alone in an empty house ... The lackey Yasha was born from the same aristocratic way of life. He no longer has the devotion to the masters that distinguishes old Firs, but he, without a twinge of conscience, uses all the benefits and conveniences that he can derive from his life under the wing of the kindest Ranevskaya.

Lopakhin is a man of a different stock and a different formation. He is businesslike, has a strong grip and knows exactly what and how to do today. It is he who gives specific advice on how to save the estate. However, being a businesslike and practical person and favorably differing in this from Ranevskaya and Gaev, Lopakhin is completely devoid of spirituality, the ability to perceive beauty. The magnificent cherry orchard is interesting to him only as an investment, it is remarkable only because it is “very large”; and proceeding from purely practical considerations, Lopakhin proposes to cut it down in order to lease the land for summer cottages - this is more profitable. Ignoring the feelings of Ranevskaya and Gaev (not out of malice, no, but simply because of the lack of spiritual subtlety), he orders to start cutting down the garden, without waiting for the departure of the former owners.

It is noteworthy that in Chekhov's play there is not a single happy person. Ranevskaya, who came from Paris to repent of her sins and find peace in the family estate, is forced to return back with old sins and problems, as the estate is sold by auction, and the garden is cut down. Faithful servant Firs is buried alive in a boarded-up house, where he served all his life. Charlotte's future is unknown; years pass without bringing joy, and dreams of love and motherhood never come true. Varya, who did not wait for Lopakhin's offer, is hired by some Ragulins. Perhaps the fate of Gaev is a little better - he gets a place in the bank, but he is unlikely to make a successful financier.

With the cherry orchard, in which the past and the present intersect so intricately, reflections on the future are also connected.

Tomorrow, which, according to Chekhov, should be better than the day today are personified in the play by Anya and Petya Trofimov. True, Petya, this thirty-year-old "eternal student", is hardly capable of real deeds and deeds; he just knows how to talk a lot and beautifully. Anya is another matter. Realizing the beauty of the cherry orchard, she at the same time understands that the garden is doomed, just as the past slave life is doomed, just as the present, full of spiritual practicality, is also doomed. But in the future, Anya is sure, the triumph of justice and beauty should come. In her words: "We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this" is not only a desire to console the mother, but also an attempt to present a new, future life. Inheriting from Ranevskaya spiritual sensitivity and susceptibility to the beautiful, Anya at the same time is full of a sincere desire to change, to remake life. She is directed to the future, ready to work and even sacrifice in its name; she dreams of the time when the whole way of life will change, when she will turn into a blooming garden, giving people joy and happiness.

How to arrange such a life? Chekhov does not give recipes for this. Yes, they cannot be, because it is important that every person, having experienced dissatisfaction with what is, catches fire with a dream of beauty, so that he himself would look for a way to a new life.

“All of Russia is our garden” - these significant words are repeatedly heard in the play, turning the story of the ruin of the estate and the death of the garden into a capacious symbol. The play is full of thoughts about life, its values, real and imaginary, about the responsibility of each person for the world in which he lives and in which his descendants will live.

(482 words) "The Cherry Orchard" - the last play by A.P. Chekhov. It was written by him in 1903, shortly before the 1905 revolution. The country then stood at a crossroads, and in the work the author skillfully conveyed the atmosphere of that time through events, characters, their characters and actions. The Cherry Orchard is the embodiment of pre-revolutionary Russia, and the heroes different ages- the personification of the past, present and future of the country.

Ranevskaya and Gaev represent the old times. They live in memories and absolutely do not want to solve the problems of the present. Their house is under threat, but instead of making any attempt to save it, they do everything to avoid talking to Lopakhin on this subject. Lyubov Andreevna constantly wastes money that could be used to buy a house. In the second act, she first complains: “Oh, my sins ... I have always littered my money without restraint, like crazy ...” - and literally a minute later, having heard the Jewish orchestra, she offers to “call him somehow, arrange an evening.” There is a feeling that before us are not adult, experienced, educated heroes, but unintelligent children who are unable to exist independently. They hope that their problem will be solved in a miraculous way, they themselves do not take any action, leaving everything to their fate. In the end, they are deprived of all the past, which they cherished so much.

The present time is personified by the merchant Yermolai Lopakhin. He is a representative of the growing class in Russia - the bourgeoisie. Unlike Ranevskaya and Gaev, he is not infantile, but very hardworking and enterprising. It is these qualities that help him eventually buy the estate. He grew up in a family of serfs who used to serve Gaev, so he is very proud of himself: "... beaten, illiterate Yermolai ... bought an estate where grandfather and father were slaves, where they were not even allowed into the kitchen." For Yermolai, the garden is not a memory of the past, the site for him is only a means to earn money. He without any doubt cuts it down, thereby destroying the old, but at the same time, without creating anything new.

Anya and Petya Trofimov are the heroes of the future. They both talk about the future as something unconditionally bright and beautiful. But in fact, for the two of them, it is rather vague. Petya talks a lot, but does little. At the age of 26, he still did not graduate from the university, for which he received the nickname "eternal student." He criticizes the nobility and supports the bourgeoisie, calling people to work, but he himself is not capable of anything. Of all the characters in the play, only Anya supports him. She is still a 17-year-old girl who is the personification of youth, inexhaustible strength and the desire to do good. Her future is also unknown, but it is she who reassures her mother: "We will plant a new garden, more luxurious than this." She has no doubt that the loss of the estate is not the worst tragedy and that you can plant a new garden, just like you can start a new life. Although the author does not claim anything, it is possible that Anya is the true future of Russia.

A.P. Chekhov showed readers the heroes of different generations, classes and views on the life of that time, but he could not give an unambiguous answer, behind whom the future of the country stands. But still, he sincerely believed that Russia's future would certainly be bright and beautiful, like a blooming cherry orchard.

The end of the nineteenth - the beginning of the twentieth - a time of change. At the turn of the century, people live the day before. On the eve of what, few people understand. People of the new generation are already appearing, while people of the past continue to exist. There is a conflict of generations. Turgenev has already portrayed this in the novel Fathers and Sons. He has a vivid conflict, often resolved by disputes. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov took a different look at the problem. It has no external clashes, but the reader feels a deep inner tragedy. Ties between generations are torn, and, what is most terrible, they are torn as usual. For the new generation, which Anya and Petya represent in the play, those values ​​no longer exist, without which the life of the elder, that is, Ranevskaya, Gaev, does not make sense.
These values ​​in the play are personified by the cherry orchard. He is a symbol of the past, over which the ax has already been raised. The life of Lyubov Andreevna and her brother cannot exist apart from the cherry orchard, but at the same time they cannot do anything to preserve it. Ranevskaya simply runs away from her problems. After the death of her son, she, leaving everything, leaves for Paris. After a break with her lover, he returns to Russia again, but, having discovered insoluble problems in his homeland, he again wants to flee to France. Gaev is strong only in words. He talks about a rich aunt, about many other things, but in reality he understands that many prescriptions are offered only for an incurable disease. Their time has already passed, and the time has come for those for whom beauty lies only in utility.
That was Lopakhin. They say about him in different ways: sometimes he is a “predator”, sometimes he is a “subtle and tender soul”. It combines the incompatible. A person who loves Lyubov Andreevna sympathizes with her with all his heart, does not understand the beauty of the cherry orchard. He proposes to rent out the estate, break it into summer cottages,
not realizing that this will be the end not only of the cherry orchard, but also of its owners. Two opposites fought in this man, but, in the end, the rationalistic grain won. He cannot contain his joy that he, a former serf, becomes the owner of a cherry orchard. He starts knocking it out without any remorse. Lopakhin overcame his love for Ranevskaya, he did not have the courage to marry Varya.
Varya - the adopted daughter of Ranevskaya - was essentially the mistress of the cherry orchard during her mother's long absences. She has the keys to the estate. But she, who in principle could become a mistress, does not want to live in this world. She dreams of monasticism, of wanderings.
Anya could be considered the real heiress of Lyubov Andreevna and Gaev. But, unfortunately, she is not. Anya and Petya represent the future. He is an “eternal student”, reminiscent of Gaev with his philosophical speeches; she is an educated girl, his fiancee. Anya is greatly influenced by Petya's speeches. He tells her that the cherry orchard is in the blood, that it should be hated, not loved. She agrees with Petya in everything and admires his mind. And as a terrible result, Anya’s question sounds: “Why do I no longer love the cherry orchard?” Anya, Lyubov Andreevna, Gaev - all of them, in essence, betray their garden, the garden that they have tamed, but for which they are not able to stand up. The tragedy of the older generation is the inability to protect their past. The tragedy of the present and future generations lies in the inability to appreciate and understand the values ​​of the past. After all, it is impossible for an ax to become a symbol of a whole generation. Chekhov in the play described three generations, revealed to the reader the tragedy of each of them. These issues are relevant today as well. And at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries, Chekhov's work takes on the shade of a certain warning.