Most works require knowledge of the authors life and social climate surrounding it. This is true for Chekov's The Cherry Orchard as well, however more so than other Chekov works. It is interesting that Chekov chose his final play to be the one that almost mirrors his personal financial and domestic issues along with the socio-economic forces at work in Russia at the turn of the 20th century. Apparently he was overly secretive about his final work even with his wife. Knowing that his early works are comedies makes this last play all the more important. Although he intended for it to be a comedy the director, Stanislavsky, decided to interpret it as a tragedy which I think was an obvious choice for a director. Seeing as this work so closely relates to Chekov's life, one would assume he would find the story tragic, however even as he was ill he managed to find the humor in his life's upheavals.
I don't have any strong feelings one way or another about the play which probably means I should read it again, but I do find the context incredibly interesting. I like it when a work reflects the world around it and the author that created it. The whole idea of losing your estate and hearing something you love fall is ridiculously depressing and I find it difficult to create a comedy out of that. This is the first Chekov work I have read so far in college, however I would be interested to see how the other ones are in comparison to his final play, The Cherry Orchard.
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