In the play of A. P. Chekhov's system of images is represented by three main groups. Let us briefly consider each of them, after which we will dwell in detail on the image of Lopakhin Yermolai Alekseevich. This hero of The Cherry Orchard can be called the brightest character in the play.
Below is a photo of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, the great Russian playwright, the creator of the work we are interested in. The years of his life are 1860-1904. For over a hundred years, his various plays, especially The Cherry Orchard, The Three Sisters and The Seagull, have been staged in many theaters around the world.
People of the noble era
The first group of characters are people of the noble era, which is fading into the past. This is Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna and Gaev Leonid Andreevich, her brother. These people own a cherry orchard. They are not old at all. Gaev is only 51 years old, and his sister is probably 10 years younger than him. You can alsosuggest that the image of Vari also belongs to this group. This is the adopted daughter of Ranevskaya. This also adjoins the image of Firs, the old lackey, who is, as it were, part of the house and the whole passing life. Such, in general terms, is the first group of characters. Of course, this is only a brief description of the characters. "The Cherry Orchard" is a work in which each of these characters plays a role, and each of them is interesting in its own way.
Most protagonist
Very different from these heroes Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich, the new owner of the cherry orchard and the entire estate. He can be called the most protagonist in the work: he is energetic, active, moving steadily towards the intended goal, which is to buy a garden.
Young generation
The third group is represented by the younger generation represented by Anya, the daughter of Lyubov Andreevna, and Petya Trofimov, who is a former teacher of Ranevskaya's son, who recently died. Without mentioning them, the characterization of the heroes would be incomplete. "The Cherry Orchard" is a play in which these characters are lovers. However, in addition to a feeling of love, they are united by aspiration away from dilapidated values and all the old life towards a wonderful future, which is depicted in Trofimov’s speeches as incorporeal, although radiant.
Relationships between the three groups of characters
In the play, these three groups are not opposed to each other, although they have different concepts, values. The main characters of the play "The Cherry Orchard", with all the differences inworldview, they love each other, show sympathy, regret the failures of others, and are even ready to help. The main feature that separates them and determines the future life is their attitude to the cherry orchard. In this case, it is not just part of the estate. This is a kind of value, almost an animated face. During the main part of the action, the question of his fate is being decided. Therefore, we can say that there is another hero of "The Cherry Orchard", suffering and the most positive. This is the cherry orchard itself.
The role of secondary characters in the play "The Cherry Orchard"
The main characters were introduced in general terms. Let's say a few words about other participants in the action taking place in the play. They are not just secondary characters that are needed for the plot. These are satellite images of the main characters of the work. Each of them carries a certain trait of the protagonist, but only in an exaggerated form.
Character development
The varying degrees of elaboration of characters in the work "The Cherry Orchard" are striking. The main characters: both Leonid Gaev, and especially Lyubov Ranevskaya - are given to us in the complexity of their experiences, the combination of sins and spiritual virtues, frivolity and kindness. Petya Trofimov and Anya are more outlined than depicted.
Lopakhin is the brightest hero of "The Cherry Orchard"
Let's dwell in more detail on the brightest character of the play, who stands apart. This hero of The Cherry Orchard is Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin. According to Chekhov,he is a merchant. The author, in letters to Stanislavsky and Knipper, explains that Lopakhin is given a central role. He notes that this character is a gentle person, decent in every sense. He must behave intelligently, decently, not petty, without any tricks.
Why did the author think that the role of Lopakhin in the work is central? Chekhov emphasized that he did not look like a typical merchant. Let's find out what are the motives for the actions of this character, who can be called the killer of the cherry orchard. After all, he was the one who knocked him out.
Men's past
Yermolai Lopakhin does not forget that he is a man. One phrase stuck in his memory. It was uttered by Ranevskaya, consoling him, at that time still a boy, after Lopakhin was beaten by his father. Lyubov Andreevna said: "Don't cry, little man, he'll live before the wedding." Lopakhin cannot forget these words.
The hero we are interested in is tormented, on the one hand, by the realization of his past, but on the other, he is proud that he managed to break out into people. For the former owners, besides, he is a person who can become a benefactor, help them unravel the tangle of insoluble problems.
Lopakhin's attitude to Ranevskaya and Gaev
Every now and then Lopakhin offers Gaev and Ranevskaya various rescue plans. He talks about the possibility of giving away their land for dacha plots, and cutting down the garden, since it is completely useless. Lopakhin is sincerely upset when he realizes that these heroes of the play "The Cherry Orchard" do not perceive his reasonable words. He does not fit intohead, how can you be so careless on the verge of your own death. Lopakhin says bluntly that he has never met such frivolous, strange, unbusinesslike people as Gaev and Ranevskaya (the heroes of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard). There is not a shadow of deceit in his desire to help them. Lopakhin is extremely sincere. Why does he want to help his former masters?
Perhaps because he remembers what Ranevskaya did for him. He tells her that he loves her like his own. Unfortunately, the beneficence of this heroine remains outside the play. However, one can guess that, due to her nobility and gentle nature, Ranevskaya respected Lopakhin and pitied him. In a word, she behaved like a real aristocrat - noble, cultured, kind, generous. Perhaps it is the realization of such an ideal of humanity, its inaccessibility, that makes this hero perform such contradictory actions.
Ranevskaya and Lopakhin are the two centers in The Cherry Orchard. The images of the characters described by the author are very interesting. The plot develops in such a way that the interpersonal relationship between them is still not the most important thing. What comes first is what Lopakhin does as if involuntarily, surprised at himself.
How is Lopakhin's personality revealed in the finale of the work?
The third act passes in nervous tension. Everyone expects that soon Gaev will come from the auction and bring news about the future fate of the garden. The owners of the estate cannot hope for the best, they can only hope for a miracle…
Finally the fatal news is out: the garden is sold! Ranevskaya as ifthunder strikes the answer to a completely meaningless and helpless question: "Who bought?" Lopakhin exhales: "I bought it!" By this action, Yermolai Alekseevich decides the future of the heroes of The Cherry Orchard. It seems that Raevskaya did not expect such meanness from him. But it turns out that the estate and the garden are the dream of Yermolai Alekseevich's whole life. Lopakhin could not do otherwise. In it, the merchant avenged the peasant and defeated the intellectual. Lopakhin seems to be in hysterics. He does not believe in his own happiness, does not notice Ranevskaya, heartbroken.
Everything happens according to his passionate desire, but against his will, because a minute later, noticing the unfortunate Ranevskaya, the merchant suddenly utters words that contradict his delight a minute earlier: "My poor, good one, you won’t return now …" But already the next moment, the former peasant and the merchant in Lopakhino raise their heads and shout: "Music, play it clearly!"
The attitude of Petya Trofimov to Lopakhin
Petya Trofimov says about Lopakhin that he is needed "in terms of metabolism", like a predatory animal that eats whatever gets in its way. But suddenly Trofimov, who dreams of a just order of society and assigns the role of exploiter to Yermolai Alekseevich, says in the fourth act that he loves him for his "subtle, tender soul." Lopakhin's characteristic is a combination of the grips of a predator with a gentle soul.
The inconsistency of Yermolai Alekseevich's character
He passionately craves purity, beauty, reaches for culture. ATLopakhin's work is the only character who appears with a book in his hand. Although, while reading it, this hero falls asleep, other characters throughout the play do not hold books at all. However, merchant calculation, common sense, and the earthly beginning are stronger in it. Realizing that the garden is beautiful, feeling proud of owning it, Lopakhin hurries to cut it down and arrange everything according to his own understanding of happiness.
Yermolai Alekseevich argues that the summer resident will multiply in 20 years to extraordinary. While he only drinks tea on the balcony. But one day it may happen that he will take care of his tithing. Then the cherry orchard of Ranevskaya and Gaev will become luxurious, rich, happy. But Lopakhin is mistaken in this. The summer resident is not the person who will store and multiply the beauty he has inherited. His mindset is purely practical, predatory. He excludes from the value system all impractical things, including culture. Therefore, Lopakhin decides to cut down the garden. This merchant, who has a "subtle soul", does not realize the main thing: you can not cut the roots of culture, memory, beauty.
The meaning of A. P. Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard"
The intelligentsia has created a talented, free, creatively active person from a serf, obedient, downtrodden slave. However, she herself was dying, and her creation along with her, since without roots a person cannot exist. "The Cherry Orchard" is a drama that tells about the loss of spiritual roots. This ensures its relevance toany time.
The play by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov shows the attitude of people to the events taking place at the turn of the epochs. It was a time when the capitalization of society and the death of Russian feudalism took place. Such transitions from one socio-economic formation to another are always accompanied by the death of the weak, the intensified struggle of various groups for survival. Lopakhin in the play is a representative of a new type of people. Gaev and Ranevskaya are characters of an obsolete era who are no longer able to correspond to the ongoing changes, to fit into them. Therefore, they are doomed to fail.
