Social Realism in The Cherry Orchard.

    The history of the early twentieth century Russian society is the history of social transition, transformation. The late 19th century Russian society was struggling to be free from the shibboleth of the dying feudal aristocracy. In parallel to this struggle there was also progressive change which hastened the dawn of a mercantile middle class. At every time in the chapter of social history, a single class can’t maintain its supremacy and privileged status. With a passage of time the old social order has to die yielding place to the new emerging social order. No society remains unchanged. Every society has to transform. Each society is bound to undergo change as time passes by. It is the very nature of society to undergo change. This law of social change is applicable universally in the world.
    The late 19th century Russian society witnessed the soaring success of the capitalistic middle class. At very step the middle class was on the rise. At all point this class was successful. The progressive march of this class was so strong that no obstacle was going to disturb it. Furthermore the old feudal aristocracy was not only on the immediate decline, but on the verge of extinction without leveling any remnant of it. The old feudal social order was no longer in a tenable position to dictate its ethos and to impose its ideals and norms. Surprisingly enough, this class was totally ignorant and un- habituated to adaptive evolution. A new emerging class was head over heel in love with change, with progressive social transformation. But the old dying aristocratic class was allergic to change, antipathetic to change, and unprepared to embrace the costly social transformation.
    In the play The Cherry Orchard Lyobov and Gayev represent the dying aristocracy. Their heavy debt forced them to put their Orchard in auction. Their orchard was sure to be lost. However, their was a route to save it by letting it on lease for the construction of summer cottage. There was a chance for the virtually dying class to live a life of adaptation and compromise. But this class was too proud to let their orchard on lease. Lyubov and Gayev were rather ready to leave the place that to see others possessing it. They fought their last battle in their hopeless and unsuccessful attempt to save the orchard. Finally they failed. The orchard fell into the much more practical and sensible man, Lopakhin.
    Lopakhin represents the victoriously emerging middle-class. A man of action he believes in the necessity to take quick action man of vision he is far busier in the plan to rise above the underprivileged class through financial and practical success. Once he belonged to the working class. He was a servant in Lyubov’s house when he was a child. Through hard- work and practical line of thinking he succeeded in earning money. With the huge amount of money he earned, he succeeded in changing himself from the working class to the middle class. Economically he became so strong that he bought the Cherry Orchard of Lyubov in auction on the highest purchase. Even the aristocratic was attracted towards him. Lyubov offered her daughter Varya’s hand to him but Lopakhin hesitated. If Lopakhin represents the practical middle class, Trofimov represents the theoretical and visionary ideals of the class committed to embrace.
     Thus, the play The Cherry Orchard presents a social phenomenon which exemplifies the old decent feudal order giving way to the rapidly expanding capitalistic and mercantile middle class. As a mode of social realism the play represents the Russian society by the end of the 19th century. At that time the society was moving towards the threshold to change. Chekhov captured the reality concerning the social transformation. The displacement of Lyobov and Gayev on account of their failure to stand in the live of compromise and adaptation illustrates a golden fact that the early 20th century Russian society bade final adieu to the last remnant of decaying feudal structure. In most of Chekhov’s plays the feudal aristocrat are presented as bored, passive, dreamy and ridiculously ideal. This mode of characterization also reveals that this class has no right to occupy foreground in the social hierarchy of Russia. The middle class people are depicted as practical, sensible, painstaking, hard- working and radical as well. This line of characterization displays the fact that the playwright is in favour for the emergence of this class.

The habits of mind of Lybov Andreyevna in The Cherry Orchard.

      Lyubov Andreyevna represents the aristocracy in the play, The Cherry Orchard. She is the owner of the cherry orchard. Though aristocracy is on the brink of coming to an end, she feels nostalgic for the past and is very ideal and tragically impractical. The days of the aristocracy are gone but she is still acting according to the system that is about to become history. She is guided by the ethos of the order that is fast departing so she is inviting her own ruin. Renevskaya is unable to pay the mortgage on the cherry orchard. She is a very spendthrift woman. She has not money and is deep in debt but still has servants. When she goes to a restaurant she gives tips to waiters. She gives a lot to beggars. When she hasn’t sufficient money for herself she spends unnecessarily. Giving tips to beggars could show one as belonging to upper-class but her position is completely different. Though she is not rich in reality she doesn’t stop spending money like an aristocrat. It is shockingly impractical to see her do so. Read More...

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