Love in Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard

This essay will address the apparent dissatisfaction with the concept of love, which is expressed by one of the play’s principal characters Peter Trofimov. As a student and former tutor in the Ranevsky household, Peter represents the Realist scholar as well as the working class, and voices the ideals and sentiments of both.

In response to the negative social changes caused by the rising middle class, the working class had grown skeptical of the concepts of love and freedom, because such concepts had been used to increase the social and economic position of the middle class at the expense of the masses. In The Cherry Orchard, this is most evident in the condition of the former serf, Firs. He expresses his desire for the security and order found in serfdom. United under the banner of love and freedom the lower and middle class fought to gain liberation from the old feudal system. However, this only helped to weaken the economic status of the nobility, thus giving the growing middle class and opportunity to flourish. Once the middle class had acquired their wealth they quickly aba...