Literature Annotations
 |
Chekhov, Anton P. |
 | On-Line Text |
| Genre | Short Story (10 pp.) |
| Keywords | Disability, Doctor-Patient Relationship, Empathy, Illness and the Family, Psycho-social Medicine, Psychosomatic Medicine |
| Summary | A junior doctor goes to visit the daughter of a wealthy factory owner. (The professor was too busy to go.) The daughter had been ill for a long time and had just suffered "heart palpitations" the previous night. At first the doctor finds nothing wrong with her heart, and says that her "nerves must have been playing pranks" on her. The patient’s family presses the doctor to stay for the night. During the evening, he reflects on the oppression of the dreary factory town and relates the sense of loneliness and confinement ("like a prison") to his patient’s condition. Later, in conversing with the young woman, he actually listens to her empathically, rather than just focusing on her symptoms or the function of her heart. He is then able to respond empathically to the young woman’s plight. |
| Source | The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories |
| Publisher | Ecco |
| Edition | 1984 |
| Place Published | New York |
| Alternate Source | Chekhov's Doctors |
| Alternate Publisher | Kent State Univ. Press |
| Alternate Edition | 2003 |
| Alternate Editors | Jack Coulehan |
| Place Published | Kent, Ohio & London |
| Miscellaneous | First published: 1898. Translated by Constance Garnett. |
| Annotated by | Coulehan, Jack |
| Date of Entry | 12/01/93 |
| Last Revised | 08/17/06 |