"Ionych." A doctor from the provincial town of S. makes acquaintance with the Turkins family and falls in love with their daughter Ekaterina. However, the novel does not develop, and over time the characters are swallowed up by the quagmire of provincial life.
History of creation
Chekhov wrote the story “Ionych” in 1898, and at the same time the text was first published in issue nine of the literary supplement to the popular magazine “Niva”. Chekhov began writing the story after returning from France in the spring of 1898. The writer's notebooks have been preserved, where he outlines the plot. Initially, the author’s focus was on the Turkins family, who in the first edition bore a different surname.
The head of the family was supposed to be a witty official who plays on stage and sings, the hero’s wife was supposed to write liberal stories and, for the sake of jokes, flirt with others in front of her husband. Chekhov was going to focus on this family in order to debunk them and ultimately portray them as empty people, but in the final version, Doctor Startsev is also “under attack.”
In 1966, the Lenfilm studio released the black-and-white film “In the City of S.” - a film adaptation of the story “Ionych”, directed by Joseph Kheifits. The actor starred in the role of Dmitry Startsev. The director depicts the sad life path of Doctor Startsev, ending with the complete degradation of his personality, and the image of the provincial town of S. is filled with cemetery symbolism.
"Ionych"
The young doctor Startsev comes to the village of Dyalizh near the provincial town of S. and meets the Turkin family, famous in the city. The head of the family stages amateur performances, his wife writes stories and novels that she reads to friends, and her daughter Ekaterina plays the piano. Startsev comes to visit by invitation and spends the evening in the company of the Turkins. The characters have a soulful time - they drink tea, the hostess Vera reads her novel aloud, and Ekaterina plays music. Startsev likes the Turkins, and the hero leaves them in a good mood.
A few months later, the young doctor again finds himself in the Turkins’ house, where he was invited to the mistress of the house, who suffers from migraines. The hero becomes interested in Ekaterina Turkina and begins to visit often to spend time with the girl and talk. Soon it becomes difficult for the doctor to do without Catherine’s company for even a week.
One day, the girl decided to make a joke by making an appointment with Startsev at night at the cemetery. The doctor understands that this is nothing more than a joke, and yet he arrives at the cemetery at midnight, where he wanders for a long time among the graves alone. The next day, the doctor proposes to Ekaterina Turkina, but the girl does not want to get married. The heroine is going to leave the boring provincial town of S. and become an artist. A few days later, Ekaterina actually leaves to enter the Moscow Conservatory, and the doctor stops worrying about her.
Doctor Startsev and Turkina Time passes, Startsev becomes richer and expands his practice. And a few years later he again ends up in the Turkins’ house, where he meets Ekaterina. She was unable to become a famous pianist, as she had planned, and returned to her parents’ house, where things are still the same. Everyone still drinks tea, mother writes novels. After this visit, Startsev no longer communicates with the Turkins. The hero drowns in boredom, greed and dissatisfaction with life and gradually degrades. In the Turkins’ house, too, everything remains the same, the heroes only grow old and do not develop at all.
Doctor Dmitry Ionovich Startsev began his career as a zemstvo doctor in the village of Dyalizh in the vicinity of the provincial town of S. The hero grew up among ordinary and poor people, in the family of a sexton - a minor church minister. By character, Dmitry Ionovich is a kind and intelligent person; Ekaterina Turkina calls the hero “the best of people.” In the eyes of the public, Dmitry Ionovich appears as an intelligent person who works hard at work. The hero is so busy at the hospital that he cannot find free time for personal matters.
At first, Dmitry Startsev has no money, and the hero lives quite poorly. The hero has to cover the nine miles that separate the village of Dyalizh from the city of S. on foot, because Dmitry Ionovich has no money for horses. The young doctor is interested not only in medicine, but also in literature and art. He can talk for hours about these subjects. Startsev also likes to talk about his work at the hospital, being passionate about what he does.
Due to his youth, Doctor Startsev “fiercely” falls in love with Ekaterina Turkina, who refuses to become the hero’s wife, despite the common interests and tenderness that Startsev shows towards her. Meanwhile, the doctor’s career is slowly going up, and within a year Startsev can afford to acquire a couple of horses and hire a coachman.
Four years after the hero broke off relations with Catherine, the reader sees a different picture. Startsev has gained weight and developed shortness of breath, has stopped loving to walk and rides around the city on three horses. The hero's time is occupied mostly by work. Startsev has extensive practice. In the morning, the hero hurriedly sees patients in the village, then takes a troika and goes to the city, where patients are also waiting for him. The hero returns home late at night.
Illustration for Chekhov's work "Ionych" Startsev has no friends. Due to his duty, the hero has to see a lot of people and visit different houses, but patients and other ordinary people cause Startsev nothing but dull irritation. Their views on life, appearance and conversations are unpleasant to the hero, so Startsev does not get close to anyone. The hero's life is dull and monotonous; Startsev lacks impressions. According to his own feeling, the hero is only “aging” and “descending.” For Startsev, work turns into a means of profit, and he sees nothing good in such a life.
Four years later, when Startsev meets Ekaterina again, he has no tender feelings left for the woman, and the doctor is only glad that he did not marry before. Catherine herself regrets that she refused Startsev then, and wants to get closer again, but the hero no longer wants any close relationships. Ekaterina seems too pale to Startsev; the heroine’s facial expression, smile, voice, and even her dress and chair now cause Startsev to be rejected. As a result, the doctor stops visiting the Turkins altogether.
A few more years pass, and Doctor Startsev turns into an unpleasant type, whom those around him call only “Ionych”. The doctor grew even fatter, became unhealthy red in the face, began to breathe heavily and can now walk only by throwing his head back. The hero became so rich that he bought himself an estate and two houses in the city, and is planning to buy a third. There is even more work, and Startsev “has no time to breathe.”
The hero has a kind of “entertainment” - in the evenings he takes out from all his pockets the money received from patients during the day and lovingly counts it. When a sufficiently large amount is collected, the hero deposits the money into an account at the Mutual Credit Society.
Startsev’s character deteriorates completely, and life is completely meaningless and monotonous. The doctor is easily irritated by patients, gets angry and raises his voice at patients, impatiently knocks on the floor with a stick. The hero lives alone, he has no interests left. Life is boring for Startsev. In the evenings, the hero goes to a club, where he plays vint, and then has dinner alone at a large table. Youthful love for Ekaterina Turkina turns out to be the only bright episode in the hero’s life.
The further biography of the hero is unknown.
Quotes
“As long as you play cards with an ordinary person or have a snack with him, then he is a peaceful, good-natured and even intelligent person, but as soon as you start talking to him about something inedible, for example, about politics or science, he becomes confused or gets into such a philosophy , stupid and angry, that all you can do is wave your hand and walk away.”
“It is not the one who does not know how to write stories who is mediocre, but the one who writes them and does not know how to hide it.”
“If the most talented people in the whole city are so untalented, then what kind of city must it be.”
Ionych
IONYCH - the hero of A.P. Chekhov’s story “Ionych” (1898), Dmitry Ionych Startsev, zemstvo doctor. His story is the gradual transformation of an internally mobile, living person into a monster of indifference. I.’s life can be traced in parallel with the history of the “educated and talented” Turkin family in the city of S.: a witty father (“Hello, please!”), a writer mother (“The frost grew stronger, the setting sun illuminated the snowy plain and the traveler with its cold rays, walking alone along the road”), daughter Kotik, a musician (“she stubbornly kept hitting one place, and it seemed that she wouldn’t stop until she hit the key inside the piano”). But the author’s attitude to the evolution of the Turkins and I. is not the same. The evil humor with which the Turkins are described at the beginning of the story gradually gives way to a clearly sympathetic, elegiac intonation. The provincial mannerism of the Turkins seems almost innocent, even touching, against the backdrop of the atmosphere of ill health, melancholy and hopelessness that arises at the end of the story. Changes"Sw. are recorded with the author’s growing detachment: if at first the events are shown in his own perception of Doctor Startsev, then at the end of the story the author speaks about I.’s behavior as if “from afar,” limiting himself to meager comments. In his youth, a good doctor, a sincere person in his own way, capable of even falling in love, by the end I. - completely unnoticed by himself - loses everything human: before us is a stupid, cold and greedy creature, incapable of the same, benevolent perception of life. He has a large medical practice, he is rich, and owns several houses in the city. The author does not express any sympathy for I., on the contrary, he does not hide his disgust, but the entire short story of the late Chekhov is permeated by a distinct horror of reality, which destroys and deforms personality.
All characteristics in alphabetical order:
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Characteristics of the hero
When you read the late stories of A.P. Chekhov, you involuntarily pay attention to the fact that they are permeated with some kind of sadness; they contain a dream of unattainable harmony, sharply contrasting with a wretched and awkward life. This motif sounds with particular force in the wonderful story “Ionych”.
The plot of this little masterpiece is a sad story of a young zemstvo doctor who turned into a disgusting, evil and self-interested creature. How and why does such a metamorphosis happen to the hero? The writer helps to find the answer to this question, as if placing milestones on Startsev’s life path: “more than a year has passed,” “four years have passed,” “several more years have passed.” Each period of time is perceived as a kind of milestone, showing the changes that occur in the hero’s inner world. The environment into which this young doctor finds himself is of great importance in the spiritual degradation of Dmitry Startsev.
The beginning of Chekhov's story introduces the reader to the boring and monotonous setting of the provincial town of S., which, however, was brightened up by its attraction - the Turkin family, which all city inhabitants unanimously considered the most educated and cultured. Indeed, each member of this family has some kind of talent. Ivan Petrovich Turkin tirelessly entertains guests with his jokes and charades. His wife Vera Iosifovna writes novels, which she reads to guests, finding grateful listeners in them. The Turkins' daughter Katerina Ivanovna, according to others, is a talented pianist, so she firmly decides to study at the conservatory in order to achieve fame and glory. The list of talents of this gifted family is certainly impressive, but let us remember how Chekhov describes the Turkin family, showing it in the perception of a new person - Dmitry Ionych Startsev. The phrase that Ivan Petrovich developed his extraordinary language through long exercises in wit is somewhat alarming. In my opinion, wit is an innate quality of a person - it cannot be developed. This natural conclusion is immediately confirmed by typical examples of Turkin wit (“I’m sorry, thank you,” “hello, please,” etc.), which, moreover, are repeated a year later, and several years later, just like a phrase from Shakespeare’s “Othello.” , which is pronounced first by a servant boy, and then by a mature, stalwart young man. Everything convinces us that the Turkins, alas, are mediocre. This is evidenced by Vera Iosifovna’s soporific novel and by Kotik’s playing, which struck the keys with such force as if it wanted to drive them deep into the piano. In any case, this is exactly the impression her performance made on Dr. Startsev. But he, along with everyone else, admires Kotik’s talent, speaks approvingly of the mistress of the house’s romance, and laughs at Ivan Petrovich’s jokes. The internal state of a “fresh” person clearly contrasts with the unnatural, posturing “intelligence” of this very cultured family. If the most talented people in the city are so untalented, then what about the rest! Thus, by depicting the Turkin family in close-up, the author thereby characterizes the low educational and cultural level of the urban intelligentsia. It becomes clear into what kind of environment the young, active doctor found himself, who at first differs favorably from the townsfolk with his honesty, hard work, dedication, and desire to do useful, noble work.
For a long time, ordinary people irritated him with their conversations, views on life, and even their appearance. He soon came to the conclusion that with such people one could only play cards, have a snack and talk about the most ordinary everyday things, without touching the spheres of politics or science. The emerging conflict between an intelligent, educated, hardworking person and a wretched philistine environment, however, does not find further development in the story. Perhaps this comes from the fact that Startsev, for the first time in his life, passionately and passionately falls in love with Katerina Ivanovna Turkina. This feeling pushes all other problems into the background, forcing the young man to idealize this pretty, intelligent girl, to fulfill all her whims and caprices. Although common sense tells Startsev that Kotik will not be a good assistant or friend for him, it is she who the hero wants to see as his wife. He has little doubt that his proposal will be accepted, wondering how his life will turn out after marriage. And here, in his dreams and thoughts, somewhat alarming thoughts clearly appear that they will probably give a lot of dowry, that he will have to move from Dyalizh to the city and engage in private practice.
This means that Doctor Startsev, who is passionate about working in the zemstvo hospital, receiving patients there on Sundays and holidays, in the event of marriage, is ready, without any doubts or regrets, to part with his life’s work. This dangerous symptom suggests that the popular ideas, under the influence of which the young intellectual goes to serve the people, have not become his convictions. Therefore, it cannot be said that Startsev changed his views: he simply did not have them. It is noteworthy that the hero very easily makes compromises and deals with his conscience. He is incapable of even experiencing real suffering. After all, after Kotik’s refusal, Startsev was worried and tormented for exactly three days, and then his life returned to its previous rut. Even memories of a beloved girl are limited to the lazy phrase: “How much trouble, however.”
Thus, Chekhov already here debunks his hero, revealing the amazing indifference and callousness of his soul, in which there is a clear tendency towards complete death. Therefore, in my opinion, there is nothing surprising or unexpected in the subsequent transformation of the hero. Having said goodbye to his only love and dream of noble service to people, Startsev narrows his circle of interests. The only real pleasure he gets is from playing vint and counting his daily wages. During a meeting with Kotik four years later, under the influence of her tenderness, care, and love, a light began to glimmer in Dmitry Ionych’s soul; he felt the need to talk about himself. Sincere bitterness can be heard in his words addressed to Katerina Ivanovna: “How are we doing here? No way. We are getting old, getting fatter, getting worse. Day and night - a day away, life passes dullly, without impressions, without thoughts... Profit during the day, and in the evening a club, a society of gamblers, alcoholics, wheezing people, whom I can’t stand. What’s good?” This means that Startsev understands perfectly well that he is sinking and degrading, but he has neither the desire nor the strength to fight the vulgar philistine environment. He passively obeys her, and a few years later, at the end of the story, we already see a plump, red, shortness of breath man, who unceremoniously throwing open the doors, inspects the house scheduled for sale, although he already has two houses in the city and an estate in Dyalizh. He is completely alone, nothing interests him. The hero's life journey is completed. His soul was completely deadened, everything had evaporated from it except his progressive possessive interest.
A person, initially opposed to the vulgar philistine environment, becomes its terrible symbol. With this story, the author wanted to say a lot: about the wretched, unspiritual atmosphere that kills high noble impulses in young people, and about those intellectuals who are devoid of will, perseverance, purposefulness, and are incapable of fighting and defending their positions in life. But the main thing, in my opinion, is that Chekhov makes the reader think about what prevents people from living a full, rich life, working creatively, and loving sincerely and deeply. After all, the writer dreamed of just such a life, of a perfect, harmonious person in whom “everything should be beautiful.” Therefore, Chekhov’s wonderful story remains relevant today, helping us to notice the traits of Ionych in ourselves and those around us and fight them.
“Dyachkovsky’s son” Dmitry Ionych Startsev. And now to the “provincial city of S.” — the young doctor Dmitry Ionych Startsev finds himself in this provincial mire. Poor commoner, “the sexton’s son,” he is young, full of strength, energy, passionate about work, and even on holidays he has no free time. It costs him nothing to walk 9 versts to the city (he didn’t have his own horses yet). Music sounds in his soul (while walking into the city, he hums the romance “When I never drank tears from the cup of existence...”). Like any young man, he lives in anticipation of love and happiness.
Dmitry Ionych Startsev is an ordinary, average person. At the beginning of the story - rather, Chekhov's hero-intellectual, educated, professing lofty ideals, experiencing irritation among the inhabitants, people who are mortally boring and empty. He feels lonely among the residents of the city of S., in conversations with the Turkins’ daughter, Kotik, he complains about the emptiness of the people around him. But then (purely Chekhov’s plot) the hero’s test of time and everyday life begins. It is easy to be a “knight for an hour,” but it is more difficult to resist the influence of the environment and the vulgarity of life. Startsev was not a man of strong passions, an outstanding personality; he was taken by Chekhov from the very thick of life. And Startsev’s opposition to the world of ordinary people was external, superficial, short-lived. The desire for satiety, peace and hoarding turned out to be stronger. Somewhere, all the living things that had worried him in his not-too-distant youth had disappeared, evaporated.
When narrating about his hero, Chekhov does not show the “dialectics of the soul”, changes in feelings, emotions and moods; he very rarely uses an internal monologue. He often focuses attention on one detail that convincingly characterizes the hero, his evolution: this is how the story conveys the process of Startsev’s transformation into Ionych, the process of the hero losing his own name, his human personality. A similar recurring detail, the leitmotif, is an indication of the doctor’s method of movement: “he walked slowly (he did not have his own horses)” (Chapter 1); “he already had his own pair of horses and a coachman Panteleimon in a velvet vest” (chapter 2). The coachman Panteleimon here is Startsev’s “double”; he degrades along with his master, and the painful impression of Ionych’s evolution intensifies.
Previously, ordinary people felt something alien in Startsev and called him “inflated Pole” behind his back. Now he is called “Ionych” in a related way, in his own way. Complaining about the environment, he puts up with it. His interests become the same as those of other ordinary people: he willingly plays cards in the evenings, and when he comes home, he happily counts the money he receives from patients. He already has an estate, two houses in the city, and he is looking for a third.
Chekhov's story is about the spiritual degradation of man. The result of his hero’s life: “He is lonely. His life is boring, nothing interests him: he is indifferent to both the beauty of nature and the suffering of people: when buying another house, he walks unceremoniously through all the rooms, not paying attention to the undressed women and children who look at him with amazement and fear.” . "Several years have passed. Startsev has gained even more weight, has become obese, is breathing heavily and is already walking with his head thrown back. When he, plump and red, rides on a troika with bells and Panteleimon, also plump and red, with a fleshy nape, sits on the box, stretching forward his straight arms, like wooden ones, and shouts to those he meets, “Keep up the goodness!”, then the picture is impressive, and it seems that it is not a man who is riding, but a pagan god.” The plot of the story is built in retrospect. In itself, narration in the past tense distances the event, making it less relevant for the reader emotionally. But these are precisely the pictures where the young Dmitry Ionych Startsev is described, full of hopes and happy expectations. The outcome of the story (Ionych in a troika with Panteleimon) is described in the present tense, which brings what is depicted as close as possible to the reader. This present, as it were, freezes, freezes forever - the further movement of life is no longer possible, in the future this present can only be repeated (“the moment” has stopped, and it is anti-aesthetic). The endless repetition of the ending is directly indicated by the words: “the picture can be impressive” (that is, it happens regularly). The idea of repeated, hopeless repetition of the “impressive picture” ends Ionych’s storyline. Further we will see that the storyline of the Turkins ends with the same thought.
The ideological meaning of the work
The story “Ionych”, written by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, dates back to the late period of the author’s work. Most works of this period are characterized by a dramatic and even tragic orientation. The story is saturated with sadness and loneliness and vividly reflects the contrast between dreams and reality. The author was able to masterfully reveal this topic using the example of the young doctor Dmitry Ionovich Startsev. Just by telling the story of a person, Chekhov showed the enormous injustice of life: the harmony that every person strives for is extremely easy to destroy, and the reason for this is not some global catastrophe, not illness, not fate, but the person himself. The main characters of the story “Ionych” by Chekhov each strive for their own dreams. Each of the characters strives to achieve their goal. Startsev dreams of finding stability and family happiness. Ekaterina Turkina dreams of freedom, a career as an artist, and personal development. Her parents dream of their daughter’s happiness and well-being. But not all dreams are destined to come true.
Characteristics of the main characters
The main characters of the work “Ionych” are not specific images, but only collective characters. Zemstvo doctor Dmitry Ionovich Stratsev– a young, enthusiastic, educated person, but not striving for high goals. However, he knows exactly what he wants and certainly achieves it. This image is key in the work; it is his patronymic that the story is named after. Startsev is a rather simple and open person; he has no hidden thoughts or desires. He is not used to bending his heart and going against his feelings. If he is in love, it means he is directly saying that he wants to get married. If he is disappointed, he is unwilling to say otherwise.
Another key image in this story is Ekaterina Ivanovna Turkina, in the first chapters called by the forest name Kotik. A young dreamer, a little naive, but confident in her own abilities. She is stubborn and goes against her parents. The girl dreams of a great future. She definitely wants to leave the city for the capital. She does not take any moral teachings from her mother seriously. Her personality also changes. In the last chapters, she is no longer that selfish person. Life and the creative failures that happened to her in Moscow left an imprint on her character: self-confidence disappears, enthusiasm disappears.
Parents Ekaterina Ivanovna respected people in the city. The most educated and well-mannered. They constantly gather a large circle of guests at their home and are famous for their hospitality, wit and talents.
Ivan Petrovich Turkin He has a masterful command of words and can brighten up any evening with conversations, jokes and funny stories. His distinctive feature is the ability to smile with his eyes. It seems that he sees through people and is able to read their thoughts. After all, he can find a common language with almost every person. Turkin is devoted to his family.
Vera Iosifovna– Ivan Petrovich’s wife writes stories and has a tendency to read them after every tea party. She is quite modest and believes that there is no need to publish her works. They are intended for the soul, not for material gain. She loves both her husband and daughter. The woman is worried about the latter. She wants Katya’s fate to be successful.
Relationship between characters
In the story “Ionych” the main characters are in close relationship with each other. Chekhov shows readers how you can destroy your life with your own hands. The main characters Startsev and Katya feel sympathy for each other. Katya strives to leave the city, to refuse the love of Dmitry Ionovich, not realizing that she is thereby pushing him away. He will no longer be able to forgive her and will forever lose interest in her. Perhaps their couple would have been happy if Katya had been down-to-earth and Dmitry more persistent. But their characters did not agree. That's why they were both left alone.
Work test
