Exposition and Academic Context for Chekhov’s “A Doctor’s Visit”

Today’s guest: Mark Campbell, PhD. 

Dept. of Literary Arts, Gotham University 

At the request of a Mr. H. A. Joker

It comes as no surprise to a reader acquainted with the writings of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov that a small, seemingly inconspicuous detail can often trigger incendiary results. Coming from the man who famously mandated that if a playwright “has a gun hanging on the wall in the first act, it must fire by the last,” even an incoherent telegraph is a fitting catalyst for a journey to hell and back. In his article, “The Hero’s Descent to the Underworld in Chekhov,” Michael Finke identifies the motif of katabasis, a hero’s literal or figurative descent into an underworld, in several of Chekhov’s works including, most notably for this discussion (following its appearance in certain previous correspondence), the short story “A Doctor’s Visit.” 

The story revolves around the devil, as Korolyov says. During one of his night-time reveries we perceive, quite explicitly, the structure of evil in Madame Lyalikov’s factory, with its windows blazing like “crimson eyes,” and then again implicitly in the system of power that governs the relationship between “the strong and the weak.” It is in these two forms that the main antagonist reveals itself to the hero, and it is certainly plausible to read Korolyov’s introverted passage through the night as a voyage through darkness, a voyage through an underworld that is at once quietly and conspicuously menacing. Following this reading, Liza’s illness, which intensifies in the evening, may be innocuous in origin—Korolyov insists that there is nothing especially wrong with her, suggesting that her problem is psychological—and simultaneously life-threatening—her heart palpitations, which prompt the house call, are nearly fatal. Both of Korolyov’s ideas of the devil exert their influence in the night; therefore he is, as Finke describes it, “a shaman wandering the underworld” (72), a human in the realm of demons. 

Finke continues on to note that Korolyov’s mood shifts dramatically in the story’s denouement. He attributes the sudden revelatory happiness of the doctor to a return to the normal world, the surface of the earth, where light reaches him again. Chekhov makes a point of conveying Korolyov’s satisfaction at “[basking] in the sunshine,” which may easily be the most distinctive feature of his story. The final moments suggest both light and location, a return to a mundane world, but with a new perspective after having suffered. Finke likens this return to the resurrection of Christ and the corresponding revival from the land of the dead. It is one of two common resolutions to the archetypical katabasis, but with a significant subversion. Korolyov must abandon Liza; his newfound appreciation and sensibility to life are all he has. Liza is assumed to be left to be taken again into the darkness the following night. Finke labels this departure from a typical hero’s descent as ironic, which explains the significance of the story’s closing with sunshine. Korolyov’s light contrasts with Liza’s darkness. The spoils of this hero leave the ostensible object of his descent almost as desolate as at her introduction, with only a certain experience gleaned from the tribulations of Korolyov’s metaphorical hell. In this way, it may perhaps be said that Liza, too, follows the archetype of the suffering hero’s katabasis, although her emergence is marked with decidedly less victory. 

At the heart of “A Doctor’s Visit” is the enigmatic and self-destructive relationship between the educated, the wealthy or the bourgeoisie, and those whom Chekhov terms “the workpeople.” Korolyov dwells on the system as the devil’s work, suggesting that the underworld of this story is, in Marxist fashion, class conflict, in particular the situation of his late-nineteenth century Russia. There is a certain ordered insanity to demoniacal work; Finke suggests, in closing and in speculation, that this underworld foreshadows more modern developments. 

Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich. “A Doctor’s Visit.” American Literature. Web. Accessed 9 Sept. 2011. 

Finke, Michael. “The Hero’s Descent to the Underworld in Chekhov.” Russian Review. 53.1 (1994): 67-80. Scholarly Journal Article.