The Cherry Orchard

591 Words2 Pages

In drama “ The Cherry Orchard” , Lopakhin and Madame Ranevsky are clashing individuals, who are not to be judged as either good or bad. Both characters are human, having honorable traits. Lopakhin and Madame Ranevsky's characters are incompatible in the other's mind. Madame Ravensky is a member of the falling aristocracy who is a lost romantic trapped in a fantasy world on the orchard while forgetting her troubles in the "real" world. Lopakhin is a money driven, sometimes vulgar, and socially rising individual. Lopakhin is trying to make a future by overcoming his past, but remains genuine and practical in his offering help. The orchard is a focal piece in the play, hence the name "The Cherry Orchard." The orchard is to be sold in a month after Madame Ravensky's arrival. Lopakhin believes that the only way the orchard estate can be saved is by chopping down the cherry trees and breaking up the property, which he intends to do if he buys the orchard. Madame Ravensky would rather the orchard be lost completely than changed from how it will remain in her memories forever. The orchard haunts Madame Ravensky. The orchard is where her son died, which is the saddest thing in her life, but at the same time the orchard was where Madame Ravensky grew up. She remembers all the innocence she had at the orchard, and the orchard would not be the same if it changed. No one can bring back the orchard in her family and she won't save it because the orchard is merely a memory. She is dropping in class as seen in her fifth floor apartment, but will still put on a pitying facade shown by her tipping a rupel. She seems ignorant, yet confident in her impracticality, because she loves the orchard so much but does not want to save it. This is true because Madame Ravensky may not want to save it. Her son died on the orchard as well as the orchard is where she used to live prosperously and like a little girl in her innocence and no worries. It is conceivable that she may not want to save the orchard and just keep it in her memories as she moves back to France excepting her fall in society but still living, acting wealthy. She the orchard reminds Madame Ravensky of the romantic times of her life and wants to hold onto them one last time.

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