# The Duel — Character guide

> Key figures in The Duel by Anton Chekhov.

- [Ivan Andreitch Laevsky](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/ivan_andreitch_laevsky.md): Laevsky drifts through stifling days in slippers, biting his nails, convinced his affair with Nadyezhda Fyodorovna has become a trap he lacks the courage to spring. He sees himself clearly—neither honest man nor scoundre
- [Nadyezhda Fyodorovna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/nadyezhda_fyodorovna.md): Nadyezhda Fyodorovna lives with Laevsky as his mistress, aware that her youth is draining away in a town that offers nothing but heat, gossip, and other people's marriages. Desire overtakes her—she surrenders to Kirilin 
- [Samoylenko](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/samoylenko.md): Samoylenko moves between Laevsky and Von Koren as friend, physician, and reluctant second, wounded by Laevsky's outburst yet still scheming to reconcile the two before pistols are raised. He believes duels are medieval b
- [Von Koren](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/von_koren.md): Von Koren dissects Laevsky with the same detachment he brings to marine life, calling him a man who wants to be honest and a scoundrel at once—an untenable species. Where others hope the duel will dissolve into breakfast
- [Marya Konstantinovna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/marya_konstantinovna.md): Marya Konstantinovna presides over the ladies' bathing-house with drawling warmth, screening her daughter Katya from the waves and from Nadyezhda Fyodorovna's reputation. Once a governess in aristocratic households, she 
- [Kirilin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/kirilin.md): Kirilin enters Nadyezhda Fyodorovna's stifling summer as the answer to a desire she can no longer reason with, and she gives in without resistance or joy. He proves coarse and unremarkable, and the affair is over almost 
- [Atchmianov](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/atchmianov.md): A young man who pursues Nadyezhda Fyodorovna.
- [Kerbalay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/the_tatar_kerbalay.md): A local Tatar who runs a tavern or serves the community.
- [Sheshkovsky](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/sheshkovsky.md): A minor character mentioned in the social circle.
- [Alexandr Daviditch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/alexandr_daviditch.md): A local acquaintance of the main characters.
- [Nikodim Alexandritch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/nikodim_alexandritch.md): A minor character in the town's social scene.
- [Olga](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/olga.md): A female character mentioned briefly in the narrative.
- [Ustimovitch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/ustimovitch.md): A doctor or official who appears briefly.
- [Boyko](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters/boyko.md): A minor character, possibly a servant or officer.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_duel_se/characters