The Hidden Desire of Tennessee Williams

Loss, a part of life, is certainly a part of literature, but it is seldom its motive force. Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard is not a drama of loss, but of wistfulness. Madame Ranevsky seems to mourn the imminent loss of the orchard. She could preserve it by marrying off Varya; but she does not do so. Why? We may call her indecisive, but this reveals the original proposition as false. As she does not act to save the orchard, we must conclude that was never her objective.