In Chekov's "A Doctor's Visit" the theme that I notice is
the difference between appearance and reality—how easy it is for
pretentious, egotistical and ignorant people to pretend to care for others when they are
only interested in
self.
When Korolyov, acting as the
Professor's assistant, arrives in town, the first thing he notices
is the scenery...
...he was charmed with the evening, the
farmhouses and villas on the
road...
...and the
factories...
...whenever he saw a factory...he always thought
how quiet and peaceable it was outside, but within there was always sure to be
impenetrable ignorance and dull egoism on the side of the
owners...
Soon it is clear
that Korolyov is describing himself. He is sure that
all factory workers live in the midst of rats, fighting and
drunkenness. When he arrives at the Lyalikovs' home, he is impatient. He is silently
critical of the governess (Christina Dmitryevna)—he notes that she must have
some intelligence, but allows the possibility with a sense of
href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/elitism">elitism.
Korolyov visits
the Liza Lyalikov—the patient—and his initial response is how very
unattractive she is. His first medical
assessment of her illness is a patronizing
reflection:
It's high time she was married. . .
.
It is not until Liza cries
that he expresses any compassion. Eventually, he gives her a pat
and tells her she is fine.
When he speaks with
Madame Lyalikov, Korolyov is rude, concerned about missing his train—but in light of the
mother's tears he agrees to stay overnight. He and the governess dine, and his comment
to her shows that his idea of "social health" is tied to the presence of a man in the
house:
It
looks as though you have no man in the house at
all...
After the meal
Korolyov walks outside. He greatly resents that the people in the factory work so the
governess can enjoy what the others in the house do not—as if she
is not worthy of the food. The irony here is that while she is a governess, he is only a
physician's assistant
himself.
Korolyov
goes back into the house and checks on Liza. Self-importantly, he
believes that she feels compelled to speak to him—perhaps because
he is a man and that in the natural order of things, life must
revolve around a man:
...it seemed to him that she trusted him, and
that she wanted to speak frankly to him, and that she thought the same as he
did.
But she does not speak
to him.
As he prepares to leave the next day, Korolyov sees
Liza again, no better off than she was before he came, but feels that she is somehow
drawn to him:
...she looked at him, as yesterday, sorrowfully
and intelligently, smiled and talked, and all with an expression as though she wanted to
tell him something special, important -- him
alone.
The man is
narcissistic—thinking that Liza's secret is meant only for
him.
Departing, he thinks not of his
patient and her lingering illness, or the tragic lives of the factory workers. He has
forgotten what he imagined he saw the night before—factory windows, like "the crimson
eyes of the devil..."
The windows in the factory buildings were
sparkling gaily, and, driving across the yard and afterwards along the road to the
station, Korolyov thought neither of the workpeople nor of lake dwellings, nor of the
devil, but thought of the time...when life would be as bright and joyous as that still
Sunday morning...
How could a
person of substance leave this place and feel "joyous?" The self-centered Korolyov is a
man of "impenetrable ignorance and dull egoism."
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