The Cherry Orchard

1.  After five years of being away from her home, Lyuba Ranevsky and her daughter Anya have finally returned due to her financial crisis. Everyone is rejoiced at their arrival, including  Lopakhin, a family friend; Dunyasha, the maid; Fiers, the servant;  and Varya, the adoptive daughter. Anya states that their poverty is partially due to her mothers excessive spending. Gayev, Ranevsky's brother, and Lopakhin brainstorm ideas as to what they should do with Ranevsky's cherry orchard. Lopakhin believes that the best thing to do is to cut down the trees, build cottages, and rent them out. Ranevsky rejects this idea because she cannot stand the idea of having to part with her trees. Throughout the course of the play, the characters each remember some sort of painful memory in their past.There are several love subplots intertwined throughout the play such as Lopakhin and Varya. In order to solve the financial crisis, the cherry orchard is auctioned off. Lopakhin is the one to buy it and precedes with his idea to build cottages on the land. Everyone then leaves the house. Rovenvsky leaves her home weeping. Everyone has forgotten Fier and he is left alone in the house. The last sound heard is the sound of the cherry trees being cut down.

2.  A major theme is being unable to let go of the past.  Ranevsky doesn't seem to take action against her financial issues but continues to contribute to them with her excessive spending.  She refuses to adapt to her new life , she stays glued to her past and doesn't strive to make a better future for herself. 

3.  The tone is set differently among each of the character's points of view.  The tone switches between reminiscent to serious to melancholy.

• Lubov: My dear nursery, oh, you beautiful room. . . . I used to sleep here when I was a baby. [Weeps] And here I am like a little girl again. [Kisses her brother, VARYA, then her brother again] And Varya is just as she used to be, just like a nun. And I knew Dunyasha. [Kisses her.]
• Gaev: Right into the pocket! Once upon a time you and I used both to sleep in this room, and now I'm fifty-one; it does seem strange.

• Anya: Father died six years ago, and a month later my brother Grisha was drowned in the river-- such a dear little boy of seven! Mother couldn't bear it; she went away, away, without looking round. . . . [Shudders] How I understand her; if only she knew.

• Charlotte: I haven't a real passport. I don't know how old I am, and I think I'm young. When I was a little girl my father and mother used to go round fairs and give very good performances and I used to do the salto mortale and various little things. And when papa and mamma died a German lady took me to her and began to teach me... 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.

4.  Imagery: The opening scene is a strong example of this technique. It creates the image of warmth contrasting with the cold.

• "It is close on sunrise. It is May. The cherry-trees are in flower but it is chilly in the garden. There is an early frost."

Irony:  The cherry-trees are beautiful and blooming and it is expected that there is warm weather, when in fact there is a frost.

• Epikhodov, "There's a frost this morning--three degrees, and the cherry-trees are all in flower. I can't approve of our climate."

Direct characterization:  This is done through dialogue.

• (Lopakhin to Dunyasha) "You're too sensitive, Dunyasha. You dress just like a lady, and you do your hair like one too. You oughtn't. You should know your place."

Foreshadowing: Used to describe the fate of the orchard, which will ultimately be that it is getting sold.

• Lopakhin, looking at his watch, "If we can't think of anything and don't make up our minds to anything, then on August 22, both the cherry orchard and the whole estate will be up for auction. Make up your mind! I swear there's no other way out, I'll swear it again."

Symbolism:  The character Fiers represent moving on, getting over whatever prevents you from moving forward in your life.

• Fiers, "In the old days, forty or fifty years back, they dried the cherries, soaked them and pickled them, and made jam of them, and it used to happen that . . ."