Chekhov, of course, refers 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 Dostoevsky. But in spirit he is very, simply strikingly different from them.
Chekhov is studied in school in sufficient detail, his works in the school curriculum are much more 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 novels and novels, he was a master of the story and theatrical plays.
To make an analysis of "Ionych" students are asked in the 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 he didn’t get better, and Kotik (Ekaterina Ivanovna) developed spiritually, but did not.
First of all, it is necessary to find out how much the characters of the work are described . 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 about spiritual problems that they solve for themselves. In general, it is spiritual problems that concern the heroes of the Russian classics most of all, this can be said to be 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 Turkins family and falls in love with his daughter, Ekaterina Ivanovna, nicknamed Kotik. He makes her an offer, she refuses him, talking about her intention to go to Moscow to study at the conservatory, because she sees music as her main calling (she is a gifted pianist). The young man is crushed, but after his beloved’s departure to Moscow, he calms down and establishes his life: he starts an extensive practice, acquires property, servants, crew and no longer visits the Turkins. Ekaterina Ivanovna returns disappointed with Moscow and fascinated by Ionitch, his noble work of the 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 is relieved to leave this house so that he will never come back here. Over the years, he becomes a fat, rude, lonely person, greedy for money and stingy with feelings.
This is the plot of this work. But in reality, who did Dmitry Ionych Startsev consider himself 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 points are omitted here.
The same is with Ekaterina Ivanovna: we don’t know why she wanted to become a pianist. To become famous? Or in order to use a music to spark a spark in another soul? What kind of music does Kitty like? It is also not possible to learn about this from the work. The reader is forced to do the analysis of the “Ionych” story according to the rules established by the author. It turns out that Dmitry Ionych is a sweet and naive young man, whom, as they say, "life is stuck." And Ekaterina Ivanovna, on the contrary, turns from a selfish fool into a thinking and deeply sensitive 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 hobby has at least something in common with love? Not at all. This is a short-term hobby, which, most likely, would dissipate like smoke in the event that Kotik agreed to marriage. So is Ionych the idealist at the beginning of the work? Says nothing about this. He has all the makings of that Ionych, which became a few years later. And Ekaterina Ivanovna, if she considers the work of the Zemstvo doctor so noble, because he helps the common people, she always has the opportunity to do charity work and also help those in need. But instead, she, like several years ago, enthusiastically plays the piano four hours a day.
In general, the works of Chekhov, as seen by the author of the article, do not imply higher spiritual aspirations in a person. Chekhov himself was an atheist, and, figuratively speaking, in his world there is a certain ceiling, above which it is impossible to 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 was the inspirer of many authors of the 20th century, the century of atheism and almost universal spirituality.