The Cherry Orchard
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Key Facts
full title · The Cherry Orchard: A Comedy in Four Acts
author · Anton Chekhov
type of work · Play
genre · Comedy (satirical, ironic, often concerned with marriage proposals); Tragedy (involving catastrophic loss as a result of the protagonist's weakness)
language · Russian
time and place written · From 1901 to 1903, in Yalta, an island in the Mediterranean.
date of first performance · seventeen January 1904
date of first publication · During the last week of June, 1904 (just a few days before Chekhov's death on July one)
narrator · There is no narrator in the play
climax · The climax comes in Act Three, when Lopakhin reveals he has bought the orchard
protagonist · Ranevsky
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 action · Everyone leaves the house in October after Lopakhin purchases the estate in August; this departure constitutes the entire fourth Act
tense · Not applicable (drama); but the story is told both directly and in flashbacks
foreshadowing · Firs 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;
tone · Varying between absurd, satirical, ironic and tragic
themes · Modernity vs. the old russia; breaking with the past; nature
motifs · The union of naturalism and symbolism; miscommunication; self-consciousness
symbols · The cherry orchard; the sound of a breaking string
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