ESSAY – THE THEME OF THE PAST IN « THE CHERRY ORCHARD »
Intro :
« The Cherry Orchard » is a play that deeply deals with the theme of the past. Indeed, characters are strongly linked with their past and some of them are still stuck in their memories. In addition, the Cherry Orchard represents remembrance and many other symbols refer to the past as well.

I] MEMORY
Characters have a privileged link with the past, particularly thanks to their memories. The first scene of the play takes place in the nursery, although there are not any child-characters, which gives a nostalgic atmosphere. As the play begins, there is already a reference to a lost past, and the fact that adults still go in the nursery shows how difficult it is to move on and to break with the past. Consequently, even before the reader knows everything about each character, he can guess that they do not cope easily with their present. Indeed, most characters refuse to evolve and don’t realize that life goes on. They are eager to stay in the comfort of an idyllic past in order to forget their sufferings from the present.
Some characters are really attached to everything that represents their past and brings up a memory. For example, in the first act, when Gayev sees the bookcase, he is over-excited and joyful to have found a connection with his memories. He was extremely touched and talked on the verge of tears : “most esteemed bookcase” ; “I salute your existence” … Gayev’s reaction is exaggerated and childish, so it shows that he gives an extremely great value to things concerning his past. Furthermore, he reacts the same way he would have reacted before, which shows that he didn’t mentally evolve.
Throughout the book, most characters reveal a part of their lives by telling the story of their childhood, an event that they went through which influenced the rest of their lives, the people they met… All these personal revelations bring memories in the center of the play.

II] THE CHERRY ORCHARD