The Growth of the Middle class and the fall of the Aristocrats

By

Sara Ammar Abdulhussain

Anton Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard is about the emergence of the Russian

middle class and the fall of the nobility. The play describes how an aristocratic

family is forced to sell its renowned land - a cherry orchard - and how an average

guy who has been working as a serf for this family for ages acquires the orchard.

Lyubov and her brother Gayev are unable to adjust to Russia's new social order,

but their servant, Lopakhin, takes advantage of the situation and replaces those

who formerly ruled over him.

Tsar Nicholas II's liberation of Russia's slaves resulted in a significant societal

transformation in Russia. Several aristocracies drowned, but some of the hardest-

working slaves became wealthy. The characteristics of aristocrats are the finest

evidence of this societal shift. Mrs. Ranevsky has neglected her cherry orchard.

Her mortgage payment is due, and she does not have sufficient finances to repay it.
Her former serf, Lopakhin, a smart businessman, finds himself wealthy enough to

buy her estate (Baehir, 1999).

Some other characters in the play, on the other hand, appear to be caught in the

same state of slavery. They have little opportunity for social advancement or

mobility. Firs and Trofimov, for example, both question the significance of

Liberation. They are unable to differentiate between social change and social

progress. Firs is a living illustration of social inequality. Though society has

changed, his life, and the lives of many others, have not. Both characters believe

that the Liberation does not adequately describe development. The drama conveys

the impression that, while progress has been made, there is still work to be done.

The characters show the various degrees of freedom that came following

independence. Lopakhin and Firs are at opposite ends of the freedom spectrum.

Lopakhin seizes his freedom and gains independence. While Firs, despite his

freedom, has not transformed his standing and remains subject to the whims of the

family he serves. (Sarkar, 2020).

When the controversial elements of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard related to

social class, class disputes, and social inequality are considered, it is obvious that

one of the problems covered in the play is the social difference between the upper
and working classes. Another issue involving social roles is the rise of the middle

class, sometimes known as the merchant class. The piece illustrates confrontations

between the merchant and aristocratic classes in order to demonstrate the impact of

shifting socioeconomic positions on Russian society.

In order to understand the disorganization and social difficulties that existed in

nineteenth-century Russian society, the development of the merchant class and the

collapse of the nobility should be analyzed. Although Madame Ranevsky's The

Cherry Orchard depicted the demise of Russian aristocracy, Lopakhin portrayed

the rise of Russia's merchant elite. Before to this social transformation, there

existed a significant social and economic divide in Russia between the aristocracy

and the working class, which resulted in humiliation and disrespect for

peasants. Under this social framework, Lopakhin, whose family is humiliated by

Mrs. Ranevsky's aristocratic family before to the establishment of the merchant

class, becomes a wealthy merchant who gains aristocratic influence as a result of

Russia's new social order. On the other hand, despite his money, he is aware that

he lacks the necessary knowledge and principles to become upper-class, as he

himself hints in the play (Berna, 2017)

Because 'the cherry orchard and the cherry trees' represent the destroyed

aristocracy and the emergence of the new wealthy tradesmen in Chekhov's play,

the use of 'the cherry orchard' is symbolic in the play, because it is Lopakhin who
buys the cherry orchard . The "lonely and melancholy [...] sounds of an axe

striking a tree” towards the end of the play, as well as the cutting down of the

cherry trees, represent the shattering of the aristocratic order and the collapse of the

upper-class as well. Chekhov was never a completely unbiased and imperial

spectator," McVay points out. He chose his topic with care, inviting the audience

to serve as a jury. Chekhov depicts the downfall of aristocracy by depicting the

selfish character and materialistic knowledge of the aristocrats and tying their loss

of power with the destruction of the cherry orchard. It is obvious that the powerful

aristocrats lose their social positions and financial dominance in society, whilst the

manufacturers, merchants, and tradesmen emerge as the dominant rich class,

whose members control the commercial world and industry (Warner, 1958).

Many personalities made decisions that were personally meaningful to them. In the

orchard, Lyubov witnessed all of her forefathers' magnificence. Lopakhin saw a

huge chance to make a lot of money by breaking it. Trofimov, too, emphasized that

the loss of the orchard means the possibility of new benefits. Anya consoled

herself with the destruction of the orchard. She, too, saw the enormous potential of

building a new orchard. The fading aristocracy's newest generation was rather

brave in embracing the enormous social change, which came at a heavy cost. When

confronted with the challenges of dynamic society change, varied personalities

choose various means of action (Deer, 1958).

References

Baehr, S. L. (1999). The Machine in Chekhov’s Garden: Progress and Pastoral in the Cherry
Orchard. The Slavic and East European Journal, 43(1), 99–121. https://doi.org/10.2307/309908

Berna, O. (2017). DISCUSSIONS OF SOCIAL CLASS, DISCRIMINATION AND CLASS

CONFLICT IN THE CHERRY
ORCHARDfile:///C:/Users/hp/Downloads/DISCUSSIONS_OF_SOCIAL_CLASS_DISCRIMIN
ATI.pdf

Deer, I. (1958). Speech as Action in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Educational Theatre
Journal, 10/1, 30-34. Retrieved Jan. 12, 2017, from http://www.jstor. org/stable/3204231.

Sarkar, S. (2022). https://www.eng-literature.com/2020/12/cherry-orchard-

theme.html#:~:text=Anton%20Chekhov's%20play%20The%20Cherry,for

%20generations%2C%20purchases%20this%20orchard.

WARNER, P. (1958). THE AXE IN SPRINGTIME (THE CHERRY ORCHARD). Theoria: A

Journal of Social and Political Theory, 10, 41–57. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41791376