Common features of Gaev and Ranevskaya. Old owners of the garden: Ranevskaya and Gaev

Years. Captured by student Pyotr Trofimov and under his influence. Under the influence of his reasoning that it is necessary to atone for the past through suffering and continuous work, he says that he no longer loves the cherry orchard as before, and will certainly leave home. Consoling his mother after the sale of the estate, he recites the same as Trofimov: “We will plant new garden, more luxurious than this...” - etc. She has a youthful faith in happiness, in her own strength. She sincerely rejoices at leaving her old home, because “a new life begins.”
Anya- a girl of seventeen years old, the daughter of the landowner Ranevskaya, a symbol of sincerity and spontaneity in the play “The Cherry Orchard”. Anya, like many other members of her family, grew up in a cherry orchard and received a noble upbringing under the guidance of such governesses as Charlotte Ivanovna - a former circus acrobat without a passport and a certain age. It is unlikely that such an environment could have given Ani a serious education, but the play shows that she grew spiritually, perhaps studying life from books.
She lived with her mother in Paris for several years.
Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya- landowner, has two daughters - her own Anya (17 years old) and her adopted daughter Varya (24 years old). She is easy to communicate and very sentimental and sensitive. “God knows, I love my homeland, I love it dearly...” she says about Russia. And returning to the estate, she cries at the sight of the fatherland of her childhood.
5 years before the moment described at the beginning of the comedy, she left for Paris after the death of her husband and the death of her little son. She lived luxuriously in the capital of France - she spent money without counting and received guests.
Varvara Mikhailovna- one of the main characters in the play “The Cherry Orchard”, the daughter of the landowner Ranevskaya. She is 24 years old and she runs the entire Ranevsky household, performing at the same time adopted daughter and a housekeeper.
By nature, Varya is a very modest and pious girl, and conscientiously treats her duties. She is often busy with petty household chores and, unlike the gentlemen, she knows how to save rationally. Her homeliness is evidenced by the ties of the keys in her belt.
Petya Trofimov- one of the characters in the play “The Cherry Orchard”, former teacher Ranevskaya’s seven-year-old son, a commoner of about 26 or 27 years old. Many call him “ eternal student” and “high school student” because he studies all the time and never finishes the course. Petya wears glasses and likes to philosophize about how to live. In his opinion, the nobility is last century. They were too lazy, and now the time has come for hardworking youth.
Trofimov wanders a lot from place to place.
Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna, landowner.
Anya, her daughter, 17 years old.



Dunyasha, maid.
Firs, footman, old 87 years old.
Yasha, a young footman.
The estate of landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya. Spring, cherry trees are blooming.
Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna, landowner.
Anya, her daughter, 17 years old.
Varya, her daughter is named, 24 years old.
Gaev Leonid Andreevich, brother of Ranevskaya.
Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich, merchant.
Trofimov Petr Sergeevich, student.
Simeonov-Pishchik Boris Borisovich, landowner.
Charlotte Ivanovna, governess.
Epikhodov Semyon Panteleevich, clerk.
Dunyasha, maid.
Firs, footman, old 87 years old.
Yasha, a young footman.
"The Cherry Orchard" - lyric play Anton Pavlovich Chekhov 1903. “The Cherry Orchard” a brief retelling can be read in 10 minutes, but it is better to read the work in its entirety, because the abbreviated version misses many details.
Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna, landowner.
Anya, her daughter, 17 years old.
Varya, her daughter is named, 24 years old.
Gaev Leonid Andreevich, brother of Ranevskaya.
Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich, merchant.
Trofimov Petr Sergeevich, student.
Simeonov-Pishchik Boris Borisovich, landowner.
The concept of the play “The Cherry Orchard” by A.P. Chekhov dates back to the spring of 1901. So, in March, the playwright in a letter to his wife O.L. Knipper-Chekhov remembered working on a very funny play. And in the fall of the same year, Chekhov shared separate notes with actors from Moscow art theater: "Branch cherry blossoms, climbed from the garden directly into the room through the open window” and “The owner of the estate (or mistress) constantly turned to
footman (or manager) who has accumulated a large amount ».
The name of the future play has already been born.

In classical drama, heroes perform actions, pronounce monologues, win or die. In accordance with their role in the development of action, they are divided into positive and negative, main and secondary. IN Chekhov's play no major and minor characters. Epikhodov is just as important to the author as Gaev, and Charlotte is no less interesting than Ranevskaya. Even the “random” Passerby, who appears at the end of the second act, an episodic person, from the point of view of traditional drama, plays a certain semantic role in Chekhov’s play.

Exercise

Presented by landed nobility in the play by A.P. Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard"? Give brief description these characters.

Answer

The local nobility is represented in the play by the old owners of the cherry orchard - brother and sister Gaev and Ranevskaya, as well as Simeonov-Pishchik.

Ranevskaya and Gaev are nice, sweet, kind people in their own way. Ranevskaya is sentimental, accustomed to an idle life, wastes money, her feelings are superficial and shallow.

Exercise

Tell us about Gaev. How is he similar to Ranevskaya? What are you interested in? Compare their monologues in front of the closet. How do they characterize the characters?

Answer

Gaev is in many ways similar to his sister, completely helpless in practical matters, a phrase-monger. He is already over fifty, but he is still like a child. Gaeva is still undressed by Firs at night.

When Ranevskaya returns to native home, she is worried about the resurrected past, she is surprised that everything is the same here; as it was, as if time did not move. This immutability of things delights Gaev. Only his enthusiasm is frankly ridiculous. Pompously and solemnly he addresses the closet. His love for the estate is limited by his own eloquence. He offers many plans to save the estate, but it is clear that all of them are untenable.

Question

What is close to the owners of the cherry orchard Simeonov-Pishchik?

Answer

Those qualities that in Ranevskaya are surrounded by a haze of poetry, in Gaev are reduced to the comic, and in Simeon Pishchik they are reduced to farce.

Question

How is Ranevskaya characterized by her attitude towards Var, towards Anya, towards the servants, towards Lopakhin, towards Trofimov? How can you evaluate the kindness of Ranevskaya?

Answer

Ranevskaya's kindness coexists with indifference. She kisses things and takes the news of the nanny’s death completely indifferently: “My dear old man,” she calls Firs. And then he was left in the house where his life ended forever.

Ranevskaya leaves Varya, whom she loves, “like her own.” Ani goes to Paris with the money. He loves Anya, cries for his dead son, but leaves 12-year-old Anya for 5 years with his unlucky brother; hugs Firs, kisses Dunyasha, but does not think about the fact that there is nothing to eat in the house, etc.

Question

How does her refusal of Lopakhin’s proposal characterize her? Why did everyone calm down after the sale of the cherry orchard?

Answer

Ranevskaya's garden is dear, but her love is inactive. She hoped that it would work out that way. And in Act IV, Ranevskaya and Gaev completely calmed down. What worried them has passed, they no longer feel responsible for the cherry orchard.

Questions

1.​ How to understand Chekhov’s words: “It’s not difficult to play Ranevskaya, you just need to take the right tone from the very beginning; you need to come up with a smile and a way to laugh, you need to know how to dress”?

2. What does Ranevskaya consider to be her sins and are they sins? What are her real sins?

3. Who is to blame for Ranevskaya’s fate? Was there a choice?

Exercise

Find the positive and negative in the images of the local nobility.

conclusions

The images of Ranevskaya and Gaev are the embodiment of peace noble nest, for whom time has stopped. The drama is in their vulnerability and simplicity. Comedy lies in the contrast of speech and actions. Life in vain, a future without hope, life in debt, “at someone else’s expense.” “Selfish, like children, and flabby, like old people,” Gorky will say about them.

Literature

1. D.N. Murin. Russian literature second half of the 19th century century. Guidelines in the shape of lesson planning. Grade 10. M.: SMIO Press, 2002.

2. E.S. Rogover. Russian literature XIX century. M.: Saga; Forum, 2004.

3. Encyclopedia for children. T. 9. Russian literature. Part I. From epics and chronicles to classics of the 19th century century. M.: Avanta+, 1999.

Each character in Chekhov's play had individual attitude to the estate and the cherry orchard in particular. And if, sometimes, this feeling could hardly be called love, then it certainly was not indifference.

Each character in the play had his own story related to the garden. It was associated with childhood, serenity, purity, and an intoxicating aroma. For her, the garden is the meaning of life. The woman cannot imagine her life without him, and in the event of an auction, she says that the garden should be sold along with her.

But after the auction, the woman quickly comes to her senses and calmly accepts the loss. The author notes that in some way, she is even glad that everything is finally over. Perhaps this happens because she has money again, she has something to live on, and quite comfortably.

Just like his sister, he loves the garden very much. For a man, losing him means losing something dear and accepting complete defeat. He promises Lyubov that he will do everything to buy back the estate. The man is confident to the last that it is within his power. After the auction, Gaev is upset, does not comment on the “loss” and almost does not talk to anyone. The inspired Ermolai tells everything for him.

Buys the garden at auction. He literally “steals it from under the nose” of another merchant, throwing in ten thousand each time throughout the auction. As a result, the amount was very significant, which led to the unconditional victory of Ermolai. The man is rejoicing. His interest in the garden is significant. The business plan he drew up will bring him a lot of profit and the garden will more than pay for itself. However, the cherries will no longer please the eye; they are all immediately sent under the ax. This shows that Ermolai did not perceive the garden as something beautiful and unearthly. This place interests him only from the point of view of profit. The man believes that admiring the garden is a relic of the past. Moreover, it does not bring money, which means it is a waste of time for a pragmatic person.

For the old footman, the garden evokes memories of the former wealth of the masters. When the harvested cherries were dried according to a special recipe, they were exported for sale. It was not for nothing that he remembered this, since he believes that cherry trees should not only please the eye, but also generate income.

At first, for Ranevskaya’s daughter, like her mother, the garden initially evokes a storm of emotions. The girl is happy to be at home again and admire the beautiful flowers. However, after communicating with Peter, she radically changes her attitude towards the estate. The girl thinks about the utopia of serf life, about the remnants of the past.

When The Cherry Orchard finally sold, Anya reassures her mother, promising her to plant a new garden, which will be many times better. The girl leaves with undisguised happiness the places where she spent her childhood.

A similar situation occurs with. He talks about the garden with undisguised contempt, boldly looks into the future and calmly leaves the estate, and this despite the fact that he remains practically homeless.

Each character in the story is shown through the image of a cherry orchard - their attitude to life itself. Some cling to the past, others worry about the future, and still others simply live in the present.

The system of images of the play “The Cherry Orchard” is unconventional: there are no main and minor, positive and negative characters in it. It is customary to divide all comedy images into three groups: “heroes of the past”, “heroes of the present” and “heroes of the future”. Leonid Andreevich Gaev and his sister Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya are the owners of the cherry orchard, nobles by origin. These are very ambiguous images.

Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya suffered a lot in her life: her husband drank and “did nothing but debts,” her seven-year-old son drowned in the river a month after her husband’s death, the lover with whom she went to France robbed her and abandoned her. But Lyubov Andreevna remained sensitive, kind person, whom everyone around him loves. At the same time, she is selfish, her understanding of beauty often turns into tearful sentimentality, and abstract kindness towards random passers-by is combined with indifference towards loved ones, including her own daughter. She is generous to the point of extravagance, accustomed to idleness, she does not limit herself to anything - she only knows how to spend. Her brother, Leonid Andreevich Gaev, is also helpless. He is well educated and eloquent, but this has not resulted in any specific activity. Gaev goes to the club, to restaurants, plays billiards, and has idle conversations. Having “spent his fortune on lollipops,” he finds himself facing financial ruin but unable to do anything. Giving Anya empty promises, swearing “with honor and life” that the garden will not be sold, he can only dream of how nice it would be to receive an inheritance from someone or marry Anya to a very rich man.

For both Gaev and Ranevskaya, cutting down the garden is unacceptable - the destruction of beauty, memory, everything connected with their childhood and youth. But they cannot change anything and meekly accept the news of the sale of the garden. How can they, accustomed to living at someone else’s expense, fit into the new conditions? Ranevskaya goes to Paris again, intending to live on the money sent by her Yaroslavl grandmother to buy an estate, “and this money will not last long.” Gaev received a position at the bank for six thousand a year, but, according to Lopakhin, “he can’t sit still, he’s very lazy.”

The fate of Ranevskaya and Gaev is typical of the entire noble class, which has lost ground under its feet. That is why they are considered “heroes of the past.” The ending of the play is full of understatement and uncertainty. “Life has passed as if I had never lived,” says the forgotten Firs in last scene, and his words are accompanied by the sound of an ax in the cherry orchard. This scene has a deeply symbolic meaning - the passing of nobility, the collapse of hopes and an unclear future in which there is no place for sentimental memories of better times.

Gaev's place in the system of images of the work

To understand Chekhov’s perception of the nobility, it is necessary to consider the characterization of Gaev in the play “The Cherry Orchard,” brother main character, practically a double of Ranevskaya, but less significant. Therefore, in the list of characters he is designated “Ranevskaya’s brother,” although he is older than her and has the same rights to the estate as his sister.

Gaev Leonid Andreevich is a landowner, “who spent his fortune on candy,” leading an idle lifestyle, but it is strange to him that the garden is being sold for debts. He is already 51 years old, but he has neither a wife nor children. He lives in an old estate, which is being destroyed before his eyes, under the tutelage of the old lackey Firs. However, it is Gaev who is always trying to borrow money from someone in order to cover at least the interest on his and his sister’s debts. And his options for repaying all the loans are more like pipe dreams: “It would be nice to receive an inheritance from someone, it would be nice to marry our Anya to a very rich man, it would be nice to go to Yaroslavl and try your luck with the aunt countess...”

The image of Gaev in the play “The Cherry Orchard” became a caricature of the nobility as a whole. All negative sides Ranevskaya found an uglier attitude in her brother, thereby further emphasizing the comedy of what was happening. Unlike Ranevskaya, Gaev's description is mainly in stage directions, which reveal his character through actions, while the characters say very little about him.

Characteristics of Gaev

Very little is said about Gaev's past. But it is clear that he is an educated man who knows how to express his thoughts in beautiful but empty speeches. He lived all his life on his estate, a regular men's clubs, in which he indulged in his favorite pastime - playing billiards. He brought all the news from there and there he received an offer to become a bank employee with an annual salary of six thousand. However, for those around him it was very surprising, the sister says: “Where are you!” Sit already...” Lopakhin also expresses doubts: “But he won’t sit still, he’s very lazy...”. The only person who believes him is his niece Anya “I believe you uncle!”. What causes such distrust and in some ways even disdain from others? After all, even the lackey Yasha shows his disrespect for him.

As has already been said, Gaev is an empty talker; at the most inopportune moments he can launch into a rant, so that everyone around him is simply lost and asks him to remain silent. Leonid Andreevich himself understands this, but it is part of his nature. He is also very infantile, unable to defend his point of view, and cannot really formulate it. He so often has nothing substantive to say that he constantly sounds favorite word“Whom” and completely inappropriate billiard terms appear. Firs still follows his master like a little child, either shaking off the dust from his trousers, or bringing him a warm coat, and for a fifty-year-old man there is nothing shameful in such care, he even goes to bed under the sensitive gaze of his lackey. Firs is sincerely attached to the owner, but even Gaev in the finale of the play “The Cherry Orchard” forgets about his devoted servant. He loves his nieces and his sister. Just to become the head of the family in which he remained the only man, he couldn’t and he can’t help anyone, since it doesn’t even occur to him. All this shows how shallow the feelings of this hero are.

For Gaev, the cherry orchard means as much as it does for Ranevskaya, but, like her, she is not ready to accept Lopakhin’s offer. After all, dividing the estate into plots and renting them out is “off”, largely because it will bring them closer to such businessmen as Lopakhin, but for Leonid Andreevich this is unacceptable, since he considers himself a true aristocrat, looking down on such merchants. Having returned in a depressed state from the auction at which the estate was sold, Gaev has only tears in his eyes, and as soon as he hears the blows of the cue on the balls, they dry up, once again proving that deep emotions are simply not characteristic of him.

Gaev as the final stage in the evolution of the nobility in the works of A.P. Chekhov

Gaev closed the chain consisting of images of nobles created by Chekhov throughout creative life. He created “heroes of his time,” aristocrats with an excellent education, unable to defend their ideals, and it was this weakness that allowed people like Lopakhin to occupy a dominant position. In order to show how small the nobles had become, Anton Pavlovich understated the image of Gaev as much as possible, bringing him to the point of caricature. Many representatives of the aristocracy were very critical of this depiction of their class, accusing the author of ignorance of their circle. But Chekhov didn’t even want to create a comedy, but a farce, and he succeeded.

Reasoning about the image of Gaev and a description of the features of his character can be used by 10th grade students when writing an essay on the topic “Characteristics of Gaev in the play “The Cherry Orchard”.”

Work test