Analysis of "Ionych": how clear everything is

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Chekhov, of course, belongs to the classics, and to the Russian classics. He lived at the very end of the 19th century and at the very beginning of the 20th century. In fact, he was a junior contemporary of such giants of the word as Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. But in spirit he is very, just very different from them.

Chekhov is studied at school in sufficient detail, there are much more of his works in the school curriculum than, for example, Tolstoy. This is "Thick and Thin", and "Ionych", and "Gooseberry", and "Cherry Orchard". The works are small, but Chekhov did not write short stories and novels, he was a master of short stories and theatrical plays.

Make an analysis of "Ionych" schoolchildren are asked at literature lessons. But can children fully understand this work? The official version of the “correct analysis” is: Ionych made a career, but as a person did not become better, and Kotik (Ekaterina Ivanovna) developed spiritually, but did not make a career.

First of all, it is necessary to find out how detailed the heroes of the work are described. An analysis of Ionych as a literary image and Ekaterina Ivanovna shows that the characters are described very shallowly. We are talking about mental and emotional manifestations, but not aboutspiritual problems that they solve for themselves. In general, it is spiritual problems that most of all concern the heroes of Russian classics, this, one might say, is the gold standard of literature.

The summary of the story is as follows. The young zemstvo doctor Dmitry Ionovich Startsev arrives in the city of S., where he meets the creatively gifted Turkin family and falls in love with his daughter, Ekaterina Ivanovna, nicknamed Kotik. He proposes to her, she refuses him, talking about her intention to go to Moscow to study at the conservatory, since she sees music as her main vocation (she is a gifted pianist). The young man is crushed, but after the departure of his beloved to Moscow, he calms down and improves his life: he starts an extensive practice, acquires property, servants, crew and no longer visits the Turkins. Ekaterina Ivanovna returns disappointed by Moscow and fascinated by Ionych, his noble work as a zemstvo doctor, who cares for the fate of the people. But Startsev has changed a lot during this time, so the girl’s words do not touch him at all, and he leaves this house with relief, never to return here again. Over the years, he becomes a fat, rude, lonely person, greedy for money and stingy with feelings.

This is the plot of this piece. But in reality, who did Dmitry Ionych Startsev consider himself to be when he arrived in the city of S.? How did you see your career? What was the main meaning of his life? The analysis of Ionych as a person according to Chekhov's story is difficult, because these moments are omitted here.

The same with Ekaterina Ivanovna: we are notWe know why she wanted to become a pianist. To get famous? Or in order to ignite a spark in another soul with the help of music? What kind of music does Kitty like? It is also impossible to learn about this from the work. The reader is forced to analyze the story "Ionych" according to the rules established by the author. It turns out that Dmitry Ionych is a sweet and naive young man, whom, as the people say, “everything got stuck”. And Ekaterina Ivanovna, on the contrary, turns from a selfish fool into a thinking and deeply feeling person. The analysis of "Ionych" seems to the author of this article only as such, according to the data that are available.

But is there any certainty that Ekaterina Ivanovna's fleeting infatuation has anything to do with love? Not at all. This is a short-term hobby, which, most likely, would dissipate like smoke if Kitty agreed to the marriage. So is Ionych an idealist at the beginning of the work? Says nothing about it. He has all the makings of that Ionych, which he became a few years later. And Ekaterina Ivanovna, if she considers the work of a zemstvo doctor so noble, because he helps ordinary people, she always has the opportunity to do charity work and also help those in need. But instead, just like a few years ago, she enthusiastically plays the piano for four hours a day.

In general, Chekhov's works, as the author of the article sees, do not imply higher spiritual aspirations in a person. Chekhov himself was an atheist, and, figuratively speaking, there is a certain ceiling in his world, above which one cannot rise.

Reading and analyzing Chekhov's story can easily lead to depression.

Dostoevsky and Tolstoy also wrote on serious and even sad topics. But after reading the works of any of them, there is no melancholy, sadness. And we can say that a huge sky is spread over the heroes of these Russian classics.

Chekhov inspired many authors of the 20th century, the century of atheism and almost total lack of spirituality.