Ionitch (Chekhov)
Short summary
Provincial Russian town, late 19th century. Dimitri Ionitch Startseff took his post as government doctor near the town of S. Initially idealistic, he diligently worked at the hospital. Acquainted with the cultured and accomplished Turkin family, he admired their charming talents and friendly home entertainment.
Startseff was attracted to Katherine Turkin, the family's daughter. Enchanted by her energetic piano playing and youthful freshness, he fell in love. Once he confessed his feelings, Katherine, passionate about music and hoping to study at the conservatory, rejected him. Disappointed, Startseff initially suffered but soon recovered.
Four years later, Startseff had become wealthier and stouter, comforted by accumulating property and his busy medical practice. Katherine returned home, thinner, pale and melancholy; though she tried to reconnect, Ionitch felt distanced. Visiting the Turkins, their tedious chatter irritated him, and Ionitch ceased his visits. With time, he lost all enthusiasm.
His voice has changed and has become squeaky and harsh, probably because his throat is obstructed with fat. His character, too, has changed and he has grown irascible and crusty. He is lonely, he is bored, and nothing interests him.
Eventually Ionitch further degenerated into greed, loneliness and boredom, his life reduced to monotonous practice, property accumulation, and solitary evenings spent at the club, his early idealism completely extinguished.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Chapter 1. Dr. Startseff's introduction to the Turkin family
In the provincial city of S., newcomers often complained about the monotonous life, but locals insisted it was quite amusing, with a library, a club, and pleasant families to meet. The Turkins were considered the most accomplished and enlightened family in town. They lived in their own house on Main Street, next door to the governor.
Each family member had a special talent. Ivan's wife Vera wrote stories and novels which she read aloud to guests. Their daughter Katherine played the piano. The Turkins welcomed guests cordially and showed off their accomplishments with cheerful simplicity.
The Turkins always welcomed their guests cordially and showed off their accomplishments to them with cheerful and genial simplicity. The interior of their large stone house was spacious, and, in summer, delightfully cool.
When Dimitri Ionitch Startseff was appointed as government doctor in Dialij, six miles from S., he was advised to make the Turkins' acquaintance. After meeting Ivan Turkin on the street one winter day, Startseff received an invitation to visit. The following spring, on Ascension Day, he decided to go to their house.
Chapter 2. Love and rejection at the cemetery
After more than a year of solitude and work, Startseff received a letter from Vera Turkin, who suffered from headaches and requested his medical assistance. He began visiting the Turkins frequently, though it was not Vera's headaches that drew him there but his growing attraction to Katherine.
One evening, during a holiday, Startseff managed to speak privately with Katherine in the garden. Overwhelmed with emotion, he confessed his feelings, but before she could answer, she slipped him a note and ran back to the house. The note instructed him to meet her at Demetti's grave in the cemetery at eleven that night.
Though Startseff initially thought the cemetery meeting was absurd, he eventually decided to go. He drove to the cemetery outskirts and walked the rest of the way. The moonlit cemetery appeared both beautiful and eerie to him, with white crosses and monuments casting shadows in the night.
The night did not seem so dark as it had appeared in the fields... Peace and sadness and mercy rose with the scent of autumn from the graves, the leaves, and the faded flowers.
Startseff waited at Demetti's grave, a chapel with an angel monument, but Katherine never came. After waiting for half an hour, he wandered the paths, imagining romantic encounters and feeling increasingly frustrated. When the moon disappeared behind clouds, he struggled to find his way back to his carriage in the darkness.
Chapter 3. A brief separation and a changed relationship
The next evening, Startseff went to the Turkins to propose to Katherine. Unfortunately, she was preparing for a dance at the club and could not speak with him. Instead, he had to endure Ivan Turkin reading a humorous letter from his German manager.
When Katherine finally appeared in her ball dress, Startseff offered to drive her to the club. In the carriage, he mentioned his cemetery visit, but she dismissed it as a joke. As they approached the club, Startseff embraced and kissed her passionately.
Later that night at the club, Startseff proposed to Katherine. She rejected him, explaining that she loved art more than anything and wanted to dedicate her life to music at the conservatory. She could not be tied down to family life in the provincial town.
"I am passionately fond of, I adore, music, and if I could I would consecrate my whole life to it. I want to be a musician. I long for fame and success and freedom and you ask me to go on living in this town..."
Heartbroken, Startseff left the club, tearing off his stiff collar to breathe freely. For three days, he could neither eat nor sleep. When he heard that Katherine had gone to Moscow to enter the conservatory, he gradually returned to his normal life, later reflecting on the episode with detachment.
Chapter 4. Four years later: Transformation of Startseff
Four years passed, and Startseff developed a large medical practice in the city while maintaining his position in Dialij. He had grown stouter and suffered from asthma. His coachman Panteleimon had also grown heavier and constantly complained about his hard lot.
Startseff visited several houses but made no close friends. He found the conversations of the townspeople boring and limited. He avoided most social activities except card games, which he enjoyed playing for several hours each evening. His greatest pleasure came from counting the money he earned from his practice.
Sometimes he would find them scattered through all his pockets, seventy roubles' worth of them, yellow ones and green ones, smelling of scent, and vinegar, and incense, and kerosene.
During these four years, Startseff had visited the Turkins only twice, both times at Vera's request to treat her headaches. One day, he received another invitation from Vera for her birthday celebration, with a postscript from Katherine, who had returned from Moscow for the summer.
Upon arriving at the Turkins', Startseff noticed that Katherine had grown thinner and paler, losing her childish expression. She seemed anxious and apologetic, as if no longer at ease in her parents' home. She looked at him curiously, noting how he had grown stouter and browner.
The evening proceeded much as before – Vera read one of her stories, Katherine played the piano, and Ivan told jokes. But Startseff felt differently now. Though Katherine still pleased him, something seemed to be missing. When she invited him to the garden to talk, he went reluctantly.
In the garden, Katherine expressed excitement at seeing him again and asked about his life. Startseff briefly felt a spark of his old feelings but quickly became disillusioned. When she spoke of her admiration for his noble work as a country doctor, he thought cynically of the money he collected each evening.
"Alas! You ask what I have been doing! What do we all do here? Nothing! We grow older and fatter and more sluggish. Day in, day out our colourless life passes by without impressions, without thoughts."
As they returned to the house, Startseff thought, "It's a good thing I didn't marry her!" Before leaving, he endured the familiar family entertainment, including a performance by Pava, now a young man with a mustache, who still recited his dramatic line: "Die, unhappy woman!"
"It's a good thing I didn't marry her!" he thought. He began to take his leave... All this irritated Startseff, and as he took his seat in his carriage and looked at the house and the dark garden that had once been so dear to him...
Three days later, Katherine sent Startseff a letter asking him to visit again. He promised to come in three days but never did. Despite occasionally driving past the Turkins' house and remembering he should stop by, he never returned.
Chapter 5. A man called Ionitch: The final transformation
Several more years passed, and Startseff grew even fatter. He breathed heavily and walked with his head thrown back. He made an impressive sight driving by in his carriage, with his round, red face matching that of his coachman Panteleimon. People no longer called him by his full name but simply referred to him as "Ionitch."
His medical practice in the city had grown immense, leaving him no time for reflection. He owned an estate in the country and two houses in town, with plans to buy a third. His acquisitiveness was so strong that he maintained his government position at Dialij despite his wealth.
It is more like the passage of a heathen god than of a man. He has an immense practice in the city, there is no time for repining now. He already owns an estate in the country and two houses in town...
Startseff's character had changed along with his appearance. He had grown irascible and crusty, often losing his temper with patients. After playing cards at the club each evening, he would sit alone at a large table for supper, served by Ivan, the oldest and most respectable waiter, who knew all his preferences.
Meanwhile, the Turkins remained unchanged. Ivan still made jokes, Vera still read her novels aloud, and Katherine still practiced the piano for four hours daily. She had grown noticeably older and more delicate, traveling to the Crimea with her mother each autumn for her health.