A Doctor's Visit

Plot summary

Korolyov, a young doctor, visits the house of Lyalikov, a recently deceased factory owner, to attend to the heiress, twenty-year old Liza, who has heart problems. The factory looks threatening, and Korolyov begins to construct a picture of it in his mind as the Devil's abode. He can't help but think of the unspeakable suffering that lurks behind these dark walls. The owners' house, surrounded by workshops and apparently run by the governess, looks equally unpleasant to him.

Korolyov finds nothing serious with Liza, her

Quote

"One is shy of asking men under sentence what they have been sentenced for; and in the same way it is awkward to ask very rich people what they want so much money for, why they make such a poor use of their wealth, why they don't give it up, even when they see in it their unhappiness; and if they begin a conversation about it themselves, it is usually embarrassing, awkward, and long.
'How is one to say it?' Korolyov wondered. 'And is it necessary to speak?' "

Critical reception

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References