The Cherry Orchard: Act 3 Summary & Analysis

A party is going on at the house. The Jewish band is playing, and, in the drawing-room, everyone is dancing merrily in pairs. Everyone makes their way into the sitting room for a break. Pishtchik and Trophimof come first; Pishtchik explains that he has had two strokes already, but did not want to sit out the dancing. He drunkenly confesses that he has no money—yet, like a hungry dog who believes in nothing but meat, he keeps chasing it.

Barbara appears in the doorway—Trophimof, teasing her, calls out “Madame Lopakhin” over and over. In response, Barbara calls him a “mouldy gentleman.” She laments that though her mother has hired the band, there is no way of paying for it, and then abruptly returns to the dancing.

Trophimof turns back to Pishtchik and tells him if the energy he had spent throughout his life trying to secure more and more funds had been directed at something more useful, Pishtchik would have enough funds to “turn the world upside down.” Pishtchik says that though he owes 31 pounds in interest the day after tomorrow, he’s already secured 13 pounds of it. He pats his jacket pocket, but then becomes nervous—he cries out that he has lost his money, but then feels deeper in his jacket, and realizing it is there after all. He notes that he has, in just a few seconds, worked himself up into a sweat.

Ranevsky and Charlotte enter. Ranevsky asks where Gayef is—she wonders what could be taking so long. Trophimof suspects that Gayef has been unsuccessful at the auction. Ranevsky laments that today—auction day—was a “stupid” day for a party. She sits down and sings to herself while Charlotte begins doing card tricks and ventriloquism to keep everybody entertained. After a few tricks, she pulls out a shawl and shakes it out; Anya appears, as if by magic, behind it. Everyone applauds. Charlotte shakes out the shawl once more, and this time conjures Barbara. She leaves the drawing room; Pishtchik, enchanted by Charlotte, hurries after her.

Ranevsky laments that there is still no sign of her brother. She has not enjoyed the magic show at all. She wonders whether the property has sold, or whether the auction didn’t even happen; she hates being in suspense. Barbara attempts to soothe her mother by assuring her that Gayef has purchased their land back—after all, their rich aunt in Yaroslav sent him funds and the power of attorney to purchase it in her name. Ranevsky says the money from Yaroslav would barely even cover the interest. She puts her head in her hands and miserably states that her fate is being decided without her.

Trophimof starts teasing Barbara again, calling her Madame Lopakhin. Barbara teases Trophimof right back. Madame Ranevsky urges Barbara not to get so upset and just go ahead and marry Lopakhin already. Barbara insists she can’t marry without a proposal—in two whole years, the man has never asked for her hand, and can barely be bothered with her.

Yasha enters the room and informs everyone, laughing, that Ephikhodof has just broken a billiard cue in the next room. Barbara, incensed, storms off to investigate. Ranevsky urges Trophimof to go easy on Barbara—the girl is unhappy enough already. Trophimof laments that Barbara has spent the whole summer trying to keep him and Anya apart even though the two of them are “above love.”

Ranevsky worries that the property has sold—she hates not knowing. She begs Trophimof to say something that will comfort her. He tells her that whether the property sells today or whether it remains in her hands, “it’s all over with it long ago;” the path to the past and the way things once were is “overgrown.” Ranevsky tells Trophimof that because he is still young and has not known true suffering, he looks toward the future with starry eyes. She asks him to take pity on her—she was born in this house, as was her father and her grandfather; she loves it, and without the home and the cherry orchard, her life has no meaning. Finally, she adds that this house was the place her little boy drowned.

Ranevsky reaches into her purse for a handkerchief and pulls out with it a telegram, which she drops to the floor. Trophimof picks up the telegram and hands it back to Ranevsky. She confides in him that her ex-lover in Paris writes her every day—he is ill again, and wants her to come care for him. She asks Trophimof what she should do—she feels that her lingering love for him despite all his abuse is “like a stone tied round her neck.” Though it drags her down, it is precious, and she loves it.

Trophimof urges Ranevsky to see that her lover has robbed her; he is a rascal who will never treat her right. Ranevsky tells Trophimof that he is young, and cannot understand the matters of love—he himself is not even in love with anyone, and as such is a “freak.” He is not “above love”—he just can’t make up his mind. Trophimof is “aghast” at Ranevsky’s cruel words, and exits the room, shouting that “all is over” between the two of them.

The sound of a crash comes from another room, followed by Barbara and Anya’s screams and laughter—Anya runs in laughing about how Trophimof has fallen down the stairs. A waltz starts up, and everyone goes off to dance. Trophimof has not left the party, and Ranevsky apologizes to him, inviting him to dance with her. He accepts.

Firs and Yasha watch everyone dancing. Firs confesses he’s not feeling well—the luxurious, grandiose parties of old are no more, and the family’s parties have become shabby and embarrassing. Yasha, yawning, says he wishes Firs would die.

Ranevsky, needing a rest, returns to the sitting-room. Anya comes into the room—she reports that she has just heard someone in the kitchen saying that the cherry orchard was sold. Anya goes back out to dance with Trophimof. Ranevsky, more anxious than ever, bids Yasha go find out who purchased the cherry orchard; Yasha replies that the stranger spreading the rumor has already left the party. Conspiratorially, he leans close to Ranevsky and asks her to take him away from Russia—the country is “barbarous,” he says, and the two of them should return to Paris, and forget about the cherry orchard entirely.

Pishtchik enters and sweeps Madame Ranevsky away for a waltz. Dunyasha comes into the room and powders her face—she does not enjoy dancing, she says, for it makes her feel faint. She brags to Yasha that one of the other guests—a gentleman from town—told her she was pretty as a flower. Yasha yawns and leaves the room. Ephikhodof enters and greets Dunyasha, asking why she’s been ignoring him. Though he has grown accustomed to misfortune, he wants an answer to his proposal. Dunyasha tells Ephikhodof to leave her alone; he remarks that he meets each misfortune with “smiles and even laughter.”

Barbara enters the room in a huff. She chides Ephikhodof for breaking the billiard cue and Dunyasha for shirking her duties as a maid during a party. Ephikhodof retorts that he is allowed to play billiards if he wants to, despite being in the family’s employ as their clerk; Barbara orders him to “clear out” immediately. Ephikhodof asks Barbara to speak to him in “genteeler language.” Barbara, once again, orders him to get out of her sight, and he leaves hurriedly, threatening to “lodge a complaint” against Barbara. She picks up a walking stick and is about to leave the room to strike Ephikhodof—she raises the stick above her head and brings it down just as Lopakhin comes around the corner. Lopakhin thanks her for the “warm reception.”

Excitement buzzes through the next room as everyone realizes that Lopakhin is back. Ranevsky runs into the room, asking what took him so long, and where Gayef is. Lopakhin looks joyful—he says that Gayef is just behind him. The auction ended hours ago, but the men missed the train, and were forced to wait for the next one. Gayef enters, crying. He passes some parcels to Firs and says he’s going upstairs to change—he is tired, and hasn’t eaten all day.

Ranevsky calls after him, asking about the cherry orchard and whether it was sold; Lopakhin answers that it was. Ranevsky asks who bought it, and Lopakhin answers that he himself did. Ranevsky is overwhelmed; she staggers, nearly falling over. Barbara throws her house keys to the ground and leaves. Lopakhin is clearly overjoyed—he begins telling everyone about the sale. He outbid everyone at the auction, and now, he gleefully shouts, the cherry orchard is his at last. He thinks he must be drunk or dreaming; he can hardly believe his good luck. He wishes his father and grandfather could see him now—he who ran around barefoot in the winter, with no money for shoes, has now bought a property that hasn’t an equal in beauty anywhere else in the world.

Lopakhin, still smiling dreamily, bends down and picks up Barbara’s keys. He jingles them merrily, and then asks the musicians—who have stopped playing—to resume their song. He vows that he will “lay his axe to the cherry orchard” soon, fill the place with villas, and make it so that the band’s sons and grandsons will soon “see a new life here.” The band resumes playing.

Ranevsky sinks into a chair and weeps. Lopakhin goes to her and asks why she wouldn’t have listened to him—there is no changing what has happened now. Pishtchik comes over to Lopakhin and takes him by the arm. He tells Lopakhin he is being insensitive, and urges him to leave Ranevsky alone. As Pishtchik leads Lopakhin out of the drawing room, Lopakhin bumps into a table, toppling an expensive candelabra; he laughs, saying it’s no matter, as he can now pay for everything.

Anya and Trophimof enter the room; Anya goes to Ranevsky and kneels at her feet. She comforts her crying mother. Though the cherry orchard is sold and gone, she says, there is still so much life before them; the two of them will go away, Anya says, and plant a new orchard somewhere, even lovelier than this one. Happiness, Anya promises, will soon be upon them once again.