In the plays The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, A Doll's

House by Henrik Ibsen, and Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, the

protagonists' mental beliefs combine reality and illusion that both

shape the plot of each respective story. The ability of the

characters to reject or accept an illusion, along with the foolish

pride that motivated their decision, leads to their personal downfall.

In The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov, Gayev and Miss

Ranevsky, along with the majority of their family, refuse to believe

that their estate is close to bankruptcy. Instead of accepting the

reality of their problem, they continue to live their lives under the

illusion that they are doing well financially. The family continues

with its frivolous ways until there is no money left (the final night

they have in the house before it is auctioned, they throw an

extravagant party, laughing in the face of impending financial ruin)

Even when Lopakhin attempts to rescue the family with ideas that could

lead to some of the estate being retained, they dismiss his ideas

under the illusion that the situation is not so desperate that they

need to compromise any of their dignity.

dealt with it, (they may have been able to save some of their money,

This inability on the behalf of the family to realize the

chose to live a life of illusion. In their imaginary situation, they

twelve miles from town, and the railway is not very far away. Now all

continued to live as though nothing were wrong.

kind of person she became, then perhaps she would have gained the

Along with Nora¹s flaws, her husband was also at fault. He

their social status, and financial status was in jeopardy, so they

pretend that a fundamental part of his belief system did not exist.

authorities, and I surrendered my knowledge to the powers that be, to

use it, no, not to use it, to abuse it, as it suits their ends. I

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1884
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)