The impressionistic ekphrasis in the play by A. P. Chekhov “The cherry orchard”

In A. P. Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” some traits of ekphrasis are used: the text is full of associative links and symbols, as well as of culturemes formed by the aesthetic code of Russian and European impressionism. Chekhov recreates the cultural context in which the Russian intelligentsia lived at the turn of XIX-XX centuries. Many fragments of “The Cherry Orchard” find their parallels in the paintings of the European impressionist artists. In particular, the Lopakhin’s story about the field of poppies is clearly reminiscent of a series of paintings by Claude Monet “Poppy field in Giverny”. Chekhov’s ekphrasis can also be associated with the paintings of van Gogh (still life with poppies and landscapes with poppy fields). Many motifs and details of the “The Cherry Orchard” can be compared with the works of Levitan, van Gogh, Seurat and others. Chekhov’s position is as follows: his heroes are under the charm of European culture, their mentality has changed, they lose their national identity, become “Westerners”, they want to leave Russia. They are “Russian Europeans”, “lackey thought” (Dostoyevsky’s expression) is inherent to them. The genre of comedy and farce becomes a form of expression of author’s condemnation of the Russian intelligentsia.