Meaning of Life Part 11 - Chekhov's Cherry Orchard (Pre-Read)

Written in 1903, The Cherry Orchard was Anton Chekhov’s final play, widely regarded as one of his greatest dramatic accomplishments. In turns melancholy and comedic, the story is set during the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of an emergent middle class in Russian society at the turn of the 20th Century. Madame Ranevsky and her daughters have returned to their family estate, including its famous cherry orchard, to oversee the auction of the estate in order to pay the mortgage. Madame Ranevsky is paralyzed by the thought of losing the sentimental cherry orchard and all that the loss of the family estate represents as they struggle to maintain their status in a changing world.

Wikipedia: "The Cherry Orchard is often identified as one of the three or four outstanding plays by Chekhov, along with The Seagull, Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya. The story presents themes of cultural futility – both the futile attempts of the aristocracy to maintain its status and of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its new-found materialism. It dramatizes the socioeconomic forces in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after the abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the decline of the power of the aristocracy."

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In our eleventh meeting we will look at Cherry Orchard by the Russian writer Anton Chekhov. Please read the play in advance (about 70 pages).

A free translation by Julius West can be found here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Cherry_Orchard

(Darren recommends Laurence Senelick's translations, free pdf copy here - https://app.box.com/s/snn4v0ed6yvr775zw9de6zk49pst95vw)

There are two online dramatizations of the play:

1. Part I https://youtu.be/VCJ0Bba4Hpw (in Russian, turn on the English subtitles on YouTube)
   UPDATE: PART 2 IS HERE - https://youtu.be/gGt2gZGpiL4
2. https://youtu.be/2RTjnqNoupk (in English but video quality is suspicious)

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We all seek meaning in our lives and dread futility. Philosophy doesn't provide facile answers, but the philosophical quest to make sense of our fleeting lives is one that we all share.

This group will explore possible answers by looking at a mixture of big names of philosophy next to often underrated philosophers: Kierkergaard, Schopenhauer, and Sartre but also Lucretius, Gabriel Marcel and Berdyaev.

The organizer is not an expert in any of these philosophers but has a long experience in organizing similar meetings. He also has an Oxford PhD in European History as well as a Cambridge MPhil on the same discipline. He currently teaches foreign languages.

Meetings will be on Fridays at 15:00 ET (except the first meeting - this will be on Wed July 20 at 15:00 ET)