CHERRY ORCHARD, The. Chekhov's realistic drama of Russian life, 'The Cherry Orchard,' was first performed, with enormous success, at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1903, only a few months before the death of the author. Chekhov's literary activity was coinci dent with the deep depression that in the eigh ties of the last century spread over the "Intelli gentsia' of Russia, owing to the disappointing reaction following the war with Turkey. As a trained physician, Chekhov understands the diagnosis of this almost universal distemper and depicts it in his stories and plays. The title of 'The Cherry Orchard' has a double meaning: It refers both to the actual orchard on the destruction of which hinges the plot of the play, and to Russia itself. The people of the play represent various types of Russian character. Madame Ranevskaya through weak ness and mental inertia sacrifices her great estate and its chief glory, the famous cherry orchard; her daughter Vavara is alike inactive; Lopakhin is the prosperous grandson of a former serf, into whose hands the estate passes; the uncle Gayey is a type of the Russian who talks but who does nothing. The student Tro
finiov is a dreamer and idealist who sees what is the matter with Russia, and asserts that •in order to live in the present we must first re deem the past, and that can only be done by suffering, by strenuous, uninterrupted labor.' With the faithful, Fiers is contrasted the selfish young footman, Yasha. Though the play ends with the prospect of a gloomy future for Madame Ranevskaya and her daughter, Trofimov sees the vision of a regenerated Russia; Mankind goes on to the highest truth, and to the biggest happiness possible on earth, and I go in the very van.' But the poor old serf Fiers is left behind for gotten and soon to die, and the sound of axes is heard in the cherry orchard. In its sincerity, its truth, its subtle characterization, and its idealism, 'The Cherry Orchard' is representa tive of the best in modern Russian drama. It was first translated into English by George Calderon in 1912 and by Julius West in 1916.