At a Glance:

Full Title The Cherry Orchard: A Comedy in Four Acts

AuthorAnton Chekhov

In-depth Facts:

Type of WorkPlay

GenreComedy (satirical, ironic, often concerned with marriage proposals); Tragedy (involving catastrophic loss as a result of the protagonist's weakness)

LanguageRussian

Time and place writtenFrom 1901 to 1903, in Yalta, an island in the Mediterranean.

Date of first performanceseventeen January 1904

Date of first publicationDuring the last week of June, 1904 (just a few days before Chekhov's death on July one)

NarratorThere is no narrator in the play

ClimaxThe climax comes in Act Three, when Lopakhin reveals he has bought the orchard

ProtagonistRanevsky

Setting (Time)Between May and October of a year around the beginning of the 20th century

Setting (Place)At the country estate of Lyuba Ranevsky

Falling actionEveryone leaves the house in October after Lopakhin purchases the estate in August; this departure constitutes the entire fourth Act

TenseNot applicable (drama); but the story is told both directly and in flashbacks

ForeshadowingFirs walk across the stage in Act One foreshadows his death scene in Act Four; in Act One, Lopakhin foreshadows his own purchase of the orchard by declaring that the orchard cannot be saved except by his plan;

ToneVarying between absurd, satirical, ironic and tragic

ThemesModernity vs. the old russia; breaking with the past; nature

MotifsThe union of naturalism and symbolism; miscommunication; self-consciousness

SymbolsThe cherry orchard; the sound of a breaking string

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