The Cherry Orchard

Act III opens at a party in Lubov’s reception room. The Jewish band she heard in Act II is playing, and guests are dancing and playing pool. Varya enters, and Trofimov teases her, calling her Madame Lopakhin. She retorts that he is a “decayed gentleman” and then laments that they cannot even pay the musicians. Simeonov-Pischin is still looking to borrow money from someone to pay his interest, and Trofimov tells him that he could “turn everything upside down” if he did something else with the time he spends trying to pay off his loans (53). Simeonov-Pischin replies that Nietzsche said one could forge money and wonders if he should try it.

Charlotta performs some card tricks, throws her voice like a ventriloquist, and makes both Anya and Varya appear from behind a shawl. She leaves, and Simeonov-Pischin runs after her. Lubov wonders about her brother Gaev, who has gone to the estate’s auction. Varya tries to reassure her that Gaev must have bought the estate, as planned; the countess sent him the money to buy it in her name.

Trofimov enters, once again teasing Varya about being Madame Lopakhin. She gets angry with him, and Lubov asks why. She tells Varya that she should marry Lopakhin if she wants to, but she doesn’t have to. Varya admits that she does like Lopakhin, but he pays her little attention and is too busy “getting rich” to “bother about [her]” (57). Varya says she would go live in a nunnery if she had any money. Yasha enters, laughing that Epikhodov has broken a pool cue, and Varya wonders what the servant is doing playing pool. Trofimov teases her again, and she begins to cry, telling him he has grown old and ugly. Lubov tells him to stop upsetting Varya, but he argues that she should stop “interfering in other people’s business” and coming between him and Anya (58).

Lubov wonders again why Gaev hasn’t returned. She worries about the impending “disaster” of the estate’s sale and asks Trofimov to say something to reassure her. However, Trofimov tells her that the estate is lost, and she has to “look the truth straight in the face” (59). Lubov argues that he can claim to see the “truth” because he is still young and has not yet experienced the tragedies life delivers. She asks him to sympathize with her and imagine the terrible disaster of losing the house her family lived in for generations. As she talks, a telegram falls out of her sleeve. She tells Trofimov that her former lover in Paris writes to her every day; he is sick again and wants her forgiveness. She still loves the man and worries about what will happen to him if she doesn’t return to care for him.

Weeping, Trofimov reminds Lubov that the man robbed and took advantage of her. Lubov is angry. She calls Trofimov “a freak,” arguing that he knows nothing of love and hasn’t even had a mistress yet though he is old enough to be a man. Offended, he storms out, claiming that “all is over between [them]” (61). Lubov shouts after him, saying that she was only joking. He soon returns, however, with Anya and Varya, and Lubov apologizes. The two dance together as Yasha and Fiers enter. Fiers complains that he is “not well.” In the past, Lubov’s parties were attended by important people like generals and barons. Now, however, the post office clerk and the station master are guests. Yasha tells Fiers he is tired of him and wishes he’d “hurry up and kick the bucket” (62).

Meanwhile, Lubov thanks Trofimov for the dance, and Anya hurries in, announcing that the cherry orchard has been sold. She has no more details, and Lubov sends Yasha to get more information. Looking over at Fiers, she asks what he will do if the estate is sold. He responds that he will continue to follow Lubov’s orders, and she suggests he go to bed because he looks a little ill.

Yasha asks Lubov to take him back to Paris with her, complaining that Russia is “an uneducated country, with an immoral population” (64). Simeonov-Pischin enters, asking Lubov for a dance and also for 180 rubles. Dunyasha stops dancing to powder her face. She tells Yasha that the post-office clerk called her a “little flower,” but he isn’t impressed. Epikhodov tries to talk to her again, but Dunyasha tells him she is “meditating.” Varya returns and scolds Epikhodov for breaking the pool cue and behaving like “a visitor.” Epikhodov tells her that only “people of understanding and [his] elders” have the right to tell him what to do (67). Offended, Varya chases him out with a stick but accidentally strikes Lopakhin as he enters.

Everyone gathers around, anxious for news of the sale. Gaev enters, crying, and hands Fiers some anchovies and herrings, saying he has had a terrible evening. He hears the sound of billiards being played in the next room and stops crying. He exits with Fiers, asking the man to help him change his clothes. With Gaev gone, Lopakhin confirms that the orchard was sold. After another moment, he announces that he bought it. Lubov is “overwhelmed,” and Varya throws her key ring on the ground and leaves the room.

Lopakhin is giddy with excitement as he explains how he bid against the rich Deriganov. He is now the owner of the same estate where his father and grandfather were once enslaved. He urges the band to play on, thinking of the villas he will build once all the cherry trees are gone. Lubov sits in a chair and cries. Lopakhin says she should have taken his advice and leaves with Simeonov-Pischin. Anya comes in with Trofimov and comforts her mother. She reminds the woman she still has her life and her “pure soul,” and tells her they will plant a new, better garden.