Article

Name: Time as “presence” in A. P. Chekhov’s comedy “The Cherry Orchard”

Authors: Anatoly S. Sobennikov

Military Transport Institute of Railway Troops and Transportation Service, St. Petersburg, Peterhof, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract: The paper describes the structure of artistic time in the comedy “The Cherry Orchard” by Anton Chekhov. Presence is defined as a being form of a person’s existence in time. Presence encompasses the common (being) and the separate (personal existences). Not only is a person’s presence in the here-being loaded with social and psychological content, but it also becomes a sign of the time in Chekhov’s work. Here and now refers to the place and time then. Historical time, always given through the prism of the characters’ existential time, never becomes dominant. Now is the point of linear time fixed in the characters’ minds. Always refers us to the circle, to cyclical time, to eternal repetition. Hence, the distance between the characters is a personal existence. Then, now, and it is time are the existentials that are common to everyone. However, in the personal existence of the character, they have their own psychological content. This psychological content is not unique, with every “I” having a common now. In summary, Chekhov’s philosophical intuitions accentuate the things that are in everyone’s life, regardless of the country of residence and regardless of the era. That is why Chekhov’s theater is always modern.

Keywords: A. P. Chekhov, comedy “The Cherry Orchard”, time, presence, personal existence

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