The Cherry Orchard – Second Level Inquiry (Logic Stage)

Following my first level inquiry of WEM Project, this is the second and last one I am working on for The Cherry Orchard. My personal final thoughts would follow soon…

John Turturro plays Lopakhin and Dianne Wiest portrays Ranevskaya 

in Classic Stage Company's production of Chekhov's classic [source]

By what the play is given unity?

It’s by idea; the characters’ attachment with their past, their fear of facing the reality, and their obsession to be released from it that betrays their consciences.

What does each character stand for?

Lubov stands for the conservatives who refuse to move on from the past or from their history. They could not accept the idea that the world is changing; they just do not want to change. The cherry orchard symbolizes old Russia; Lubov represents Russian who like to hide in the comfort of their past (old Russia) rather than facing the modernism.

Trofimov stands for the liberals who are open-minded; who treat the old Russia as a history, and embrace the modern Russia as brighter future; who can objectively see the weaknesses of the old Russia and have the courage to welcome changes.

Lopakhin stands for people who want to forget their sorrowful past and cut down his root completely from history, to embrace the new wave of materialism. In the process, they might lose their consciences, and fall into moral corruption.

Do any of the characters stand in opposition to each other?

I highlighted here the contras between Lubov and Trofomov:

How do the characters speak?

Lubov: sentimental, pessimistic, full of love expression when addressing others: ‘my treasure’, ‘my dear’, etc., and often lamenting.

“My dear, my gentle, beautiful orchard! My life, my youth, my happiness, good-bye! Good-bye!”

“I’m all at sea… I may scream… or do something silly. Save me, Peter. Say something, say something.”

Trofimov: optimistic, practical, self-confident, idealistic, bit arrogant.

“Welcome, new life!”

“Even if you gave me twenty thousand I should refuse. I‘m a free man. And everything that all you people, rich and poor, value so highly and so dearly hasn’t the least influence over me; it’s like a flock of down in the wind.”

“Yes, I am a decayed gentleman, and I’m proud of it!”

Does the playwright lead you into a satisfying resolution?

I think so. Each of the characters has different destination to reach, and each symbolizes the idea they represent, and the difference is just emphasizing the irony. But the most touching is the resolution of Fiers. I think Chekhov wanted to criticize how forgetful people could be in the turbulence of changes, or maybe he wanted to emphasize that the past/old Russia has no choices other than being locked up and dying… ?

What is the play’s theme?

In a way, it’s Modernism vs Old Russia. Chekhov criticized people who were still clutching at their satisfying pasts, and refused to think positively about the inevitable modernism. Besides that, this play also tells of how people tend to remember and forget. There are people who love to stick memories of the past to their heart, and try to forget the present (Lubov), and there are people like Trofimov who are ignorant of the past, because what’s most important is the future. Lopakhin actually shares Trofimov’s idea, but with different cause. Trofimov wants to forget the past because of his ideology, while Lopakhin because of bitterness. Whatever you choose, the past would soon be dead, and replaced by the modern. The change is inevitable, just like Fiers’ tragic ending.

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Anton Chekhov - Play Monthly Meme July: Playwrights

This month Let’s Read Plays picked ‘other authors’ theme, which means we can pick any author out of Shakespeare, Greek, or Oscar Wilde (that we have done in the previous months). So, July Play Monthly Meme’s prompt naturally follows this theme accordingly,

“Who is your playwright this month?”

From many playwrights I have wanted to read, I finally picked Anton Chekhov. I have read Oscar Wilde’s plays—and really enjoyed them—so now I want to compare him with Chekhov, who wrote his plays at the same century. I’d be interested to see the differences between them. So, here it is…

Mini bio

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov—a Russian writer, born on January 29, 1860—is known as one of the greatest short stories writers in the world. His other interest and career besides writing was medical doctor, as he once stated: "Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress." Although his father is abusive, Chekhov reckoned him as the source of his talent, while his mother left him the soul. His father was also his portrays of hypocrisy he later wrote about.

Lived in poverty, Chekhov began writing short stories and sketches of Russian daily life to financially support the family and pay his tuition fee. Not long after he graduated and practiced as medical doctor, he diagnosed himself with tuberculosis, but hid the fact from family and friends, and kept writing. A celebrated writer named Dmitry Grigorovitch read his story ‘The Huntsman’ and advised Chekhov to write less, but concentrate more on the literary quality. It worked, as in 1887 Chekhov won the Pushkin Prize "for the best literary production distinguished by high artistic worth” for his short stories collection: ‘At Dusk’.

Anton Chekhov died on July 15^th, 1904 in the age of 44, leaving his many short stories and plays as a eternal legacy to literary world. Of his most famous plays are: The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters.

Playwright

The Cherry Orchard is the first play I’ve ever read from Chekhov, so I can’t be too objective in judging his playwright. However, there are some unique points that I found different from others (Shakespeare, Greek and Oscar Wilde).

First, his scenes portrayal. I was amazed at his detailed and beautiful description of the cherry orchard. It might be because of the theme, but nevertheless I have never found any other play with that detailed portrayal.

Chekhov’s dialogs are sometimes seems incoherent. In the middle of a conversation, suddenly someone would interrupt with a comment that does not relate at all to the conversation. It feels trivial and awkward, but in the end, it turns out to be quite important. Chekhov likes also to let his audience to comprehend some ideas from unexpressed dialogs, which let you reflect quite often while reading, unlike Wilde’s plays which just flow.

It turns out also that Chekhov uses quite many allegories in The Cherry Orchard. I think his plays would be best enjoyed from the book rather than seeing it live-performed. The live performance would be great too, but to grab his meaning, I think one ought to read from the book too.

Who’s your favorite playwright, other than the Bard and Wilde?

Scene on Three (2): The Cherry Orchard

The Cherry Orchard is one of Anton Chekhov’s most famous plays. It’s about a family who is about to lose their estate in an auction because of their debts. Among the most treasured things about the estate, is the cherry orchard, which is claimed as the most beautiful place in the world by one of the characters in the play. The cherry orchard might not be just beautiful, but it keeps family history and secret for years, which bear sentimental memories in the resident’s heart.

For today’s Scene on Three, I picked a passage describing the beauty of the cherry orchard.

“In a field. An old, crooked shrine, which has been long abandoned; near it a well and large stones, which apparently are old tombstone, and an old garden seat. The road is seen to Gaev’s estate. On one side dark poplars, behind them begins the cherry orchard. In the distance is a row of telegraph poles, and far, far away on the horizon are the indistinct signs of a large town, which can only be seen on the finest and clearest days. It is close on sunset.”

I didn’t get used to read a playwright which is describing the scene so detailed, so this one is quite amazed me.

Jadi bagaimana cara berpartisipasi dalam Scene on Three :

• Tuliskan suatu adegan atau deskripsi pemandangan/manusia/situasi/kota dan sebagainya ke dalam suatu post.
• Jelaskan mengapa adegan atau deskripsi itu menarik, menurut versi kalian masing-masing.
• Jangan lupa cantumkan button Scene on Three di dalam post dengan link menuju blog Bacaan B.Zee.
• Masukkan link post kalian ke link tools yang ada di bawah post Bacaan B.Zee, sekalian saling mengunjungi sesama peserta Scene on Three.
• Meme ini diadakan setiap tanggal yang mengandung angka tiga, sesuai dengan ketersediaan tanggal di bulan tersebut (tanggal 3, 13, 23, 30, dan 31).

The Cherry Orchard – First Level Inquiry (Grammar Stage)

For WEM project, I will only work on the first and second level inquiries for this play. You can also check my Acts summaries to get a clearer picture of what it’s about. This post is the first level, the grammar stage.

[source]

What is the initial question or tension?

From the beginning of Act one the talks about the estate’s sale has been emerged, so I think it’s no longer whether it’s going to be sold, but rather: What will happen (to everyone) if the cherry orchard were sold in the auction?

Where is the point of greatest tension?

The greatest tension is in the party, when people are waiting for Gaev to get the confirmation of the auction’s outcome; of who finally gets the estate. There is a slight hope that Gaev—Lubov’s brother—might be able to buy it because an aunt has granted him the money. The tension is so intense here, because each of their faith will depend on the outcome.

Where does the play’s action reach its climax?

When Lopakhin is stating that it’s he who bought the estate. With this new fact, it is inevitable that Lubov and Gaev will be cut off from their root of history (representing by the cherry orchard), Varya’s life is ruined. She lost a job (she has been the estate’s manager), and probably lost chance to get a marriage proposal (I don’t think she would still want to marry Lopakhin—if he’d really propose—after he showed arrogance about buying the estate). On the other hand, Anya would be free to leave the cherry orchard which she did not love anymore, to marry Trofimov. So, everybody’s future is changed by this fact.

Where is the resolution?

In Act V, when the door is locked after everyone left the house (everyone except Fiers). Locking the door is like locking their previous life, and now they would emerge to a new future (still unknown to few people).

What holds the play’s action together?

Attachment with the past; how people used to irrationally let themselves bound to their past and refuse to let it go, to welcome a new era.

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The Cherry Orchard – Acts Summaries

The Cherry Orchard is one of Anton Chekhov’s most famous plays. I picked this play for Let’s Read Plays (other authors theme), and for my WEM Self-Project. This is the second play I read for WEM, and as usual, I’ll begin with the Acts summaries.

[source]

Act One

Act one is an introduction of each characters and their conflicts. Mrs. Ravensky (Lubov Andreyevna) is arriving at the family estate after five years leaving it for other country together with Anya, her daughter. Her husband and her only son had died, while her adopted daughter, Varya, has been staying and managing the estate during her absence. The Ravensky is falling into poverty, they could not pay their debts, and the estate—with the beautiful cherry orchard—is threatened to be sold in an auction.

I get the feeling somehow that Lopakhin (a peasant’s son who becomes a businessman) and Pischin (another landowner) are using Mrs. Ravensky. Lopakhin persuades Lubov to cut off the cherry orchard and build a summer villas to get money; while Pischin keeps asking for a loan to pay his mortgage. Lubov rejects Lopakhin’s idea because she loves the cherry orchard, while she asks Gaev—her brother—to give Pischin the money, despite of her near-bankruptcy.

Beyond that, there’re trivial conflicts of Varya—who is expecting to marry Lopakhin but the man hasn’t proposed to her yet; of Dunyasha—the maid servant who likes to dress like a lady, and is proposed by Epikhodov—the clumsy clerk. Dunyasha is annoyed by this, and seems to be more attracted to Yasha—a young footman whom she hasn’t met for five years as he served Mrs. Ravensky in Moskow. While Anya seems to jolt in joy at the news that Peter Trofimov (used to be her death brother’s teacher) is staying there at the moment.

Act Two

In second act we come to know everyone better. Charlotta—governess who likes to wear man’s hat and carry a riffle—is an orphan and feels lonely in this world where she can’t remember her mother and father. Dunyasha expresses her love to Yasha who reacts so disinterestedly; while Epikhodov carries revolver everywhere and implicitly ‘threatens’ to kill himself if Dunyasha doesn’t react to his courting.

Lopakhin still persuades Lubov of the villas idea, and Lubov still persists to reject, which annoys Lopakhin. In her poor condition, Lubov still can’t resist giving gold changes to a tramp.

Trofimov makes an interesting speech about how idle people are; even the intellectuals do nothing important and don’t know the real meaning of ‘working’. Anya and Trofimov discuss their closer relationship—which Trofimov thinks a ‘vulgarity’, and Anya expresses how her love to the cherry orchard has changed. Trofimov expresses how the cherry orchard bears mush of the history of Ravensky ancestors, and that the future lays onto real action (works). He persuades her to leave that place.

Act Three

The night of the auction, the Ravenskys have a party. Gaev is expected to buy the estate as Anya’s grandmother had granted him the money. He and Lopakhin didn’t appear until late at night, making the whole family in distress.

Meanwhile, Varya doubts that Lopakhin would ever propose to her because he is too pre-occupied with business. She also thinks that if she just possesses money, she would go to the convent if the estate is sold.

Act Four

Lubov, in her anxiety to hear the auction result, tells Trofimov about her lover who has been taking advantage of her. He is now severely ill in Paris and asks Lubov to come there. Trofimov says that the auction result hardly means anything and that Lubov should have thinking about the future instead. He also frankly tells Lubov that she better ignores her lover as the man has robbed her. Lubov is angry about this.

An old servant named Fiers remarks that as Ravensky has become poor, the guess at their party has greatly changed. No barons or counts are eager to come now; it’s even difficult to get a station master to come. Meanwhile, Varya cries because Trofimov keeps teasing her as Madame Lopakhin.

Finally Lopakhin and Gaev arrive at the party; the first looks happy while the latter tired. It appears that Lopakhin has bought the estate for himself, defeating Gaev. It means that the Ravenskys must leave the estate, and their dearest cherry orchard will be cut down to make space for the villas building. Lopakhin reflects how he had been succeeded to own the estate where his father and grandfather used to work on as slaves. Lubov weeps and Varya throws away her keys. Lopakhin reproaches Lubov for not listening to his suggestion; while he expresses his eagerness to axe the cherry trees, although not long before he says that the cherry orchard is ‘the most beautiful place in the world’.

Vacating the house is quite a scene. Lopakhin offers a loan to Trofimov, which the latter rejects because he is a man of free. Meanwhile, Anya, Varya and Lubov all concern about Fiers; whether he has been transported to the hospital, which Yasha confirms that he had given the order, and that ‘they’ must have done that. Dunyasha cries over her separation from Yasha, whom takes it very coldly. Varya is the most distressed soul among others because Lopakhin never proposes to her until the end amid Lubov’s personal request to him. Meanwhile, Anya and Trofimov seem to be the happiest couple of all; they look at the future as a brighter one than what they would leave behind. Anya even convinces her mother that they would plant cherries in a new orchard, and that it would be more beautiful than theirs.

*spoiler* Lubov and Gaev are the last to exit the house before Lopakhin locks every door as he will leave for a quite long time. For a moment silence fell on to the empty house. But, it soon appears that it’s not quite empty, because old Fiers is actually still in the locked house, undetected by others!! Oh my… what an ending!

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Dante’s Purgatorio: The Earthly Paradise

This is the last part of Purgatorio, the highest level of Mount of Purgatory: The Earthly Paradise, which Dante reaches after passing all the seven terraces: Terrace1-2, Terrace 3-5, Terrace 6-7, as well as Ante-Purgatory.

Beatrice Addressing Dante, by William Blake

Dante leaves the Mountainside freely, now takes lead of his two teachers who are now following him silently from behind. He enters the Divine wood, dark and beautiful in the nature, and meets a clear dark water stream. Across it he sees a beautiful lady is gathering flowers while singing. It is Matilda (another symbol of active spiritual life). Dante questions her about the nature of the Garden, and she explains that it is the Garden that God created before Adam and Eve fell into sin. The Garden is created for goodness, as Man is destined for goodness. It was raised above the storms of Earth as a place of peace, a divine pledge. The Man did not stay there long because of his own fault. The water flows from God, and the one at one side washes away the memory of sin, while the other one keeps the memory of good deeds. This place is the Earthly Paradise; a place of peace, beauty, humanism, and classical wisdom.

Resuming his journey following Matilda’s step, Dante sees a glowing light flooding into the forest, accompanied by a sweet melody. Dante condemns Adam’s fall that unveiled his eyes from these beauteous scene. Then suddenly the air turns to blazing fire. Seven branched candlesticks appear, representing seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are singing ‘Hosanna’. Behind them, Dante sees people bringing seven banners, representing the seven sacraments as the works of the seven gifts of Holy Spirit. Behind them are twenty four elders (representing books of Old Testament) and four creatures (as in the books of Revelation and Ezekiel).

There are also two-wheel chariot (representing contemplative and active life in Church). After that, Dante sees two old men: Luke and Paul, followed by the four writers of the epistles: Paul, James, Peter and Jude. On their back is John the Divine, author of book of Revelation. Then suddenly Dante hears a clap of thunder that the procession into a halt. The Elders turns to the Chariot, singing the Song of Solomon. The Saints will rise from their tombs and reunite with their bodies singing Hallelujah on the Day of Judgment; so as a hundreds spirit inside the Chariot.

Dante, who is now fit to have a visionary revelation, sees Beatrice appears among the cascade of flowers. But as Beatrice appears, Virgil vanishes from Dante’s side. Dante cries at the separation. Beatrice warns him not to cry, and that he would weep more soon. She scowls at Dante’s temerity to approach the Mount, and when he turns his look at the water of Lethe (that is supposed to erase memories) he could still see his memories (symbol of seeing into one’s soul), which makes him ashamed. Beatrice explains to the Angels how Dante was good in his virtues when Beatrice was alive and guiding him, but he turned to the opposite side after her death. Even when she appeared in his dream, Dante kept unchanged. The only way Beatrice could save him was by asking Virgil to guide him through Inferno. And now to pass the Lethe, Dante must repent by shedding tears.

Dante has come to the threshold of his purification. Here he confesses his weakness of worldly distractions that had led him to moral failing, while Beatrice rebukes him. Dante is ashamed to the accusation, and repents. At last Matilda comes and takes Dante with her over the Lethe, where he hears Asperges Me (symbol of baptism). Matilda forces him to drink the Lethe water which will wash away any memory of sin from his mind. Cleansed, Dante is brought by four ‘cardinals’ to see Beatrice’s eyes, through which he sees Christ in the shape of double nature of a Grifon.

Adjusting his sight, Dante then watches the Divine Pageant turns away to the right. Dante, Matilda and Statius follow the right wheel of the Chariot through the forest of Earthly Paradise. Beatrice descends from the Chariot, and all of them surround a bare tree which is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (symbolizing earthly empire). The Grifon (Christ) is blessed for not taking anything from the tree (temporal powers of the earth). Grifon then takes the Chariot pole within the Tree which appears to be the Cross, and binds it to the Tree (linking the Church and the empire but maintaining each in its sphere).

People sing a hymn that Dante doesn’t understand; and he soon falls asleep. He awakes just like the three disciples: Peter, John and James has been brought at the Transfiguration. Dante finds Matilda bending over him, showing him that Beatrice is sitting on the root of the Tree (Rome—after the Church and the Empire has been united), watching the four cardinals and three theological who carries Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirits. Beatrice then instructs Dante to write about the Chariot as he would see it, when he returns on earth (these would be symbolizing the history of the Church and the Empire).

Obediently Dante sees consecutively: the eagle (ten persecutions of the Church by Roman emperors from Nero to Diocletian), the vixen (heresies of the early Church, suppressed by the writings of the Fathers), then the eagle descends (the donation from Constantine to the Church in the era of Pope Sylvester I, which Dante sees as the source of involvement of the Church in temporal power, and Constantine involvement to the Church). Then the ground under the Chariot is opened, and from it emerges the dragon with its spiteful tail (Islamic schism), leaving feathers cover the Chariot when it leaves (temporal power and worldly wealth) which makes Church becomes the Monster with the seven capital sins as its heads. Seated on the Monster, the whore (corrupted Papacy under Boniface VIII and Clement V); the giant kisses the whore (French dynasty, especially Philip the Fair who connived with Clement V to move the papal court to Avignon), but when she turns her eyes to Dante, the giant scourges her and looses the monster. Beatrice then implies that the Church is corrupted but will be cleansed.

After that, Beatrice prophecies that the Church will gain its power and its Divine origin once more; that a new leader will come and get the Church rid of its corruption. She says it’s a blasphemy, that the tree of the Empire has been twice despoiled (by Adam, by taking the apple, and by the wood, the chariot pole, being taken to form the Cross). Beatrice reminds Dante to write all about it.

Finally they reach the source of Lethe and Eunoë; Dante is amazed at the nature of the streams. Beatrice reminds Dante that the confession and the revelation of Divine Pageant have erased his memory of virtuous actions. Matilda then leads Dante and Statius to drink the water from Eunoë to restore the memory of it. The water refreshes Dante, renews and purifies him, so that he is ready now to climb to Paradise.

Dante’s Purgatorio: Terrace 6 – 7

Following my summarizes of Ante-Purgatory, Terrace 1-2, Terrace 3 – 5, these are the two final terraces of Purgatory where Dante is purged from his sins. It’s not the end of Purgatorio, though, as after this Dante would still go through The Earthly Paradise, the last step towards Paradise! Meanwhile, here are the sixth and seventh terraces…

Terrace 6 – The Gluttonous

Another letter P has been erased from Dante’s forehead by the Angel of Liberality. Statius tells them that avarice is not his sin; it’s prodigality—his excessive and wasteful spending. Fortunately he read Virgil’s Aeneid which brought him more to Christianity, for his Thebaid has a touch of Paganism.

Now the three poets resume their journey together to sixth terrace. There they find a tree heavy with fruits and fruity fragrance; the smell triggers the desires on food and drink. It tantalizes the spirits who are punished with gluttony sin; while a voice retells about Mary who thought about the host’ honour at the Cana marriage instead of herself, and John the Baptist who merely eats honey and locust in the desert. The spirits purge themselves from gluttony sin by using their mouths for singing and weeping.

Dante then meets his friend Forese Donati, now a skinny man with leprosy, who is purging his sin of gluttony, thanks to his wife who prays for him. He also criticizes the immodesty of Florence women and prophesies something bad would happen to them. Forese also prophesies Dante’s befriending the beautiful Genthucca.

After Forese left them, the three poets reach a second-tree, which is grafted from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, whose fruit Eve had eaten from. Some spirits plead with it, but the tree abandons them. So the excessive desire of food and drink is now replaced with that of knowledge, and the spirits are punished for that. The Angel of Temperance now appears, showing the next path to Dante before clearing one letter P’s from his forehead.

Meanwhile, Dante still has an unanswered question: how come the spirit they have just left was starving when food wasn’t necessary anymore. In it, he wants to know about the nature of soul after death. Statius provides him the knowledge about human embryology. When the ‘perfect blood’ of man and woman are mixed—the male’s active, the female’s passive—it has power to invigorate life, creates the embryo, and develops organs. The embryo possesses life (as in plants), and sensation and feeling (as in animals). An Arabian physician and commentator on Aristotle, Averroës, shared the same theory; but Dante (through Statius) disagrees with him. He believes that as soon as the brain is complete, God breaths rational spirit into it, which finally becomes one unified soul that exists after death. After death the soul leaves the body, keeping memory, intellect and will with it, unto the after life. It forms a shadow in the air, which we call spirit.

Terrace 7 – The Lust

Reaching the seventh terrace, where sinners of Lust are purged. They are welcomed by a narrow path; from one side of it flames hurl from the down cliff, while on the other the danger of falling. From the burning flames, Dante hears the spirits walking through the flames while singing Matin hymn, the opening of a prayer for protection against lustfulness. They also mention the examples of chastity: Mary and Diana.

Couples cannot embrace one another, they merely exchanges friendly kisses. Lustful is one of Dante’s weaknesses when he fell in love with Beatrice. But after Beatrice died, he transformed his courtly love into a more divine and spiritual one; through Beatrice, Dante sees God.

An Angel appears from within the flames and tells Dante not to step further unless he has been bitten by the fire first. Virgil encourages the terrified Dante to have faith and go through the flames that won’t hurt him; only the name of Beatrice that really brings Dante encouragement to get through.

Out of the flames, the three of them reaches an ascending way through a rock. They were soon overcome with sleep; Dante—similizes himself as a goat, while his two teachers are as his shepherds who are guiding him in his reflection of the past. Then Dante has another dream….

A young beautiful lady gathering flowers for a garland appears to be Leah (symbol of actions), while her sister Rachel (symbol of contemplation) appears as a reflection from a mirror. It tells Dante that in trying to reach Heaven, contemplation is much better than action (compare with Mary and Martha in Bible). When he wakes up from his dream, Virgil tells Dante that it’s time for them to separate. Virgil has been safely guiding Dante into the end of his passage through Purgatory, having gained understanding and love, things that Virgil himself, as teacher, failed to reach. Now Dante is purged, and his free-will will guide him directly towards the good.