memory

This play obviously revolves around the cherry orchard seeing as that is the title, but I think that it also revolves around how each character responds to what is going to happen to the orchard. The older characters, Gayev and Ranevsky, do not want to cut down the orchard because they have good memories of it. Ranevsky had perhaps the best times of her life when she was young and the orchard is all she has left of those good times. She has had much sadness in her life and she has turned to spending money and having weekend affairs to try to fill the sadness she is feeling. Lopakhin, on the other hand, understands the value of the land and sees no reason why the orchard should not be cut down to build cottages. He does not have the same memories and he is diriven by how the family can keep the land and make some money.1204675176

I think that memories are holding Ranevsky back. She is so stuck in the past and it is holding her back. She can't get over the drowning death of her young son and other events in her past. I think that the cherry orchard is part of this problem. It is a daily reminder of all of these memories. I think that this is why Ranevsky went away in the first place. She was trying to escape the sadness. She is so attached to the cherry orchard and therefore all of the memories connected with it. Although it seems tragic, I believe that selling the cherry orchard is good for Ranevsky in more than just as financial way. Selling the orchard may help her let go of the past and move past the memories into a new tomorrow.1204690516 

I think that Ranevsky's uncertainty at selling the orchard also has a lot to do with pride. She could have easily followed Lopakin's advice at the beginning and find a way to rent the land out. This way, she could have kept at least most of the land. But she didn't. Why not? I agree that she doesn't want to lose some of it for memory's sake, but I also feel that her pride is keeping her from selling it. Throughout the play, the family seems to be waiting for a miracle to save their land. Ranevsky represents the old wealth and all the memories that go with it. I guess you can say she is living in the past, in her "glory days." Lopakhin, on the other hand, has no where to go but up from where his father and grandfather were. It doesn't make sense for him to live in the past because the best is yet to come for him. He represents the new wealth that is coming into Russia and overriding the old wealth. He doesn't reflect on memories because he has no positive memories in the past. 1204752385

I agree that the unwillingness from Ranevsky is rooted in her memories of the estate before she left for Paris. I think that anyone would be devastated if they returned from a trip just to realize that their home for so many years is in danger of being auctioned off. I think that this person would do anything and everything in his/her power to stop it from happening, at least find out the reasons why. Not only did Ranevsky have memories of the property, but also Firs. He comments on how they would harvest and sell the cherries when the time was appropriate. I haven't been able to decide yet whether I think that the cherry orchard is good for Ranevsky or not. Bga, you said that it was good for her to let go of the things that were holding her back from moving forward. I don't know if that would be great because the orchard is all she has left besides her family. Then again, what's the purpose of mourning over something that you can't control? 1205113477

bzw, I totally see the orchard as Ranevsky's past and all of the tragedy that went along with it. I think that selling the orchard was a good way for her to move on from that point of her life. Now she will be able to move on from the past and not be reminded of all of the tragic events that took place there many years before. I think that a large part of her had already moved on from the past with her new life in Paris. To me, her return back to the estate served as a way for her to move on and while she will never forget what happened on the orchard her final trip served as closure to her hurtful past. Now she can go live in Paris and have some sort of peace with what happened a long time ago. 1205184162

I think the theme of memory is important in //The Cherry Orchard// because it relates to the past, yet what may be good memories for other may not be such good memories for other people though. You guys mention that for Gayef and Renevsky the cherry orchard holds good memories for them, yet for people like Lopahkin, Yasha, and possibly Firs the memories are not so great because they spent their entire lives living for others rather than themselves. The point is that the past and memory are relative to each person and simply because they are good for one person does not mean it is universal to everyone; in fact, sometimes those memories are at the expense of others.1205288119

I don't know if i completely agree with you Msu. I think characters like Firs actually like and enjoy their memories. Not all memories are going to be good of course, but Firs likes to remember the good old days. Those good old days involve very much the cherry orchard. I think Renevsky has good memories too and the orchard is what stimulates those. She, more than Firs and others I think has more prominent bad ones that are brought about from the orchard. She carries with her the painful memory of the death of her child, but the cherry orchard could also help her remember good memories too to help her cope. The cutting down of the orchard is like the final curtain on a big part of a lot of the characters' lives and now they do not have much left to be nostalgic about.1205353966

I think that Ranevsky doens't want to let go of the orchard both because it is meanigful to the family in it's memories, but also because it signifies the wealth and prosperity of her family. She knows that portion of her life is ending, and she doesn't want to let go, so she's holding on to one of the last tangible things she has, her cherry orchard. When it is finally cut down, she has to come to terms with something she knew all along and was trying to ignore--when the orchard is gone so is her wealth and her accostumed lifestyle. If the cherry orchard were still there, she could still decieve herself into thinking that she could spend money and party and go to France as if nothing were wrong, but if her memories and her old lifestyle are gone with the orchard, she can no longer pretend everything is alright and things will work themselves out. 1205362924

Yea memory definitely is a crucial part of this play because it is each persons real connection to the past. Even though I think Firs is the symbol for the past in this play, each individual character's link to the past is his or her memory. That is important because Ranevsky and Gayef still cherish their memories of the older days of Russian society when they were prosperous and happy, and then link this memory to the cherry orchard and wish to keep it. Lopakhin does not have very fond memories of the past because he was a serf, and so he might have seen the cherry orchard as a possibility for social advancement or maybe even to take from those who were once above him. Either way, this is the set up coming into the play and the possession of the cherry orchard is the representation of the swing in power in the Russian social system.1205375935

I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but i'd take that a step further and say that even the owners didn't have THAT great memories of the place. Sure, they grew up there, but Madame R's son died there, her husband and all, and so the whole estate also has a very tragic sense to it. So I think that's part of the reason for which they end up being a little relieved at the end of the play: because they're rid of these bad memories. The others certainly do want to cut it down because they don't like the memories the place makes them recall. Most of all, L, I'd say wants to cut it down, and after all, he's the one that first proposes the villa idea to be rid of it. why? well, because it was the site of repression by the upper classes and abuse by his father. Naturally, now that he's relatively wealthy, he wants to live in the present and be rid of the past once and for all. 1205386252