The Cherry Orchard Reality Illusion And Foolish

The Cherry Orchard: Reality, Illusion, And Foolish Pride Essay, Research Paper

The Cherry Orchard: Reality, Illusion, and Foolish Pride

Chandler Friedman

English 231

Dr. Clark Lemons

In the plays The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, A Doll’s House by

Henrik Ibsen, and Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, the protagonists’ mental beliefs

combine reality and illusion that both shape the plot of each respective story.

The ability of the characters to reject or accept an illusion, along with the

foolish pride that motivated their decision, leads to their personal downfall.

In The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov, Gayev and Miss Ranevsky, along

with the majority of their family, refuse to believe that their estate is close

to bankruptcy. Instead of accepting the reality of their problem, they continue

to live their lives under the illusion that they are doing well financially.

The family continues with its frivolous ways until there is no money left (the

final night they have in the house before it is auctioned, they throw an

extravagant party, laughing in the face of impending financial ruin) Even when

Lopakhin attempts to rescue the family with ideas that could lead to some of the

estate being retained, they dismiss his ideas under the illusion that the

situation is not so desperate that they need to compromise any of their dignity.

Lopakhin: As you know, your cherry orchard’s being sold to pay your

debts. The auction is on the twenty second of August. But

there’s no need to worry, my dear. You can sleep soundly.

There’s a way out. Here’s my plan. Listen carefully, please.

Your estate is only about twelve miles from town, and the

railway is not very far away. Now all you have to do is break

up your cherry orchard and the land along the river into

building

plots and lease them out for country cottages. You’ll then have

an income of at least twenty-five thousand a year.

Gayev: I’m sorry, but what utter nonsense!

(Later in the Dialogue)

Mrs. Ranevsky: Cut down. My dear man, I’m very sorry but I don’t

think you know what you’re talking about….

Lopakhin: If we can’t think of anything and if we can’t come to any

decision, it won’t only be your cherry orchard, but your

whole estate that will be sold at auction on the twenty-

second of August. Make up your mind. I tell you there is

no other way. (Page 621-622)

This inability on the behalf of the family to realize the seriousness of

their situation is due to their refusal to accept reality. If they had

recognized the situation they were in, and dealt with it, (they may have been

able to save some of their money, or even curbed their spending) they could have

saved themselves. Unfortunately, once things got bad for them financially, they

refused to accept that fact that circumstances had changed, and instead

continued to live as though nothing were wrong.

They adopted this illusion as a savior of their pride, and the illusion

eventually became reality for the family. Their pride wouldn’t allow for

anything else. They were too proud to accept that their social status, and

financial status was in jeopardy, so they chose to live a life of illusion. In

their imaginary situation, they were going to be fine. It is easier to believe

something when you really want it to be true. Unfortunately, outside situations

don’t change, even if you can fool yourself into thinking they don’t exist.

The illusion that they used to run their lives became the source of

their downfall. Since they grasped at their illusion so tightly, in vain hopes

that it would replace reality, they failed to deal practically with their

problem, until it got to the point where they had to. They were kicked out onto

the street, and had all of their material things taken from them. The most

important thing they had — their status — was gone.

In A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, property and status are again

destined to be lost. The illusion is twisted. At the beginning of the play,

Nora leads a life under the illusion that everything was perfect. She lives for

eight years with the knowledge that she has broken the law, and betrayed her

husband. Though it was necessary, the psychological toll it took on her and the

family was hardly worthwhile.

Along with Nora’s flaws, her husband was also at fault. He couldn’t

accept what Nora had done, and wouldn’t have been able to deal with the extreme

changes which she had undergone. His pride wouldn’t let him accept that he

needed a woman to help him; that he couldn’t handle everything alone without the

help of another person (This .stoic male’ ideal has lead to the downfall of many

men). His self-confidence would not have been strong enough to take that kind

of blow to his ego.

If she had forced her husband into handling the situation, by having him

borrow

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