Consequences Of Trauma In The Cherry Orchard By Anton Chekhov

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Repercussions are natural when one encounters a traumatic incident. Psychological effects are the resultant of this, which makes a person destructive, thus leading them from their utopia to a dystopia. This research paper is to show the consequences of trauma by the application of trauma theory on the play “the Cherry Orchard” by the Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov. This play is about the return of Madame Ranevskaya from Paris after her son and husband died, and how her estate will be sold soon as she is buried in debt due to her excessive spending. My focus will be the application of the concept of trauma theory that is the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on the female protagonist of the play “Lyubov Andreyevna Ranevskaya”. The Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder which is experienced by people who have witnessed a traumatic event. This, as a result, hinders their ability to think rationally and make them hallucinate. The aim of this research paper is to show how the negligence of not being able to recognize the symptoms of a medical disorder and how not taking proper medical care for it, leads one to lose their utopia. Literature review: The contemporary trauma theory derived by pioneer critics such as Caruth and Felman has a central claim that a traumatic incident creates a “speechless fright that divides or destroys identity”. (Trends in Literary Trauma Theory- Balaev, Michelle) Trauma theory according to a child psychiatrist Lenore Terr occurs