The Cherry Orchard and the Rise of Bolshevism Anton Chekhov uses The Cherry Orchard to openly present the decline of a Russian aristocratic family as a microcosm of rapid decline of ancient Russia in the late nineteenth century – but also provides a disturbing foreshadowing of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in the disparate ideals of its characters, Trofimov and Lopakhin, however unintentionally. The Gayev family and their plight are understood as a symbolic microcosm of the fall of the aristocracy in society at large. Although the merchant Lopakhin is presented as the character who holds the values ​​of the new post-aristocratic era, the student Trofimov espouses the political sentiments that will eventually replace both the aristocratic class and the new commercial class. Chekhov's presentation of Lopakhin as a pioneer of the new social order is undermined by the lines and role he assigns to Trofimov, and the author underestimates the importance of the then emerging revolutionaries. Yet the show reveals a major reason why communism ultimately received very little support from the gradual-minded middle class, leading to bloody revolution and totalitarian regimes for the better part of a century. It is this insight that provides contemporary critiques of socialist movements with a lesson in human nature – a lesson that serves to demonstrate that communism and other forms of ideological socialism were never workers' movements, even if the movements temporarily address workers' political demands . .Chekhov uses several devices to proclaim to his audience that the changes taking place are not simply personal to the dissolute Gayev family, but are part of an inevitable social evolution. Through these devices, Chekh...... middle of paper...... young revolutionaries who eventually conquered Russia. Although the playwright dismisses the importance of these ideas, he offers a contrast with those of the bourgeoisie that explains why Russian communism came through a bloody revolution and without the support of the middle class, and why for over seventy years of this century the world had to live with the results of the revolution.Works CitedChekhov, Anton. The cherry orchard. 1903. Jacobus 792-815.----. Letter to KS Stanislavskij. Jacobus 816. Jacobus, Lee, ed. Bedford's introduction to drama. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. Levite, Allan. Guilt, guilt and politics. San Francisco: Stanyan Press, 1998. Pritchett, V. S. Chekhov: A Liberated Spirit. New York: Random House, 1988.Simmons, Ernest J. Chekhov: A Biography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.