Arguments: the problem of happiness. The problem of happiness in the work "The Cherry Orchard" is an example from literature

Classical Russian literature has always willingly raised general human themes. This is understandable: the reader is more interesting and it is easier to empathize with those heroes who are something like them. The strongest feelings in people awaken those characters who live the same as they do. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov in his small play "The Cherry Orchard" raises several topics: social inequality, greed, family vicissitudes.

Philosophical arguments, the problem of happiness and questions of will

But the most important topic, which runs through the whole work and "glues" together its parts, is the theme of happiness. The problem of human happiness, oddly enough, rises in literary works not so often. It would seem, what could be more important? After all, if a person is unhappy, he does not appreciate life, and this is the most serious problem that can only come to a person. The fact is that the problem of a person's happiness is not a settled issue, because everyone treats the concept of happiness in different ways. For someone it is an abundance of money, for someone - joyful faces of relatives at a festive table. In Chekhov, it is a cherry orchard.

Internal conflict on the background of external

But why do literary critics believe that the "Cherry Orchard" is a work about happiness? What are their arguments? The problem of happiness in the play is connected with almost every character. For example, Ranevskaya believes that she will lose her last joy in life if her favorite cherry orchard, in which her whole life has passed, is cut down. Her daughter Anya dreams of marrying - in this she sees happiness for herself. Old Firs is happy and that he can take care of his masters, and this brings him genuine joy. Lopakhin is also an excellent example of a man who is in search of mercantile happiness. So, the problem of happiness in the "Cherry Orchard" is not only the internal conflict of each character. This is also the main idea, which at the same time remains rather elusive. Among the literary critics, it is widely believed that the cherry orchard itself symbolizes the unattainable, which every character dreams, but in the end this unattainable dream leaves them. It leaves because few people made enough effort to keep it. These are the main arguments. The problem of happiness is a very broad topic, and Chekhov managed to master it skillfully, putting in his mouth only a few successful replicas.

Humanity is above all

It is interesting that each character behaves very humanely. In the "Cherry Orchard" there is not a single hero who could be called too picturesque or stereotyped. For example, the old Firs is found in every third family - an elderly, compassionate man who is ready to give the last shirt, even if nothing is left of him. The author shows it as if in passing, but it is this character that causes the most compassion. The reader does not know what Firs wants, and he sees only the boundless care and love that he shows to his masters. But Lopakhin causes irritation. The person who initially tried to support the family, as a result, strikes them in the back. It can be seen that he repents a little, but most of his repentance is still fake. Lopakhin is an ideal businessman, so he has such petty arguments. The problem of happiness seems to him ridiculous, because he has the first place - material benefits, but do you compare them with ephemeral happiness?

The Ranevskaya tragedy

Everyone wants to snatch his little piece in life, but not everyone gets it smoothly. The problem of happiness in the works of Russian literature rises through the image of ordinary Russian people who live a simple life. Unsuccessful Ranevskaya tries to find her own happiness in another country, where she flees after the tragic death of her son. But she can not find there long-awaited rest, because after all and there she was lucky with her prejudices and naive nature. She still comes back to Russia, left with little or no means of subsistence. It's amazing, but her cherry garden lasted for five years without her, and she did not remember it abroad. However, when there was a real threat of the destruction of this garden, the symbol of her past happy life, she panicked. The person is weak, because he is attached not only to other people, but also to the territory and things, and Ranevskaya can not imagine that the symbol of her past happiness will suddenly disappear somewhere.

Love that saves the world

Many Russian writers raise the topic of finding their own place in life and satisfaction with this very life. Poets, however, emphasize much more attention to undivided love. For example, the problem of happiness in Anna Akhmatova's "Poem without a Hero" and in a poem called "You Invented Me" grows out of the awareness of your lyric hero in the field of love.

In "The Cherry Orchard" the theme of love also rises, and it is also connected with happiness. Ranevskaya's daughter Anya dreams of marrying and creating her own family, so she feels much like a mother's loss of the cherry garden. She does not understand how expensive and symbolic for Ranevskaya this piece of land planted with trees, because at her age priorities are completely different. She is young and looking to the future, and Ranevskaya has already outlived her best years, so the past means so much to her. Perhaps, by this Chekhov tries to hint to the reader that the good awaits us only ahead, and tuzhit about the past years is stupid.

Such a different happiness for everyone

Literary scholars do not for nothing lead their irrefutable arguments: the problem of happiness in the Cherry Orchard is a very controversial topic. Critics are still discussing this work, and to a single opinion they have not come. When this work is considered at school or university, it is best to give students and students the opportunity to reason freely and not to conclude them in any frame. Perhaps Chekhov would even like the kind of heat with which the younger generation discusses the problem of happiness - a question on which humanity can not find an unanimous answer for a century now. If one day the secret of happiness will be revealed, the discoverer will never share the discovery, for happiness is something very individual and local. The fact that Ranevskaya seems precious, practically has no price in the eyes of her daughter, and the difference between them is only one generation. The main thing is that people never tire of looking for an answer to this important question: "What should I do to become happy?"