The Cherry Orchard

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surcumstances this is the ultimate form of tragedy, depending on the outcome. With this, Chekhov succeeds in confusing tragedy and comedy in his final play .
Chekhov’s characters in contribute greatly to the comedy. The action takes place on a Russian estate belonging to Mrs. Ranevsky. There is a debate over finances and a wealthy businessman named Lopakhin, whose father was a serf on the estate, thinks of a way to solve the financial problems. The family, however, seems to ignore the problem of losing the estate. This is the first instance of comedy in that the family chooses to ignore the problems while a wealthy businessman pleads with them to take action. The family continues to ignore the future for the estate as personalities are developed in each of the characters. A very comical character is the clerk Yepikhodov, also known as “Twenty-two Calamities.” In his entrance he stumbles over a chair while babbling at whatever comes to his mind. Firs, a ...

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his estate due to an unpaid mortgage. Looking for a loan from Mrs. Ranevsky, he is denied. This is the first instance of tragedy.
The character’s actions, moreover, are the comical focus in the play. It seems as though Chekhov gives the characters an awareness of their faults, and their actions reinforce these faults, as though the characters had forgotten them. For example, Mrs. Ranevsky pities herself for her carelessness with money, then immediately bestows one of her last gold coins to a beggar. Another example of a character’s inability to suppress foolishness is Yepikhodov’s role of the “unfortunate clod” (Galens 21-39). He continues to stumble ...

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