Chekhov). Analysis of the story "Ionych" (A. P. Chekhov) Ionych characters

The story "Ionych" Anton Pavlovich Chekhov wrote in 1898. The main idea of ​​the work, as it was written, changed several times.

Initially, the author wanted to show in the story lack of purpose in life the characters surrounding the protagonist, but in the end the writer came to the conclusion that the life of Startsev (Ionych) is also completely meaningless. What Chekhov wanted to tell us about in the story "Ionych": a summary.

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Plot

The action takes place in the provincial city of S. The center of attention is Turkin family. They can be compared with a local attraction, a must-see. All members of the family have outstanding talents compared to other residents of the city.

1. The father of the family, Ivan Petrovich, knew how to organize amateur theatrical performances.
2. Keeper of the hearth, Vera Iosifovna, wrote literary works.
3. Their only daughter, Ekaterina Ivanovna, who was affectionately called Kotik at home, played the piano fluently.
4. Even their footman Pavlusha stood out for his acting skills.

Nearby in the village of Dyalizhi settled zemstvo doctor D.I. Startsev. The main family of the city immediately invited him to visit. The day spent at the Turkins' left a pleasant impression in the soul of Dmitry Ionovich. He listened to the hostess's novel, drank tea, and also enjoyed playing Kotik's music.

The Birth of Friendship

For many months the main character did not appear in the house of a talented family. However, soon he was called there by his doctoral work. Vera Iosifovna developed migraines, and a doctor was called in to make her feel better.

Since then, between the Turkins and Startsev, friendship is born. He came to visit them more and more often. Used every minute to be close to family members. And this attraction is easily explained by his suddenly flashed tender to Ekaterina Ivanovna.

This is where the theme of love comes into play. The main characters discuss literature, music, art, they feel good in each other's company. For Dmitry Ivanovich, a week away from the object of his love is a real test. One day Kotik appoints a zemstvo doctor meeting at the graveyard. He understands that the girl's offer is just a joke. However, at night, Startsev goes to the meeting place. He spent many hours wandering among graves and monuments.

The next day, after visiting the Turkins, the young man makes Kotika An offer of marriage but gets rejected. Ekaterina Ivanovna is full of desire to leave these places to start a career as an artist. She passionately desires to devote her whole life to art. Soon Kotik leaves his home to enter the conservatory. This circumstance calms Startsev's heart, and the theme of love in Ionych fades away.

invitation from old friends

After the main characters broke up, four years passed, which changed the doctor. Now he did not walk, but rode around in a troika with bells. She was driven by Panteleimon, as the coachman Startsev was called. Dmitry Ionovich could boast of a great practice earned over the years. Now he rarely visited the Turkin family. Doctor did not make new acquaintances, as the surrounding people gradually begin to irritate him with their mediocrity.

One day he receives an invitation to the house of his old friends. Having come to visit the Turkins, the character meets his old love- Cat. The girl said that she failed to fulfill her dream. She was not able to become a pianist, as she always wanted to.

At the same time, Ekaterina Ivanovna confessed to the doctor that until now, after so much time, she considers him the best of people, especially considering his help to the sufferers. However, for the hero, all these conversations cause only embarrassment.

When looking at Ekaterina Ivanovna, he, blushing with shame, recalls his past feelings.

This meeting, which took place after many years of acquaintance, could not be distinguished from the first.

The Turkins family in their house continued to receive guests, who were entertained each time with the same things: performances by Ivan Petrovich, reading novels that began with the words “The frost was getting stronger”, the hostess of the house and a long, sometimes tedious, piano playing by Ekaterina Ivanovna, always the same joke of the footman Pavlusha.

All this on the last visit of Startsev so pissed him off that he decided no longer appear in this house.

The doctor wondered what other residents of this city S. should be like, if the most “talented” family, in fact, turned out to be mediocre and mediocre. The hero did not feel any more spiritual uplifts during conversations with Kotik. Moreover, he felt his life boring and monotonous, despite the fact that he brought people great benefits. Startsev saw his life devoid of purpose and meaning that he stubbornly proved to Kotik during their last conversation.

inevitable degradation

Since then, the paths of the girl and the doctor have not crossed. During this time, Startsev further increased his practice, acquired a large estate and two houses. He became very fat, and also acquired such features as greed, rudeness and quick irritability.

If earlier for him the main idea of ​​​​work was to help people, now he does not quit the service, because became a greedy person.

Now, for the inhabitants of the nearest villages and villages, he was not Dmitry Ionovich, he was nicknamed just Ionych.

Ionych, who is bored and has lost his taste for life, is not interested in anything. The only person who evoked many positive emotions in his soul and heart was Katia. However, their love died before it could turn into something more. The cat over the years is also significantly changed and aged. She remained to live in her parents' house, although earlier she tried with all her might to know the real life that her mother did not know. Now she is often sick, but at the same time, does not change his habits and spends four hours every day playing the piano.

Reading analysis

Analyzing the summary, we can say that this is a story about completely normal situation. A young man with inclinations and dreams turns into a part of the gray mass. A simple layman is no longer interested in lofty and aspirations. He is completely merges with the atmosphere unprepossessing city and its inhabitants.

Important! Chekhov has no confidence that someone else is to blame for the unfortunate fate of the heroes. Each of them determines his own life.

The author throughout the story does not express his attitude towards the characters. They all become hostages of their own decisions and its limitations. Whatever they dream about, nothing goes beyond reality.

This work, despite the depth of the problem raised, is the story of the vices of man in the eyes of the author. On the example of the life of a zemstvo doctor, he showed that such people evoke not so much pity and sympathy as disgust.

The protagonist of Chekhov's story is a symbol of the spiritual degradation of man and people in general. We see the life of the city through his eyes, his thoughts, simple and reasonable, characterize the customs and life of society. But time passes, and the main character Ionych realizes that, having achieved a lot, he has lost something very important. His ardent feelings for Ekaterina Ivanovna subsided as quickly as they appeared. Startsev traded his dream and desire for development for stability and comfort. The description of Ionych's life at the end of the work is dull and gray: a fat, uncultured old doctor, always screaming at his patients.

Characteristics of the heroes of "Ionych"

main characters

Minor characters

In the story "Ionych" the characters live a calm, settled life, Chekhov masterfully depicts the absurdity and monotony of their existence. Only the main character changes, and for the worse. The author shows that only a person who fulfills his calling develops and lives a full life. Everything else is a gray and dull existence, wasting life in vain. In the table of characteristics of the heroes, the image of Startsev is the only one that undergoes changes, the rest of the heroes seem to freeze in development, which enhances the effect of their degradation.

Characteristics of the hero

When you read the later stories of A.P. Chekhov, you involuntarily pay attention to the fact that they are imbued with some kind of sadness, but they have a dream of unattainable harmony, which contrasts sharply with a miserable and awkward life. This motive 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 has turned into a disgusting, malicious and greedy creature. How and why does such a metamorphosis happen to the hero? The writer helps to find the answer to this question, as if setting milestones in 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 inner world of the hero. Of great importance in the spiritual degradation of Dmitry Startsev is the environment in which this young doctor finds himself.

The beginning of Chekhov's story introduces the reader into the boring and monotonous atmosphere of the provincial city of S., which, however, was brightened up by its landmark - the Turkin family, which all city dwellers 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 that she reads to guests, finding grateful listeners in them. The daughter of the Turkins, Katerina Ivanovna, according to others, is a talented pianist, so she firmly decides to study at the conservatory in order to achieve fame and fame. 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. Somewhat alarming is the phrase that through long exercises in wit, Ivan Petrovich developed his unusual language. 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 Turkic wit ("I humbled you, thank you," "Hello, please," etc.), which, moreover, are repeated a year later, and a few years later, like the phrase from Shakespeare's "Othello" , which is uttered first by a boy-servant, and then by a grown-up hefty fellow. Everything convinces us that the Turkins, alas, are mediocre. Vera Iosifovna's soporific novel and Kotik's playing, which hit the keys with such force, as if it wanted to drive them deep into the piano, speak of this. In any case, this is the impression her play made on Dr. Startsev. But he, along with everyone, admires Kotik's talent, speaks approvingly of the novel of the mistress of the house, laughs at Ivan Petrovich's jokes. The internal state of a "fresh" person clearly contrasts with the unnatural, poseur "intelligence" of this very cultured family. If the most talented people in the city are so mediocre, then what are the rest of them! Thus, depicting the Turkin family in close-up, the author thereby characterizes the low educational and cultural level of the urban intelligentsia. It becomes clear what kind of environment the young active doctor found himself in, who at first favorably differs from the city dwellers in his honesty, diligence, determination, desire to engage in useful, noble work.

The townsfolk irritated him for a long time with their conversations, views on life, and even their appearance. He pretty soon came to the conclusion that with such people you can 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 of an intelligent, educated, hardworking person with a miserable 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 overshadows all other problems, forcing the young man to idealize this pretty, intelligent girl, to fulfill all her whims and whims. Although common sense tells Startsev that Kotik will not be a good assistant and girlfriend to him, it is she who the hero wants to see as his wife. He has little doubt that his proposal will be accepted, reflecting on how his life will turn out after marriage. And here, in his dreams and thoughts, somewhat alarming thoughts clearly appear that a dowry must be given a lot, that he will have to move from Dyalizh to the city and engage in private practice.

This means that Dr. Startsev, who is carried away by work in the zemstvo hospital, receives patients there on Sundays and holidays, in the event of marriage, is ready without any doubts and regrets to part with the work of his life. This dangerous symptom suggests that the popular ideas, under the influence of which the young intellectual goes to serve the people, did 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, deals with conscience. He is incapable of experiencing even real suffering. After all, after Kotik's refusal, Startsev suffered and suffered for exactly three days, and then his life returned to its former track. Even memories of a beloved girl are limited to a 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 to complete mortification. Therefore, in my opinion, there is nothing surprising and unexpected in the subsequent transformation of the hero. Having said goodbye to his only love and dream of noble service to people, Startsev himself narrows the circle of his interests. The real pleasure is given to him only by playing vint and counting the daily fee. During a meeting with Kotik four years later, under the influence of her tenderness, care, love, a spark still lit up in the soul of Dmitry Ionych, he felt the need to tell about himself. Sincere bitterness is heard in his words addressed to Katerina Ivanovna: “How are we doing here? No way. We are getting old, we are getting fat, we are sinking. in the evening a club, a society of gamblers, alcoholics, wheezing, whom I can not stand. What's good? This means that Startsev is well aware that he is sinking, degrading, but he has neither the desire nor the strength to fight the vulgar philistine environment. He passively submits to her, and a few years later, at the end of the story, we already see a plump, red, shortness of breath man who unceremoniously throws open the doors and inspects the house that is for sale, although he already has two houses in the city and an estate in Dyalizh. He is completely alone, nothing interests him. The life of the hero is over. His soul has completely deadened, everything has disappeared from it, except for the progressive proprietary 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, soulless atmosphere that kills high noble impulses in young people, and about those intellectuals who are devoid of will, perseverance, purposefulness, incapable of fighting and defending their life positions. But the main thing, in my opinion, is that Chekhov makes the reader think about what prevents people from living a full, rich life, from creative work, from sincere and strong love. 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 retains its relevance even today, helping us to notice the features of Ionych in ourselves and those around us and fight them.

"Ionych". A doctor from the provincial town of S. makes acquaintance with the Turkin family and falls in love with their daughter Ekaterina. However, the novel has no development, and over time the characters are absorbed by the quagmire of provincial existence.

History of creation

Chekhov wrote the story "Ionych" in 1898, and at the same time the text was first published in the ninth issue of the literary supplement to the popular magazine "Niva". Chekhov began his story after returning from France in the spring of 1898. The writer's notebooks have been preserved, where he outlines the plot. Initially, the focus of the author was the Turkin family, who in the first edition had a different surname.

The head of the family was supposed to be a witty bureaucrat who plays on stage and sings, the hero's wife was supposed to write liberal novels and flirt with others for the sake of fun with her husband. Chekhov was going to focus on this family in order to debunk them and portray them as empty people, but in the final version, Doctor Startsev is also “under attack”.

In 1966, a black-and-white film “In the city of S.” was released at the Lenfilm studio. - adaptation of the story "Ionych", filmed by director Iosif Kheifits. An actor starred in the role of Dmitry Startsev. The director portrays the sad life path of Dr. Startsev, ending in the complete degradation of his personality, and the image of the provincial city of S. is filled with cemetery symbols.

"Ionych"

The young doctor Startsev arrives in the village of Dyalizh near the provincial town of S. and meets the well-known Turkin family in the city. The head of the family puts on amateur performances, the wife writes stories and novels that she reads to her friends, and her daughter Ekaterina plays the piano. Startsev, by invitation, comes to visit and spends an evening in the company of the Turkins. The heroes spend their time mentally - 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, suffering from migraines. The hero is fond of Ekaterina Turkina and begins to visit often to spend time with the girl and talk. It soon 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 in 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 alone between the graves for a long time. 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 really leaves to enter the Moscow Conservatory, and the doctor stops worrying about her.

Time goes by, Startsev gets richer and expands his practice. And a few years later he again ends up in the Turkins' house, where he meets Ekaterina. She could not become a famous pianist, as she intended, and returned to her parents' house, where things are still the same. Everyone drinks tea the same way, 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 characters only grow old and do not develop at all.

Dr. Dmitry Ionovich Startsev began his career as a zemstvo doctor in the village of Dyalizh in the vicinity of the provincial city of S. The hero grew up among ordinary and unsecured people, in the family of a sexton - a petty church minister. By nature, 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, he works hard at work. The hero is so busy in the hospital that he cannot find free time for personal matters.

At first, Dmitry Startsev has no money, and the hero lives rather poorly. Nine miles that separate the village of Dyalizh from the city of S., the hero has to overcome 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 in the hospital, being passionate about what he does.

In his youth, Dr. Startsev "ardently" falls in love with Ekaterina Turkina, who refuses to become the hero's wife, despite the common interests and tenderness that Startsev shows to her. Meanwhile, the doctor's career is slowly going up, and in a year Startsev can afford to get a pair of horses and hire a coachman.

Four years after the hero broke off relations with Catherine, the reader sees a different picture. Startsev has grown fat and has developed shortness of breath, has fallen out of love with walking and is driving around the city on a troika of horses. The hero's time is occupied for the most part by work. Startsev has extensive practice. In the morning, the hero hurriedly receives 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.

Startsev has no friends. On duty, the hero has to see a lot of people and visit different houses, but patients and other townsfolk cause Startsev one deaf irritation. Their views on life, appearance and conversations are unpleasant for the hero, so Startsev does not get close to anyone. The life of the hero is dull and monotonous, Startsev lacks impressions. According to my own feeling, the hero only "gets old" and "falls". Work turns for Startsev into a means of profit, and he does not see anything good in such a life.

Four years later, when Startsev meets Catherine again, he does not have any tender feelings 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 relationship. Ekaterina seems too pale to Startsev, the heroine's expression, smile, voice, and even the 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 Dr. Startsev turns into an unpleasant type, whom those around him call exclusively "Ionych". The doctor grew fat even more, became unhealthy red in the face, began to breathe heavily and can now walk only with his head thrown back. The hero got so rich that he bought himself an estate and two houses in the city, and is going to buy a third one. There was even more work, and Startsev "has no time to breathe."

The hero has a kind of "entertainment" - in the evenings, to pull out of all pockets the money received from patients during the day, and lovingly count them. When a sufficiently large amount is collected, the hero deposits the money into an account with the Mutual Credit Society.

Startsev's character deteriorates completely, and life is completely meaningless and monotonous. The doctor is easily irritated with 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 the club, where he plays vint, and then dine alone at a large table. Youthful love for Ekaterina Turkina turns out to be the only bright episode in the life of the hero.

The further biography of the hero is unknown.

Quotes

“While you play cards with the layman or have a snack with him, then he is a peaceful, good-natured and even intelligent person, but as soon as you talk to him about something inedible, for example, about politics or science, he gets into a dead end or starts such a philosophy , stupid and angry, that it remains only to wave your hand and move away.

“It is not the one who cannot write stories that is incompetent, 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 mediocre, then what should the city be like?"

A. P. Chekhov's story "Ionych" is a psychological picture of the protagonist, whose image becomes unrecognizable by the end of the work. This also applies to observations of the appearance of Startsev, and his spiritual development.

As a young specialist who has recently taken up his duties as a zemstvo doctor in a provincial town, Dmitry Ionovich simultaneously enters, on the advice of others, into the circle of the "intelligent" Turkin family. From the very first visit to this house, he understands how useless their pastime is. But because of the attraction to the daughter of the Turkins, the man eventually becomes like them.

At first, Dmitry sees the difference between real art and playing the piano by a girl who seemed to drive "the keys inside the piano". However, the feeling of love took possession of him so much that he began to look at them, as he considered Catherine worthy in all respects.

Sometimes a young man thought that he was being pulled into the whirlpool of occupations existing in society, where degradation reigned. Gradually, he began to succumb to their laws, according to which every member of the family lived.

At the time of courting the girl, Startsev was close to showing his best qualities. He became a purposeful, active young man with characteristic good nature and hard work. During this period of time, the flowering of his soul falls.

After the refusal of his beloved to become a wife, Startsev lost interest in many things. But after Kotik left for another city, he had no choice but to continue his medical practice. At the same time, he managed to earn the reputation of a competent doctor and the respect of others. Every year he became more and more interested in the material side of life. Now Ionych rode a "troika with bells" and did not walk. All existence was reduced to hoarding and wasting time in the evenings in the society of gamblers. His appearance was not healthy. Instead of goodwill, there was irritability.

Thus, having gone a long way from a poor son of a church minister to a respected, experienced zemstvo doctor, having earned a lot of money, the main character was not able to remain at a high level even thanks to his mind. There was no nourishment for his spiritual development. The goal was ruined by the past interest in a woman. Any hobby became only a cause for concern. "Plump, red, rides a troika" is a common characteristic of the protagonist after another four years. Gone was his ability to analyze, to find the good. The moral side became impoverished, this led to the devastation of the soul.

Startsev's composition in the story Ionych

A.P. Chekhov was considered by modern critics to be the master of the short story. The writer spoke out against vulgarity and the philistine way of life, he hated people who lived in a small case world. Therefore, the main theme of his works is the definition of the meaning of life.

One of these works was "Ionych", where the image of Startsev was especially clearly shown. We know from his story that our hero was appointed as a doctor in a local hospital, where he arrived quite young with high ideals. The doctor immediately gets on with the Turkin family, which was considered the most educated and cultured in the city in all areas. Love for Katya Turkina immediately consumed Startsev. For the sake of these feelings, he was ready for any actions. However, when the girl did not respond to his declaration of love, leaving the city, he suffered quite a bit. The doctor began to live his former life, and often repeated that there was a lot of trouble with this relationship.

Subsequently, Startsev began to suffer from obesity, leading a passive lifestyle. Previously, he was a man with a warm and open soul. Now the inhabitants of the city began to annoy him with their habits and behavior. However, if earlier he considered their conversations empty, now he calmly talked with them. And if he had no desire to talk, he was silent, for which he was nicknamed the Pole inflated.

At the end of the work, a completely different person appears before us, who has become lazy, both spiritually and morally. He does not want to have a family and children at all. He became greedy. In the evenings, the doctor amuses himself by looking at the money and counting it for a long time, and then goes to the auctions of houses that he does not buy. The doctor has deprived himself of cultural entertainment. He does not even notice that, gradually aging, he descends to the level of those residents who were once criticized by him. Now his name is Ionich.

His life path has come to an end. Why did this happen? Of course, the blame for what happened lies not only in the environment, but in Startsev himself, who lost all the best that was in him, exchanging living thinking for a well-fed and stupid existence. The image of the doctor is close to the characters from the work "Dead Souls". His existence is just as empty and fruitless. Chekhov once again showed us, on the basis of this hero, the degradation of a person's personality, showing in his stories the whole tragedy of petty reality.

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