Cherry depths of the Lower Orchard

The Cherry Depths of the Lower Orchard

By Rob Vest

     Much about socio-economic conditions in Russia during the last fifty years of tsarist rule can be gleaned from Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard and Gorky’s The Lower Depths. In addition, if one looks carefully, hints of things to come can also be found (though this is probably unintentional on the writers’ part, as no evidence has surfaced for any psychic powers possessed by either writer).
     Probably the most obvious factor is the decline of the nobility. After serfdom was abolished by Alexander II in 1861, many nobles had trouble trying to keep their estates profitable, and were eventually forced to sell their lands to pay off their debts. In many cases, it was due to the nobles’ inability (or unwillingness) to change their spendthrift ways. This is perfectly exemplified by Madame Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard, who is constantly spending and lending money that she doesn’t have, and to a lesser extent, her brother Gayev and the nobleman Boris Semyonov-Pishchik. The Baron, in Gorky’s play, is another example of a fallen noble, though he went so far as to embezzle money, presumably to pay off the debts that he incurred due to his lack of economic understanding.
    As the nobility declined in late Imperial Russia, a burgeoning middle class rose to take its place. In The Cherry Orchard, the middle class is personified by Lopakhin, a successful merchant and descendant of serfs, who rises above his peasant status to purchase the Cherry Orchard from the very nobles who once ruled over his ancestors. In a sense, the slave has become the master - one could draw parallels between this event and the eventual deposition of the Tsar in 1917 (as well as the eventual disappearance of the Russian noble class).
     Despite the fact that Lopakhin and the nobles seem to be on good terms with one another, a sense of classism still hangs in the air. Though Lopakhin constantly gives Madame Ranevskaya and her brother advice on how to save their cherry orchard, he is constantly ignored. Lopakhin may have done well for himself, but the nobles still see him as beneath them, even though the pair are nearly broke. But the last laugh belongs to the merchant - not only does he gain the estate of his “betters,” but he also fails to deliver an anticipated proposal of marriage to Varya, Madame Ranevskaya’s stepdaughter. Fifty years before, Varya would never have considered marrying a peasant, or been allowed by her family to marry below her class. Now that it is the nobles who are poor and he who is wealthy, Lopakhin has shown the haughty upper class that they are not good enough for him.
     In The Lower Depths, the middle class is found in the character of Kostiloff, the lodging-house keeper. He rules over “lower” (Bubnoff, Pepel, et al) and “upper” (the Baron) classes alike. More specifically, Kostiloff represents the bourgeoisie, the oppressive capitalist class oppressing the proletariat, represented by his tenants. Kostiloff is such a harsh overlord that even his wife, Wassilissa, who is nearly as cruel as her husband, wants him dead. Kostiloff’s death at the hands of his tenants heralds the revolution of 1904-1905, in which workers rose up against their oppressive employers. One could even compare Kostiloff’s murder to that of Nicholas II at the hands of the Bolsheviks in 1918.
     In Gorky’s play one also finds examples of Russian urban life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Affordable housing was so hard to find at the time that the poor often made their homes in factory dormitories, or rented space in the attics and/ or basements of homes owned by people whose economic condition was more stable. In the basement of Kostiloff, one finds roughly ten or more people renting space! Small wonder then that everyone seems to be so miserable!
     The Lower Depths also illustrates other social problems which plagued Russia at the turn of the century, such as alcoholism. The Actor in the play definitely seems to be a good candidate for Alcoholics Anonymous! Perhaps if he would have had access to a twelve step program he would not have committed suicide.
     Another turn of the century aspect of life in Russia’s cities is that there were an increasing number of single women moving into urban areas to find work. Gorky’s play includes two (three, counting Wassilissa’s sister, Natasha) unmarried women, Kvaschnya, a middle-aged huckstress, and the youthful Nastiah, who seems to do little more than read. Gorky also displays in the play some of the animosity felt toward women at that time in history - Kleshtsh not only beats his wife, Anna, but shows no remorse upon her death from complications of his last beating. The Baron constantly berates Nastiah, and Pepel seems to be somewhat of a womanizer. The only male in The Lower Depths who appears to treat the women with respect (excepting Wassilissa, who isn’t a very likeable chracter whatsoever) is the pilgrim, Luka. He seems to serve as a role model for the other characters to look up to.
     Gorky also gives readers of The Lower Depths a taste of the cultural diversity found in Russia’s cities of the time, via the character of the Tartar, who despite being from a different culture and religion than the other inhabitants of the basement, still manages to live with them in relative harmony.
     Finally, in The Cherry Orchard, one gets a glimpse into the future of tsarist Russia, as the play ends with the haunting sound of an axe chopping away at a tree in the cherry orchard.

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