Anton Chekhov's play “The Cherry Orchard” is called a comedy, however, it contains a handful of significant lessons that can be learned from the characters presented in the play. The debacles and actions of these characters act almost as a social commentary on the industrial era in which the play was written. One of the characters who best represents this idea is the servant Dunyasha. Dunyasha is a housekeeper from poverty, but her work places her constantly surrounded by the lives of the "rich" Raynevskaya family. She is so used to being around “their lifestyle” (Chekhov 864) that she unconsciously tries to live like them. However, whenever she outwardly acts like an upper class person, there is always someone who is actually upper class to put Dunyasha in her place. Along with her, Lopakhin is also treated differently due to his poor background despite his rise to the middle class. The idea of ​​never being able to rise above the class a person was born into was important during the early industrial age, but this idea would soon change with the introduction of the middle class. These two ideas run throughout the play and prove to be one of the most impactful lessons Chekhov wanted to teach the audience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Soon after our first introduction to Dunyasha, it becomes clear that she belongs to the lower class and has no chance of rising above it. he. As Dunyasha and Lopakhin (a wealthy businessman) eagerly await the arrival of the Ranyevskaya family, Lopakhin notices Dunyasha's attire which is not her normal lower class attire. He criticizes her by saying that she is "beginning to fill up with herself" (851) and points out that she needs to "remember who [she is]" (851). The irony behind this is that just like Dunyasha, Lopakhin also comes from a poor background. Even though he has since become a wealthy and successful upper-middle-class businessman, he seems to have forgotten who he was, as if he was never a poor boy who simply wanted to live a more prosperous life. You would think that Lopakhin would have sympathy for Dunyasha, but quite the opposite seems to be true. It is this type of selfishness that has made the gap between the upper class and the lower class as wide as it was then. Although she is treated as a subordinate, Dunyasha still fights to be seen as more than just a servant. This is why she doesn't act like a typical maid. She is always involved in the conversations around her regardless of the social status of the group. When Dunyasha finds Anya, she almost fights to make her life seem interesting and that it should matter to Anya. When talking to Anya, Dunyasha addresses her as if she doesn't work for her family. She states that she "can't wait another minute" (852) to describe everything that has happened in her life since Anya's absence. To this, Anya responds “what now?” » (852) and the stage directions make it clear that Anya is not interested in Dunyasha's life and yet she continues to speak as if she were a friend of equal status to Anya. Dunyasha's naivety towards her situation as a lower class individual represents the lack of class distinction in youth and how she simply wishes to live as her employers do. Dunyasha is not the only character fighting to be recognized as an equal to Ranyevskaya. Lopakhin.