Varvara Mikhailovna is one of the main characters in the play “The Cherry Orchard”, adopted daughter landowner Ranevskaya. She is 24 years old and she runs the entire Ranevsky household, acting as both an adopted daughter and a housekeeper. By nature, Varya is a very modest and pious girl who conscientiously treats her duties. She is often busy with petty household chores and, unlike the gentlemen, she knows how to save rationally. A bunch of keys in her belt testifies to her homeliness. She looks at the circumstances soberly and understands perfectly well that the affairs of the estate are in decline. She knows that Ranevskaya is ruined, but she can’t do anything.
Varya’s dream is to have at least a hundred rubles and go to holy places or become a nun. In the play, the girl also has a potential groom, the merchant Lopakhin, who does not dare to propose to her. She herself understands that she has nothing to expect from this love, but Ranevskaya insists on their union. She considers him worthy and good person, but says that she shouldn’t be the first to propose to him. Varya dreams of marrying her sister to a rich man and worries that she will fall in love with Petya Trofimov. For this reason, he keeps a vigilant eye on the couple, but in vain.
After the sale of the estate, Varya leaves as a housekeeper to other landowners, without waiting for Lopakhin’s offer.
Other works on this topic:
- Ranevskaya Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna – main character play by A.P. Chekhov “The Cherry Orchard”, landowner and mistress of the estate with a cherry orchard. He died a few years ago...
- Lopakhin Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich is one of the main characters in the play “The Cherry Orchard”, a merchant, a descendant of serfs who worked for Ranevskaya’s father and grandfather. Lopakhin's father was uneducated...
- Anya Anya is a seventeen-year-old girl, the daughter of the landowner Ranevskaya, a symbol of sincerity and spontaneity in the play “The Cherry Orchard.” Anya, like many other members of her family,...
- Firs Firs is the oldest character in the play “The Cherry Orchard”, a devoted lackey on the Ranevskaya estate. He is 87 years old and most of dedicated his life...
- Gaev Gaev Leonid Andreevich is one of the main characters in the play “The Cherry Orchard” (1903), the brother of the landowner Ranevskaya. A man of the old school, like his sister, he is sentimental. Very...
Lopakhin, as stated in the author's remark at the beginning of the play, is a merchant. His father was a serf of Ranevskaya’s father and grandfather, and traded in a shop in the village. Now Lopakhin has become rich, but he says with irony about himself that he remains “a man, a man”: “My dad was a man, an idiot, he didn’t understand anything, he didn’t teach me, he only beat me when he was drunk... In essence, I’m just such a fool and idiot. I haven’t studied anything, my handwriting is bad, I write in such a way that people are ashamed of me, like a pig.”
Lopakhin sincerely wants to help Ranevskaya and offers to divide the garden into plots and rent them out. He feels himself enormous power, which requires an application and exit. In the end, he buys a cherry orchard, and this minute becomes the moment of his highest triumph: he becomes the owner of the estate where his “father and grandfather were slaves, where they were not even allowed into the kitchen.” The further he goes, the more he acquires the habit of “waving his arms”: “I can pay for everything!” - he is intoxicated by the consciousness of his strength, luck and the power of his money. Triumph and compassion for Ranevskaya conflict in him at the moment of his highest triumph.
Chekhov emphasized that Lopakhin’s role is central, that “if it fails, then the whole play will fail,” “Lopakhin, it’s true, is a merchant, but a decent person in every sense, he must behave quite decently, intelligently, quietly, without tricks " At the same time, Chekhov warned against a simplified, petty understanding of this image. He is a successful businessman, but with the soul of an artist. When he talks about Russia, it sounds like a declaration of love. His words are reminiscent of Gogol's lyrical digressions V " Dead souls" The most heartfelt words about the cherry orchard in the play belong to Lopakhin: “an estate that is not more beautiful in the world.”
In the image of this hero, a merchant and at the same time an artist at heart, Chekhov introduced features characteristic of some Russian entrepreneurs of the early twentieth century who left their mark on Russian culture - Savva Morozov, Tretyakov, Shchukin, the publisher Sytin.
The final assessment that Petya Trofimov gives to his seemingly antagonist is significant: “After all, I still love you. You have thin, delicate fingers, like an artist, you have a thin, gentle soul...” About a real entrepreneur, about Savva Morozov, M. Gorky said similar enthusiastic words: “And when I see Morozov behind the scenes of the theater, in the dust and trembling for the success of the play - I am ready to forgive him all his factories, which, however, he does not need, I love him, for he disinterestedly loves art, which I can almost feel in his peasant, merchant, acquisitive soul.
Lopakhin does not propose to destroy the garden, he proposes to rebuild it, divide it into summer cottages, make it publicly available for a reasonable fee, “democratic.” But at the end of the play, the hero who achieved success is shown not as a triumphant winner (and the old owners of the garden - not only as defeated, that is, victims on some battlefield - there was no “battle”, but only something absurd, sluggishly everyday, certainly not “heroic”). Intuitively, he feels the illusoryness and relativity of his victory: “Oh, if only all this would pass, if only our awkward, unhappy life would soon change.” And his words about “an awkward, unhappy life”, which “you know it’s passing,” are supported by his fate: he alone is able to appreciate what a cherry orchard is, and he himself destroys it with his own hands. Personal it good qualities, good intentions for some reason are absurdly at odds with reality. And neither he himself nor those around him can understand the reasons.
And Lopakhin was not given personal happiness. His relationship with Varya results in his actions that are incomprehensible to her and others; he still does not dare to propose. In addition, Lopakhin has a special feeling for Lyubov Andreevna. He awaits Ranevskaya’s arrival with special hope: “Will she recognize me? We haven’t seen each other for five years.”
In the famous scene of the failed explanation between Lopakhin and Varya in the last act, the characters talk about the weather, about the broken thermometer - and not a word about the most important thing at that moment. Why did the explanation not take place, why did love not take place? Throughout the entire play, Varya’s marriage is discussed as a matter almost decided, and yet... The point, apparently, is not that Lopakhin is a businessman incapable of showing feelings. Varya explains their relationship to herself precisely in this spirit: “He has a lot to do, he has no time for me,” “He is either silent or joking. I understand, he’s getting rich, he’s busy with business, he has no time for me.” But, probably, Varya is not a match for Lopakhin: he is a broad-minded person, a man of great scope, an entrepreneur and at the same time an artist at heart. Her world is limited by housekeeping, economy, keys on her belt... Moreover, Varya is a homeless woman who has no rights even to a ruined estate. For all the subtlety of Lopakhin’s soul, he lacks the humanity and tact to bring clarity to their relationship.
The dialogue of the characters in the second act at the text level does not clarify anything in the relationship between Lopakhin and Varya, but at the subtext level it becomes clear that the characters are infinitely distant. Lopakhin has already decided that he will not be with Varya (Lopakhin here is a provincial Hamlet, deciding for himself the question “to be or not to be”): “Okhmelia, go to the monastery... Okhmelia, oh nymph, remember me in your prayers!”
What separates Lopakhin and Varya? Perhaps their relationship is largely determined by the motif of the cherry orchard, its fate, and the attitude of the characters in the play towards it? Varya (along with Firs) is sincerely worried about the fate of the cherry orchard and estate. Lopakhin condemned the cherry orchard to cutting down. “In this sense, Varya cannot connect her life with Lopakhin’s life, not only for the “psychological” reasons prescribed in the play, but also for ontological reasons: the death of the cherry orchard comes between them literally, and not metaphorically.” It is no coincidence that when Varya learns about the sale of the garden, she, as stated in Chekhov’s remark, “takes the keys from her belt, throws them on the floor in the middle of the living room, and leaves.”
But it seems that there is one more reason, not formulated in the play (like many things - sometimes the most important thing in Chekhov) and lying in the sphere of the psychological subconscious - Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya.
The play outlines another line, piercingly tender and elusive, outlined with exceptional Chekhovian tact and psychological subtlety: the line of Lopakhin and Ranevskaya. Let's try to formulate its meaning as it appears to us.
Once in childhood, still a “boy”, with a bloody nose from his father’s fist, Ranevskaya took Lopakhin to the washstand in her room and said: “Don’t cry, little man, he’ll heal before the wedding.” Moreover, in contrast to her father’s fist, Ranevskaya’s sympathy was perceived as a manifestation of tenderness and femininity itself. Actually, Lyubov Andreevna did what her mother should have done, and isn’t she involved in the fact that this strange merchant has a “subtle, gentle soul”? Lopakhin kept this wonderful vision, this love and gratitude in his soul. Let us remember his words in the first act, addressed to Lyubov Andreevna: “My father was a serf to your grandfather and father, but you, in fact, you once did so much for me that I forgot everything and love you like my own... . more than my own." This, of course, is a “confession” of long-standing love, first love - tender, romantic, love - filial gratitude, youthfully bright love for a beautiful vision, not obligating to anything and not demanding anything in return. Perhaps there is only one thing: so that this romantic image, sunk into the soul of a young man entering the world, is not somehow destroyed. I don’t think that this confession by Lopakhin had any meaning other than the ideal one, as this episode is sometimes perceived.
But once experienced is irrevocable, and this “dear” Lopakhin was not heard, was not understood (they did not hear or did not want to hear). Probably, this moment was a turning point for him psychologically; it became his farewell to the past, a reckoning with the past. Began new life and for him. But now he has become more sober.
However, that memorable youthful episode also relates to the Lopakhin-Varya line. The romantic image of Ranevskaya from her best times - the times of her youth - became the ideal-standard that, without realizing it, Lopakhin was looking for. And here is Varya, a good girl, practical, but... Indicative, for example, is Lopakhin’s reaction in the second act to the words of Ranevskaya (!), who directly asks him to propose to Varya. It was after this that Lopakhin spoke with irritation about how good it was before, when men could be beaten, and began tactlessly teasing Petya. All this is the result of a decline in his mood caused by a lack of understanding of his condition. In a beautiful perfect image youthful vision was introduced a sharply dissonant note with all its harmonious sound.
Among the monologues of the characters in “The Cherry Orchard” about a failed life, Lopakhin’s unspoken feeling can sound like one of the most painful notes of the play; this is exactly how Lopakhin was played the best performers this role recent years V.V. Vysotsky and A.A. Mironov.
Minor characters in theatrical productions often become the background for the main plot. They perform one important task, complement a specific character, and help to understand the main characters. The image and characterization of Varya in the play “The Cherry Orchard” is not just a description minor role. Varya is a bright representative new Russia, practical and realistic thinking.
Varvara and mother Lyubov Ranevskaya
The daughter and mother are completely different in character. They can be called completely opposite characters. What is their difference:
- severity and gentleness;
- balance and detachment;
- clarity of speech and abundance of complex phrases;
- rationality and impracticality.
The girl is only 24 years old, but her behavior, appearance, and lifestyle do not give the reader the opportunity to imagine Varya as young and energetic. She is more of a woman tired of problems than a girl in her prime. The adopted daughter tries to calm herself down, hoping that Ranevskaya will find a way out of the situation, fighting for every penny, but everything is in vain.
Varya and sister Anya
Varvara’s attitude towards her sister is very kind. It reminds fairy tales. The half-sister finds special words for Anya:- Darling;
- Gorgeous.
The reader may hope that working in someone else's house will give the girl the opportunity to save money for herself. Thrifty Varvara should be able to change her fate, but it’s scary to think that her relatives will again ask her to work for them, taking away her earnings from her adopted son.
Varvara and Lopakhin
The girl does not hide her feelings. She likes the merchant Lopakhin. The sensuality of a woman is heard in the words of the heroine. She admits to her mother that it is time for her to decide to talk with Lopakhin, but she is waiting for action from the man. Everyone is talking about their imminent engagement and wedding, but the idle speculations of the residents of the house remain in the air. It's hard to see a man who doesn't stop such conversations but doesn't take decisive action. He probably likes this attention. An enterprising merchant will look for a more profitable party.Varya is a proud girl. She doesn’t force herself on her wife, doesn’t scream, doesn’t make a scene. This is the only time the adopted daughter cannot contain her emotions. Having learned who has become the new owner of the garden, she throws the keys on the floor, rather than handing them into the hands of the “groom”, discouraged by such behavior.
Varya and the estate
The girl loves her estate and the cherry orchard. She is the only one who works, taking care of all the residents of the house: owners, servants, guests. It united two women: a peasant woman and a noblewoman. Where and who are there more? In different situations, each side of the character is revealed: the practicality of a peasant woman, the upbringing of noble girls. Varvara also speaks differently. She can swear with abusive language and can convey the sensitivity of a caring sister.The smart and learned Trofimov calls Varya narrow-minded and narrow-minded, but he himself does not hesitate to accept help from her while living on the estate.
The girl has a special relationship with the cherry orchard. She cannot listen to the sound of axes, so she asks the woodcutters to delay the start of cutting down.
The author characterizes the image of Varya in many ways. The role is comic - "adopted". Varvara is “a stupid nun” in some letters, “a serious religious girl” in others. Already in such characteristics one can feel the complexity of the female character.
It was this play that was the last that the writer was able to finish. In this work, he showed the reader the whole truth about the landowners, and what they really are. Chief, one goodie plays - The Cherry Orchard, because only he tried to reason with all the inhabitants of this house. Unfortunately, nothing worked out. One of the main characters, in last job Chekhov, Ranevskaya's adopted daughter Varya.
After her mother left, she took over all the housework, because no one else needed it. However, no matter how the heroine tried to correct the difficult situation of the family, it still did not work out. Soon the owners of the house had to decide the fate of their house, and there was even a threat that it could be put up for sale.
At the beginning of the poem, readers are told that Varya would like to go to a monastery and be faithful to God. But due to the difficult situation of the family, she should abandon such an idea. Like all the residents of the house, they are waiting and hoping for Ranevskaya, because she has been gone for a long time and it is worth waiting for a miracle. Since the Cherry Orchard is very dear to them, they do not want to sell, especially it, until the very end. It is he who reminds them of their past and childhood memories, especially of Ranevskaya.
After Varya’s mother and her sister arrived, nothing changed in good side. After all, as it became known, abroad all the money they had was spent on all sorts of entertainment. After the family borrowed money from Lopakhin, Varya’s mother begins to spend as before and sees nothing wrong with it. Varya was also very worried about such a difficult situation, and asks her mother to think about what she is doing and what all this is for. After all, you can spend this money for the benefit of the whole family, preserve your estate, but Ranevskaya only thinks about what she wants.
The most difficult thing in this situation is that Varya is trying to somehow prevent the loss, but none of her relatives listen to her and everyone is hoping for a miracle. Unfortunately, as expected, nothing good happened without some effort.
At the end of the story, it turns out that her mother abandons her and does not even leave her money. I believe that in the future it will be difficult for her in life, since without money she will have to work hard to achieve something in life. After all, it was not an easy path for her, but she already has the skills of a housekeeper. But it seems to me that everything will be very good for her, and she will be happy without her family, who did not support her in such a situation. It is this hero of the play who shows readers about strong character and about a difficult life.
Essay Image and Characteristics of Varya
Play by A.P. Chekhov's “The Cherry Orchard” was completed by the author in 1903. Already in the next 1904, after the play was staged, it began to gain fame and wide popularity. The work is lyrical in nature.
One of the characters in the play is the adopted daughter of the landowner L.A. Ranevskaya. A girl of twenty-four years old, left by her adoptive mother on the farm during her absence. While Ranevskaya was with her daughter Anna in France, Varya managed all the household affairs on the estate. The inability of her relatives to save and live within their means leads to the fact that Ranevskaya’s estate should be put up for sale for debts.
Varvara Mikhailovna is a modest, reserved, believing girl. Among her desires is the cherished desire to visit holy places. She also reflects on monastic life. All her efforts to put Ranevskaya’s financial affairs in order come to naught. Lyubov Andreevna, even on the verge of complete ruin, is not able to comprehend the scale of the loss. She is unable to lead a lifestyle that matches the size of her wallet.
Even money borrowed from the merchant Lopakhin flows out of Ranevskaya’s hands like water into sand. Varya sees all this and cannot influence her adoptive mother in any way. Lyubov Andreevna does not know how and does not want to limit herself. She literally wastes money left and right, not thinking at all that the estate is up for sale. The Cherry Orchard, which is supposedly so dear to Ranevskaya, may be cut down. But this fact does not stop a person who knows nothing else in life but to satisfy his desires.
Varya worries about the fate of the estate and cherry orchard. But she simply cannot change anything around her. She was the only one of all her relatives who was worried and did her best to change the situation.
The merchant Lopakhin had views of this estate. After acquiring the estate, he wanted to cut down the garden and rent out the plots to summer residents. There was sympathy between Lopakhin and Varya. But Lopakhin never decided to propose to Varvara to marry him. But the heroine could not overcome her natural modesty and impose herself on a person dear to her heart.
After the sale of the estate, Varya is waiting for another house, where she will have to work for the owners. But that doesn't scare her. Unlike the cherry orchard, her life goes on.
Several interesting essays
- Comparative characteristics of Pechorin and Werner essay
The main character of the work, Grigory Pechorin, while on vacation in the Caucasus, meets Dr. Werner on the waters, who is minor character novel.
Rodion Raskolnikov - main character in the novel “Crime and Punishment” by F. M. Dostoevsky, which became perfect and confusing at the same time. Raskolnikov, being a poor student, commits an unforgivable crime
All characters in the play “The Cherry Orchard” they have great value in the ideological and thematic context of the work. Even casually mentioned names carry meaning. For example, there are off-stage heroes (the Parisian lover, the Yaroslavl aunt), the very fact of whose existence already sheds light on the character and lifestyle of the hero, symbolizing an entire era. Therefore, in order to understand the author’s idea, it is necessary to analyze in detail those images that realize it.
Characteristics of heroes
- Ranevskaya is a frivolous, spoiled and pampered woman, but people are drawn to her. The house seemed to open its time-bound doors again when she returned here after a five-year absence. She was able to warm him with her nostalgia. Comfort and warmth again “sounded” in every room, just as festive music sounds on holidays. This did not last long, as the days at home were numbered. In nervous and tragic image Ranevskaya expressed all the shortcomings of the nobility: its inability to self-sufficiency, lack of independence, spoiledness and tendency to evaluate everyone according to class prejudices, but at the same time, subtlety of feelings and education, spiritual wealth and generosity.
- Anya. A heart beats in the chest of a young girl, waiting for sublime love and looking for certain life guidelines. She wants to trust someone, to test herself. Petya Trofimov becomes the embodiment of her ideals. She cannot yet look at things critically and blindly believes Trofimov’s “chatter,” presenting reality in a rosy light. Only she is alone. Anya does not yet realize the versatility of this world, although she is trying. She also does not hear those around her, does not see real problems that fell on the family. Chekhov had a presentiment that this girl was the future of Russia. But the question remained open: will she be able to change something or will she remain in her childhood dreams. After all, to change something, you need to act.
- Gaev Leonid Andreevich. Spiritual blindness is inherent in this mature person. He stayed there for a long time childhood for life. In conversation he constantly uses billiard terms out of place. His horizons are narrow. The fate of the family nest, as it turned out, does not bother him at all, although at the beginning of the drama he beat himself in the chest with his fist and publicly promised that the cherry orchard would live. But he is categorically incapable of doing business, like many nobles who are accustomed to living while others work for them.
- Lopakhin buys Ranevskaya’s family estate, which is not a “bone of discord” between them. They do not consider each other enemies; humanistic relationships prevail between them. Lyubov Andreevna and Ermolai Alekseevich seem to want to get out of this situation as quickly as possible. The merchant even offers his help, but is refused. When everything ends well, Lopakhin is happy that he can finally get down to real business. We must give the hero his due, because it was he, the only one, who was concerned about the “fate” of the cherry orchard and found a way out that suited everyone.
- Trofimov Petr Sergeevich. He is considered a young student, although he is already 27 years old. One gets the impression that being a student has become his profession, although outwardly he has turned into an old man. He is respected, but no one believes in his noble and life-affirming calls except Anya. It is a mistake to believe that the image of Petya Trofimov can be compared with the image of a revolutionary. Chekhov was never interested in politics; the revolutionary movement was not part of his interests. Trofimov is too soft. His soul and intelligence will never allow him to cross the boundaries of what is permitted and jump into an unknown abyss. In addition, he is responsible for Anya, a young girl who does not know real life. She still has a rather delicate psyche. Any emotional shock can push her in the wrong direction, from where she can no longer be returned. Therefore, Petya must think not only about himself and the implementation of his ideas, but also about the fragile creature that Ranevskaya entrusted to him.
How does Chekhov relate to his heroes?
A.P. Chekhov loved his heroes, but he could not trust any of them with the future of Russia, not even Petya Trofimov and Anya, the progressive youth of that time.
The heroes of the play, sympathetic to the author, do not know how to defend their rights in life, they suffer or are silent. Ranevskaya and Gaev suffer because they understand that they cannot change anything about themselves. Their social status goes into oblivion, and they are forced to eke out a miserable existence on the last proceeds. Lopakhin suffers because he realizes that he cannot help them. He himself is not happy about buying a cherry orchard. No matter how hard he tries, he still will not become its full owner. That is why he decides to cut down the garden and sell the land, so that later he can forget about it as a nightmare. What about Petya and Anya? Isn't it the author's hope in them? Perhaps, but these hopes are very vague. Trofimov, due to his character, is not capable of taking any radical actions. And without this the situation cannot be changed. He is limited to talking about a wonderful future and that’s all. And Anya? This girl has a slightly stronger core than Petra. But due to her young age and the uncertainty of life, changes should not be expected from her. Perhaps in the distant future, when she has set all her life priorities, some action can be expected from her. In the meantime, she limits herself to faith in the best and a sincere desire to plant a new garden.
Whose side is Chekhov on? He supports each side, but in his own way. In Ranevskaya, he appreciates genuine female kindness and naivety, albeit seasoned with spiritual emptiness. In Lopakhin, he appreciates the desire for compromise and poetic beauty, although he is not able to appreciate the real charm of the cherry orchard. The Cherry Orchard is a member of the family, but everyone unanimously forgets about this, while Lopakhin is not able to understand this at all.
The heroes of the play are separated by a huge abyss. They are not able to understand each other, since they are closed in the world of their own feelings, thoughts and experiences. However, everyone is lonely, they have no friends, like-minded people, no true love. Most people go with the flow, without setting any serious goals for themselves. Besides, they are all unhappy. Ranevskaya is experiencing disappointment in love, life and her social supremacy, which seemed unshakable just yesterday. Gaev once again discovers that aristocratic manners are not a guarantee of power and financial well-being. Before his eyes, yesterday's serf takes away his estate and becomes the owner there, even without the nobility. Anna is left penniless and has no dowry for a profitable marriage. Although her chosen one does not demand it, he has not yet earned anything. Trofimov understands that he needs to change, but does not know how, because he has neither connections, nor money, nor position to influence anything. They are left with only the hopes of youth, which are short-lived. Lopakhin is unhappy because he realizes his inferiority, belittles his dignity, seeing that he is no match for any gentlemen, even though he has more money.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!
