Free Republic

The central theme of The Cherry Orchard is that of social change. Written in the early 1900s, the play depicts a Russia on the brink of revolution. As the aristocracy’s power wanes, former serfs experience freedom, and a burgeoning middle class takes root, the central characters of the play—representative of the upper, middle, and lower classes—find themselves struggling to negotiate their relationships, loyalties, and anxieties about the changing socioeconomic landscape of their country. Through The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov dramatizes the concerns of several social strata, showing how the emergence of a middle class in Russia disrupted and negatively impacted the...

Is life a matter of grand politics or individual souls? Can human affairs be boiled down to science or theories? Tolstoy and Chekhov believed: Life is lived at ordinary moments, and what is most real is what is barely noticeable, like the tiniest movements of consciousness. True life is not lived where great external changes take place—where people move about, clash, fight, and slay one another. It is lived only where these tiny, tiny infinitesimally small changes occur. American conservatives can learn much from the great literary output of 19th century Russia. Though seemingly distant in time and place, the...

Anton Yelchin, a rising actor best known for playing Chekov in the new "Star Trek" films, was killed in a car accident early Sunday, police and his publicist said. Yelchin, 27, was struck by his own car as it rolled backward down his driveway in Studio City, according to Los Angeles police Officer Jenny Hosier. The car pinned Yelchin against a brick mailbox pillar and a security fence. He had gotten out of the vehicle momentarily, but police did not say why he was behind it when it started rolling. He was on his way to meet friends for a...