The Cherry Orchard: Act 1 Summary & Analysis

It is nearly dawn on a frosty morning in May. In the yard of a grand estate, a large cherry orchard is in bloom; a serving-girl named Dunyasha enters a room “which is still called the nursery” many years after it has been used as such to find Lopakhin in a chair with a book in his hand. Lopakhin realizes Dunyasha brings news of a train’s arrival; it is nearly two in the morning, and growing light already, and the train is over two hours late. Lopakhin came to meet the owner of the estate, Madame Ranevsky, at the station, and chides Dunyasha for letting him fall asleep in his chair.

Lopakhin recalls a time when he was fifteen years old. His father had struck him in the face and made him bleed; Madame Ranevsky came out to the courtyard, brought the young Lopakhin inside, and cleaned his wounds. She assured the “little peasant” that things would get better for him as he grew older. Lopakhin muses that Ranevsky’s prediction has come true: though he grew up the son of a peasant, he is now dressed finely, and has “turned rich.”

Lopakhin notices that Dunyasha is trembling and asks her what the matter is. She answers that she feels faint. Lopakhin chides Dunyasha for attempting to act “too refined”—she is dressed like a lady, and adopting a lady’s affectations, but ought to remember that she is only a maid after all.

Ephikhodof, the estate’s clerk, enters with a bouquet. His boots squeak noisily as he comes into the room. He hands the bouquet to Dunyasha and tells her it comes from the gardener, who has picked it for the dining room. Dunyasha goes off to put the flowers away and retrieve a beverage for Lopakhin. Ephikhodof makes small talk with Lopakhin about the weather and his squeaky boots, but Lopakhin does not engage with the man, and instead tells him he’s annoying. Ephikhodof resignedly states that though each day some misfortune befalls him, he is used to such misery, and always smiles through it. Dunyasha returns, and he leaves.

Dunyasha confides in Lopakhin the fact that Ephikhodof has proposed to her—she is uncertain of what to do about it. Though she is fond of him—and though she knows he “adores” her—he is an unfortunate man who has earned for himself the nickname of “Twenty-two misfortunes.” Lopakhin hears Madame Ranevsky approaching. Dunyasha says she’s so excited she’s going to faint, and the two of them run outside to meet the approaching carriages. A hubbub is heard in the next room as the elderly servant Firs enters the nursery from outdoors, having collected Ranevsky from the train station. Alone in the room, he mumbles to himself incoherently.

Ranevsky, her daughters Anya and Barbara, and Anya’s governess Charlotte enter the room in a bustle. Gayef (Ranevsky’s brother), Lopakhin, Dunyasha, and a neighbor named Pishtchik are with them. The teenaged Anya is overjoyed to be home, as is Ranevsky, who looks around the nursery with joyful tears in her eyes. Barbara, who has stayed on as the lady of the house in Ranevsky’s absence, assures Ranevsky and Anya that their rooms have been kept the same as they were when Ranevsky left. Ranevsky comments that the nursery was the room she used to sleep in as a little girl; beginning to cry, she confesses she still feels like a little girl.

The group hurries from the room to explore the rest of the house; Anya and Dunyasha stay behind. As Dunyasha helps Anya remove her overcoat and hat, Anya complains that she did not sleep at all on the four-day journey from Paris. Dunyasha, overcome with excitement, tells Anya that Ephikhodof has proposed to her while Anya has been away collecting her mother from France. Anya seems bored, and more concerned with her own messy hair than Dunyasha’s news. When Dunyasha tells Anya that a man named Trophimof has arrived at the house, though, Anya brightens up.

Barbara comes back into the room, and sends Dunyasha to go prepare coffee for Madame Ranevsky. Dunyasha leaves, and Barbara fawns over Anya, grateful that her “pretty one” is back. Anya describes all she has been through—she left for Paris last month, and has had to endure the company of the odd Charlotte, who kept trying to amuse her with card tricks, for weeks. Barbara apologizes for sticking Anya with Charlotte, but reminds Anya that she could not have traveled so far alone at only seventeen.

Anya describes arriving in Paris to find her mother living on the fifth floor of a large house, entertaining a strange group of people. Barbara can hardly stand to hear how their mother was living. Anya tells Barbara that their mother doesn’t have a penny left—and yet Ranevsky is still living beyond her means, dining in expensive restaurants, tipping waiters lavishly, and doting on her manservant Yasha, who is a “rascal.” Anya asks if the interest on the house’s mortgage was paid while she was away, and Barbara sadly replies that it hasn’t—the property is due to be sold in August.

Lopakhin interrupts the sisters’ tense moment by making a sound at the door. Barbara shakes her fist at him, and he goes away. Anya asks if Lopakhin has proposed to Barbara yet. Barbara answers that though everyone around seems to believe the two will get married, Lopakhin is so busy with his business that he hasn’t asked her yet. Dunyasha returns with coffee, and Barbara laments the family’s hardships. If only, she says, they could find a way to marry Anya off to a rich man, all of their debts would be paid, and Barbara would be able to get free of the house and stop worrying about how to keep it in good standing. Outside, birds begin chirping; Barbara remarks how late it is and ushers Anya off to bed.

Yasha enters, and Dunyasha reminds him of who she is—he has been living abroad a long while, and she is worried he will not remember her. Yasha aggressively gropes her; Dunyasha screams and drops a saucer. Yasha exits quickly. Barbara comes back in to ask what all the commotion is; Anya follows her, dreamily reflecting on the horrors their family has endured recently. Six years ago, Ranevsky’s husband died; just a month later, her youngest son, Grisha, drowned in the river at only seven years old. Their mother ran away to Paris without looking back. Anya worries that the arrival of Trophimof—who was Grisha’s tutor—will bring up awful memories.

Firs enters, babbling to himself. His mistress has come home again, he says; he is so happy he feels he could die in peace now. Ranevsky, Lopakhin, Gayef, and Pishtchik reenter as well. Anya goes off to bed, kissing her mother and uncle goodnight. Barbara tells Lopakhin and Pishtchik to head home, but Ranevsky insists the men stay for coffee. Lopakhin expresses his happiness at having Ranevsky back; though he has changed a lot, he says, he wants for her to see him as she once did, through her “wonderful, touching eyes.” Lopakhin marvels at how though his father was Ranevsky’s father’s serf, he loves Ranevsky like a sister—she has done so much for him over the years. He wishes he could say something more “charming and delightful” to Ranevsky, but must be off to catch the train, and has bad news to deliver before he does.

Lopakhin explains that in order to pay the interest on the estate, the whole thing has been put up for auction at the end of August. He encourages Ranevsky not to fret—he has a plan for how she can save her home. The property is in a desirable part of town, close to both the railway and the river. If Ranevsky parcels her land up, puts villas on each acre, and leases them out, she can make good money and keep her land—this plan, though, requires cutting down the cherry orchard to make room for the villas. Angered, Ranevsky declares she’ll never cut down the orchard—it is the most “remarkable” thing about the whole province.

Lopakhin remarks that the only “remarkable” thing about the orchard is how infrequently it blooms. He advises Ranevsky to commit to his plan—there is no other way to save the property. Firs begins babbling about how in the olden days the cherries used to be harvested, dried, and sold in the cities. Gayef tells Firs to “shut up.” Ranevsky asks Firs why no one does this with the cherries now—no one remembers how to, Firs answers. Lopakhin urges Ranevsky to see that whereas villages were once full of only landed gentry and their serfs and peasants, an emerging middle class (“villa residents”) has now sprung up all across the countryside.

Gayef dismisses this as “gibberish.” Barbara enters with a telegram for Ranevsky. Ranevsky promptly rips it up, as it is from Paris, and she is “done” with Paris. Gayef begins talking about a cupboard in the nursery—it is one hundred years old, and though “inanimate,” it is “historic.” He begins talking to the cupboard itself, honoring it as “beloved and venerable” and thanking it for serving their family for so many generations. Lopakhin says he needs to leave—he promises to come again in a few weeks. He says goodbye to everyone, and when he reaches Ranevsky, he urges her to consider his idea about the villas—if she accepts his proposal, he’ll give her 5,000 pounds on the spot. Barbara chides Lopakhin for bothering her mother, and Lopakhin leaves hastily.

Gayef calls Lopakhin a snob, and then apologizes, as he realizes Barbara is rumored to be betrothed to him. Pishtchik says that Lopakhin is a “worthy individual.” He asks Ranevsky to borrow money from her—his own interest is due tomorrow. Barbara and Ranevsky insist they have no money; Pishtchik assures them he’ll find some, somehow. Last time interest was due, he thought he’d never come up with it—but a railway was laid down through his land, and he was compensated. Something unexpected, he says, will surely happen again; maybe his wife will even win the lottery.

Ranevsky has finished her coffee and insists it’s time for bed. Barbara remarks that the sun has come up—she goes to the window and opens it, allowing in the sweet orchard air and the sound of starlings. Gayef and Ranevsky look out the window, remembering their childhood fondly. Ranevsky awoke with happiness every morning; now, she and Gayef lament that they must sell the orchard to pay their debts. For a brief moment, Ranevsky thinks that she can see their mother wandering in the orchard, but it is only a trick of the light. She laments that she cannot forget her past.

Trophimof, a shabby and bespectacled student, enters the room. He greets Ranevsky—he says once he heard that she’d returned, he could not wait until the morning. Ranevsky embraces him and begins crying. Barbara chides Trophimof for upsetting her mother. Ranevsky soon begins teasing Trophimof, though, asking him how he has grown so old. She asks if he’s still a student, and he answers that he is a “perpetual student.”

Ranevsky prepares to head off to bed; Pishtchik asks to spend the night at the estate, and reminds Ranevsky that he needs to borrow money in the morning. They all head off to bed except for Gayef, Barbara, and Yasha. Barbara reminds Yasha that his mother has come up from the village, having heard of his return, and has been waiting for him in the servants’ quarters since yesterday. Yasha remarks that his mother is a nuisance, then goes off to greet her.

Barbara and her uncle discuss Ranevsky. Barbara laments that her mother is terrible with money. Gayef wishes there was a way for their family to miraculously come into enough to support Ranevsky’s “illness” of being a spendthrift—perhaps Anya could marry a rich man, or perhaps they could beg money from their aunt in Yaroslav, a rich Countess who unfortunately does not like Gayef or Ranevsky very much. Gayef admits that his sister married poorly and has led an unvirtuous life full of “sin.” Barbara realizes that Anya is standing in the doorway, and has overheard them.

Anya says she still can’t sleep. Gayef kisses Anya’s hands, crying, and apologizes for insulting her mother. Anya forgives Gayef; everyone loves him and respects him, she says, but he really needs to learn how to hold his tongue. Talking badly about others, she says, does nobody any good. Gayef apologizes again and promises to watch what he says from now on.

Before he goes to bed, there is one last thing Gayef wants to discuss with the girls: he wants to try to secure a loan from the bank to pay the interest on the estate. He plans to go on Tuesday to talk with somebody. He urges Anya to try and get Ranevsky to ask Lopakhin for a loan in the meantime, and insists Anya herself go to Yaroslav to visit the countess. If they “operate from three points,” he is certain that between the three of them they’ll be able to come up with enough money. He swears on his “whole being” that the property will not be sold.

Anya expresses her great relief and embraces her uncle. Firs enters the room—he seems to think that Gayef is still a young boy, and urges him to get off to bed. Gayef kisses the girls goodnight, and goes off to sleep; Firs hobbles along after him. Anya tells Barbara that her mind is at last at rest. Barbara begins telling Anya about a nasty thing that happened while she was away, but soon realizes that Anya has fallen asleep sitting in a chair. She hurries Anya off towards the bedroom; in the orchard, a pipe begins playing. Anya comments on the nearby “bells.” Trophimof enters the room from one end as the girls exit through a door on the other; he watches Anya go sleepily towards her own quarters, and says quietly to himself, “My sunshine! My spring!”