Performative Acts of Gendered Emotions and Bodies in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard

Abstract

Anton Chekhov's major plays are acclaimed for their depiction of complex Emotion. Yet even when the representation of emotions in his major plays is perceived to facilitate social networks between characters, Chekhovian emotions are divested of cultural meaning. The depiction of the emotions of male and female characters aligns with gender identity, but the significance of differently gendered emotion passes unquestioned. The perception of dramatic emotions becomes detached from social identity because they are presumed to be gender neutral, universal experiences. Recent feminist scholarship outside the field of drama, however, points out that particular emotions are culturally specific rather than universal and "natural" — their qualities and expression vary greatly between cultures — and they are gendered. In Western culture, women have traditionally been considered more emotional than men. Contrary to social belief that emotions are passive states (passivity aligning them with femininity within a meta-cultural binary), emotions can be experienced as active states, although they would seem to be experienced differently by men and women. Emotional expression is an integral part of social identity and exists through "socially regulated gestures” that establish a category of emotions. Moreover, emotion theory holds that the social meanings of emotions are established in their repetition as patterns and syndromes evident in behaviour and language. Therefore, we can ask whether the expressions of emotions by the characters in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard reflect repetitions of social patterns and whether these expressions are culturally meaningful because they align with gender identity.