The Cherry Orchard (Вишнëвый сад) is the last play written by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov when he was already suffering from tuberculosis, in the years 1903-4. First performed at the Moscow Art Theater in January 1904, the opera, initially written as a comedy, was also described as a tragedy. The opera tells the story of a Russian aristocratic woman, named Mrs. Lyuba Ranevsky, who returns with her family to her estate, which includes a large and famous cherry orchard, shortly before it is sold to pay off her debts. As the show progresses, the orchard serves as a central plot device. The orchard is the massive and overshadowing presence at the center of gravity of the work; For some, the cherry orchard symbolizes the past, both good and bad, and, in turn, the individual memories associated with it by each character; for others it represents Russia, and for people like Lopakhin, it represents an opportunity to make money and get rich by dividing it into plots of land. In this essay I will discuss how the title "The Cherry Orchard" serves as a symbol of the main characters' aspirations and dreams, as a symbol of the past, particularly of a lost paradise, and also as a symbol of the social, political, and economic change in Russia at the end of the twentieth century. The cherry orchard serves as a symbol of the past and future aspirations of different characters in Chekhov's work. Varying in both age and class, for some characters the cherry orchard is a glorified symbol of what once was, and for others of difficult and punishing times. young people tend to see the orchard in a negative light, for example Trofimov and Anya, who link the cherry orchard to that of repression and abuse towards...... middle of paper ...... difficult is not only symbolic for each of the characters in the play, but also has a symbolic meaning towards Chekhov himself as it perhaps symbolizes Chekhov's childhood. When Chekhov was still a student at the Taganrog gymnasium, his father was forced to close his shop due to the loss of business in Taganrog, largely due to the construction of a railway through the nearby city of Rostov. (S.Baehr, 1999) As with the loss of Ranevsky and his family's cherry orchard and home, this move showed him firsthand how progress and historical change can change lives. Chekhov was greatly troubled by the sale of his house, and just as he reflects this loss of residence in his literary works Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters, in his final work, The Cherry Orchard the title can be seen as very symbolic for Chekhov's life . as it symbolizes Chekhov's past.