WARD No. 6 by Anton Chekhov (1892)

Name: WARD No. 6
Author: Anton Chekhov

Ward No. 6 by Anton Chekhov centers on a decaying hospital wing where five lunatics are kept under the brutal watch of the old soldier Nikita, who beats his charges to maintain "order." Among the patients are a consumptive tradesman, the cheerful idiot Moséika (a Jew who lost his mind when his cap factory burned and is the only inmate permitted outside), a stupefied fat muzhik, a former Post Office sorter who fantasizes about medals, and Iván Dmítritch Gromof, a former court usher and government secretary now thirty-three, who suffers from persecution mania. Gromof's backstory is given: after his brother's death from consumption, his father's arrest for forgery and death in prison, and the family's ruin, Iván labored in poverty, held brief posts as usher and court official, and gradually succumbed to terror of arrest, eventually fleeing through the streets in panic and being committed to the ward by Doctor Andréi Yéfimitch Rágin. Rágin himself is introduced as a large, passive, bookish physician who took over a corrupt, filthy hospital years earlier, concluded reform was futile, and let abuses continue while he withdrew into reading philosophy and history, drinking beer and vodka at set hours, and conversing each evening with his one friend, the postmaster Mikhail Averyanitch. Rágin rationalizes his neglect of patients with fatalistic philosophy about suffering, death, and the meaninglessness of prolonging life. One evening, drawn by Moséika, Rágin enters Ward No. 6 and has his first conversation with Gromof, who despite his madness argues sharply and rebukes the doctor's Stoic detachment as the comfortable philosophy of a man who has never truly suffered. Rágin is fascinated, finding Gromof the only intelligent interlocutor in the town, and begins visiting daily. These visits provoke gossip. The younger district doctor Khobótoff, the feldscher Sergéi Sergéyitch, and hospital staff conclude Rágin himself is losing his mind. He is summoned before town officials, subjected to informal psychiatric questioning, and afterward pressured by Mikhail Averyanitch to take a recuperative trip. They travel to Moscow, Petersburg, and Warsaw, where Rágin finds his friend's company increasingly tiresome and the postmaster loses money gambling, borrowing from Rágin. On returning, Rágin finds Khobótoff has taken over his post and lodgings; he moves to cheap rooms with his landlady Dáryushka, falls into debt, and grows isolated, visited only by the meddling Khobótoff (with useless bromide prescriptions) and the falsely cheerful Mikhail Averyanitch, who eventually hints at marriage prospects and a "recovery," provoking Rágin to angrily order them both out. Khobótoff then lures Rágin to the hospital under pretext of a consultation, leaves him alone in Ward No. 6, and Nikita brings him a hospital gown, informing him he is now a patient. Locked in, Rágin experiences the ward's horror firsthand: Gromof mocks him, Rágin demands to be let out, and when he and Gromof both protest at the door, Nikita beats them savagely. That night Rágin, in physical and spiritual agony, for the first time grasps the suffering he had ignored for twenty years. The next day he is listless and ashamed; visited briefly by Mikhail Averyanitch, Dáryushka, and Khobótoff, he dies that evening of an apoplectic stroke, his mind drifting through fleeting visions before he expires. His body is carried to the hospital chapel, where Sergéi Sergéyitch closes his eyes; only Mikhail Averyanitch and Dáryushka attend his funeral.

By Anton Chekhov · First published 1892 · Genre: Psychological Fiction, Russian Literature, Drama · 24,324 words

First lines

At the side of the hospital yard stands a large wing, nearly surrounded by a forest of burdocks, nettles, and wild hemp. The roof is red, the chimney is on the point of tumbling, the steps are rotten and overgrown with grass, and of the plaster only traces remain. The front gazes at the hospital, the back looks into the fields, from which it is separated only by a grey, spiked fence. The spikes with their sharp points sticking upwards, the fence, the wing itself, have that melancholy, God-forsaken air which is seen only in hospitals and prisons.

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WARD No. 6 is listed on Textopian as a novel by Anton Chekhov, dated 1892 CE.

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Work type: Novel
Author: Anton Chekhov
Date: 1892 CE
Language: English
Genres: Psychological Fiction, Russian Literature, Drama, Philosophical Literature, Classic Literature
Length: 24,324 words
Structure: 1 section, 376 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Discussion starters

What should a reader notice first when entering WARD No. 6?
How does this novel by Anton Chekhov fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
Where does Psychological Fiction first become important in the reading?

Similar titles

Genres

Psychological Fiction — The narrative heavily focuses on the internal, psychological experiences of its main character, a mentally ill asylum patient. Various elements of his deteriorating mental state and delusions are explored in depth.
Russian Literature — The author, Anton Chekhov, is a celebrated figure in Russian literature. The narrative employs characteristic elements of Russian literature like extensive character development, societal criticism, and exploration of human values.
Drama — The story has dramatic elements in the depiction of existential crisis, human suffering, and mental deterioration experienced by the characters, especially, the protagonist. It engages with intense emotional dialogues and conflicts.
Philosophical Literature — The narrative incorporates deep philosophical themes scrutinizing existing societal norms, human behavior, morality, and the purpose of life.