Cherry+Orchard

All through the play so far I have been looking for an explanation of //why// this play is entitled "The Cherry Orchard." For a while, all I came up with was that the Ranevskies are going to sell the orchard. But why is it so special? I am thinking that it is symbolic of the family's financial situation, of course. But the section at the end of Act II shed more light on the manner than before in the play: "Trophimof ~ All Russia is our garden. . . . Think, Anya, your grandfather, your great-grandfather and all your ancestors were serf-owners, owners of living souls. Do not human spirits look out at you from every tree in the orchard, from every leaf and every stem? Do you not hear human voices . . . . and the cherry trees seem to see all that happened a hundred and two hundred years ago in painful and oppressive dreams" (26-7). This discussion is moving, and it makes me think now that the cherry orchard is something "deeper" (unless, of course, I am over-analyzing). What does everyone think?? I thought this particular passage interesting because the way each person reacts to the orchard seems to say something about his or her character. For instance, Madame Ranevsky is completely against selling the cherry orchard, most likely because it is symbolic of her wealth she had. She even says, "If there is one thing that is interesting, remarkable in fact, in the whole province, it's our cherry orchard" (9). Conversely, Anya has learned to disregard it, especially after talking to Trophimof, because she sees past its material value. Comments?1204426960

Going along with what sfa said, I agree that the Cherry Orchard symbolizes the Ranevsky's wealth. Mme. Ranevsky is particularily attached to it because she loves to live in the lap of luxury, constantly spending money she doesn't have just sustain her wealthy appearance. Back in the day, a person's wealth was shown by how much land they owned and how big their house was. Mme. Ranevsky refuses to listen to Lopakhin's good advice; she cannot stand the thought of renting out her land to middle-class tenants and cutting down the useless cherry orchard that only produces fruit one every two eyars, even though she will surely lose all of her land and orchard by August if she doesn't earn some money fast to pay the morgage. She doesn't want to lose her high status by selling the orchard. 1204480352

In a sense, the Orchard does symbolize the Revenskys' wealth. But I think that the symbolism is much deeper than that. I believe that the Orchard sybolizes the decline of the upperclass, the Revenskys, and Russia in general. At one time, probably before the reign of Nicholas II, the orchard was fruitful and brought profit to the family, which was a respected and wealthy. But now the Orchard is in decline. And the family is in debt and in danger of losing the orchard. They do not want to do this because it is the symbol of their former glory. If they get rid of the orchard, they lose more prestige.

Stuff like this was happening all across Russia at the time. Tension was simmering between Russia and Japan. Workers across the land were protesting violently, eroding the upperclass structure. Thus, the orchard represents this as well.

But it is possible that there is hope for the orchard, and therefore the family and all of Russia. Will they find a solution to the problems and will the orchard once again burst into bloom? We shall see.1204485303

I agree that the cherry orchard is a symbol of wealth for the Revenskys' past. It symbolizes their ancestry, but I was really struck by the line that said, "Do not human spirits look out at you from every tree in the orchard, from every leaf and every stem? Do you not hear human voices?" This made me think that the cherry orchard is something more than just a memory of those who have past. It seems to have a very personal meaning with this emphasis of hearing voices. It seems that they are remembering particular people and not just their ancestors in general.

I think that this may be just one of the things that the cherry orchard represents. It seems to have a different meaning for each character. This is why some characters are more willing to sell it than others. Some have a stronger attachment to it and find greater meaning in the cherry orchard. I don’t think that we can give it one set meaning for all of the characters.1204555776

Having finished the play, I wanted to comment on how the cherry orchard affected Madame Ranevsky particularly. The end of the auction and the day of moving out is a day of intense emotions, symbolizing the culmination of despair and loss for her. She tries to hide it as well as she can, but it all comes out in the end: "Oh, my dear, sweet lovely orchard! My life, my youth, my happiness, farewell! Farewell!" (48) Maybe to some of the others, like Anya, this is a new beginning, but to Madame Ranevsky it is a reminder of her harsh past. After all, she is going back to Paris. She found her new home [that she now has to leave] as a haven from her troubles and as //her// new beginning. Now she is forced to leave; Chekhov shows her sadness to move on in all ways. Even symbolism exists in the stage direction, "//Same as Act I. . . . A feeling of emptiness//" (40). Unfortunately, Mdm Ranevsky is sad and lonely at the end. . . . 1204677959

It seems that the cherry orchard must have some deeper meaning, and I have to agree that it does symbolize the wealth of the Ranevsky's and their succession of family throughout the years, and it is probably an integral part of their lives because it was always there. But it seems that maybe it has more meaning, because it was also mentioned in Uncle Vanya that the doctor had a cherry orchard. I'm not entirely sure what it would mean for him, because there really is not background given on his ancestry or his attachment to the orchard. Clearly, it is very important to the Ranevsky family and holds great emotional value for them; they have a lot of pride in their well-known orchard, and a lot of memories. But why is an orchard brought up again in Uncle Vanya? And why a cherry orchard? Maybe i'm just looking for significance that isn't there, but it seems strange that two of Chekhov's plays would mention a cherry orchard. It's also possible that Chekhov simply included the cherry orchard in Vanya as an allusion to his other play, but I feel like there's something more significant to be found in the orchard. 1205106949

I agree that the selling of the orchard affected Madame Ranevsky greatly, but I think that the character who is affected the most is Barbara. Working on the estate is the way that she is able to make a living and care for her family. Without it she has nothing, her family goes in different directions and she is left without money. I felt so bad for her because you could tell throughout the the play how much the estate and her family meant to her by how well she takes care of them. She wasn't able to give her opinion at all, she just sat back as her family went their own ways and she went out to continue her life as well. 1205180892

Well, the cherry orchard is like an (mostly) innocent souvenir of their past. A good thing whose seen many years, but that now depends on this motley crew to keep it alive. Well, they let it die, so the old Russia, so tradition, so the past is hacked away by the present. Also, it's something that sort of unites the whole story together. They might be having troubles, but they're having troubles with the estate, mainly the orchard. And the orchard is natural, beautiful, so it works wonders revealing traits about the different characters. L is practical, so it hold no value. Madam R is emotional, and so it holds her life within it. Fir holds his past in it, and his memories. Etc. The orchard is something that's there, but that the characters all percieve differently, even while the all see the doom that is approaching it. Also, for L it's also a sign of the tyrrany of the land-owning class over the serf population, and so he's eager to rid himself of it. 1205377808

I think that we may be forgetting an important detail: part of the huge success of the orchard was attributed to their cherry jams and dried cherries that they exported to other places, and somebody either lost the recipe or they just stopped making it for some reason. If the orchard was indeed a symbol of their wealth, the decline of the orchard started with the first year that they stopped making the jams. They could have stopped because of laziness, forgetfulness, unorganization, and a number of other things, but because of that, they created their own destiny. By deciding to cease the production of the jams, they decided to start the orchard on the path towards real estate developments. When their fruit started going to waste in the fields, they started losing all of their profit, and therefore the ability to keep the orchard. So, the orchard could symbolize society's views of dedication or work that are going down the drain. 1205379663

Madame Ranevsky is a passionate woman and, like myself, is quite nostalgic. She gets attached to people, yes, but especially objects. She kissed the cupboard, for crying out loud (8)! That is just the type of entertaining, emotional character that we have come to know and love.

On page 32, Ranevsky reveals how her emotional attachment to the estate is important to her family history: "Don't you see? I was born here, my father and mother lived here, and my grandfather; I love this house" (32). Having this deep connection to her estate often arouses memories of her childhood...when she was a little girl. The cherry orchard has always been part of this safe haven for Ranevsky; she holds it so dear to her heart that the thought of ever living without it absolutely devastates her. After hearing the fate of her cherry orchard, she laments: "Without the cherry orchard my life has no meaning fo rme, and if it must be sold, then for heaven's sake sell me too!" (32). She is later so overwhelmed about Lopakhin's plans to cut down the orchard that she falls to the ground and weeps bitterly (38). We all have a particular object or sentiment that we try to hold on to to preserve our childhood memories. To Ranevsky, it was the cherry orchard. It meant everything to her; she could not let go of it because she feels it is linked into her existence.

 After learning of Lopakhin's plans for the orchard, she laments: “Without the cherry orchard my life has no meaning for me, and if it //must// be sold, then for heaven’s sake sell me too!” (32). She feels that she cannot exist without the cherry orchard. When she finally learns that Lopakhin bought her orchard and intends to cut it down, she is overwhelmed, falls to the ground, and weeps bitterly (38). Upon her leaving her estate at the end of the play, Ranevsky is trying to let go while still maintaining a sense of painful nostalgia: the cherry orchard was her youth. Her strong sentiments towards her beloved cherry orchard will likely never fade because it is not only part of her memories and past, it is part of her upbringing; it is part of her character, heart, and soul. 1205446044

I, too, immediately looked for meaning in the title. It is a random one, I mean i thought so initially anyway. I mean we meet the Ranevsky's and the cherry orchard isn't mentioned, but then the fact that they are selling it comes up and I became attached to following that throughout the play. I think that it is titled that because of their financial situation. Madame Ranevsky had taken particular attachment to objects, i agree with you AWr. The house and the orchard were one to her and she liked her financial stature. The Cherry Orchard was sort of a symbol of relationships within the family and their relationships. The people outside of the family all had some business with the cherry orchard. But, i guess I am still not entirely sure... 1205457676

To me this whole play seemed to be symbolic of an olden age that was on its way out. As long as the family had the Cherry Orchard and their land they still had their connection to their old life as rulers of the land. They no longer had their surfs, their wealth was nearly gone, and their status was relegated to that of a well of peasant as shown by the fact that they invited alot of people to their ball that weren't of the wealthy family. There one symbol of their authority that they had left was their cheery orchard and if that went then they would have lost whatever connection that they had to the old world and all of their old authority and power. In a way the cherry orchard is the only thing that is separating them from well off emancipated surfs and the fact that they may be just like them probably scares them more than anything else. With this type of centrality to the family and the fact that they whole play revolves around the fact that the Cherry Orchard is being sold and the old world order is coming to an end all point to why this play was named the Cherry Orchard. user:DGr-c