Chabert
The social and economical clash between classes is not a recent problem. In fact, it has been an issue that has followed human society since the early times of its civilization. Social classes and all the problems associated with it have always existed; from the early civilizations between the Tigris and the Euphrates to the Modern Society not forgetting the Greek and the Roman empires as well as the darkness of the Middle Ages. It has been such an important factor during our existence that it has influenced enormously also the literary world. Two works in particular are perfect reflections of this perennial conflict: Le Colonel Chabert by the great Honore de Balzac and The Cherry Orchard by the Russian play writer Anton Chekhov. These two literary pieces, although written a little less than a century apart and in two different countries and cultures, present many similarities that can help us understand how the social stratification was and will always be part of our society.The social diversification presented in these two works however has a cause that is curiously similar in both cases. These tensions between classes, however, are not like the ones we have in today’s world which are mainly caused by unequal opportu
Very similarly, in The Cherry Orchard, the actual situation is caused by changing times and particularly by an important social change. Russia is in the eve of the revolution and a few years after the Liberation of the serfs. Social classes have shifted and many of the liberated serfs were rising in the social hierarchical ladder. Witnessing this fact is the character of Lopakhin. His first speech in the play is very important because he underlines Russia’s newfound class mobility. He is a former serf but now proud owner of the house neighboring the Cherry Orchard. Lopakhin points out the irony of the situation developing in Russia: he is now a rich man and a landowner and treats his aristocratic neighbor, Madame Ranevsky, as an equal. The position of the characters in a unclear social class ladder are very ambiguous however. A confusion created mostly by the different patterns of their behavior: for example Lopakhin considering himself a “peasant of the peasants” but then reproaches Dunyasha for not remembering her place in society because she acts too much like a lady when she is only a made, or the behavior of Madame Ranevsky, who is aware of being totally broke but at the same time spilling money on the floor or lending money to Pishtchik for his mortgage right after she complained of not having enough for her own mortgage. Chekhov, Anton The Cherry Orchard New York: Dover 1991.
Some topics in this essay:
Madame Ranevsky,
Cherry Orchard,
Napoleonic France,
Anton Chekhov,
Colonel Chabert,
Empire Balzac,
Louis XVIII,
Colonel Chabert’s,
Chabert Despite,
,
cherry orchard,
colonel chabert,
madame ranevsky,
social change,
le colonel chabert,
social classes,
changing times,
louis xviii,
le colonel,
class russia,
social stratification,
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Approximate Word count = 1327
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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