The motif of “dreams” and “dreaming” is consistent throughout “The Cherry Orchard.” In just a cursory once-over of the play, I counted that those words appear six times, mostly concentrated in the very beginning and the very end of the work. The most interesting parallel use of this word occurs in its use surrounding the ownership of the cherry orchard. In the beginning of the play, when Lyubov Andreevna first returns to the orchard for the first time in years, she exclaims, “Is this really me sitting here?…But what if I’m only dreaming? Dear God, how I love my country how I cherish it!” (202). Lyubov Andreevna is so overcome with joy at returning to her family’s estate that she cannot even believe that it is real. When Lopakhin purchases the orchard to buy out Lyubov Andreevna’s debts, he proclaims similarly, “Good God in heaven, the cherry orchard is mine! Tell me I’m drunk, out of my mind. Tell me it’s only a dream” (238). Lopakhin’s elation stems from the fact that his father and grandfather worked as serfs for Lyubov Andreevna’s family on this orchard before him, and now Lopakhin has turned the tables. Although the two characters have different core reasons for why they love the cherry orchard, their invocations of God and their self questionings of whether or not they are dreaming indicate the common significance of the orchard. In these parallels, Chekov is emphasizing to the reader the weight of land ownership to Russians. It is self-identity and place in society. For Lyubov Andreevna, it is her seemingly charmed childhood as the daughter of a serf-owning landowner, and for Lopakhin, it is his transformation into a landowner himself.
10 thoughts on “Dreams and Land in “The Cherry Orchard””
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I think your observation about the repetition of dreams/dreaming is extremely perceptive and was something I did not pick up on. Particularly, the fact that the cherry orchard itself is the primary subject of those dreams is telling as well—it represents how the concept of landownership dominated the Russian mindset and psyche. Additionally, I think it is interesting how you point out the duality in the cherry orchard’s meaning—that for Lybov it is a symbol of her childhood (the old Russia) and that for Lopakhin it symbolizes his newfound ability to climb up the social ranks.
piggybacking on this, it’s interesting how the orchard’s dreamlike mystique is being destroyed at the end of the play, representing the unpleasant waking from a pleasant dream that all of us have experienced. Not only are they having to abandon this dream in the orchard, but it’s being destroyed, giving the main characters no option of returning, much like how once you wake up, you can’t go back to a dream. While the dream is ending for Lyubov, it’s only beginning for Lopakhin, who can finally see the orchard as a dream, where it had previously been a nightmare for his family, coming from a family of serfs.
I think this idea of a dream vs a nightmare depending on what socio-economic state the characters are also helps tie into the comedy vs tragedy discussion we were having in class. Although I’d argue that there are no “comedic” elements I’d say it carries the idea of happy vs sad that commonly distinguishes the tones of comedies and tragedies.
Colby, I really like your point. And perhaps this is taking this thread of conversation a step to far, from analysis to speculation, but I think we must think of dreams (before Freud) as having distinctly christian allusion. Often in the bible, people were given prophesies and messages from God in their dreams, and often it took another person to interpret those dreams. I wonder how Chekov is playing with this tradition, specifically with the difference you all are pointing out with the different dreams in different social classes.
I really liked your exploration of the significance of the dream for Lybov versus Lopakhin. For Lybov the dream represents an illusion; to her, the orchard takes on dreamlike qualities and she is unable to believe it is real. This is yet another way to convey the decline of the aristocracy and to take an almost satirical attack on the illusory nature of aristocratic power. Yet for Lopakhin, the motif of the dream is representative of hope and the future. The dream takes on a positive connotation as Lopakhin’s “orchard” represents the rise of the middle class and the realization of this dream is on the horizon. I think the duality of the dream motif, symbolizing both illusion and hope, is a subtle yet clever way that Chekhov was able to illustrate the active transition from the past to the future.
You picking up on the dream-related diction, as well as where it is utilized over the course of the play, is very keen. Additionally, I also think it is of significant importance that it is the cherry orchard itself eliciting the characters’ dreams, albeit for different reasons. I think the conflict between past suffering and future optimism is tied to their dreaming and land-owning aspirations. For Andreevna, returning to the orchard makes her reminisce about pleasant past memories, while Lopakhin is enthralled with the prospect of himself being a landowner.
Eva, you did a great job using quotes to prove the significance of dreams and, consequently, the orchard in the Cherry Orchard! Repetition always means something in literature, and you did a wonderful job picking up on it! In class, we discussed the comedic nature of this play. I think that the dreaming motif adds to the comedy in this play. The characters are so out of touch with reality that it becomes funny. Even in the quote that you used by Andreevna, her dream-like fantasy sounds so over zealous that it is funny. Additionally, the ellipses adds to the dream-like atmosphere.
I see a certain irony in the use of dreams in this play. Dreams are commonly understood as symbolizing possibility and idealism. Yet the link you have identified between dreams and land ownership here harkens back to serfdom. While Lyubov Andreevna and Lopakhin originate from different ends of the traditional hierarchy, they both dream about land ownership and regard it as some sort of ancestral duty; Lopakhin explicitly celebrates reclaiming the land on which his relatives toiled (238). Yet the institutions that legitimize the status of landowners, namely serfdom and the autocracy, have by the dawn of the 20th century collapsed or face imminent collapse due to enduring stagnation and mounting reformer (if not revolutionary) sentiments. In this way, the characters’ dreams come to represent subconscious commitments to futility.
I think this is a very interesting point and great quotes used. When reading this I made the connection to the theme of past and future in the play. The characters dreaming being their thought into the future. I think the point about dreaming emphasized this theme.
Your emphasis on dream repetition (and the dreamlike nature you observed overall) is something I find super interesting! The repetition truly does show the influence and importance of the cherry orchard. It adds to the humor brought in by the fact that the wealthy landowners are suffering in a way that is so out of touch,