Analysis of the image of Gaev's Cherry Orchard. Speech characteristics of the characters in the play “The Cherry Orchard”

Chekhov's famous play “The Cherry Orchard” still does not leave the theater stage, although it was written in 1903. It has become a classic of the genre, which has always attracted full houses. Some people see it as a comedy, others as a drama, but it is really very interesting and unique in its own way, since it describes in all its glory the life of Russian aristocrats who are going through their hard times.

There are many characters in the play from which one can understand the moral and ethical foundations of the then upper class, what they were thinking about and what they were striving for in anticipation of the changes moving towards them. Getting to the topic “Leonid Andreevich Gaev: characterization (“The Cherry Orchard”)”, it should be noted that this representative of the nobility has become his modern caricature. All the negative aspects of his sister Ranevskaya are even uglier in him. This is what determines the whole comic nature of the events taking place.

Gaev: “The Cherry Orchard”, description (briefly)

To understand the attitude of the writer Chekhov himself towards the upper class, let us turn to the characteristics of one of the main characters - Gaev. In the play “The Cherry Orchard,” he is the brother of the main character Ranevskaya, a person less significant than her, but equally entitled to the inheritance, which is contained in their impoverished estate with a cherry orchard, mortgaged for debts. Who is he and how does he live?

The play “The Cherry Orchard” is unique and interesting in its own way. Gaev, whose characterization suggests that he is an impoverished landowner and a weak-willed person, leads an idle and carefree lifestyle with his sister. He just can’t get used to the idea that their cherry orchard is being auctioned off for debts. Gaev is already in his sixties, but he has neither a wife nor children. He lives in his old estate, which is decrepit and destroyed right before his eyes. But the devoted footman Firs still looks after his master with affection and care.

Debts

It is a little surprising that Chekhov presented “The Cherry Orchard” as a comedy, and not a drama. Gaev’s characterization here is worth something, because he constantly borrows funds in order to somehow pay off the interest on both his sister’s and his own debts. In his head, he constantly scrolls through options for repaying these numerous and constantly growing debts, and dreams of receiving some kind of inheritance or having his niece Anya taken as his wife by some rich landowner. He is also thinking of going to his aunt-countess in Yaroslavl and trying his luck and asking her for money.

Description and features of Gaev

Unlike his sister Ranevskaya, one can read about Gaev only in small remarks, where his character is revealed through his behavior; in the play, the acting characters say little about him. Almost nothing is said about his past. Nevertheless, it is clear that Gaev is an educated person and can use words beautifully, but mostly they are empty and meaningless. This is the main characteristic of the hero. Gaev loves the cherry orchard very much, like his sister Ranevskaya, he has become attached to it with all his soul, because it is the garden that fills the soul with warm memories of good times past.

Life without worries

Gaev lived his entire life on this estate as carefree as a moth and was a regular visitor to men's clubs, where he loved to play billiards. He brought all the secular news and gossip into the house from there. And once I even received an offer to be an employee in a bank with a salary of six thousand per annum. And here the disapproving reaction of his loved ones is surprising: his sister doubts him, and Lopakhin believes that he is too restless and lazy. In this matter, he was supported only by his niece, the good-natured Anya, who said that she believed in her uncle. Why do those around him not trust him so much, and yet even the lackey Yasha shows him his disrespect?

The Cherry Orchard

It is surprising that when the cherry orchard was laid out, Gaev, whose characterization is already not presented in the best way, behaves completely recklessly. When the modern capitalist merchant Lopakhin offers him and his sister Ranevskaya a way out of the situation: to break up plots and rent them out as dachas, Gaev absolutely does not want to listen to his rational advice, but continues to live with his prejudices. Gaev considers himself an aristocrat and the habit of looking down on such businessmen from ordinary people is in his blood, and nothing can be done about it.

When Gaev returned from the auction at which the estate was sold, he was literally depressed by this event, and tears froze in his eyes. But as soon as he heard the sounds of the cue hitting the balls, all his sadness disappeared. And all because this hero is not capable of deep experiences.

Conclusion

And now we come to the final and rather sad moment in the play “The Cherry Orchard”. Gaev (the characterization of the character according to Chekhov) presented the final stage of the evolution of the nobility. With it he closed the chain of images of nobles he created throughout his literary life. These images of aristocrats with excellent education turned out to be unable to defend their interests and ideals; they were heroes of their time who had the weakness of allowing the likes of Lopakhin to take a dominant place.

In the analysis of the theme “The Cherry Orchard”. Gaev: characterization" it should be noted that by bringing the image of Gaev to caricature, Chekhov showed how much the nobles had become smaller. On this occasion, the writer had to listen to a lot of criticism from the aristocracy, who accused him of ignorance of their circle. But this won’t get through Chekhov; after all, he wanted to create not a comedy, but a farce, which, in principle, he did very well.

Well, in order to fully understand the meaning of this work, we note that in the play “The Cherry Orchard” a distinctive feature is Chekhov’s symbolism, where the main and central character is not a human character, but the image of a cherry orchard, as a symbol of noble life. At the end of the play, the cherry orchard is cut down, so the noble nests disintegrated, old Russia, where the Ranevskys and Gaevs lived, became obsolete.

Chekhov seemed to have foreseen everything in advance, all the subsequent events and shocks that his country would soon have to endure, but which, alas, he did not have time to see. “The Cherry Orchard” became one of the last works of the great classic Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.

Leonid Andreevich Gaev is one of the main characters in Chekhov’s play “The Cherry Orchard”, the brother of the landowner Ranevskaya. He is a man of the old school, like his sister - sentimental. He is very worried about the sale of the family estate and the loss of the cherry orchard.

By nature, Gaev is an idealist and romantic. He is not particularly adapted to the “new” life. He considers himself to be a people of the 80s of the 19th century. He is artistic and sincere. He can even confess his love to a closet, which for him has been the guardian of the family for almost a century. He talks a lot, sometimes not to the point. Therefore, he realizes that what he said was inappropriate, but then repeats everything from the beginning. To hide his worries about the estate, he often inserts words into his speech like “who?” or "from the ball to the right into the corner" (an expression used in billiards).

They make unrealistic plans about preserving the cherry orchard and keep dreaming that someone will leave them a rich inheritance. And also, he dreams of marrying off his niece Anya. But this is only in words, but in reality, he did not lift a finger to save the estate.

After Lopakhin buys their house and garden, he gets a job at a bank for six thousand a year. At the end of the work, Lopakhin says that this will not last long, since Gaev is terribly lazy.

A.P. Chekhov turned to the genre of dramaturgy already in his early work. But his real success as a playwright began with the play “The Seagull.” The play “The Cherry Orchard” is called Chekhov’s swan song. It was with this that the writer’s creative path was completed. In “The Cherry Orchard” the author expressed his beliefs, thoughts, and hopes. Chekhov believes that the future of Russia belongs to people like Trofimov and Anya. In one of his letters, Chekhov wrote: “Students and female students are good and honest people. This is our hope, this is the future of Russia.” It is they, according to Chekhov, who are the true owners of the cherry orchard, which the author identified with his homeland. “All of Russia is our garden,” says Petya Trofimov.

The owners of the cherry orchard are the hereditary nobles Ranevskaya and Gaev. The estate and garden have been the property of their family for many years, but they can no longer manage here. They are the personification of Russia's past; there is no future for them. Why?
Gaev and Ranevskaya are helpless, idle people, incapable of any active action. They admire the beauty of the blooming garden; it evokes nostalgic memories for these people, but that’s all. Their estate is ruined, and these people cannot and do not try to do anything to somehow improve the situation. The price of such “love” is small. Although Ranevkaya says: “God knows, I love my homeland, I love it dearly.” But the question arises, what kind of love is this if she left Russia five years ago and has returned now only because she suffered a fiasco in her personal life. And in the finale of the play, Ranevskaya again leaves her homeland.
Of course, the heroine gives the impression of a person with an open soul, she is warm-hearted, emotional, and impressionable. But these qualities are combined with such traits of her character as carelessness, spoiledness, frivolity, bordering on callousness and indifference to others. We see that in fact Ranevskaya is indifferent towards people, even sometimes cruel. How else to explain the fact that she gives the last gold to a passerby, and the servants in the house are left to live from hand to mouth. She thanks Firs, inquires about his health, and... leaves the old, sick man in a boarded-up house, simply forgetting about him. This is monstrous to say the least!
Like Ranevskaya, Gaev has a sense of beauty. I would like to note that he gives the impression of a gentleman more than Ranevskaya. Although this character can be called exactly as inactive, careless and frivolous as his sister. Like a small child, Gaev cannot give up the habit of sucking lollipops and even in small things counts on Firs. His mood changes very quickly; he is a fickle, flighty person. Gaev is upset to the point of tears that the estates are being sold, but as soon as he heard the sound of balls in the billiard room, he immediately cheered up, like a child.
Of course, Gaev and Ranevskaya are the embodiment of a past passing life. Their habit of living “in debt, at someone else’s expense” speaks of the idleness of the existence of these heroes. They are definitely not the masters of life, since even their material well-being depends on some chance: either it will be an inheritance, or the Yaroslavl grandmother will send them money to pay off their debts, or Lopakhin will lend them money. People like Gaev and Ranevskaya are being replaced by a completely different type of people: strong, enterprising, dexterous. One of these people is another character in the play Lopakhin.
Lopakhin embodies the present of Russia. Lopakhin's parents were serfs, but after the abolition of serfdom, the fate of this man changed. He rose to prominence, became rich, and is now able to buy the estate of those who were once his masters. Lopakhin feels superior to Ranevskaya and Gaev, and even they treat him with respect, because they realize their dependence on this man. It is clear that Lopakhin and people like him will very soon oust the well-born nobles.
However, Lopakhin gives the impression of a person who is the “master of life” only for a given, short period of time. He is not the owner of the cherry orchard, but only its temporary owner. He plans to cut down the cherry orchard and sell the land. It seems that, having increased his capital from this profitable enterprise, he will still not occupy a dominant place in the life of the state in the future. In the image of this character, Chekhov masterfully managed to portray a bizarre and contradictory combination of features of the past and present. Lopakhin, although proud of his current position, does not forget for a second about his low origins; his resentment towards life, which, it seems to him, was unfair to him, is too strong. Very soon the reader and viewer understands that Lopakhin is just an intermediate step between the past and future generations.
In Chekh'bva's play we also see characters contrasted with the destructive activities of Lopakhin and the inaction of Ranevskaya and Gaev. This is Anya and Petya Trofimov. According to the author, the future of Russia lies with such people. Trofimov is an ardent seeker of truth who sincerely believes in the triumph of a just life in the near future. Student Petya Trofimov is poor, suffers hardships, but as an honest person he refuses to live at the expense of others. He talks a lot about the need to restructure society, but has not yet taken any real actions. But he is an excellent propagandist. This is one of those whom young people follow and believe in. Anya is carried away by Trofimov’s call to change her life, and at the end of the play we hear her words calling to “plant a new garden.” The author does not give us the opportunity to see the fruits of the activities of representatives of the new generation. He only leaves us with hope that the words of Petya Trofimov and Anya will not diverge from their deeds.
Chekhov portrayed three generations of people in his play “The Cherry Orchard,” and each character personifies the life of Russia: Ranevkaya and Gaev - the past, Lopakhin - the present, Trofimov and Anya - the future. Time has shown that Chekhov was absolutely right - in the near future, a revolution awaited the Russian people, and it was people like Trofimov who made history.

Gaev's place in the system of images of the work

To understand Chekhov’s perception of the nobility, it is necessary to consider the characterization of Gaev in the play “The Cherry Orchard,” the brother of the main character, practically Ranevskaya’s double, but less significant. Therefore, in the list of characters he is designated “Ranevskaya’s brother,” although he is older than her and has the same rights to the estate as his sister.

Gaev Leonid Andreevich is a landowner, “who spent his fortune on candy,” leading an idle lifestyle, but it is strange to him that the garden is being sold for debts. He is already 51 years old, but he has neither a wife nor children. He lives in an old estate, which is being destroyed before his eyes, under the tutelage of the old lackey Firs. However, it is Gaev who is always trying to borrow money from someone in order to cover at least the interest on his and his sister’s debts. And his options for repaying all the loans are more like pipe dreams: “It would be nice to receive an inheritance from someone, it would be nice to marry our Anya to a very rich man, it would be nice to go to Yaroslavl and try your luck with the aunt countess...”

The image of Gaev in the play “The Cherry Orchard” became a caricature of the nobility as a whole. All the negative aspects of Ranevskaya found an uglier attitude in her brother, thereby further emphasizing the comedy of what was happening. Unlike Ranevskaya, Gaev's description is mainly in stage directions, which reveal his character through actions, while the characters say very little about him.

Characteristics of Gaev

Very little is said about Gaev's past. But it is clear that he is an educated man who knows how to express his thoughts in beautiful but empty speeches. He lived all his life on his estate, a regular at men's clubs, where he indulged in his favorite pastime, playing billiards. He brought all the news from there and there he received an offer to become a bank employee with an annual salary of six thousand. However, for those around him it was very surprising, the sister says: “Where are you!” Sit already...” Lopakhin also expresses doubts: “But he won’t sit still, he’s very lazy...”. The only person who believes him is his niece Anya “I believe you uncle!”. What caused such distrust and, in some ways, even disdainful attitude on the part of others? After all, even the lackey Yasha shows his disrespect for him.

As has already been said, Gaev is an empty talker; at the most inopportune moments he can launch into a rant, so that everyone around him is simply lost and asks him to remain silent. Leonid Andreevich himself understands this, but it is part of his nature. He is also very infantile, unable to defend his point of view, and cannot really formulate it. He so often has nothing substantive to say that his favorite word “Whom” is constantly heard and completely inappropriate billiard terms appear. Firs still follows his master like a little child, either shaking off the dust from his trousers, or bringing him a warm coat, and for a fifty-year-old man there is nothing shameful in such care, he even goes to bed under the sensitive gaze of his lackey. Firs is sincerely attached to the owner, but even Gaev in the finale of the play “The Cherry Orchard” forgets about his devoted servant. He loves his nieces and his sister. But he was never able to become the head of a family in which he was the only man left, and he cannot help anyone, since it doesn’t even occur to him. All this shows how shallow the feelings of this hero are.

For Gaev, the cherry orchard means as much as it does for Ranevskaya, but, like her, she is not ready to accept Lopakhin’s offer. After all, dividing the estate into plots and renting them out is “off”, largely because it will bring them closer to such businessmen as Lopakhin, but for Leonid Andreevich this is unacceptable, since he considers himself a true aristocrat, looking down on such merchants. Having returned in a depressed state from the auction at which the estate was sold, Gaev has only tears in his eyes, and as soon as he hears the blows of the cue on the balls, they dry up, once again proving that deep emotions are simply not characteristic of him.

Gaev as the final stage in the evolution of the nobility in the works of A.P. Chekhov

Gaev closed the chain consisting of images of nobles created by Chekhov throughout his creative life. He created “heroes of his time,” aristocrats with an excellent education, unable to defend their ideals, and it was this weakness that allowed people like Lopakhin to occupy a dominant position. In order to show how small the nobles had become, Anton Pavlovich understated the image of Gaev as much as possible, bringing him to the point of caricature. Many representatives of the aristocracy were very critical of this depiction of their class, accusing the author of ignorance of their circle. But Chekhov didn’t even want to create a comedy, but a farce, and he succeeded.

Reasoning about the image of Gaev and a description of the features of his character can be used by 10th grade students when writing an essay on the topic “Characteristics of Gaev in the play “The Cherry Orchard”.”

Work test

The play “The Cherry Orchard” is called Chekhov’s swan song. This is his last play, written a year before his early death.

Written in 1903. First staged on January 17, 1904 at the Moscow Art Theater. The playwright passed away on July 15, 1904. He was 44 years old.

The play was written on the threshold of the first Russian revolution of 1905-07, it contains a moment of Chekhov's foresight of subsequent historical events that he was no longer able to see.

The central image in the work is the image of a cherry orchard; all the characters are located around it, each of them has their own perception of the garden. And this image is symbolic. Behind the image of the cherry orchard stands the image of Russia, and the main theme of the play is the fate of Russia.

The play is imbued with the author's thoughts about the past, present and future of Russia, the symbol of which is the cherry orchard.

Ranevskaya and Gaev personify the past of the cherry orchard and at the same time the past of Russia. In the play, the garden is cut down, and in life the nobles’ nests are falling apart, old Russia, the Russia of the Ranevskys and Gaevs, is becoming obsolete.

Ranevskaya and Gaev are images of bankrupt landowners and nobles. They are descendants of wealthy owners of a magnificent estate with a beautiful cherry orchard. In the old days, their estate generated income on which its idle owners lived.

The habit of living through the labors of others, without caring about anything, made Ranevskaya and Gaev people unsuited to any serious activity, weak-willed and helpless.

Ranevskaya, outwardly charming, kind, simple, is fundamentally the personification of frivolity. She is sincerely concerned about the instability of her adopted daughter Varya, takes pity on the faithful servant Firs, and easily kisses the maid Dunyasha after a long separation. But her kindness is the result of an abundance not created with her own hands, a consequence of the habit of spending money without counting.

Ranevskaya's double, but a less significant personality, is Gaev in the play. And he is sometimes able to say smart things, sometimes be sincere, self-critical. But the sister’s shortcomings - frivolity, impracticality, lack of will - become caricatures in Gaev. Lyubov Andreevna only kisses the closet in a fit of emotion, while Gaev makes a speech in front of him in a “high style.”

Gaev is frankly ridiculous in his attempts to live as if nothing had changed, as if he had not eaten his fortune on candy. He almost always speaks out of place, pronouncing meaningless billiard terms reminiscent of the times of his cheerful youth. Gaev is pathetic with his empty, pompous speeches, with the help of which he is trying to revive the familiar atmosphere of his former prosperity.

For brother and sister, everything is already in the past. But Gaev and Ranevskaya are still somehow attractive to us. They are able to sense beauty, and the cherry orchard itself is perceived mainly aesthetically, and not utilitarianly - as a source of berries that can be used for food or sold, or as a large plot of land, again having commercial value.

The play has an elegiac mood, the sadness of parting with a dying past, in which there was a lot of bad, but there was also good. At the same time, this is a kind of Chekhovian lyric and satirical comedy, which, with some sly good nature, but still quite sternly, with Chekhov’s sobriety and clarity, laughs at the nobility leaving the historical stage.

Critics who responded to the production of the play at the Art Theater regarded it as the final verdict on the noble class. One of the reviewers of the play argued that in “The Cherry Orchard” a “monument was erected over the grave of pretty white-handed orchids, orchids that bloomed behind someone else’s coffin,” and “their sluggish submission and meekness fills the heart with horror and pity.”

People like Gaev and Ranevskaya are being replaced by a completely different type of people: strong, enterprising, dexterous. One of these people is another character in the play Lopakhin.