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

supporting a fallacy. He had to pretend that a fundamental part of his belief

their downfall. Since they grasped at their illusion so tightly, in vain hopes

needed a woman to help him; that he couldn't handle everything alone without the

decision, it won't only be your cherry orchard, but your

Throughout each of these plays, the main character (or characters) faced

developed into. She didn't let the person she had become permeate all the

she had become a new person. Eventually she evolved into a person who couldn't

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2046
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)