The Moment of Truth

I think Lyubov's critical discovery is when she finds out that Lopakhinhas bought thecherry orchard. At this moment she realizes how important it is to her and that it is finally gone. Lyubov says, "Oh, my dear, sweet, lovely orchard!...My life, my youth, my happiness, good-bye" (379). Lyubov has lived with the cherry orchard her whole life, so it holds all of her childhood memories, everything she has ever known. Anya has no problem leaving the orchard in order to start a new life because she is not as close to the orchard as Lyubov and Gayev.

The servants are also very close to the cherry orchard, because they have lived there for a long time. I think Firs shows the ultimate example of someone not being able to live without the ochard. He was always talking about the old days of the orchard, and then when it came time to begin the new days away from the orchard he was not able to. Firs literally could not live without the orchard, so he died before he was able to leave it.

I feel like the differences between characters in The Cherry Orchard were really not that great. Each had different personalities but in the end I placed each into two categories. Those that could accept the loss of the cherry orchard, and those that could not. In the first category, the characters will probably be able to have a good life while the others might never be able to move on. On the other hand, I think it might show a good personality trait in those that cannot move on because it shows a level of emotional deepness that the others do not possess.

Non-Stop Laughter

I would not say The Cherry Orchard is one of the funniest plays or books I have ever read, but comedy is present in a weird kind of way. Some of the characters are straight up crazy, like Firs and Gayev. In the middle of his sentence Gayev will "...yellow into the side pocket..." (377). I do not know why he does this but maybe it is to cope with his misery due to the loss of the cherry orchard or maybe it is because he is a raving lunatic. Either way it is kind of funny. Another part of the play that I guess could be funny is the very end. After a sad goodbye that everyone says to their former home, we find out that Firs was never actually in the hospital, he was in the locked room. Ha. It is just so ridiculous that the people would lock someone in a room that it is a little funny, but since Firs happens to be dying the humor is lacking. Firs himself is pretty comical. The whole play he has rambled on about things not even remotely related to what anyone else is talking about. Then, he changes completely and shows extreme maturity by being able to accept his death, realizing "there's no strength left in [him]", nothing's left, nothing" (380). And then he reverts to the crazy old Firs that we have come to know and love when he says, "Ach, you...addlepate" (380)!

Yummm, Milk Soup

Some of Charlotta's lines at the beginning of Act II really struck me. Charlotta thinks, "Where I come from and who I am - I do not know...Who my parents were...I don't know" (337). The reason these lines stood out to me is that since Charlotta is a governess, I would expect her heritage to be very important to her given the time. I would expect most noble people to be proud of their family history and maybe even flaunt it sometimes, but Charlotta cannot even remember who her parents are.

Chekhov's language makes the play feel "real" to me, but sometimes I think he uses phrases that someone would probably only think and not actually say out loud. Yasha points out how it is "very pleasant smoking a cigar in the open air" after Dunyasha just told him she is "passionately in love with [him]" (339). By the way, it is very pleasant eating these potato chips while I write this blog entry. There are some things that we can keep to ourselves. When the characters say out loud what I would expect to be just a thought (and not a comment), it makes me feel like the characters are kind of in a daze, like they are not really tuned into reality. Maybe Yasha has something besides tobacco in that cigar.

The servants have to eat "milk soup" because of Lyubov's poor financial situation, but she is still willing to "squander money foolishly" (340). Lyubov is aware of her lack of money and even expresses guilt for the misery of her servants, so why does she still spend money so carelessly?