The Cherry Orchard

"Few groups were as much on the wrong side of history as the aristocracy of Imperial Russia" - Drew DeSilver

(http://seattletimes.com/html/books/2019397511_br14formerpeople.html?syndication=rss)

The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov's last play that was first performed in January 1904, tells the story of an aristocratic family that owns a cherry orchard through their family lineage. However, due to the recent freeing of the serfs in 1861 and the economic ups and downs of a country riddled with class movement, the upper class down and the lower classes up, the family needed to sell the house to pay for their mortgage. Much like in our current economic situation, Chekhov's mother had to sell a home of his to pay off her debts, just like the story we find in his play, The Cherry Orchard. Full of emotional turmoil, disillusionment, and bitterness, the play comes alive and strikes to the heart of those who suffer the agony and rivalry of classism. Thus, please use the resources on this page to illuminate your understanding of Russian society and history, and use that newfound knowledge to contextualize and analyze one of Chekhov's greatest works of literature.

To read The Cherry Orchard, click here!

Other Russian Literature Selections to be read along with The Cherry Orchard:

1.) "The Bet" by Anton Chekhov (in Lit. Book)

2.) "I Have Visited Again" by Alexander Pushkin (pdf/class copy)

3.) "Russia 1812" by Victor Hugo (French) (pdf/class copy)

4.) "How Much Land Does a Man Need" by Leo Tolstoy (pdf/class copy) To read "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" click here.

5.) "The Short Story in the 19th Century" by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston (hyperlink below/class copy)

6.) Leo Tolstoy's "What is Art"

Websites to visit for extra-textual information regarding thematic elements, Russian history, and information regarding Anton Chekhov and some of his contemporaries:

1.) http://russianmodernism.wetpaint.com/page/A+History+of+19th+and+20th+Century+Russia

2.) http://www.artistsrep.org/media/120851/the%20cherry%20orchard%20study%20guide%20final.pdf

3.) http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/cherryorchard/

4.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cherry_Orchard

5.) To read "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Tolstoy, click here.

REDmonster1111 quoted under this video on YouTube, "Nice. Greetings from Czech Republic! Thank you for liberating our country in 1945, my Russian brothers."