Nostalgia in The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov
Nostalgia is one of the main themes in The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov. In fact, Chekov himself experienced strong feelings of nostalgia to Moscow where he was introduced to many men of letters but unfortunately, he was obliged to leave Moscow and go to Yalta because of his illness of T.B. Thus, his longing to Moscow kept torturing and irritating him all through his life. Hence, the sense of nostalgia is clearly reflected in his play The Cherry Orchard. Actually, the play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to their family estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. While offered options to save the estate, the family does nothing and the play ends with the selling of the orchard and thus the ending of all their past memories.
The characters of The Cherry Orchard are sick with nostalgia. Madame Ranevsky is obviously the main character; she is really in charge of her family, and her inability to move on with the present is so striking. To her, everything is in the past - even the present. She can't forget the days of her childhood or the disasters six years previous. Even when she is forced to face reality - that the orchard has been sold - it seems like an event in the past. In fact, Madame Ranevsky sees the past, present, and future as the past only. A wonderful example of Madame Ranevsky's nostalgic emotions is:
"One last look... Our dear mother used to walk up and down this room."
Madame Ranevsky is a passionate woman and is quite nostalgic. She gets attached to people, yes, but especially objects. She kissed the cupboard, for crying out loud (8)! Ranevsky reveals how her emotional attachment to the estate is important to her family history:
"Don't you see? I was born here, my father and mother lived here, and my grandfather; I love this house" (32).
Having this deep connection to her estate often arouses memories of her childhood. The cherry orchard
The characters of The Cherry Orchard are sick with nostalgia. Madame Ranevsky is obviously the main character; she is really in charge of her family, and her inability to move on with the present is so striking. To her, everything is in the past - even the present. She can't forget the days of her childhood or the disasters six years previous. Even when she is forced to face reality - that the orchard has been sold - it seems like an event in the past. In fact, Madame Ranevsky sees the past, present, and future as the past only. A wonderful example of Madame Ranevsky's nostalgic emotions is:
"One last look... Our dear mother used to walk up and down this room."
Madame Ranevsky is a passionate woman and is quite nostalgic. She gets attached to people, yes, but especially objects. She kissed the cupboard, for crying out loud (8)! Ranevsky reveals how her emotional attachment to the estate is important to her family history:
"Don't you see? I was born here, my father and mother lived here, and my grandfather; I love this house" (32).
Having this deep connection to her estate often arouses memories of her childhood. The cherry orchard