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Primary Character

  • Desperate to keep the orchard

like his sister

  • Reminds him of other times
  • Close to being irrational (book-

shelf)

Has no solution to the problem he desperately wants solved except for borrowing money

  • Childish (Firs example)
  • Sentimental
  • Irrational
  • Kind
  • Optimistic

"It would be nice to inherit a fortune from somebody, it would be nice to marry our Anya to a rich man, it would be nice to go to Yaroslav and try my luck with my aunt the Countess."

He was Lyubov's servant in Paris

and was brought here with her

Function:

To contrast the difference in cultures between France and Russia and serve as a constant reminder of Lyubov's journeys.

He is the oldest servant working for Lyubov. He clings to the past when servants weren't paid and had no rights.

Function:

In contrast to the youngest servant, Yasha, he is the oldest in the house and serves to show the old generation belonging to the "family" as he (possibly) dies with the house after it is abandoned by the rest of the family.

He is Lyubov's neighbor and is always borrowing money from her.

Function:

Demonstrates to the audience that not only Lyubov is in a tough financial situation.

GENEROUS, SENSITIVE, IMPRACTICAL, IRRATIONAL

"[Looks in her purse] I had a lot of money yesterday, but there's very little to-day. [Drops the purse, scattering gold coins] There, they are all over the place."

"There's no silver. . . . It doesn't matter, here's gold"

(VARYA questions Lubov why she gave him gold)

LUBOV. What is to be done with such a fool as I am!.."

CARING & SENSITIVITY (ACT 1)

  • "LOPAKHIN: (...) [Talking about Lubov] She's a good sort--an easy, simple person. I remember when I was a boy of fifteen, my father (...) hit me on the face with his fist, and my nose bled. . . . (...) Lubov (...) was still young, and very thin, and she took me to the washstand here in this very room, the nursery. She said, "Don't cry, little man, it'll be all right in time for your wedding.""

  • (Trofimov when talking to Lubov about the cutting down of the orchard)

"Be calm, dear, you shouldn't deceive yourself, for once in your life at any rate you must look the truth straight in the face."

"LUBOV. (...) have mercy on me. I was born here, my father and mother lived here, my grandfather too, I love this house. I couldn't understand my life without that cherry orchard, and if it really must be sold, sell me with it!"

LUBOV worries about Fiers and Varya. (If Fiers has already been sent to the hospital and if Varya was healthy since she looked "thin and pale")

DISBELIEVING

(when told that the orchard was going to be cut down)

"LUBOV. Cut it down? My dear man, you must excuse me, but you don't understand anything at all. If there's anything interesting or remarkable in the whole province, it's this cherry orchard of ours."

CHILDISH/IMMATURE (ACT 1)

"I want to jump about and wave my arms. [Covers her face with her hands] But suppose I'm dreaming!..."

"I can't sit still, I'm not in a state to do it. [Jumps up and walks about in great excitement] I'll never survive this happiness. . . . You can laugh at me; I'm a silly woman. . . . My dear little cupboard. [Kisses cupboard] My little table."

CONNECTION WITH ORCHARD:

(After the orchard was sold)

In the reception-room sitting and weeping bitterly.

"My dead, my gentle, beautiful orchard! My life, my youth, my happiness, good-bye! Good-bye!"

Epikhodov

&

-Clumsy

-Tries to 'promote' himself

Actions can be interpreted as funny and/or sad

Clumsy:

EPIKHODOV. [Enters with a bouquet. (...) He drops the bouquet as he enters, then picks it up]

YASHA. [Nearly laughing] Epikhodov's broken a billiard cue! [Exit.]

Clumsy/sad:

"Some misfortune happens to me every day. But I don't complain; I'm used to it, and I can smile. (...) [Knocks over a chair]

(Talking about Epikhodov)

DUNYASHA. I don't know what to do about it. He's a nice young man, but every now and again, when he begins talking, you can't understand a word he's saying. I think I like him. He's madly in love with me. He's an unlucky man; every day something happens. We tease him about it. They call him "Two-and-twenty troubles."

Sounds funny but one could sympathize with Epikhodov

Tries to promote himself:

"I'm an educated man, I read various remarkable books, but I cannot understand the direction I myself want to go--whether to live or to shoot myself, as it were. So, in case, I always carry a revolver about with me. Here it is. [Shows a revolver.]

Can sound funny because of the ridiculousness but it is dark and sad.

Sad:

EPIKHODOV. (...) I know my fate, every day something unfortunate happens to me, and I've grown used to it a long time ago, I even look at my fate with a smile.

(...)

EPIKHODOV. Every day something unfortunate happens to me, and I, if I may so express myself, only smile, and even laugh.

Dunyasha

-Egocentric

-No one gives her much attention

DUNYASHA. (...) Epikhodov has proposed to me.

LOPAKHIN. Ah!...

(...)

DUNYASHA. The clerk, Epikhodov, proposed to me after Easter.

ANYA. Always the same. . . . [Puts her hair straight] I've lost all my hairpins. . . .

DUNYASHA. I don't know what to think about it. He loves me, he loves me so much!

Constantly talking about herself, and no one shows much if any importance to what she says

Focused on herself/ Egocentric

(after Epikhodov jokes about killing himself):

"I hope to goodness he won't shoot himself. [Pause] I'm so nervous, I'm worried. I went into service when I was quite a little girl, and now I'm not used to common life, and my hands are white, white as a lady's. I'm so tender and so delicate now; respectable and afraid of everything."

Egocentric:

"Like a little flower. I'm such a delicate girl; I simply love words of tenderness."

When Yasha's about to leave (ACT 4)

"Send me a letter from Paris. You know I loved you, Yasha, so much! I'm a sensitive creature, Yasha."

Anya

Primary Character

Function: She represents the next generation of the aristocracy

Description/attitude: optimistic, graceful, idealistic, empathetic

View toward the orchard: She originally loves it dearly but this is changed by Petya's new ideas.

Solution to problem: She doesn't have one but she does get the loan from the countess

Static character

Quotes

ANYA: Mother! mother, are you crying? My dear, kind, good mother, my beautiful mother, I love you! Bless you! The cherry orchard is sold, we've got it no longer, it's true, true, but don't cry mother, you've still got your life before you, you've still your beautiful pure soul . . . Come with me, come, dear, away from here, come! We'll plant a new garden, finer than this, and you'll see it, and you'll understand, and deep joy, gentle joy will sink into your soul, like the evening sun, and you'll smile, mother! Come, dear, let's go!

Shows her optimism and acceptance of moving on.

Anya: What have you done to me, Peter? I don't love the cherry orchard as I used to. I loved it so tenderly, I thought there was no better place in the world than our orchard.

Lubov:...My treasure, you're radiant, your eyes flash like two jewels! Are you happy? Very?

ANYA. Very! A new life is beginning, mother!

Quotations:

Petya Trofimov The eternal student

Lubov

Primary character

  • Description/Attitude: Irrational, Sensitive, Caring, Generous, Immature, Impractical, Childish, Disbelieving

Description & attitude

Trofimov is an arrogant man. He believes that what he has or does is better than what others do. He says in numerous ocations to Anya that what they have is "above love". He might as well be seen as an immature man because he has ideal explanations for everything but his life experience is limited, making him prone to find bolder conclusion's. Lubov mentions this when she says;

View and solution towards orchard:

  • Wants to keep it, it has a big sentimental value for her since it reminds her of her childhood where everything was easier.(The worth of the orchard for her isn't measured in money)
  • Doesn't propose a solution.

Quotes

"And what does it mean--you'll die? Perhaps a man has a hundred senses, and when he dies only the five known to us are destroyed and the remaining ninety-five are left alive."

"Meanwhile in Russia only a very few of us work. The vast majority of those intellectuals whom I know seek for nothing, do nothing, and are at present incapable of hard work."

"You boldly look forward, isn't it because you cannot foresee or expect anything terrible, because so far life has been hidden from your young eyes? You are bolder, more honest, deeper than we are, but think only, be just a little magnanimous, and have mercy on me."

"The Cherry Orchard"

by Anton Chekhov

Character Analysis

Charlotta

  • She is one of the servants.
  • She is an orphan and has no family.
  • Her ideas and way of talking is similar to Trofimov's. We could say she is an idealist.
  • She is skeptical about men.

Gayev

Yasha

Firs

Pischin

LOPAKHIN. Excuse me, Charlotta Ivanovna, I haven't said "How do you do" to you yet. [Tries to kiss her hand.]

CHARLOTTA. [Takes her hand away] If you let people kiss your hand, then they'll want your elbow, then your shoulder, and then...

CHARLOTTA. And where I came from and who I am, I don't know. ... Who my parents were--perhaps they weren't married--I don't know. [Takes a cucumber out of her pocket and eats] I don't know anything. [Pause] I do want to talk, but I haven't anybody to talk to ... I haven't anybody at all.

Lopakhin

Varya

Primary character

Function: He represents the bourgeoisie which overtook the aristocracy in Russia

Varya is an uptight, conservative and bossy character but caring at the same time. When Lubov leaves the house and goes to France, Varya is the one that takes care of Anya (younger step sister). Besides when the house is being auctioned Varya is nervous and stressed showing her caring side. While the rest are partying with champagne. Another important thing to mention is that Varya treats the servants in a pedant way to impose herself and achieve order in the house.

View towards orchard: His view is mainly pragmatic but he also sees the orchard as a symbol of serfdom and subjugation and thus he despises it and wants to chop it down.

Quotes

"VARYA. [Frightened] I'm going, I'm going. . . . Oh, little mother, at home there's nothing for the servants to eat, and you gave him gold."

Solution to problem: He suggestd constructing villas on the land and even offerd to loan 50,000 roubles himself.

VARYA. Haven't you gone yet, Simeon? You really have no respect for anybody. [To DUNYASHA] You go away, Dunyasha. [To EPIKHODOV] You play billiards and break a cue, and walk about the drawing-room as if you were a visitor!

Relation to other characters

Description: He’s a wealthy merchant and overly concerned about business such that he ignores important aspects of life such as love. While he is financially powerful, he still shows traces of his modest origins such as in his lack of tact or culture.

Varya: It's assumed that they would get married but it doesn't happen. In the last act, when he's given the chance to do so, he stalls. There are a few possible reasons:

- He's too focused on his work and neglects this aspect of life

- He wants to break ties with the past

- He's in love with Lyubov (least likely)

Backstory: He received early financial assistance and kindness from Lyubov. His father was a serf of Lyubov’s father and he grew up as a peasant on the estate. He was abused by his father.

LOPAKHIN. Your brother, Leonid Andreyevitch, says I'm a snob, a usurer, but that is absolutely nothing to me. Let him talk. Only I do wish you would believe in me as you once did, that your wonderful, touching eyes would look at me as they did before. Merciful God! My father was the serf of your grandfather and your own father, but you--you more than anybody else--did so much for me once upon a time that I've forgotten everything and love you as if you belonged to my family . . . and even more.

Attitude: obsessive, tactless, insensitive, realistic

"EPIKHODOV. You cannot, if I may say so, call me to order.

VARYA. I'm not calling you to order, I'm only telling you. You just walk about from place to place and never do your work. Goodness only knows why we keep a clerk.

EPIKHODOV. [Offended] Whether I work, or walk about, or eat, or play billiards, is only a matter to be settled by people of understanding and my elders.

VARYA. You dare to talk to me like that! [Furious] You dare? You mean that I know nothing? Get out of here! This minute!"

Lyubov: He loves her because she was kind to him and was his benefactor. While he loves her, she also represents the class that exploited his family.

Quotes

The monologue in act III shows his insensitivity and repressed hatred for the past. Exposing his feelings is a key moment in his development.

I bought it! Wait, ladies and gentlemen, please, my head's going round, I can't talk. . . . [Laughs] When we got to the sale, Deriganov was there already. Leonid Andreyevitch had only fifteen thousand roubles, and Deriganov offered thirty thousand on top of the mortgage to begin with. I saw how matters were, so I grabbed hold of him and bid forty. He went up to forty-five, I offered fifty-five. That means he went up by fives and I went up by tens. . . . Well, it came to an end. I bid ninety more than the mortgage; and it stayed with me. The cherry orchard is mine now, mine! [Roars with laughter] My God, my God, the cherry orchard's mine! Tell me I'm drunk, or mad, or dreaming. . . . [Stamps his feet] Don't laugh at me! If my father and grandfather rose from their graves and looked at the whole affair, and saw how their Ermolai, their beaten and uneducated Ermolai, who used to run barefoot in the winter, how that very Ermolai has bought an estate, which is the most beautiful thing in the world! I've bought the estate where my grandfather and my father were slaves, where they weren't even allowed into the kitchen. I'm asleep, it's only a dream, an illusion. . . . It's the fruit of imagination, wrapped in the fog of the unknown. . . . [Picks up the keys, nicely smiling] She threw down the keys, she wanted to show she was no longer mistress here. . . . [Jingles keys] Well, it's all one! [Hears the band tuning up] Eh, musicians, play, I want to hear you! Come and look at Ermolai Lopakhin laying his axe to the cherry orchard, come and look at the trees falling! We'll build villas here, and our grandsons and great-grandsons will see a new life here. . . . Play on, music! [The band plays. LUBOV ANDREYEVNA sinks into a chair and weeps bitterly. LOPAKHIN continues reproachfully] Why then, why didn't you take my advice? My poor, dear woman, you can't go back now. [Weeps] Oh, if only the whole thing was done with, if only our uneven, unhappy life were changed!

You could thus argue that Lopakhin is a dynamic character.

Quotes

Lopakhin:...My father was a peasant, it's true, but here I am in a white waistcoat and yellow shoes . . . a pearl out of an oyster. I'm rich now, with lots of money, but just think about it and examine me, and you'll find I'm still a peasant down to the marrow of my bones. [Turns over the pages of his book] Here I've been reading this book, but I understood nothing. I read and fell asleep. [Pause.]

This quotes indicates that his modest past is very much a part of him and this would imply a conflict with the side of him that despises his family's subservience.

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