Reviewing "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov

In his farewell address in 1981 Pres. Jimmy Carter said "We live in a time of transition, an uneasy era which is likely to endure for the rest of this century. During the period we may be tempted to abandon some of the time-honored principles and commitments which have been proven during the difficult times of past generations. We must never yield to this temptation. Our American values are not luxuries, but necessities - not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself.

The situation depicted in "The Cherry Orchard" that was written by Anton Chekhov some eighty years before this statement was so similar that Pres. Carter could have referred to the transition that is reflected in this play.

A transition as a noun can be defined as a movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another. Change is the transition from one state to another. In the play the change from the values of the old Russia to the values of modernity is the conflict in the play. This transition is clearly evident where the previously poor son of peasants, who lived on the Ranevsky's cherry orchard, now was a successful businessman that had enough money and business insight to buy the orchard. The transition happening during the play is very insightful. The old, and rich, owners of the orchard inherited everything and did not have to work for it. Now they stand to loose it all, while the self made businessman Ermolai Lopakhin will deservedly be the future owner

In the play the transition between scenes were facilitated by dancing. The dancing between scenes added a great deal of enjoyment but also helped to make the transition between various emotions in the play to occur naturally. This gradual transition from one scene to the next whereby the next scene is gradually superimposed as the former scene fades out in the dance moves is called dissolving and is very well done in this paly.

In a literary sense a transition can be defined as a jump to an earlier event or scene that interrupts the normal chronological development of the story. This type of transition is referred to as a flashback. In "The Cherry Orchard" this type of transition is mostly achieved by the recollection of the past by the actors. When the jump is to a later event or scene that interrupts the normal chronological development of the story it is called a flash forward. In "The Cherry Orchard" this type of transition is possibly when businessman Ermolai Lopakhin warns that the orchard will be sold on 22 August, some definite time in the future.

When an immediate transition from one scene to the next is done, it is called a cut. In the play the cut from the scene where the orchard was sold and the ball was held to the departure of the family seemed too abrupt.

As a verb transition is defined as a cause to convert or undergo a transition or a force that makes or undergoes a transition from one state or system to another. In the play the old rich owners of the orchard inherited everything and did not have to work for it had to undergo a transition to accept that the orchard will be sold and converted into something they were not used to. The term convert implies a change in the nature, purpose, or function of something. In the play the orchard is converted into small plots of land for rent.

In this play transition is exemplified by the fact that in February of 1861, Russia's vast population of serfs was liberated, bringing the long-awaited social change about. Add to that Russia's move into a more international sphere primarily as a result of the arrival of the railroads in the 1830's. These two dimensions, social change and the growing importance of the international community, entrenched in the play, was the driving force of the transition that formed the basis of the plot in the play.

© 2009 Carl Marx