Alexandra Morrison

Professor Gabriel

Schematic for The Cherry Orchard

March 1, 2012

Title: The Cherry Orchard Playwright: Anton Chekhov

Date written: 1901-1903 Country: Russia

Major World Event: The Tran Siberian Railroad was completed in 1896.

Analysis of Plot and Action

1. There is a middle - late point of attack in The Cherry Orchard. It occurs in the

third act.

2. The plot structure is Climactic. The play leads up to the climax.

3. The inciting incident is in the beginning of the play. It occurs when Madame

Ravensky returns to the cherry orchard, their childhood home.

4. The turning point takes place when Lopakhin announces that the cherry orchard

will be sold.

5. The climax happens at the party when Lopakhin, a former serf, declares that he

has bought the cherry orchard.

Analysis of Character

1. The protagonist is Madame Ranevsky. She is the main focus throughout the play.

The antagonist is Lopakhin. He represents the rise of the lower class, which

Madame Ranevsky opposes.

2. Characters are revealed through their interaction with other characters.

3. Madame Ranevsky shows character change throughout the play. In the beginning

she proclaims that she “cannot conceive to live without the cherry orchard”. The

estate defines her past and she cannot let it go. Towards the end of the play she

seems to be reconciled with the fact that the cherry orchard was sold, symbolizing

her acceptance with the changing society.

Analysis of Theme

1. The primary theme in The Cherry Orchard is centered on change. Specifically

societal change. It focuses on the fall of aristocracy (Madame Ranevsky) and the

rise in social status of the lower class (Lopakhin).

2. Love is a secondary theme. To be even more specific it could possibly be the

failure of love. Every relationship ends in failure.

Analysis of Language

1. The Cherry Orchard is written in prose.

2. The use of language in The Cherry Orchard helps the readers define each

characters role. For example Madame Ranevsky and Gayef’s language is old

fashioned and shows their dated views and represents their reluctance to change

while Trophimof 's language is modern and shows his modernistic views of

society

3. Anya’s voice changes throughout the play, which is a unique characteristic. In the

beginning of the play her language is child-like and old fashioned and towards

the end it changes to a calmer, modern voice.

Analysis of Sound

1. At the very end of the play when Firs is left alone and dies at the cherry orchard

estate, Chekhov describes a distant sound that is heard, “the sound of a string

breaking, dying away, melancholy”. The sound is also described in Act two after

Gaef gives his speech about nature and just before the “tramp” appears. The

sound described at the end of the play along with the passing away of Firs could

symbolize the death of old Russia and the aristocracy.

Analysis of Spectacle

2. The nursery sets the scene for both Act 1 and Act 4. In Act 1 it symbolizes

Madame Ranevsky’s refusal to let go of the past – “a room still called the

nursery”. In Act 4 the description of the nursery is similar, but is described in a

more depressing and gloomy tone. He describes the room as “A feeling of

emptiness”. In Act 4 the nursery symbolizes that change has occurred. There is no

going back to the past. Old Russia is gone and aristocracy had died with it.