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Chekov's South Atlantic Modern Language Association Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard" Author(s): Peter P. Remaley Source: South Atlantic Bulletin, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Nov., 1973), pp. 16-20 Published by: South Atlantic Modern Language Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3197077 Accessed: 28-11-2016 01:41 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms South Atlantic Modern Language Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to South Atlantic Bulletin This content downloaded from 37.8.23.143 on Mon, 28 Nov 2016 01:41:11 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms CHEKOV'S "THE CHERRY ORCHARD" PETER P. REMALEY Eastern Kentucky University In a letter to Madame Stanislavsky on September 15, 1903, Chekhov wrote of The Cherry Orchard that "the play has turned out not a drama, but a comedy, in parts even a farce."' This asser- tion has proved to be the central concern of numerous critics who have joined in the continuing debate about the essential nature of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. Is it indeed a comedy as Chekhov claimed, or a tragedy as so many producers and critics have chosen to interpret it? At best, the critical problems are complex. Those who ally themselves with the comic view of The Cherry Orchard readily accept Chekhov's assertion and largely base their arguments for such a view on his revelation of the ludicrous elements in human nature as manifested in the characters of the play. How- ever, those who hold that The Cherry Orchard is a tragedy argue that Chekhov's opinion need not be accepted as the definitive assessment of his work and summarily dismiss his statement. Apply- ing the abstract theorizing of W. K. Wimsatt in "The Intentional Fallacy,"' these critics submit that an author's intention and the completed work may be quite different things. In Chekhov's case, specific support for such an argument can be offered. When he wrote "The Steppe," Chekhov said that he was writing a novel, and with its completion, he believed that he had accomplished his purpose. However, critics then and now classify "The Steppe" as a short story. Who then is correct? Even the most ardent supporter of the tragic view of The Cherry Orchard must admit that the play does have comic elements. Considering the play from the viewpoint of structure, the basic problem or conflict with which the characters must come to grips is the impending sale of the estate. The pivotal question then is whether the sale of the property can be avoided; and the plot incidents are concerned with the various efforts to save the orchard. How the characters react to their serious plight is essential to an understanding of much of the comedy in The Cherry Orchard. Chekhov develops a comic incongruity between the serious situa- tion and the trivial response, an incongruity which emphasizes the ridiculous, ludicrous actions of the characters faced with the di- lemma. Mrs. Ranevsky's behavior is an example. To prevent the loss of her estate, she loans some of the little money she still has left to the indigent Pishchik; she gives a gold piece to a peasant beggar; she hires an orchestra and holds a ball on the day of her This content downloaded from 37.8.23.143 on Mon, 28 Nov 2016 01:41:11 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms South Atlantic Bulletin 17 estate's auction. And in Act II when Lopakhin, who realizes that the only practical solution to the problem is to lease the orchard, puts the question squarely before Mrs. Ranevsky, she refuses to meet the problem: Lopakhin. You must make up your minds once and for all, time's running out. And anyway it's a perfectly simple mat- ter. Are you prepared to lease your land for summer cot- tages or aren't you? You can answer it in one word-yes or no. Just one single word. Mrs. Ranevsky. Who's smoking disgusting cigars round here?3 Thus, Mrs. Ranevsky's responses to the serious situation which confronts her assume the comic proportions of the ludicrous. Chekhov further emphasizes the ludicrous incongruity between situation and response, between the serious and the trivial, in the absurdly impractical schemes which Mrs. Ranevsky's brother, Leonid Gayev, hopes will save the cherry orchard. Among the numerous ridiculously ineffective schemes of Gayev's are the fol- lowing: that he might miraculously inherit a fortune, that a rela- tively uninterested rich aunt might somehow give him the neces- sary hundred thousand roubles out of the goodness of her par- simonious heart; that a fictional general may lend him the money on his signature; and finally that he will take a position in a bank and earn the money (at the rate of a few thousand roubles per year). In sum his impractical dream solutions not only indicate Gayev's essential ridiculousness but also serve to underline the ludicrous self-deception of which the entire family is guilty. In various other ways The Cherry Orchard assumes even farci- cal dimensions. For example Simon Yepikhodov, the family clerk, is a clumsy, self-conscious Chaplinesque buffoon. In Act I, when he first enters, his boots noticeably squeak with every step he takes. He then promptly drops the bouquet of flowers he is carrying, and when he turns to leave, he stumbles into a chair and overturns it. He exits from the play in the same clown-like manner by packing a suitcase on top of a hat box. Regardless of what he attempts to do, he inevitably does it wrong. As he tells us in Act II, he cannot even drink a glass of wine successfully, for even if he is able to avoid spilling the wine or breaking the glass, when he finishes his drink, he finds a bug at the bottom of the glass (p. 77). The other servants are also comic figures. Dunyasha, the maid, dresses and acts like a lady, and Yasha, Mrs. Ranevsky's personal servant, is a French fop who, though deeply offended by Lopakhin's inferior bottle of champagne ("Shockin' ignorance"), proceeds to drink the entire bottle himself. Chekhov also uses the device of the comic anticlimax to heighten the comedy of The Cherry Orchard. In Act III, for This content downloaded from 37.8.23.143 on Mon, 28 Nov 2016 01:41:11 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 18 Chekov example, just as Lopakhin is about to enter the house and proudly proclaim that he, the former serf, has bought the estate at auction, Varya, who has just chased Yepikhodov from the premises, thinks that Yepikhodov is returning and proceeds to beat the triumphant Lopakhin with a stick, an action which prompts superb under- statement from Lopakhin, who says, "Thank you very much. ... Thank you for such a warm welcome" (p. 98). Another case of a comic anticlimax occurs in the scene where Mrs. Ranevsky and Peter Trofimov engage in a verbal quarrel which could quite easily have become tragic, for both characters are harshly truthful in their accusations of each other. But at the height of the quarrel, when the outraged Trofimov turns to leave the house, he termi- nates the tragic direction the quarrel has taken by suddenly trip- ping on the stairs and tumbling all the way down them. The next moment finds him happily dancing with Mrs. Ranevsky and all is forgotten (pp. 93-95). Another source of humor in The Cherry Orchard is Chekhov's carefully crafted misuse of language throughout the play. One excellent example of this type of comedy is the application of the device of the non sequitur. An example is the billiard terminology with which Gayev liberally sprinkles his conversation. One in- stance of this occurs in Act I after Gayev has completed his lengthy apostrophe (comical in itself) to the antique bookcase: Dear and most honoured book-case. In you I salute an exis- tence devoted for over a hundred years to the glorious ideals of virtue and justice. In the course of the century your silent summons to creative work has never faltered, upholding through tears in several generations of our line confidence and faith in a better future and fostering in us the ideals of virtue and social consciousness. (p. 69) Then, "somewhat embarrassed," as Chekhov tells us in the stage directions, Gayev follows with the non sequitur: "In off on the right into the corner. Screw shot into the middle" (p. 69). Along with Gayev, the servant Firs frequently uses the non sequitur. Very old and consequently hard of hearing, Firs often speaks when not spoken to, mumbles to no one in particular, and answers ques- tions which are not asked. In Act I, after Firs has served coffee to Mrs. Ranevsky, the following dialogue occurs: Mrs. Ranevsky. .. I must drink my coffee. Thank you, Firs. Thank you, dear old friend. I'm so glad you're still alive. Firs. The day before yesterday. (p. 66) The comic effect of such conversation is obvious. And Chekhov employs this device repeatedly throughout the whole of the play.
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