The Brothers Karamazov

Dmitri Fyodorovitch Karamazov

Also known as Dmitri Fyodorovitch · Dmitri Karamazov · Dmitri · Mitya · Mitenka

Fyodor Pavlovitch’s eldest son, convicted of his father’s murder despite his repeated denial. He tells Alyosha of his plan to escape to America with Grushenka, learn English, and eventually return to Russia; he and Katerina Ivanovna confess their enduring love, and he asks whether she ever truly believed him guilty.

Grushenka

Also known as the enchantress · Agrafena Alexandrovna · Agrafena · Madame Svyetlov · Grusha

Dmitri’s beloved, who unexpectedly enters during his emotional reunion with Katerina Ivanovna. She says she and Katerina are both full of hatred, but promises to forgive her if she saves Dmitri.

Katerina Ivanovna

Also known as Katya · Katenka

Dmitri’s former betrothed and Ivan’s beloved. She tells Dmitri she never truly believed he murdered his father, says they will always love one another, and asks Grushenka’s forgiveness; she has sent flowers for Ilusha’s funeral and promises not to abandon his family.

Alexey Fyodorovitch Karamazov

Also known as Alyosha · Alexey · Alexey Fyodorovitch

The youngest Karamazov brother and the narrator’s hero. He visits Dmitri and carries word that Katerina will come, then attends Ilusha’s funeral and encourages the schoolboys to preserve their friendship and memories of Ilusha.

The narrator

Also known as I · Narrator

A local acquaintance who narrates the family’s story and comments on events. He recounts Dmitri and Katerina’s reunion, Ilusha’s funeral, and Alyosha’s speech to the boys.

Ilusha

Also known as the captain’s son · the schoolboy who pleaded for his father · the boy who bit Alyosha

Captain Snegiryov’s gravely ill nine-year-old son, who dies two days after Dmitri is sentenced. The schoolboys remember his plea to stay with his father, and his funeral brings them together in lasting affection.

Captain Snegiryov

Also known as Nikolay Ilyitch Snegiryov · the captain · Dmitri’s victim

A poor former army captain and Ilusha’s devoted father. Grief-stricken at his son’s funeral, he clings to Ilusha’s flowers and boots, then brings flowers home for his wife.

The captain’s wife

Also known as Arina Petrovna · the insane wife · mamma

Captain Snegiryov’s mentally impaired wife, whom the children call mamma. At Ilusha’s funeral she grieves beside the coffin; her husband later brings her flowers, regretting his earlier cruelty.

Nina

Also known as the captain’s hunchback daughter

Captain Snegiryov’s gentle daughter, who has withered legs and uses an invalid chair. She watches her brother’s funeral, asks that her mother receive a flower, and grieves with her family.

Kolya Krassotkin

Also known as Nikolay Ivanovitch Krassotkin · Krassotkin · Kolya

A clever, proud fourteen-year-old schoolboy and Madame Krassotkin’s son. At Ilusha’s funeral he asks Alyosha whether Dmitri is innocent, expresses admiration for him, and joins Alyosha in comforting the Snegiryovs and addressing the boys.

Smurov

Also known as the schoolboy

An eleven-year-old schoolboy devoted to Kolya, who has kept the dog’s identity secret and accompanies Kolya to see Ilusha. He affirms Alyosha’s answer about Dmitri and carries Captain Snegiryov’s hat after he throws it away.

Kartashov

Also known as the pretty boy

A shy schoolboy who once named the founders of Troy and blushed at his answer. At Ilusha’s funeral he is moved by Alyosha’s speech, though Kolya rebukes him for interrupting.

The schoolboys who visit Ilusha

Also known as the boys · the ten schoolfellows

A group of schoolboys who visit Ilusha and remember his request to stay with his father. They attend his funeral, comfort Captain Snegiryov, and promise with Alyosha to remember Ilusha and one another.

The landlady who cooks for the Snegiryovs

Also known as the landlady

An unnamed woman whose lodging is across the passage from the Snegiryovs’ room and where their cooking is done. She helps with Ilusha’s funeral arrangements and promises Alyosha to look after the bereaved family.

Lise

Madame Hohlakov’s daughter, who sends flowers to Ilusha’s funeral.

The boys who once threw stones at Ilusha

Also known as the schoolboy group · the schoolboys

A group of unnamed schoolboys who once threw stones at Ilusha and taunted him about his father. Alyosha recalls how they later grew fond of him and gathered to support his family.

Ippolit Kirillovitch

Also known as the prosecutor · the town’s deputy prosecutor

The town’s deputy prosecutor, who objects to the defense counsel’s account of the murder and argues that its alternative explanation is a romance. He is shaken by the jury’s guilty verdict and the audience’s reaction.

Ivan Fyodorovitch Karamazov

Also known as Ivan

Fyodor Pavlovitch’s educated son and Alyosha’s elder brother. After accusing Smerdyakov of the murder in court, he falls into a high fever and lies unconscious at Katerina Ivanovna’s house; he had arranged an escape plan for Dmitri and entrusted its details and money to her.

Smerdyakov

Also known as the valet · Pavel Fyodorovitch · Pavel

Fyodor Pavlovitch’s former cook and servant, whom the defense counsel presents as a plausible alternative murderer. The counsel describes him as ambitious, resentful of his illegitimate parentage, envious of the Karamazov brothers, and possibly motivated by the money; Smerdyakov died by suicide before the trial.

Fyodor Pavlovitch

Also known as Alyosha’s father · Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov · the old man · father

A wealthy landowner and father of Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha, murdered in his house. The defense disputes that Dmitri killed him and argues that his neglect and hostility toward Dmitri helped shape their relationship.

The trial’s audience

Also known as the public · the spectators

The crowd attending Dmitri’s trial, including local residents, visitors, and ladies who applaud Fetyukovitch’s defense. Many expect acquittal, but the guilty verdict leaves them stunned and provokes sharply divided reactions.

The counsel for the defense

Also known as Fetyukovitch · Dmitri’s defense counsel · the counsel

A celebrated Petersburg lawyer defending Dmitri. He argues that the murder and robbery are unproved, presents Smerdyakov as a possible killer, and urges the jury to acquit Dmitri as an act of mercy and Russian justice.

The judges of the district court

Also known as the three judges

Three unnamed judges who preside over Dmitri’s trial. After the speeches, they put questions to the parties and hear the jury’s verdict.

The President of the district court

Also known as the President

The presiding judge at Dmitri’s trial. He warns the audience against applause, charges the jury to weigh the evidence impartially, and defers sentencing until the next day.

The trial’s jurors

Also known as the jury · the jurors

The twelve jurors deciding Dmitri’s case. They deliberate for an hour and find him guilty on every question without recommending mercy.

The trial’s four petty-official jurors

Also known as the four officials

Four government clerks serving on Dmitri’s jury. Their presence is discussed by spectators awaiting the verdict.

The trial’s two merchant jurors

Also known as the two merchants

Two merchants serving on Dmitri’s jury. One spectator identifies the merchant juror Nazaryev as an intelligent man and father of twelve.

The trial’s peasant and artisan jurors

Also known as the peasants and artisans

Six peasants and artisans serving on Dmitri’s jury. Spectators speculate that the peasants will stand firm; the jury ultimately convicts Dmitri.

The President’s clerk

Also known as the clerk

An unnamed court clerk who reads Dmitri’s letter aloud after Katerina Ivanovna submits it as evidence.

Varvinsky

Also known as the young doctor · the district doctor

A young district doctor and medical expert who attends Ivan and Dmitri after the trial. He places Dmitri in a separate hospital room rather than among the other prisoners.

Doctor Herzenstube

Also known as the old doctor · our doctor

A respected, kind-hearted town physician who treated Dmitri as a neglected child and attends Ivan after the trial. The defense counsel recalls his description of Dmitri’s childhood poverty.

Rakitin

Also known as the divinity student

A divinity student and Alyosha’s former acquaintance who tries twice to visit Dmitri in hospital. Dmitri refuses to see him.

Grigory

Also known as Grigory Vassilyevitch

The longtime Karamazov household servant whom Dmitri struck while fleeing the garden. The defense invokes his cry of “Parricide!” and his account of the open door.

Marfa Ignatyevna

Also known as Marfa

Grigory’s wife, who cared for Smerdyakov in childhood. The defense counsel questions the reliability of her account that she heard Smerdyakov moaning through the night.

Mikhail Semyonovitch

Also known as Mihail Semyonovitch

A man in a group of spectators discussing the defense and the likely verdict. Another spectator addresses him while joking about Fetyukovitch’s argument.

Nazaryev

Also known as the merchant with the medal

A merchant serving on Dmitri’s jury, whom a spectator describes as intelligent and the father of twelve children.

The landowner in the audience

Also known as the stout, cross-looking, pock-marked gentleman

An unnamed neighborhood landowner who asks spectators what the peasant jurors will decide.

The member of the district council

Also known as the council member

An unnamed man who joins a group of spectators discussing the composition and likely judgment of the jury.

The young official in the audience

Also known as our young official

An unnamed local official who confidently predicts Dmitri will be acquitted and argues that his actions may not amount to murder.

The actress acquitted in town

Also known as the actress

An unnamed actress acquitted in the town during Lent after cutting her lover’s lawful wife’s throat, though she did not finish the act.

The lover’s lawful wife

Also known as the lawful wife

An unnamed woman whose throat an actress cut during an attack; the actress was acquitted.

The prosecutor’s wife

Also known as the fat and childless woman

An unnamed woman married to Ippolit Kirillovitch. Spectators joke that she would blame him for the audience’s sympathy for Dmitri; she is absent from the trial because of toothache.

The people who condemned Dmitri

Also known as those who desired his conviction

Unnamed spectators who wanted Dmitri convicted. They are among those stunned by the jury’s verdict.

The people who hoped Dmitri would be acquitted

Also known as those eager for his acquittal

Unnamed spectators who expected or wanted Dmitri’s acquittal. They are stunned when the jury finds him guilty.

The guard from Mokroe

Also known as the guard here

An unnamed prison guard from the region of Mokroe who tells Dmitri that Trifon Borissovitch is searching his inn for the hidden money.

Trifon Borissovitch

Also known as the innkeeper · the landlord

The innkeeper at Mokroe, who searches his inn for the fifteen hundred roubles Dmitri was rumored to have hidden there.

The prison superintendent

Also known as the superintendent

An unnamed official who oversees the prison and, according to Alyosha, discussed with Ivan the arrangements for Dmitri’s possible escape at a Siberian transfer station.

The police captain

Also known as Mihail Makarovitch · the old captain of police · Mihail Makarovitch Makarov

The town’s police captain, who informally permits visits to Dmitri in hospital.

The hospital overseer

Also known as the overseer

An unnamed official who, along with the doctor and police captain, informally permits friends and relations to visit Dmitri.

The prison sentinel

Also known as the sentinel

An unnamed guard stationed at the end of the hospital corridor where Dmitri is kept. A grating over the window and the sentinel help maintain security.

Madame Hohlakov

A wealthy widow and Lise’s mother, who is among those who ask that Dmitri receive a separate hospital room.

The court’s applause audience

Also known as the applauding spectators

Spectators who applaud Fetyukovitch’s speeches, including parents, women in the gallery, and prominent visitors. Their applause repeatedly interrupts the trial.

The President’s reserved-seat visitors

Also known as the old men with stars on their breasts · the important personages

Unnamed distinguished men seated behind the judges who applaud Fetyukovitch and wave their handkerchiefs.

The trial’s ladies

Also known as the ladies

Women attending Dmitri’s trial, many of whom loudly support Fetyukovitch and assume an acquittal is inevitable. They erupt in protest when the jury convicts Dmitri.

The trial’s men

Also known as the men in the audience

Male spectators at Dmitri’s trial, divided between those pleased by the guilty verdict and those who wanted an acquittal.

The prosecutor’s wife’s visitor

Also known as the young official’s wife

An unnamed woman whom spectators imagine would punish Ippolit Kirillovitch for his courtroom performance; they joke that she is at home with toothache.

The old man struck by Dmitri

Also known as the old man

Grigory, the Karamazov household servant whom Dmitri struck while fleeing the garden. He survived, and the defense argues Dmitri worried about having injured him rather than about the murder.

The former court clerk whose story is cited

Also known as the clerk

An unnamed clerk whose earlier theft is cited by the defense counsel when disputing the prosecution’s argument about how a thief would handle evidence.

The good shepherd

Also known as the Lover of Mankind

Jesus Christ, quoted by the defense counsel as calling himself the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.

The apostle who wrote to fathers

Also known as the apostle

An unnamed apostle whose admonition, “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath,” is quoted by Fetyukovitch.

The servant girl in Finland

Also known as the girl in Finland

An unnamed servant suspected of secretly giving birth, who confessed to killing three newborn children and hiding their remains in a box.

The three newborn children killed in Finland

Also known as the newborn children

Three unnamed babies whom the servant girl in Finland confessed to killing at birth.

The young man in the defense counsel’s example

Also known as the youth

A hypothetical young man who questions why he must love an unworthy father who never cared for him. Fetyukovitch uses him to argue that parenthood entails a duty of care.

The children of the trial spectators

Also known as the children

The sons and daughters of the parents in the courtroom, whom Fetyukovitch addresses while arguing that fathers must treat their children responsibly.

The Moscow women in Ostrovsky’s play

Also known as the women in Ostrovsky’s play

Female characters in an unnamed play by Ostrovsky, invoked as people frightened by the sound of certain words.

Alexander Ostrovsky

Also known as Ostrovsky

A playwright whose work is referenced by Fetyukovitch through the image of Moscow women afraid of certain words.

The French criminal justice authorities

Also known as the French authorities

Unnamed authorities whom the defense invokes in a comparison while advocating the Russian court’s emphasis on mercy and reform.

The President’s court audience

Also known as the audience

The crowd attending the trial and later the verdict. Many applaud the defense, then react with shock and uproar when Dmitri is found guilty.

The jury foreman

Also known as the youngest of the clerks

An unnamed, youngest clerk on the jury who announces the guilty verdict in a clear voice.

The district council member

Also known as a member of the district council

An unnamed member of the district council who joins spectators discussing the likely verdict and the jury.

The young official who spoke in the third group

Also known as the official

An unnamed local official who insists that Dmitri will be acquitted and comments on the defense’s arguments.

The man who calls out about the devil

Also known as the spectator

An unnamed spectator who jokes that the devil must be involved in Dmitri’s case.

The woman who screams from the gallery

Also known as the woman in the gallery

Grushenka, who cries out from the back of the courtroom when Dmitri is convicted.

The unnamed relation who left for Moscow

Also known as one of Katerina Ivanovna’s relations

One of two unnamed relations living with Katerina Ivanovna, who leaves for Moscow after the courtroom scene.

The unnamed relation who remained with Katerina Ivanovna

Also known as the other relation

One of two unnamed relations living with Katerina Ivanovna, who remains in the house after the other relation leaves for Moscow.

The party of prisoners traveling to Siberia

Also known as the prisoners

Unnamed prisoners who will be transported to Siberia; Ivan’s escape plan for Dmitri is intended to be carried out during a transfer at the third étape.

The official in charge of the prisoner party

Also known as the person in charge of the party

An unnamed official who will lead the group of prisoners transported to Siberia. Ivan and Katerina do not yet know who will hold the post.

The two Poles who may be witnesses to the escape

Also known as the Poles

Pan Mussyalovitch and Pan Vrublevsky, whom Dmitri asks Alyosha to remember as possible helpers in the escape plan.

The guard who speaks rudely to Dmitri

Also known as the guard

An unnamed guard whose rough treatment Dmitri fears he will not endure during penal servitude.

The robbers and murderers in the prison division

Also known as the prisoners

Unnamed criminal prisoners among whom Dmitri is not placed immediately because the doctor thinks he would need time to adjust.

The witnesses at Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the witnesses

People called to testify in Dmitri’s case. The prosecutor and defense counsel refer to testimony from Grigory, Ivan, Alyosha, and others, including accounts of Dmitri’s conduct and the money.

The medical experts at Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the court’s medical experts · the experts

Three physicians—Doctor Herzenstube, the doctor from Moscow, and Varvinsky—who testify about Dmitri’s mental state. The prosecutor agrees with the young doctor, Varvinsky, that Dmitri’s faculties are generally normal, though he attributes Dmitri’s fixed idea about the money to jealousy.

The two brothers of Dmitri

Also known as Ivan and Alyosha

Ivan and Alyosha, Dmitri’s brothers. The prosecutor says both have supported the suspicion that Smerdyakov committed the murder, though Alyosha admits he has no direct fact to prove it and Ivan’s judgment is questioned because of his illness.

The man who murdered Olsufyev

Also known as the murderer of Olsufyev

An unnamed criminal cited by the prosecutor as a comparison for Dmitri: after murdering a merchant and stealing money, he went to have his hair curled and then visited women.

Olsufyev

Also known as the merchant

A merchant murdered and robbed by an unnamed man, whom the prosecutor cites as a comparison in discussing Dmitri’s behavior after the crime.

The young man who committed suicide

Also known as the young people

One of the young people whose suicides the prosecutor cites while arguing that society has lost concern with the soul and the afterlife.

God

Also known as the Lord

The deity in Christian belief, whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor says he does not know exists. Alyosha prays to God for Ivan and believes truth will ultimately prevail in his heart.

The newspaper press

Also known as the press

Newspapers and their staff, which the prosecutor says expose violence and moral degradation to the public.

The court’s witnesses for the prosecution

Also known as the prosecution witnesses

Unnamed witnesses called before the defense witnesses at Dmitri’s trial. Fetyukovitch cross-examines many of them and weakens the audience’s confidence in their testimony.

The women who believe Dmitri is guilty but expect acquittal

Also known as the ladies

Unnamed female spectators who believe the evidence proves Dmitri guilty but expect him to be acquitted out of humane or fashionable motives.

The Russian people

Also known as the people

A broad collective invoked in the prosecutor’s characterization of Alyosha as attached to the ideas of the people and native soil.

The man who is not a fool in Ivan’s imagined account

Also known as the one righteous man

An unnamed righteous person whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor says the devil has been made to look foolish over in the story of Job.

The Russian thinkers who plan to destroy everything

Also known as the new men

Unnamed thinkers whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor caricatures as proposing to destroy everything and begin again with cannibalism.

The judicial and legal visitors from Petersburg

Also known as the Petersburg visitors

Unnamed legal professionals and distinguished people who come to attend Dmitri’s trial.

Nikolay Parfenovitch Nelyudov

Also known as Nikolay Parfenovitch · the investigating lawyer · the small young man in spectacles · the young man in spectacles

A young investigating lawyer from Petersburg who questions Dmitri and records evidence in the murder case. He was moved by Dmitri’s distress when Grigory’s evidence about the open door undermined Dmitri’s account.

The people at the tavern

Also known as the tavern witnesses

Unnamed witnesses whose testimony about Dmitri’s movements and behavior Ivan comes to regard as conclusive.

The witnesses at Mokroe

Also known as the Mokroe witnesses

Unnamed people who testified in the murder investigation. Ivan regards their accounts as compelling evidence against Dmitri.

The people at Plotnikov’s shop

Also known as the shop witnesses

Unnamed witnesses connected with Plotnikov’s shop whose testimony Ivan considers conclusive against Dmitri.

The people who attended the trial of Dmitri

Also known as the court visitors

Unnamed visitors from provincial towns, Moscow, and Petersburg, including lawyers, ladies, and distinguished people, who fill the courtroom.

The unnamed young official who bought Dmitri’s pistols

Also known as the young official · Pyotr Ilyitch Perhotin

An opulent bachelor who collects weapons and is an acquaintance of Dmitri’s. He lends Dmitri ten roubles against a pair of pistols, later returns them when Dmitri repays the loan, and is identified as Pyotr Ilyitch Perhotin.

The distinguished female spectator with a lorgnette

Also known as the general’s divorced wife

An unnamed woman in the audience at Dmitri’s trial, described by spectators as a divorced general’s wife who wears a lorgnette.

The English Member of Parliament

Also known as the Member

An unnamed member of the English Parliament whom a spectator says recently urged intervention to educate Russia, which the prosecutor had discussed.

The doctor from Moscow

Also known as the famous doctor · the celebrated doctor · the Moscow doctor

A celebrated physician brought from Moscow at Katerina Ivanovna’s request. He diagnoses Dmitri with mental abnormality and possible mania, and later testifies that Ivan is suffering from a dangerous attack of brain fever.

The court usher

Also known as the usher

An unnamed court official who announces Ivan’s illness, takes the money Ivan produces, and tries to restrain him when he becomes violent.

The trial’s witnesses

Also known as the witnesses

People called to testify in Dmitri’s case. In this passage, the medical experts, Alyosha, Katerina Ivanovna, Grushenka, and Ivan give evidence.

The ladies attending Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the ladies

Women from the town and elsewhere who attend Dmitri’s trial in great numbers. They admire Doctor Herzenstube and scrutinize the testimony of Katerina Ivanovna and Grushenka.

The devil in Ivan’s hallucination

Also known as the devil · the gentleman in Ivan’s nightmare · the visitor · Ivan’s hallucination

The shabby gentleman Ivan sees in his hallucination and identifies as the devil. Ivan refers to him in court as a possible witness, describing his tail and recalling his talk about a geological cataclysm.

Grushenka’s former protector Samsonov

Also known as Samsonov · the old merchant Samsonov

A wealthy, miserly merchant and Grushenka’s former protector, now deceased. Grushenka calls him her benefactor when questioned at Dmitri’s trial.

The town’s ladies who attended the trial

Also known as the most highly respected of our ladies

Unnamed women among the trial spectators who later question whether Katerina Ivanovna acted honorably by visiting Dmitri to obtain money for her father.

The prosecutor’s former Petersburg rivals

Also known as his enemies

Unnamed people in Petersburg whom Ippolit Kirillovitch believed had failed to appreciate his talents.

Alyosha and Ivan’s brother Dmitri

Also known as the eldest son

Dmitri, whom Ippolit Kirillovitch describes as the eldest Karamazov son and the defendant in the murder trial. The prosecutor characterizes him as impulsive and contradictory, capable of both generosity and disgraceful conduct.

Mikhail Smerdyakov’s mother

Also known as Lizaveta Smerdyastchaya · Stinking Lizaveta · Lizaveta

A homeless, mute, intellectually disabled young woman known for her gentle, generous nature. The prosecutor says Smerdyakov was possibly Fyodor Pavlovitch’s illegitimate son by her.

Pyotr Alexandrovitch Miüsov

Also known as Pyotr Alexandrovitch

Adelaïda Ivanovna’s cousin and Dmitri’s joint guardian, a cultured liberal landowner. The prosecutor refers to him as Dmitri’s defense counsel’s connection to Petersburg.

The young officer who murdered his benefactor

Also known as the brilliant young officer

An unnamed high-society officer in the prosecutor’s speech who murders an official benefactor and a servant girl to steal money and an IOU.

The servant girl murdered by the young officer

Also known as the servant girl

An unnamed servant whom the young officer in the prosecutor’s speech murders while robbing his benefactor.

The official murdered by the young officer

Also known as the official

An unnamed official and former benefactor whom the young officer in the prosecutor’s speech murders for money and an IOU.

The young hero who murdered his chief’s mother

Also known as the young hero

An unnamed decorated soldier in the prosecutor’s speech who kills the mother of his chief and benefactor and tries to recruit accomplices.

The chief whose mother was murdered

Also known as his chief and benefactor

An unnamed man whose mother is murdered by a decorated young soldier described by the prosecutor.

The great writer of the last epoch

Also known as the great writer

An unnamed author whose image of Russia as a galloping troika is quoted by the prosecutor. The speech alludes to his work and characters without naming him.

Sobakevitch

Also known as Sobakevich

A character named by the prosecutor as one of the figures who could not drive Russia toward a rational goal.

Nozdryov

Also known as Nozdryov

A landowner in Gogol’s Dead Souls, named by the prosecutor among the figures who could not drive Russia toward a rational goal.

Tchitchikov

Also known as Chichikov

A character named by the prosecutor among the figures who could not drive Russia toward a rational goal.

Schiller

Also known as Friedrich Schiller

A German poet and playwright whom the prosecutor says Dmitri loves, alongside his unruly behavior.

The drunken man in the street

Also known as the drunk

A generic figure in a comparison made by Ivan’s hallucination, who sings loudly while walking in the street.

The peasant girl being dressed for marriage

Also known as the peasant girl

An unnamed girl in a saying Ivan quotes at trial, who resists being dressed in a sarafan to be taken to church for marriage.

The police

Also known as the police officers

Unnamed officers who seize Ivan after he throws the court usher to the floor and remove him from the courtroom.

Mitya’s letter to Katerina Ivanovna

Also known as the letter from the Metropolis tavern

A letter Dmitri wrote while drunk at the Metropolis tavern and sent to Katerina Ivanovna before the murder. It describes his intention to kill his father and where the money was kept, becoming damaging evidence at trial.

Jesus Christ

Also known as Christ · Our Lord

The central religious figure in Christian belief. Ivan’s nightmare visitor says he witnessed Christ rise into heaven after the Crucifixion, bearing the penitent thief’s soul.

The penitent thief

Also known as the repentant thief

An unnamed criminal who repented beside Jesus at the Crucifixion. Ivan’s nightmare visitor says Christ carried his soul into heaven.

The cherubim

Also known as the cherubim

Heavenly beings who, according to Ivan’s nightmare visitor, sing in joyful welcome when Christ enters heaven.

The seraphim

Also known as the seraphim

Heavenly beings whose triumphant singing, according to Ivan’s nightmare visitor, shakes heaven and all creation.

The thinker condemned to walk in darkness

Also known as the thinker and philosopher · the Russian atheist

An unnamed earthly philosopher who rejected faith, conscience, and the afterlife, then finds himself sentenced after death to walk a quadrillion kilometres before entering Paradise. He eventually arrives and sings hosannah.

Jonah

The biblical prophet who sulked for three days and nights in the belly of the whale. Ivan’s nightmare visitor compares his legendary philosopher to Jonah.

The old ladies of the other world

Also known as the old ladies of eighteen stone

Unnamed elderly women whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor says are among the few who believe a legend about Paradise.

Count Mattei

Also known as Mattei

An Italian count in Milan to whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor says he wrote for a remedy. The count sent him a book and drops.

The German doctor who advised the devil

Also known as the German doctor

An unnamed physician who advised Ivan’s nightmare visitor to rub himself with honey and salt in a bath-house.

The enthusiastic little student

Also known as the student

An unnamed medical student who tells Ivan’s nightmare visitor that he may die but will know precisely what disease he is dying of.

Hlestakov

Also known as Khlestakov

A character whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor says Ivan takes him for: an old version of the boastful figure.

The man sentenced to be walked by the nose

Also known as the afflicted marquis

An unnamed marquis whose nose is removed by a specialist. In a story told by Ivan’s nightmare visitor, a Jesuit priest claims the loss benefits him because no one can pull him by the nose.

The Jesuit spiritual father

Also known as the priest

An unnamed Jesuit priest who counsels the marquis after his nose is removed, using evasive reasoning to suggest the loss is a blessing.

The Norman girl at confession

Also known as the little blonde Norman girl · the sinner

A young woman who confesses to an old priest that she has again sinned with a man because it gives him pleasure and causes her little trouble. Ivan’s nightmare visitor says he absolved her and then heard the priest arrange to meet her.

The old priest at confession

Also known as the priest

An unnamed elderly priest who hears the Norman girl’s confession, rebukes her, and then arranges to meet her.

Mephistopheles

Also known as Mephistopheles

A figure in Goethe’s Faust whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor cites as claiming to desire evil while doing good.

Faust

Also known as Faust

A figure in the work by Goethe, mentioned by Ivan’s nightmare visitor in connection with Mephistopheles.

Job

Also known as the righteous man

A righteous and God-fearing man in the biblical story recalled by Zossima. Ivan’s nightmare visitor says the devil was made a fool of in the story of Job.

Gorbunov

Also known as the actor Gorbunov

An actor whose expression about being “turned upside down” is quoted by Ivan’s nightmare visitor.

Byelinsky

Also known as Vissarion Byelinsky

A critic whom Kolya cites secondhand as having said that Christ would have joined revolutionaries. Ivan’s nightmare visitor says Byelinsky mocked Ivan’s romantic strain.

The man who raised a child in Ivan’s poem

Also known as Jesus

Jesus Christ, whom the Grand Inquisitor arrests after he raises a dead child in Ivan’s poem.

The Grand Inquisitor

Also known as the cardinal · the old man

A nearly ninety-year-old cardinal who presides over the Spanish Inquisition. In Ivan’s poem, he orders Jesus arrested and argues that the Church has taken the side of the tempter to rule humanity through miracle, mystery, and authority.

The honorary justice of the peace at Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the honorary justice

An unnamed judge who sits with the President during Dmitri’s trial.

The third judge at Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the other judge

An unnamed judge who sits with the President and an honorary justice of the peace during Dmitri’s trial.

The trial priest

Also known as the priest

An unnamed priest who joins the President in exhorting the witnesses before they are led away.

The trial jurors

Also known as the jury

Twelve unnamed jurors deciding Dmitri’s case: four petty officials, two merchants, and six peasants and artisans.

The President’s predecessor

Also known as the former President

An unnamed former head of the district court, mentioned as never having allowed a special seating area for distinguished visitors.

The visiting lawyers at Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the lawyers

Lawyers from several Russian towns, Moscow, and Petersburg who attend Dmitri’s trial. They crowd into the courtroom and follow Fetyukovitch’s handling of the witnesses.

The distinguished male visitors at Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the important men visitors

Unnamed prominent male visitors given a special seating area behind the judges at Dmitri’s trial.

The male spectators at Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the men

Unnamed male audience members, many of whom are prejudiced against Dmitri and hope he will be convicted.

The public and spectators at Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the audience

The crowd attending Dmitri’s trial, including local residents and visitors from across Russia. They react to the evidence and to the witnesses’ testimony.

The town’s honorary justice of the peace

Also known as the honorary justice

An unnamed local official who serves as one of the three judges at Dmitri’s trial.

The President’s associates

Also known as his connections

Unnamed people of influence connected to the President of the district court.

Dmitri Fyodorovitch Karamazov’s tailor

Also known as the tailor

An unnamed Moscow tailor who made Dmitri’s new frock-coat for the trial and had his measurements.

Maximov

A destitute, elderly landowner who has lived with Grushenka since returning with her from Mokroe. He is absent from Dmitri’s trial through illness.

The town’s women who rivaled over Dmitri’s case

Also known as the rival ladies

Unnamed women whose disagreements over Dmitri’s trial led to serious arguments with their husbands.

Katerina Ivanovna’s husband-to-be in Siberia

Also known as the criminal

Dmitri, whom Katerina Ivanovna is rumored to intend to accompany to Siberia and marry if he is convicted.

The husband of one of the trial’s ladies

Also known as the husbands

An unnamed group of men whose wives quarrel with them over Dmitri’s case; they enter the courtroom prejudiced against the prisoner.

The provincial dignitaries at Dmitri’s trial

Also known as the distinguished personages

Unnamed prominent visitors from other Russian towns, Moscow, and Petersburg who attend Dmitri’s trial.

The town’s legal community

Also known as the legal world

Unnamed local legal professionals who have mocked Ippolit Kirillovitch’s intense, all-consuming approach to cases.

The town’s society ladies

Also known as the town ladies

Unnamed women who welcomed and hosted Katerina Ivanovna when she first came to town.

Smerdyakov’s reputation as an honest servant

Also known as Smerdyakov’s honesty

A quality Grigory defends at Dmitri’s trial, recalling that Smerdyakov once returned money he found in the yard to Fyodor Pavlovitch.

Alyosha’s and Ivan’s testimony about Dmitri’s inheritance

Also known as the brothers’ evidence

The brothers’ statements that Fyodor Pavlovitch had kept back part of Dmitri’s inheritance, though neither can provide distinct proof.

The Karamazov family’s deceased mother

Also known as Mitya’s mother

Dmitri’s unnamed mother, whose property Grigory says Fyodor Pavlovitch wronged Dmitri over.

The Karamazov family’s younger children

Also known as the children

Dmitri and his brothers in their childhood, whom Grigory says Fyodor failed to raise properly.

The Bishop who patronized Rakitin’s pamphlet

Also known as the bishop

An unnamed bishop whose patronage helped circulate Rakitin’s pamphlet about the deceased elder Zossima.

Father Zossima

Also known as Zossima · the elder · the elder Zossima

A gravely ill monk and elder who teaches humility, love, and responsibility for all people. He has died before Dmitri’s trial, and Rakitin’s pamphlet about his life is mentioned in court.

The town’s wives who followed the Karamazov case

Also known as the ladies who quarreled with their husbands

Unnamed women who argued with their husbands over whether Dmitri should be acquitted.

The town’s husbands who opposed Dmitri

Also known as the husbands

Unnamed men who, after quarrels with their wives over Dmitri’s case, enter the trial bitterly prejudiced against him.

The town’s peasants who profited from Dmitri

Also known as our lousy peasants

Unnamed peasants whom Trifon says received generous gifts from Dmitri during his revel at Mokroe.

The gypsy girls at Mokroe

Also known as the gypsy girls

Unnamed women whom Dmitri treated lavishly during his previous spree at Mokroe, according to Trifon Borissovitch.

Timofey

Also known as the driver

A driver who took Grushenka to Mokroe. At trial he testifies that he and Akim found a hundred roubles Dmitri had dropped and gave it to Trifon Borissovitch.

Akim

A peasant who, with Timofey, found a hundred roubles Dmitri dropped at Mokroe and gave the money to Trifon Borissovitch.

Pan Mussyalovitch

Also known as the retired lieutenant who was Grushenka’s former lover · Mussyalovitch · the little Pole · the Pole with the pipe · the officer Grushenka loved · the officer · Pan Captain

Grushenka’s former lover, now living in poverty with Pan Vrublevsky. At Dmitri’s trial he claims Dmitri offered them money to buy their honor, but his credibility is damaged when the card cheating is exposed.

Pan Vrublevsky

Also known as the tall Pole · the big Pole · the bodyguard

A very tall Pole who accompanies Mussyalovitch and signs his receipts for loans from Grushenka. At Dmitri’s trial he is implicated in switching the cards during a game at the inn.

Pyotr Fomitch Kalganov

Also known as Kalganov

A young relative of Miüsov and friend of Alyosha. He confirms at Dmitri’s trial that Pan Vrublevsky switched the pack of cards during a game.

The Pole’s companion who cheated at cards

Also known as the unnamed innkeeper’s card-dealing accomplice · the card cheat

Pan Vrublevsky, who switched the innkeeper’s pack for a marked pack during a game. His cheating is exposed at Dmitri’s trial.

The men who served in the Crown

Also known as the Poles

Pan Mussyalovitch and Pan Vrublevsky, who claim at Dmitri’s trial that they had served the Crown and that Dmitri offered them money to buy their honor.

The old man who cured all diseases

Also known as the old doctor

A former type of general physician whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor says has disappeared, replaced by narrow specialists.

The nose specialists in Paris and Vienna

Also known as the European specialists

Unnamed doctors in Paris and Vienna who, in Ivan’s nightmare visitor’s joke, each treat only one nostril.

Gatzuk

Also known as the calendar publisher

A calendar publisher whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor says would print the calculated rising and setting of an ax in space.

The newspaper editors who rejected the devil’s letter

Also known as the men at the newspaper office

Unnamed newspaper staff who refuse to publish Ivan’s nightmare visitor’s letter of thanks, calling it reactionary and advising him to remain anonymous.

The merchant’s wife weighing eighteen stone

Also known as the merchant’s wife

An imagined woman Ivan’s nightmare visitor says he would gladly become, simply to live an ordinary earthly life and set candles at God’s shrine.

The mother of the girl raised in Seville

Also known as the weeping mother

An unnamed woman grieving for her seven-year-old daughter. In Ivan’s poem, she begs Jesus to raise the child, and the girl revives.

The dead child raised in Seville

Also known as the little girl · the maiden

The seven-year-old daughter of a prominent citizen, whose body is brought in a flower-covered coffin. In Ivan’s poem, Jesus raises her, and she sits up holding white roses.

The old man healed in Seville

Also known as the blind man · the old man in the crowd

An unnamed man who has been blind since childhood. In Ivan’s poem, he calls on Jesus to heal him and regains his sight.

The apostle who wrote the Gospel of John

Also known as John

The Gospel writer whose account names the wedding feast at Cana. Mentioned in the passage Ivan’s visitor recounts.

The villagers who play the ax-licking game

Also known as the village girls

Unnamed village girls who invite an unwary player to lick a frozen ax in a game described by Ivan’s nightmare visitor.

The old ladies of the monastery

Also known as the old ladies

Unnamed devout women whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor says may be tempted by the prospect of becoming hermits in the wilderness.

The judges at the provincial criminal trial

Also known as the judges

Unnamed judges who sentenced Richard to execution despite his conversion and suffering as a child.

The town’s newspaper reporters

Also known as the newspapers

Unnamed papers and their staff who, according to Ivan’s nightmare visitor, refuse a letter expressing gratitude to a remedy-maker.

Korovkin

Also known as the schoolfellow

Ivan’s unnamed-by-role schoolmate in Moscow, to whom Ivan told the quadrillion-kilometre anecdote when he was seventeen.

The man-god of Ivan’s theory

Also known as the new man

A hypothetical future human being in Ivan’s theory, who rejects God and immortality, takes pride in mastery of nature, and treats all things as lawful.

The old lady with candles at God’s shrine

Also known as the old lady

An imagined ordinary woman in Ivan’s nightmare visitor’s reflection, whose earthly life he says he would prefer to the supernal life of a devil.

The crowd who applaud Rakitin

Also known as the audience

Some spectators who applaud Rakitin when he speaks about serfdom and Russia’s social conditions.

The grandfathers of the Russian social order

Also known as the ages of serfdom

A figurative reference to generations of serfdom, which Rakitin blames for ingrained habits and the country’s distressed condition.

The two visitors from the town who played cards

Also known as the gentlemen from the town

Unnamed men lodging at the Mokroe inn who play cards with the Poles; Kalganov witnesses the card switch.

The thief who took the hundred roubles

Also known as the person who picked up the money

An unnamed person whom Timofey and Akim say found the hundred roubles dropped by Dmitri at Mokroe and passed it to Trifon Borissovitch.

The future hermits and saintly women

Also known as the hermits in the wilderness and the saintly women

Unnamed religious ascetics whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor says Ivan secretly longs to join.

The devil’s secret police department

Also known as the secret police

An institution the nightmare visitor claims exists among devils, where private information is received.

The man who wrote The Geological Cataclysm

Also known as the author of The Geological Cataclysm

Ivan, whose poem is mentioned by the nightmare visitor alongside The Grand Inquisitor.

The women who made up the local audience

Also known as the ladies of the district

Unnamed women from the district who know Grushenka and regard her as an ordinary-looking woman who ruined Fyodor and Dmitri.

Fenya

Also known as the maid

Grushenka’s maid, who summons Alyosha to her mistress and brings coffee and pies. Ivan later regards her testimony, along with her mother’s, as powerful evidence against Dmitri.

Marya Kondratyevna

The young daughter of the household where Dmitri’s former soldier Foma lodges. Smerdyakov stays in a room in her and her mother’s house, and she lets Ivan in during his later visits.

Marya Kondratyevna’s mother

Also known as Marya Kondratyevna’s mother

An unnamed woman living with her daughter Marya Kondratyevna. She and Marya care for Smerdyakov while he stays in their house.

The doctor who examined Ivan

Also known as the doctor

An unnamed physician who concludes that Ivan has a brain disorder and warns that hallucinations are likely. He is the Moscow doctor brought at Katerina Ivanovna’s request.

The old crone at Ivan’s lodging

Also known as Ivan’s attendant

An unnamed deaf, rheumatic elderly woman who attends to Ivan at his rented lodging. She brings him a samovar after his final visit to Smerdyakov.

The drunken peasant Ivan knocks down

Also known as the solitary drunken little peasant

An unnamed, small peasant who wanders drunkenly in the snow, singing and swearing. Ivan shoves him down on the frozen ground, then later carries him to the police station and arranges for a doctor.

The man who helps Ivan carry the peasant

Also known as the man in the little house

An unnamed man living in a house near where Ivan finds the unconscious peasant. He helps Ivan carry the man to the police station.

The police-station doctor

Also known as the doctor

An unnamed physician whom Ivan arranges to examine the peasant he knocked down.

The old man murdered by Dmitri

Also known as the old man

Grigory, the Karamazov household’s servant, whom Dmitri struck with a brass pestle while fleeing Fyodor Pavlovitch’s garden. He recovered from the blow; Smerdyakov says he found Grigory unconscious in the garden after killing Fyodor.

Katerina Ivanovna’s aunts

Also known as the aunts

Katerina Ivanovna’s unnamed aunts, who come to her house while she lies unconscious and feverish.

The schoolboy Krassotkin

Also known as Krassotkin

A schoolboy whom Captain Snegiryov says was stabbed with a penknife by another boy.

The Moscow doctor who examined Ivan

Also known as the doctor

The physician brought from Moscow at Katerina Ivanovna’s request, whom Ivan consults when he begins to feel ill. He diagnoses a brain disorder and warns Ivan that his condition could worsen without immediate care.

The wise and dread spirit

Also known as the devil · the tempter

The supernatural tempter in Ivan’s retelling of the wilderness temptations, who offers Jesus bread, miraculous proof, and worldly power. Ivan’s nightmare visitor presents himself as a fallen angel and speaks of devils and spiritualism.

Saint Thomas

Also known as Thomas

A disciple cited by Ivan’s nightmare visitor, who says Thomas believed in the risen Christ because he wanted to believe, rather than because of material proof.

Leo Tolstoy

Also known as Tolstoy

A writer whom Ivan’s nightmare visitor names while claiming that ordinary people sometimes experience dreams with more elaborate events than Tolstoy invented.

Ivan Turgenev

Also known as Turgenev

A writer whose phrase “Enough!” Madame Hohlakov quotes while declaring herself a realist.

The old woman who brings news to Dmitri

Also known as the old cook

An unnamed, nearly deaf and infirm servant from Grushenka’s former home. She has remained with Grushenka and Fenya in caring for Maximov.

The white-haired old man

Also known as the old man

An unnamed older man whom Ivan accidentally encountered on the stairs in his nightmare. The dream visitor says that he is not the first person Ivan has encountered in this way.

Glafira

A servant in the Hohlakov household who tells Madame Hohlakov that Ivan secretly visited Lise.

Yulia

A servant in the Hohlakov household whom Lise slaps during a fit of anger, then later embraces and kisses her feet.

Ivan’s visitor

Also known as the person Lise sent for

An unnamed man whom Lise summoned and told about her disturbing thoughts concerning a tortured child and pineapple compote. He laughed, left after a brief visit, and is described by Alyosha as very ill; his identity is not established in this passage.

The boy who lay between the railway lines

Also known as the schoolboy who lay between the rails

An unnamed boy who lay between railway tracks as a train passed. Lise envies him and wishes to destroy herself.

The child tortured in Lise’s book

Also known as the child of four years old

An unnamed four-year-old child in a book Lise has read, whose fingers were cut off and who was crucified on a wall by a man identified there as a Jew. The account horrifies Lise even as she describes imagining herself eating pineapple compote while watching.

The man who tortured the child in Lise’s book

Also known as the Jew

An unnamed man described in Lise’s book as having cut off a child’s fingers and crucified him. Lise recounts that he watched the child suffer.

The old warder

Also known as the warder

An unnamed prison attendant who dozes in the corner during Alyosha and Dmitri’s private conversation.

The prison sentry

Also known as the sentry

An unnamed guard at the prison who does not obstruct Alyosha’s visits as long as the authorities permit them.

The prison warders

Also known as the warders

Unnamed prison staff accustomed to Alyosha’s visits.

The prison guards

Also known as the soldiers on guard

Unnamed soldiers guarding the prison interview area; they cannot hear Dmitri’s whispered conversation with Alyosha.

Claude Bernard

Also known as Bernard

A scientist whose ideas about nerves and perception Rakitin explained to Dmitri. Dmitri also uses his name as a mocking comparison for Rakitin and his defense counsel.

The elder’s daughters

Also known as the police captain’s young ladies

Unnamed daughters of Mihail Makarovitch, whose household Rakitin frequently visits.

The tradesman sharing Smerdyakov’s hospital room

Also known as the tradesman

An unnamed townsman with dropsy who lies in the other bed in Smerdyakov’s hospital room and is near death.

The man who raised Lise from the dead

Also known as the child raised in the dream

An unnamed man in Lise’s dream who raises a child from the dead. The passage does not identify him by name.

The well-to-do lady who owns Ivan’s lodging

Also known as the widow of an official

An unnamed wealthy widow who owns the house with the roomy lodging Ivan rents.

The general’s favorite hound

Also known as the favorite dog

The unnamed dog whose paw was injured by a stone thrown by a serf-boy, prompting the general’s lethal punishment. Dmitri calls Smerdyakov the son of Stinking Lizaveta, whom he curses as the murderer.

The deaf and rheumatic old attendant

Also known as the old crone

An unnamed elderly woman who attends Ivan at his lodging in a house belonging to a wealthy widow. She is deaf and rheumatic and keeps a strict early schedule.

Perezvon

Also known as the dog · Zhutchka · the lost dog · Ilusha’s dog

The shaggy stray dog Ilusha once knew as Zhutchka, whom Kolya rescued and trained to perform tricks. Ilusha embraces him, and the dog licks his cheek.

Morozov, Kolya’s acquaintance

Also known as Morozov

An unnamed acquaintance of Kolya’s who traded him a small bronze cannon for an old book. The cannon had belonged to Morozov’s brother.

Kolya’s father

Also known as the former provincial secretary

The deceased husband of Madame Krassotkin and father of Kolya. Kolya’s father disapproves of the homemade gunpowder kept by Bulkin.

Bulkin

Also known as the schoolboy

A schoolboy who helped Kolya make homemade powder and kept some under his bed. His father discovered it and thrashed him.

Bulkin’s father

Also known as the father

An unnamed man who discovers homemade powder beneath his son Bulkin’s bed and thrashes him, fearing it might explode.

Borovikov

A schoolboy who worked out a recipe for homemade powder using saltpeter, sulphur, and birchwood charcoal.

The classical master Kolbasnikov

Also known as Kolbasnikov

A teacher at Kolya’s school who is especially shocked by Kolya’s goose prank. He has also told the third class that classical authors are available in translation.

Dardanelov

Also known as the teacher

A respected teacher who has repeatedly interceded for Kolya, including after the goose incident. Kolya respects his learning.

The goose’s owner

Also known as the farmer

An unnamed peasant whose goose is killed when Kolya and an errand boy trick it into putting its neck beneath a cart wheel. The justice of the peace awards him a rouble in compensation.

The errand boy who helped Kolya with the goose

Also known as the fellow

An unnamed young man, now an errand boy at Plotnikov’s, who helps Kolya maneuver a goose beneath a cart wheel. At the hearing, he cries and blames Kolya for egging him on.

The justice of the peace who heard Kolya’s goose case

Also known as the justice of the peace

The official who hears the case after Kolya and an errand boy cause a goose’s death. He orders the farmer to receive a rouble and warns the boy against pranks.

Smurov’s parents

Also known as his parents

Unnamed parents who forbid Smurov to associate with Kolya because of Kolya’s reputation.

Teucer

One of the four figures Kartashov names as founders of Troy.

Dardanus

One of the four figures Kartashov names as founders of Troy.

Ilius

One of the four figures Kartashov names as founders of Troy.

Tros

One of the four figures Kartashov names as founders of Troy.

The Paris mental specialist Lepelletier

Also known as Lepelletier

A specialist in Paris whom the Moscow doctor proposes as a possible physician for Captain Snegiryov’s wife.

The boys visiting Ilusha

Also known as the boys

A group of schoolboys who come to see Ilusha and enjoy Kolya’s dog tricks and cannon demonstration. Some promise to return that evening.

The boy who wrote the epigram about Kolbasnikov

Also known as the third-class schoolboy

An unnamed third-class pupil who wrote a mocking epigram about Kolbasnikov’s marriage.

The doctor’s coachman

Also known as the coachman

An unnamed driver who brings the Moscow doctor to the Snegiryovs’ lodging and waits with the carriage.

Madame Krassotkin

Also known as Anna Fyodorovna · Kolya’s mother

A soft-hearted widow and Kolya’s devoted mother. Kolya says he worries her and has promised to pass his examination.

The classical founders of Troy, as described in Kolya’s school discussion

Also known as the founders of Troy

A general reference to the founders of Troy in Kolya and Kartashov’s school discussion; Kartashov names Teucer, Dardanus, Ilius, and Tros.

Voltaire

Also known as Voltaire

A writer Kolya claims loved humanity despite not believing in God; Alyosha questions both claims. Kolya has read a Russian translation of Candide.

Tatyana

Also known as Tatyana

A character in Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin whom Kolya mentions while discussing her refusal to leave with Onegin.

Eugene Onegin

Also known as Onyegin

The title character of Pushkin’s poem, mentioned by Kolya in connection with Tatyana’s refusal to leave with him.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Also known as Napoleon

The French emperor whose remark about women knitting is cited by Kolya while he argues that women should obey.

Alexander Pushkin

Also known as Pushkin

The Russian poet whose Eugene Onegin Kolya says he wants to read.

The German critic of Russian schoolboys

Also known as the German

An unnamed German who had lived in Russia and criticized Russian students and schoolboys for their lack of knowledge and excessive conceit.

The messenger girl sent by the Poles

Also known as the little girl

An unnamed girl who carries a request from the two Poles to Grushenka. Grushenka sends her three roubles and a dozen pies.

The landlady of the Poles

Also known as their landlady

An unnamed woman to whom Mussyalovitch and Vrublevsky owe rent while living in poverty.

The widow Morozov

Also known as Morozov

An unnamed secluded widow who owns the house where Grushenka lives. Alyosha goes there to meet Grushenka.

The sons of Samsonov

Also known as his sons

Samsonov’s unnamed sons, whom he summons with their wives and children shortly before his death and orders to remain with him.

The wives of Samsonov’s sons

Also known as their wives

The unnamed wives of Samsonov’s sons, summoned with the family to his bedside shortly before his death.

The children of Samsonov’s sons

Also known as their children

The unnamed children of Samsonov’s sons, brought with their parents to Samsonov’s bedside before his death.

The three thousand roubles offered to Dmitri for an elopement

Also known as the three thousand roubles

A sum Madame Hohlakov says she offered Dmitri to elope with her to the gold mines. A newspaper paragraph reports the offer while disguising her identity.

The Petersburg newspaper Gossip

Also known as Gossip

A newspaper in which a paragraph about Dmitri’s trial mocks Madame Hohlakov as a middle-aged widow who offered him money to elope.

Grushenka’s maid’s granddaughter

Also known as the young maid

An unnamed, capable young woman who works as Grushenka’s maid. She and the old cook continue to serve Maximov.

Andrey

Also known as the driver

The driver who took Dmitri to Mokroe. His three horses had carried Dmitri there the previous day.

Mavriky Mavrikyevitch

Also known as the inspector of police · Mavriky Mavrikyevitch Schmertsov

A rural police officer sent ahead to Mokroe to watch Dmitri discreetly and prepare for the authorities’ arrival. He accompanies Dmitri in the cart when he is taken away, and is irritated by the task.

The peasant driver in the second cart

Also known as the peasant ordered to drive the second cart

An unnamed peasant ordered to drive the second cart accompanying Dmitri’s removal. He protests that it is another peasant’s turn to go and asks the officials to wait.

The crowd at the inn gates

Also known as the people at the gates · the peasants, women and drivers

Unnamed people gathered at the inn gates as Dmitri is taken away. Several voices answer his request for forgiveness by asking him to forgive them too.

The two constables at the inn

Also known as the men with brass plates

Two unnamed constables who accompany the police and legal officials to the inn when Dmitri is charged. They are to accompany Mavriky Mavrikyevitch in the second cart.

The doctor’s wife

Also known as the lodger

A friend of Madame Krassotkin who rents two rooms in her house. Her husband has been away in Orenburg and Tashkend, and she stays with her servant Katerina when the servant goes into labor.

The doctor away in Orenburg and Tashkend

Also known as the doctor

The absent husband of Madame Krassotkin’s lodger. He left for Orenburg and then Tashkend, and his wife has not heard from him for six months.

Katerina, the doctor’s wife’s servant

Also known as the servant

The doctor’s wife’s only servant, who unexpectedly goes into labor and is taken to a town establishment kept by a midwife.

Agafya

Also known as Madame Krassotkin’s servant

A stout, smallpox-marked woman of about forty who works for Madame Krassotkin. She returns from the market and agrees to watch the doctor’s wife’s children while Kolya goes out.

Nastya

Also known as the doctor’s wife’s daughter · the elder child

The eight-year-old daughter of Madame Krassotkin’s lodger. Left in Kolya’s care, she reads and argues with her younger brother Kostya.

Kostya

Also known as the doctor’s wife’s son · the younger child

The seven-year-old son of Madame Krassotkin’s lodger. Left in Kolya’s care, he enjoys being read to by his sister and watching Perezvon perform.

The Fedotovs

Also known as the people of the house

Unnamed people whose back yard was home to the stray dog Zhutchka. They did not feed the dog.

The schoolboys who took part in the railway wager

Also known as the five boys

Five unnamed boys, aged roughly twelve to fifteen, who bet with Kolya that he would not lie between the rails as a train passed. They wait in terror and remorse as he does so.

The station relation’s husband

Also known as the official at the railway station

An unnamed official who is married to a distant relation of Madame Krassotkin. Kolya and his mother visit their household near the railway station during the summer.

The distant relation who hosted Kolya and his mother

Also known as the relation

An unnamed relative of Madame Krassotkin whose husband is an official at a railway station. She hosts Madame Krassotkin and Kolya for a week during the summer holidays.

The schoolboys who mocked Kolya

Also known as his schoolfellows

Unnamed boys at Kolya’s school who mock him as a “mother’s darling” because of his mother’s efforts to protect him. They later admire and respect him.

The boys who threw stones at Ilusha

Also known as the schoolboy group · the schoolboys

A group of unnamed schoolboys who once threw stones at Ilusha and taunted him about his father. Kolya recounts that they resumed bullying Ilusha after Kolya cut ties with him.

The mastiff puppy

Also known as the puppy

A newborn pedigree mastiff puppy that Captain Snegiryov brings Ilusha in hopes of comforting him. Ilusha likes it, but it cannot replace the lost Zhutchka.

The hare brought to Ilusha

Also known as the live hare

A live hare the schoolboys bring to Ilusha as a distraction. He asks them to set it free in the fields.

Varvara

Also known as the captain’s elder daughter

Captain Snegiryov’s daughter, who has gone to Petersburg to study at the university.

The market woman named Marya

Also known as Marya

A middle-aged woman with a booth at the market. Kolya teases her by calling her Natasha, and she scolds him for his impudence.

Matvey

A tall, good-natured peasant in a sheepskin coat, with a long beard white from frost. Kolya speaks with him in the market and learns his name by guessing.

The peasant who says he is cleverer than Kolya

Also known as the grizzled peasant

A sturdy, apparently somewhat drunk peasant whom Kolya teases, then apologizes to. The peasant says he forgives Kolya and claims to be cleverer than him.

The smallpox-marked young man in the market

Also known as Alexey Ivanitch Tchizhov · Tchizhov · the young man

A furious young stranger who accuses Kolya of mischief in the market. Kolya confuses and enrages him with invented names; the market women identify him as Alexey Ivanitch Tchizhov.

The market women

Also known as the women in the booths

Unnamed women selling goods at the market. They laugh at Kolya’s exchange with Marya and confuse the smallpox-marked young man by debating his name and identity.

The old women who supposedly bring babies

Also known as the old women

Imaginary women in the children’s discussion who are said to find babies among cabbages and bring them to families.

Trifon Nikititch

Also known as Trifon Nikititch

A name Kolya invents while taunting the smallpox-marked young man in the market. The market women and the young man do not know who he means.

Sabaneyev

Also known as Sabaneyev

A name Kolya invents while taunting the smallpox-marked young man in the market. The young man and the market women are left puzzled by it.

The Kuzmitchovs

Also known as the Kuzmitchovs

Unnamed people for whom the market women say Tchizhov once worked.

The mastiff’s parents

Also known as the puppy’s parents

Unnamed dogs said by Captain Snegiryov to be large and fierce, as he describes the pedigree mastiff puppy he has obtained for Ilusha.

The station’s eleven o’clock train

Also known as the train

The train that Kolya wagers he can lie between the rails beneath. It passes over him without striking him, though he loses consciousness.

The secretary of the investigating lawyer

Also known as the young man in the shabby hunting-jacket · Nikolay Parfenovitch’s little secretary

An unnamed young man who records Dmitri’s answers. He points out that money could be hidden in the piping of a cap, based on a clerk’s earlier theft, and may have placed a pillow under Dmitri’s head while he slept.

The two peasant witnesses at the inn

Also known as the peasants

Two unnamed peasants present with the officials during the inquiry. They remain nearby during Dmitri’s search and witness the examination of his clothes.

The peasants called by Trifon Borissovitch

Also known as the peasants

Unnamed men from Mokroe who testify that Dmitri said he had brought 3,000 roubles and spent lavishly during his earlier visit. Stepan and Semyon are among those named.

Stepan

A peasant at Mokroe who, with Semyon, is said to have heard Dmitri boast that he would leave his “sixth thousand” at the inn.

Semyon

A peasant at Mokroe who, with Stepan, is said to have heard Dmitri boast that he would leave his “sixth thousand” at the inn.

The witnesses who testified at Mokroe

Also known as the witnesses

Unnamed witnesses examined during the inquiry into Fyodor Pavlovitch’s murder. Their testimony largely supports the claim that Dmitri had and spent more money than he admits.

The peasants who put the pillow under Dmitri’s head

Also known as the peasant witnesses

Unnamed peasant witnesses present at the inquiry. One of them may have compassionately placed a pillow under Dmitri’s head while he slept.

The peasant driver in Dmitri’s dream

Also known as the driver

An unnamed, bearded peasant who drives Dmitri through a cold, snowy steppe in his dream. He explains that the women and child are destitute because their village burned down.

The poor mother in Dmitri’s dream

Also known as the dark-faced mother · the tall, bony woman

An unnamed, gaunt peasant woman standing among refugees from a burned village. She holds a crying, cold and hungry baby, and the sight awakens Dmitri’s intense compassion.

The starving baby in Dmitri’s dream

Also known as the babe · the child

A cold, hungry infant in the arms of a destitute mother from a burned village. Its crying moves Dmitri deeply and becomes the focus of his newly awakened desire to help others.

The peasants displaced by the burned village in Dmitri’s dream

Also known as the peasant women

Unnamed, thin and destitute women standing beside the road after their village has burned. Their suffering, especially that of the mother and baby, stirs Dmitri’s compassion.

The owner of the house where Dmitri lodged

Also known as Dmitri’s landlady · the landlady

An unnamed woman from whom Dmitri says he took an old calico cap to use as a rag for sewing up Katerina Ivanovna’s money. He is unsure whether this was the material he used.

Foma

A former soldier from Dmitri’s regiment who rents a room in a house where women live and does odd jobs there. He joins Marya Kondratyevna and her mother in going to the Karamazov home and helping carry Grigory to the lodge.

The deputy police inspector of the town

An unnamed official commissioned to enter Fyodor Pavlovitch’s house with four witnesses and begin the formal inquiry.

The four witnesses at Fyodor Pavlovitch’s house

Unnamed witnesses who accompany the deputy police inspector into Fyodor Pavlovitch’s house for the initial inquiry.

The innkeeper’s widowed daughter

Also known as the widow daughter

One of Trifon Borissovitch’s four grown daughters. She is a widow who lives at the inn with her two children and works there.

The innkeeper’s two younger daughters

Also known as the younger daughters

Two of Trifon Borissovitch’s grown daughters who dress fashionably for church holidays and visits, then do the inn’s cleaning and other work. They care for Grushenka while Dmitri is questioned.

The landlord’s porter

Also known as the porter

An unnamed porter at Madame Hohlakov’s house who tells Perhotin that the lady is usually in bed by eleven.

The footman at Madame Hohlakov’s house

Also known as the footman

An unnamed servant who initially resists taking Perhotin’s name to Madame Hohlakov.

The maid at Madame Hohlakov’s house

Also known as the maid

An unnamed maid who carries Perhotin’s messages to Madame Hohlakov and guides him into the drawing-room.

Madame Hohlakov’s widowed daughter

Also known as the widowed daughter

An unnamed woman who lives with her father, Mihail Makarovitch.

Mihail Makarovitch’s two granddaughters

Also known as the two unmarried granddaughters · Olga Mihailovna and her sister

Two unnamed grown women, daughters of Mihail Makarovitch’s widowed daughter, who live with their grandfather. The elder is Olga Mihailovna, whose birthday the investigating lawyer plans to tease her about.

Olga Mihailovna

Also known as the eldest granddaughter

Mihail Makarovitch’s eldest granddaughter, a lively young woman whose birthday she is trying to keep secret to avoid a dance. The investigating lawyer plans to surprise her with his knowledge of it.

The Pole who was Grushenka’s former lover

Also known as the officer Grushenka loved · the officer · the Pole with the pipe · the little Pole · Pan Captain

Grushenka’s former lover, who deserted her five years earlier and has returned from Siberia. Now middle-aged, he comes to Mokroe intending to marry her, but she rejects him after seeing how much he has changed; he and his companion are exposed as card cheats.

Marya, the village girl

Also known as Marya

A young woman from the village whom Grushenka and Dmitri single out for the singing and dancing at the Mokroe inn. Maximov asks Dmitri to help him make her acquaintance.

Stepanida

A lively village girl who acts as keeper in a dance where two girls dress as bears.

Arina, the village girl

Also known as Arina

A village girl whom Dmitri names as one of those he wants gathered for the entertainment at the Mokroe inn.

The Mokroe chorus girls

Also known as the girls · the village girls

Unnamed young women gathered at the inn to sing and dance during Dmitri and Grushenka’s revel. Grushenka calls some of them to her and asks them to watch her attempt to dance.

The two girls dressed as bears

Also known as the bears

Two unnamed village girls who dress as bears and perform a comic, rowdy dance at the inn.

The Jews who play music in the village

Also known as the Jewish band · the musicians

Unnamed village musicians who play cymbals and fiddle and are summoned to perform at the inn.

The innkeeper’s daughter married to an official

Also known as the married daughter

One of Trifon Borissovitch’s grown daughters, married to a petty official whose photograph is displayed at the inn.

The petty official married to Trifon Borissovitch’s daughter

Also known as the official

An unnamed petty official who is married to one of the innkeeper’s daughters; his uniformed photograph is displayed at the inn.

The innkeeper’s two grandchildren

Also known as the grandchildren

The unnamed children of Trifon Borissovitch’s widowed daughter, who live with her at the inn.

The innkeeper’s guests from the town

Also known as the two gentlemen from the town at the inn

Two unnamed gentlemen lodging at the Mokroe inn after returning from Tcherny. One is Kalganov; the other is Maximov.

The tall stranger accompanying the Pole

Also known as the other stranger at the inn

An unnamed, exceptionally tall man accompanying Grushenka’s former lover. He acts as his companion and is later identified as Pan Vrublevsky.

Matryona

Also known as Grushenka’s cook

Grushenka’s cook and Fenya’s grandmother. She confirms Fenya’s account to Perhotin as far as she is able.

The former officer’s wife

Also known as his wife

An unnamed woman whom Grushenka’s former lover married after abandoning her. Grushenka supposes that this marriage changed his character.

The former officer’s mother-in-law

Also known as the mamma

An unnamed woman who accompanied Grushenka’s future husband’s Polish bride when she was brought to Russia.

The former officer’s wife’s aunt

Also known as the aunt

An unnamed woman who accompanied the future wife of Maximov’s former Uhlan acquaintance from Poland to Russia.

The former officer’s wife’s grown-up male relation

Also known as the grown-up son

An unnamed man who accompanied the future wife of Maximov’s former Uhlan acquaintance from Poland to Russia.

The Uhlan who brought Maximov’s first wife to Russia

Also known as the lieutenant

An unnamed lieutenant in a Russian regiment who brought Maximov’s future first wife from Poland to Russia. He had intended to marry her himself but did not after learning she was lame.

Maximov’s first wife

Also known as the lame wife

An unnamed Polish woman whom Maximov married in the Province of Smolensk. She had injured her leg as a child and confessed this to him after their wedding.

Maximov’s second wife

Also known as the runaway wife

An unnamed woman who ran away from Maximov after arranging to have his small property transferred to her.

The venerable bishop who advised Maximov

Also known as the bishop

An unnamed bishop who joked to Maximov that one of his wives was lame and the other too light-footed.

Nikolai Gogol

Also known as Gogol

The writer whose Dead Souls Maximov claims was written about him. The novel includes a landowner named Maximov, whom Nozdryov is said to have beaten.

Nosov

The name Kalganov says Nozdryov was really called, according to Maximov’s account of Gogol’s characters.

Kuvshinikov

A character mentioned by Maximov while claiming Gogol disguised the real names of people in Dead Souls.

Shkvornev

The name Maximov gives for the real person supposedly represented by Kuvshinikov in Dead Souls.

Fenardi

Also known as Mamsel Fenardi

A pretty Russian performer in Maximov’s rambling account, who wore tights and a short skirt with spangles and danced in a tavern.

The Italian falsely attributed to Fenardi

Also known as the Italian

An unnamed Italian whom Maximov says Fenardi was mistaken for; he insists Fenardi was actually Russian.

Piron

Also known as the French writer Piron

A French writer whose epitaph and rejection from the French Academy are recounted by Maximov as part of the story that led to his being beaten.

Nicolas Boileau

Also known as Boileau

A French writer invoked in one of the epigrams Maximov says he recited at a tavern.

Sappho

A poet invoked with Phaon in an epigram Maximov recites.

Phaon

A figure paired with Sappho in an epigram Maximov recites.

Pan Podvysotsky

Also known as Podvysotsky

A Polish gambler in an anecdote told by the Pole with the pipe. He supposedly wins a million from a Warsaw banker by staking on his honor.

The Warsaw banker

Also known as the banker

An unnamed banker in the Pole’s anecdote who pays Pan Podvysotsky a million after he wins.

The card players who beat Maximov

Also known as the party at the fair

Unnamed people drinking with Maximov at a tavern during a fair. They take offense at his epigrams and beat him.

The young gentleman related to Miüsov

Also known as the young relation of Mr. Miüsov

A young man accompanying Maximov at the inn in Mokroe; the innkeeper forgets his name, and Dmitri and others identify him as Kalganov.

The servant-lad at Samsonov’s house

Also known as the lad

An unnamed boy who sits in the passage and attends Kuzma Samsonov. He questions Dmitri before Samsonov agrees to receive him and helps support the old man.

The old servant at Samsonov’s house

Also known as the old woman

An unnamed servant who waits on the ailing Kuzma Samsonov and supports him as he walks. Dmitri encounters her in the street and learns that Grushenka visited Samsonov briefly and then left.

The chief porter at the widow Morozov’s house

Also known as Nazar Ivanovitch

An unnamed porter whom Fenya begs to keep Dmitri away from the house after Grushenka leaves. He agrees, but forgets to warn his nephew when the young man takes his place at the gate.

The porter’s nephew

Also known as the lad · the boy of twenty

An unnamed twenty-year-old nephew of Nazar Ivanovitch who takes his place at the gate. He recognizes Dmitri, lets him in, and tells him Grushenka has left for Mokroe.

The shopkeeper’s errand boy

Also known as Misha

A boy employed by Plotnikov’s shop, sent by Perhotin to change Dmitri’s large notes and tell the shop to prepare provisions. Dmitri gives him ten roubles and offers him a drink.

The shopkeeper’s clerk

Also known as the clerk

An unnamed clerk at Plotnikov’s shop who explains how the provisions will be packed and later asks Dmitri to settle the bill.

The two strangers at the inn

Two unnamed visitors from outside the town whom Timofey reports seeing at Plastunov’s inn in Mokroe, playing cards.

The young man who stole from his mother

An unnamed young man whom Perhotin says took twenty copecks from his mother when he was nine, confessed three days later, and returned the money.

The old woman nearly knocked down by Dmitri

Also known as the old woman

An unnamed elderly woman in the square whom Dmitri nearly knocks down while rushing through the dark.

The little lap-dog at Plotnikov’s shop

Also known as the dog

A small dark-eyed dog belonging to the shop’s mistress, Varvara Alexyevna. It is left at the shop and noticed by Dmitri.

Varvara Alexyevna

Also known as the mistress

The unnamed mistress of Plotnikov’s shop, who owns the little lap-dog left there.

The shop assistants at Plotnikov’s

Also known as the three shop-assistants · the shopmen

Unnamed employees of Plotnikov’s grocery shop who prepare Dmitri’s provisions for the journey to Mokroe.

The old woman’s granddaughter at the house in Mokroe

An unnamed young woman at the Mokroe house where the officer and his party are staying. Dmitri expects that the officer may marry Grushenka.

The gypsies encamped near town

Also known as the gypsies

An unnamed group of gypsies whom Dmitri treated lavishly during his previous spree with Grushenka, spending money freely on wine and provisions.

The village women and girls at the previous spree

Also known as the village women and girls

Unnamed women and girls whom Dmitri treated to sweets and Strasburg pies during his previous spree at Mokroe.

The peasant driver who mistreats horses

Also known as the driver

An unnamed driver mentioned by Andrey as an example of those who force horses along without restraint.

The Son of God

Also known as the Son of God

Jesus Christ, whom Andrey’s peasant legend describes descending to hell after the Crucifixion to free sinners suffering there.

The Son of God’s captors

Also known as the authorities

Unnamed authorities in Andrey’s peasant legend who crucify Jesus Christ.

The shop’s wealthy owners

Also known as the rich merchants

Unnamed merchants who own Plotnikov’s, the largest grocery shop in town.

Madame Belmesov

Also known as the cousin

A cousin of Madame Hohlakov whose husband was financially ruined. Madame Hohlakov says she advised him to take up horse-breeding, after which he prospered.

Madame Belmesov’s husband

Also known as her husband

An unnamed man who was ruined financially before taking up horse-breeding on Madame Hohlakov’s advice.

The author Shtchedrin

Also known as Shtchedrin

A writer to whom Madame Hohlakov sent an anonymous letter praising his ideas about the modern woman.

The Holy Martyr Varvara

Also known as Varvara

A martyr whose relics are associated with a tiny silver ikon from Kiev that Madame Hohlakov puts around Dmitri’s neck.

The shop’s mistress’s old mother

An unnamed elderly woman mentioned as the person to whom Varvara Alexyevna’s dog should be returned.

Ulysses

A figure whose saying about women’s fickle and treacherous hearts Dmitri quotes.

Phœbus

Also known as Phoebus

A classical name for the sun invoked by Dmitri as he speaks of dawn and of his planned suicide.

Hamlet

A character in Shakespeare’s play whom Dmitri invokes while speaking of Yorick and death.

Horatio

A character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, addressed in a line Dmitri recalls.

Yorick

The dead court jester in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, whom Dmitri compares himself to while contemplating death.

The girls at Mokroe

Also known as the girls

Unnamed young women whom Dmitri says like sweets and for whom he orders provisions during his trip to Mokroe.

The officer who invited Grushenka to Mokroe

Also known as her officer

The unnamed man who was Grushenka’s first love and deserted her five years earlier. He has returned from Siberia, sent horses for her, and may now marry her.

The people at Plastunov’s inn

Also known as the party at the inn

A group of unnamed people, including gentlemen from the town and strangers, who are playing cards at the inn in Mokroe when Dmitri arrives.

The devils seen by Father Ferapont

Also known as the devils · the unclean devils · evil spirits

Supernatural beings that Father Ferapont claims to see attached to monks and other people. Grushenka retells a story in which devils seize a wicked woman and plunge her into a lake of fire.

The Madonna

Also known as Our Lady · the Queen of Heaven

A sacred figure in Christian belief. Ivan describes a poem in which she visits hell and petitions God to grant mercy to its sinners; she is also referred to in the Gospel passage as Jesus’s mother.

The Mother of God

A sacred figure in Christian belief; Alyosha remembers his mother praying to her and holding him before her image. In the Cana passage, she asks Jesus to help the wedding guests who have run out of wine.

The peasant woman in Grushenka’s story

Also known as the wicked woman

An unnamed woman in the story Matryona told Grushenka. She did one good deed by giving an onion to a beggar, but loses her chance to be saved when she kicks away the other sinners trying to hold on to her.

The guardian angel in Grushenka’s story

Also known as the angel

An unnamed angel who remembers the wicked woman’s gift of an onion and tries to pull her from the lake of fire. He weeps and leaves when the onion breaks.

The beggar woman in Grushenka’s story

Also known as the beggar

An unnamed woman who receives an onion from the wicked peasant woman, the sole good deed the latter’s guardian angel can recall.

The unnamed younger son of Samsonov

Also known as Samsonov’s younger son

A very tall, strong, clean-shaven son of Kuzma Samsonov who comes upstairs at his father’s summons to act as a witness during Dmitri’s visit. He is present when Samsonov orders that Dmitri never be admitted again.

Samsonov’s old servant

Also known as the old woman

An unnamed servant who waits on the ailing Kuzma Samsonov and supports him as he walks. She carries his summons for his younger son and helps him to the drawing-room.

Samsonov’s old sister

Also known as the old sister

An unnamed sister of Kuzma Samsonov who lives in his crowded house with his family.

Samsonov’s unmarried daughter

Also known as the daughter

An unnamed daughter of Kuzma Samsonov who lives downstairs and waits on him upstairs at set times or whenever he calls. She has asthma.

Pavel Pavlovitch Korneplodov

Also known as Korneplodov

A distinguished lawyer in the provincial capital whom Dmitri says he consulted about his inheritance claim against Fyodor Pavlovitch. Dmitri cites his assessment to persuade Samsonov to finance a claim over the Tchermashnya property.

Gorstkin

Also known as Lyagavy

A peasant timber trader bargaining with Fyodor Pavlovitch over the Tchermashnya copse. Samsonov directs Dmitri to him as a possible source of money, apparently to mock Dmitri; the man is drunk when Dmitri finds him and does not recognize Dmitri’s proposal.

The priest at Ilyinskoe

Also known as Father Pavel

An unnamed, shy and amiable priest who lodges Gorstkin and agrees to guide Dmitri to him. He explains that Gorstkin is offended by the name Lyagavy and worries that Fyodor Pavlovitch may withdraw his favor if he hears of Dmitri’s visit.

The forester

Also known as the forester at Suhoy Possyolok

An unnamed man who shares a hut with Gorstkin, where Dmitri waits overnight. He advises Dmitri to let the drunken trader sleep and helps air the room when it fills with charcoal fumes.

The Jewish watchmaker

Also known as the watchmaker

An unnamed watchmaker in the market-place who buys Dmitri’s broken silver watch for six roubles, giving him money for his trip.

Dmitri’s landlord

Also known as the people of the house

An unnamed lodger’s landlord who lends Dmitri three roubles for his journey. The household’s kindness and the loan are later established by witnesses.

The old merchant traveling to Volovya

Also known as the old merchant

An unnamed merchant traveling in a hired trap who gives Dmitri a ride to Volovya after Dmitri becomes lost in the forest.

The hired-trap driver

Also known as the driver

An unnamed driver who takes the old merchant across the country and later carries Dmitri and the merchant to Volovya.

The governor of the wedding feast at Cana

Also known as the ruler of the feast

An unnamed official overseeing the wedding feast in the Gospel passage Alyosha hears. He tastes the water turned to wine and praises the bridegroom for keeping the good wine until last.

The bridegroom at Cana

Also known as the bridegroom

An unnamed man whose wedding feast Jesus attends. The governor of the feast praises him for serving the good wine late in the celebration.

The bride at Cana

Also known as the bride

An unnamed woman marrying at Cana, seen in Alyosha’s vision of the wedding feast.

Othello

A character in Shakespeare’s play, whom the narrator contrasts with the truly jealous man: Othello is described as trusting and incapable of imagining his beloved’s infidelity until he is pushed to do so.

Father Anfim

A very old, humble, nearly illiterate monk and longtime friend of Zossima. On their pilgrimages, he spent alms on sweets for children and could not pass a child without emotion.

Markel

Also known as Father Zossima’s elder brother

Zossima’s elder brother, who became joyful and loving during his final illness and taught that everyone is responsible for all people. Zossima recalls that Markel once asked birds to forgive him.

Abraham

A biblical patriarch mentioned in Zossima’s reflection on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, where the dead rich man sees Abraham’s bosom and speaks with him.

Saint Luke

Also known as Luke

The Gospel writer whose account Zossima recommends priests use when choosing parables of Christ to read aloud.

Saint Paul

Also known as Paul

The apostle whose conversion in the Acts of the Apostles is singled out by Zossima as an essential story to teach.

Alexey, the man of God

Also known as Alexey

A saint whose life Zossima recommends as a simple, moving story for priests to read to peasants.

Mary of Egypt

A saint whom Zossima calls a happy martyr and seer of God and recommends as a subject for priests to teach.

Lazarus

The poor man in the biblical parable of the rich man and Lazarus, mentioned by Zossima when reflecting on the torments of those who did not love during earthly life.

The Eternal Judge

A title for God in Zossima’s teaching: the Judge asks people to answer for what they could understand.

The great saint who fed the bear

Also known as the saint

An unnamed saint in a story Zossima tells the peasant lad. He gave bread to a bear in the woods and sent it away unharmed with a blessing.

The bear who visited the saint

Also known as the bear

A fierce-looking but innocent bear in Zossima’s story, which accepts bread from a saint and walks away meekly.

The Messiah and Saviour

Also known as the Messiah · the Saviour

The hoped-for redeemer whom Jacob’s prophecy, as recounted by Zossima, says will come from Judah’s descendants.

Esther

Also known as the fair Esther

A biblical heroine whom Zossima recommends as a moving story for priests to read to peasants.

Vashti

Also known as the haughty Vashti

A biblical queen whose story with Esther is recommended by Zossima as a lesson for peasants.

The young monk who left his elder

An unnamed novice in an old legend who disobeyed his elder, later became a martyr, and could not be buried in the church until the elder absolved him.

The martyr novice

Also known as The young monk who left his elder

The monk in the legend who left his elder, performed great deeds, and died for the faith; his coffin was cast out of the church until his elder’s absolution.

The monk sent from Athos

An unnamed monk whom his elder ordered to leave Athos, visit Jerusalem, and travel north to Siberia.

The Œcumenical Patriarch

The unnamed patriarch at Constantinople who told the monk sent from Athos that only his elder could release him from obedience.

Païssy Velitchkovsky

A Russian ascetic credited with reviving the institution of elders in Russian monasteries toward the end of the previous century.

The old monk Job

Also known as Job

A celebrated ascetic who died at 105, seventy years before the events described. His tomb is shown to visitors with hopes of miraculous glory; Alyosha sits on it while grieving for Zossima.

Father Varsonofy

Also known as Varsonofy

A recently deceased elder who preceded Zossima. Pilgrims revered him as a saint, and tradition held that his body showed no decay and gave off a sweet fragrance.

Father Païssy

A learned, unwell monk of the hermitage and Zossima’s devoted friend. He reads the Gospel over Zossima’s body, tries to calm the excited crowd, and urges Alyosha not to lose faith.

Father Iosif

Also known as the Father Librarian

A monk of the hermitage and devoted friend of Zossima. He begins reading the Gospel over the elder’s body and argues that bodily incorruptibility is not a doctrine of the Orthodox Church.

Porfiry

A novice who remains with the exhausted Zossima. He delivers a poor widow’s offering as Zossima directs and listens as the elder explains his affection for Alyosha and recounts his life.

Father Mihaïl

The warden of the hermitage and one of Zossima’s longtime friends. He is a monk of humble origin, strong will, and steadfast faith, with a tender nature that he tends to conceal.

The strict older monk

Also known as Father Ferapont

An unnamed senior monk, seventy-five or older, who fasts severely, observes silence, and lives in a solitary cell near the apiary. He opposes Zossima and the institution of elders, claims to see devils, and makes a disruptive display at Zossima’s coffin, declaring the decay a sign of divine judgment.

The monk from Obdorsk

Also known as the old monk from the far north · the Obdorsk visitor

An unnamed visiting monk who favors strict fasting and distrusts the institution of elders. He eagerly watches the reaction to Zossima’s body and encourages Ferapont’s condemnation of the elder.

The beekeeper

An unnamed, silent and surly monk who lives near the apiary and brings bread to Father Ferapont every three days. He directs the visiting monk from Obdorsk to Ferapont’s cell.

The monastery’s Superior

Also known as the Father Superior · the Father Superintendent of the Hermitage · the Superintendent

The unnamed head of the monastery, a tall, vigorous elderly monk. He helps manage the crowds and agitation after Zossima’s death.

The Holy Spirit

Also known as the Holy Ghost

A divine presence in Christian belief. Father Ferapont claims it sometimes visits him in the form of a bird and speaks to him.

The widow Morozov’s two nieces

Also known as the two unmarried nieces

Two unnamed, elderly women who live with the widow Morozov.

Grushenka’s old cook

Also known as the old cook

An unnamed, nearly deaf and infirm servant from Grushenka’s former home. She and Grushenka’s maid later testify in court about Grushenka’s dealings with Dmitri.

The local monks hostile to Zossima

Also known as the hostile monks · the opponents of the institution of elders

A number of unnamed monks who resent the institution of elders and Zossima’s reputation for holiness. After his death, they treat the smell of decay as proof that he was not a saint and criticize his teachings and habits.

The elder’s devoted monks

Also known as the monks who loved the elder

Unnamed monks who had been devoted to Zossima and accepted the institution of elders. The reaction to his body’s decay leaves them distressed and silent.

The elderly pious town official

Also known as the elderly official from the town

An unnamed, deeply pious civil official who visits Zossima’s body and says that God’s judgment differs from human judgment, echoing the monks’ whispered conclusion.

The educated visitors to the hermitage

Also known as the worldly visitors

Unnamed visitors, especially from the educated classes, who enter Zossima’s cell after hearing of the decay, many with the intent of witnessing or confirming it.

The crowds from the town

Also known as the townspeople

The townspeople who flock to the hermitage after Zossima’s death. Some bring sick children expecting healing, while the news of the body’s decay stirs believers and unbelievers alike.

The sick children brought to Zossima’s body

Also known as the sick children

Unnamed children brought by visitors who hope that Zossima’s remains will heal them.

The two servants of Grushenka

Also known as the servants

Grushenka’s unnamed old cook and young maid, who later testify in court that Grushenka received Dmitri out of fear because he threatened to murder her.

The sons of God

Unnamed heavenly beings who, in the biblical story of Job recalled by Zossima, appear before God with the devil.

The priest who read the Book of Job

Also known as the youth carrying the book

An unnamed young church reader who carries a large book and reads the story of Job at the service Zossima attended as a child.

Zossima’s mother

Also known as the mother

An unnamed woman who took her eight-year-old son Zossima to church, where hearing the story of Job first stirred his devotional feeling.

The village priests

Also known as the priests

Unnamed priests whom Zossima says complain of poverty and lack the means to teach Scripture. He urges them to read the Bible to peasants and children in their homes.

Sarah

A biblical figure whom Zossima recommends village priests read about to their congregations.

Isaac

A biblical figure whom Zossima recommends village priests read about to their congregations.

Rebecca

A biblical figure whom Zossima recommends village priests read about to their congregations.

Jacob

A biblical patriarch whose journey to Laban and dream encounter with the Lord are cited by Zossima as stories to teach peasants.

Laban

A biblical figure in the story of Jacob, which Zossima recommends priests read to peasants.

Joseph

Also known as the tender boy · the dreamer and prophet

Jacob’s son, sold into bondage by his brothers and later a powerful ruler in Egypt. Zossima highlights how Joseph tests his brothers before revealing himself and forgiving them.

Benjamin

Joseph’s brother, whom Joseph keeps in Egypt while testing his other brothers, as recounted by Zossima.

Jacob’s sons who sold Joseph

Also known as Joseph’s brothers

The unnamed brothers who sell Joseph into bondage and tell their father that a wild beast has killed him. Years later they travel to Egypt for corn, where Joseph tests them.

Judah

A son of Jacob named in Jacob’s prophecy, as recalled by Zossima; from his line will come the Messiah and Saviour.

The eighteen-year-old peasant lad

Also known as the bird-catcher

A good-looking young peasant whom Zossima met while collecting funds with Father Anfim. A bird-catcher who loved the forest, he talked with Zossima about the beauty of God’s creation before returning to pull a merchant’s barge.

The merchant whose barge was pulled

Also known as the merchant

An unnamed merchant whose barge the young peasant lad was due to help pull along the riverbank.

Afanasy

Also known as Afanasy Pavlovitch · Zossima’s orderly

Zossima’s former orderly, whom Zossima struck cruelly while serving as an officer. Zossima apologized and bowed before him; years later they met again, and Afanasy, now a married costermonger with two children, gave offerings to the monastery and to Zossima.

The ensign who was Zossima’s second

Also known as Zossima’s second

An unnamed comrade and ensign who accompanied Zossima to his duel, carrying the pistols. He rebuked Zossima for apologizing to his opponent and refusing to shoot.

The young landowner who was Zossima’s rival

Also known as Zossima’s adversary

An unnamed, educated and amiable landowner, older than the young Zossima, who had long been betrothed to the woman Zossima admired. He accepted Zossima’s duel challenge, then forgave him when Zossima apologized and threw away his pistol.

The young noblewoman Zossima admired

Also known as the young lady

An unnamed beautiful and intelligent woman of noble character whom Zossima loved as a young officer. She married a neighboring landowner to whom she was already betrothed, and later thanked Zossima for his conduct at the duel.

The general related to Zossima’s adversary

Also known as the general

An unnamed general who was a close relation of Zossima’s duel opponent. The authorities overlooked the duel partly because of this connection.

Zossima’s comrades in the regiment

Also known as the officers

Unnamed fellow officers who debated whether Zossima had disgraced the uniform by refusing to shoot in the duel. They ultimately treated him with warmth after he announced he planned to become a monk.

The town hostess

Also known as my hostess

An unnamed woman who hosted a gathering where Zossima spoke after the duel. She laughed kindly at his ideas and helped set the tone of the gathering.

Mihail

Also known as the mysterious visitor · my visitor · my friend

A respected, wealthy town official known for public and secret charity, who became Zossima’s close visitor after the duel. He confessed that fourteen years earlier he had murdered a young landowner’s widow and allowed an innocent serf to be blamed; though the authorities judged him insane, he died at peace after publicly confessing.

The murdered landowner’s widow

Also known as the young woman

An unnamed wealthy and beautiful young widow whom Mihail murdered fourteen years before confessing to Zossima. She had refused his marriage proposal because she loved an officer who was away at the front.

The officer loved by the murdered widow

Also known as her betrothed

An unnamed high-ranking officer of noble birth, away at the front when the widow Mihail murdered was waiting for his return. His portrait and letters were among the evidence Mihail kept.

The murdered widow’s two maids

Also known as the maids

Unnamed servants who went to a birthday party on the night Mihail murdered their mistress, leaving the street door unlocked. Their absence helped Mihail avoid detection and contributed to suspicion falling on another servant.

Pyotr, the murdered widow’s serf

Also known as the serf

A servant of the murdered widow who was wrongly suspected and tried for her murder after Mihail planted misleading evidence. He died of fever in the hospital before the case ended.

Mihail’s wife

Also known as the wife

An unnamed, intelligent young woman whom Mihail married years after his murder. She bore him three children and opposed Zossima’s visits when Mihail fell gravely ill.

Mihail’s three children

Also known as his children · the children

Mihail’s unnamed children, whom he feared would suffer shame if he confessed his long-hidden murder. His wife calls them to him as he leaves home.

The chief of Mihail’s department

Also known as the chief

An unnamed official present at Mihail’s birthday gathering when Mihail read his formal confession of murder.

The chief priest at Mihail’s funeral

Also known as the chief priest

An unnamed priest who delivered an emotional speech at Mihail’s funeral.

The judges who tried Pyotr

Also known as the judges

Unnamed officials who tried Pyotr for the widow’s murder and remained convinced of his guilt after he died in the hospital.

The doctor who examined Mihail

Also known as the doctors

Unnamed doctors who treated Mihail near the end of his life and, at his wife’s request, concluded that he was insane.

Mihail’s wife’s family and friends

Also known as the friends and relations of the murdered woman

Unnamed relations and friends of the murdered widow who authenticated the keepsakes and letters Mihail presented as evidence of his crime.

The widow of the government clerk

Also known as Zossima’s landlady

An unnamed older woman with whom Zossima rented rooms after resigning his commission and sending Afanasy back to the regiment.

The landlady’s servant

Also known as the servant

An unnamed servant who waited on Zossima in the rooms he rented from the widow of a government clerk.

The men Zossima met on the riverbank

Also known as the fishermen

Unnamed fishermen with whom Zossima and Father Anfim spent a night while collecting funds for their monastery.

The village children in the factories

Also known as the factory children

Unnamed children as young as nine whom Zossima says work in harsh factories amid noise, foul language, and drink, deprived of play and care.

The champion of freedom imprisoned for his cause

Also known as the champion of freedom

An unnamed man whom Zossima recalls as a self-proclaimed advocate for humanity. In prison he became so distressed when deprived of tobacco that he nearly betrayed his cause.

The townspeople who blamed Zossima

Also known as the people

Unnamed residents who blamed Zossima for Mihail’s illness after his confession and later questioned him about the murder story.

The political exile who befriended Markel

Also known as the exile

An unnamed Moscow exile banished to Markel’s town for freethinking. A university scholar in philosophy, he befriended Markel during the final months of Markel’s life.

Afimya

Also known as the cook

An elderly, lame serf who worked as a cook in Zossima’s childhood home. Zossima’s mother sold her and hired a free servant in her place.

The doctor who treated Markel

Also known as the doctor

An unnamed doctor who examines the ill Markel and tells Zossima’s mother that her son has galloping consumption and will not survive the spring.

The old nurse who cared for Markel

Also known as the old nurse

An unnamed nurse who tends to Markel during his final illness. He tells her that lighting the lamp before the holy image is a form of prayer.

Doctor Eisenschmidt

Also known as Eisenschmidt · the old German doctor

An old German doctor who treats the dying Markel and reassures him that he may live for years. He privately tells Zossima’s mother that Markel’s illness is affecting his brain.

The poor widow whose house burned down

Also known as the widow

An unnamed woman whose house has recently burned down. She and her children have been begging for alms, and Zossima sends her money through Porfiry.

The mother from Vyshegorye

Also known as the peasant mother with a baby

An unnamed woman from Vyshegorye who brought her baby Lizaveta to see Zossima. She gave him sixty copecks earned by her own labor, asking him to pass the money to someone poorer.

Lizaveta, the baby from Vyshegorye

Also known as little Lizaveta

The baby daughter of the visiting woman from Vyshegorye, whom her mother carries to see Zossima.

The servant who replaced Afimya

Also known as the free servant

An unnamed free servant hired by Zossima’s mother after she sold the elderly, lame cook Afimya.

Ivan’s coachman

Also known as the driver

An unnamed driver who takes Ivan toward the railway station and agrees to carry a message to Fyodor Pavlovitch.

Mitri

A driver at Volovya station whom Ivan asks to tell Fyodor Pavlovitch that he has not gone to Tchermashnya.

The station overseer’s wife

An unnamed woman whom Ivan glances at inside the Volovya station house.

The Maslovs

Also known as the old merchant and his son

An unnamed local merchant and his son who offer Fyodor Pavlovitch eight thousand roubles for the timber from his copse land.

The unnamed merchant who offered twelve thousand roubles

Also known as the former purchaser

An unnamed prospective buyer who once offered Fyodor Pavlovitch twelve thousand roubles for the timber before the deal fell through.

The maid at Fyodor Pavlovitch’s house

Also known as the laundress

An unnamed woman whose laundry returned Ivan’s linen shortly before his departure.

The neighbor who helped carry Smerdyakov

Also known as the neighbors

An unnamed neighbor who helps the household get Smerdyakov out of the cellar after his seizure.

The unnamed women visitors to Zossima

Also known as the visitors

Unnamed women who gather in the hermitage for a final conversation with the dying Zossima.

The unnamed four servants in Zossima’s childhood home

Also known as the serfs

The four household servants in Zossima’s childhood home, who were all serfs. One of them, the cook Afimya, was sold when Zossima was a child.

The young girl tortured by her parents

Also known as the little girl of five

An unnamed five-year-old child whom Ivan describes as abused by her respectable parents, including being beaten, locked outside in the cold, and abused by her mother. Her suffering is central to Ivan’s refusal to accept a final harmony built on innocent pain.

The general who set hounds on a serf-child

Also known as the general

An unnamed aristocratic landowner from Ivan’s account, who orders an eight-year-old serf boy stripped and hunted by his hounds after the child injures the general’s favorite dog. The boy is torn apart before his mother.

The serf-boy killed by hounds

Also known as the serf-boy

An unnamed eight-year-old child who accidentally injures a nobleman’s favorite hound with a stone. The general orders the hounds to tear him apart in front of his mother.

The serf-boy’s mother

Also known as the mother of the child

An unnamed woman whose eight-year-old son is torn apart by a general’s hounds before her eyes.

Richard

An illegitimate Swiss child abandoned by his parents to shepherds, who treated him as a chattel and neglected him. As an adult he became a thief and murderer; while awaiting execution, he converted to Christianity and was publicly celebrated by religious and philanthropic people before being guillotined.

The shepherds who raised Richard

Also known as the shepherds

Unnamed Swiss shepherds to whom Richard was given at age six. They neglected and mistreated him, sending him to herd sheep in cold and wet conditions.

The old man murdered by Richard

An unnamed man whom Richard killed and robbed, leading to Richard’s capture and execution.

Richard’s parents

Also known as his parents

Unnamed people who gave Richard, their illegitimate child, to shepherds when he was six.

The Bulgarian informant

Also known as the Bulgarian

An unnamed Bulgarian whom Ivan met in Moscow and who told him of atrocities committed by Turks and Circassians in Bulgaria.

The Turkish soldier who shoots the baby

Also known as a Turk

An unnamed Turkish soldier in Ivan’s account who shoots a laughing baby at close range in front of the child’s mother.

The terrified mother with a baby

Also known as the mother

An unnamed woman in Ivan’s account who watches a Turkish soldier shoot her baby after the soldiers have coaxed the child into laughing.

The baby shot by a Turk

Also known as the baby

An unnamed infant who laughs and reaches toward a pistol before a Turkish soldier shoots it in front of its mother.

The little girl beaten by her father

Also known as the girl of seven

An unnamed seven-year-old girl beaten with a birch rod by her cultured father. A court acquits him after his counsel describes the abuse as an ordinary domestic correction.

The father who beat his daughter

Also known as the papa

An unnamed, well-educated and cultured man who savagely beats his seven-year-old daughter with a birch rod, taking pleasure in the stinging twigs. He is acquitted after a lawyer defends him.

The mother who helped abuse her daughter

Also known as the mother

An unnamed respectable woman who, with the child’s father, tortures their five-year-old daughter and smears excrement on her face and in her mouth.

The lawyer defending the child-beater

Also known as the counsel

An unnamed barrister who argues that a father’s beating of his child is an everyday domestic event. His argument persuades the jury to acquit the father.

The jury that acquitted the child-beater

Also known as the jury

The unnamed jurors who accept the defense lawyer’s argument and acquit a father who savagely beat his seven-year-old daughter.

The judges at Richard’s execution

Also known as the judges

Unnamed judges who affirm Richard’s execution, despite his conversion and the suffering he endured as a child.

The pastors and philanthropic visitors to Richard

Also known as the pastors · members of Christian brotherhoods · philanthropic ladies

Unnamed religious and charitable people who teach Richard in prison, celebrate his conversion, and accompany him to his execution.

The mother of the dead child in Seville

Also known as the weeping mother

An unnamed woman grieving over her seven-year-old daughter’s death. In Ivan’s poem, she begs Jesus to raise the child, and the girl revives.

The blind man healed in Seville

Also known as the old man in the crowd

An unnamed man who has been blind since childhood. In Ivan’s poem, he calls on Jesus to heal him and regains his sight.

The priest at Seville Cathedral

Also known as the priest

An unnamed priest who comes to meet the funeral procession for the dead child and looks perplexed when Jesus raises her.

The Grand Inquisitor’s guards

Also known as the guards · the holy guard

Unnamed guards and attendants who arrest Jesus at the Grand Inquisitor’s command and imprison him in the palace of the Inquisition.

The Grand Inquisitor’s gloomy assistants

Also known as the assistants · the slaves

Unnamed attendants who follow the Grand Inquisitor when he passes through Seville.

The King of Spain at the auto-da-fé

Also known as the king

An unnamed king who attends the Grand Inquisitor’s public burning of heretics in Seville.

John the Merciful

A saint mentioned by Ivan, who reportedly took a diseased, hungry beggar into his bed and breathed into the man’s mouth.

The hungry, frozen beggar

Also known as the beggar

An unnamed man suffering from an awful disease, whom John the Merciful reportedly sheltered and cared for.

The criminal who befriended a child in prison

Also known as the criminal

An unnamed imprisoned burglar and murderer who killed whole families, including children, yet became fond of children in prison and befriended a boy through his window.

The child befriended by the prisoner

Also known as the little boy

An unnamed boy in a prison yard who becomes friends with a murderous prisoner, who watches him from a window.

The murdered families’ children

Also known as the children

Unnamed children killed by the criminal Ivan describes; the passage gives no individual identities.

The Turks and Circassians in Bulgaria

Also known as the Turks · the Circassians

Groups of unnamed invaders whom Ivan says committed atrocities in Bulgaria, including killing and torturing civilians.

The Turkish captors

Also known as the invading Turks

Unnamed Turkish invaders in Ivan’s account who burn villages and torture and kill prisoners, women, and children.

The Russian boy Alyosha

Also known as Alyosha

Ivan’s affectionate way of referring to his younger brother as one of the Russian boys who discusses eternal questions.

The Archangel Michael

Also known as Michael

An archangel who, in a religious poem described by Ivan, leads the Madonna through hell to see the sinners’ punishments.

Dante

An Italian poet mentioned by Ivan as an example of a writer whose work brought heavenly powers onto the stage.

Victor Hugo

Also known as Hugo

A writer whose novel Notre Dame de Paris is mentioned by Ivan as recounting a religious spectacle staged in Paris.

Louis XI

The king during whose reign, according to Ivan, a religious spectacle was staged in Paris to celebrate the birth of the dauphin.

The dauphin at the Paris spectacle

Also known as the dauphin

An unnamed royal child whose birth was celebrated with a religious spectacle at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris.

Tyutchev

A poet whom Ivan cites as having written about the Heavenly King visiting Russia in humble form.

Nekrassov

Also known as Nekrasov

A poet whose lines about a peasant cruelly whipping a horse are cited by Ivan.

Polonius

A character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, quoted by Ivan after Alyosha turns his words against him.

William Shakespeare

Also known as Shakespeare

An English writer whose character Polonius is quoted by Ivan.

The small nag beaten by a peasant

Also known as the horse

A weak, exhausted horse that has foundered under a heavy load. In the poem Ivan recalls, its peasant driver beats it savagely, including across its meek eyes.

The peasant who beats the horse

Also known as the peasant

An unnamed man in Nekrassov’s poem who savagely whips his exhausted horse to make it pull a load.

The five-year-old girl’s parents

Also known as the cultivated parents

Unnamed respectable, well-educated parents who beat and cruelly abuse their young daughter. Her mother smears excrement on the child.

The general’s dog-boys

Also known as the dog-boys

Unnamed mounted servants in the general’s hunting party, who shout for the serf-boy to run as the hounds are set upon him.

The general’s huntsmen

Also known as the huntsmen

Unnamed members of the general’s mounted hunting party who witness his order to set hounds on the serf-boy.

Timur

Also known as Timour

A historical conqueror cited in the Grand Inquisitor’s speech as an example of rulers who sought universal unity through conquest.

Genghis Khan

Also known as Ghenghis-Khan

A historical conqueror cited in the Grand Inquisitor’s speech as an example of rulers who sought universal unity through conquest.

The great prophet of the first resurrection

Also known as the great prophet

An unnamed prophet whose vision, cited by the Grand Inquisitor, describes twelve thousand participants from each tribe in the first resurrection.

The owner of the house on Lake Street

Also known as the woman called Kalmikov

An unnamed woman who owns the house on Lake Street where Captain Snegiryov and his family live. Her daughter, Marya Kondratyevna, is present at the house where Foma lodges.

The old woman in the Lake Street house

Also known as the old woman of the house

An unnamed, apparently deaf woman who lives in the house on Lake Street with her old daughter and directs Alyosha to the captain’s lodging.

The old daughter in the Lake Street house

Also known as the old daughter

An unnamed, apparently deaf woman who lives with her mother in the house on Lake Street.

The deacon’s wife

An unnamed woman who knew the Snegiryovs when they were with the army and once insulted Captain Snegiryov’s wife over her breath and manner.

The general who visited at Easter

Also known as the general

An unnamed general who visited the Snegiryovs at Easter and told Captain Snegiryov’s wife that the air in their room was stale.

The old retired military man

An unnamed retired military man drinking tea in a corner of the Metropolis tavern while Ivan waits there.

The French emperor’s successor

Also known as the present Emperor of the French

An unnamed emperor of France, described by Smerdyakov as Napoleon’s successor and son.

The official who is Krassotkin’s father

Also known as Krassotkin’s father

An unnamed local official and father of the schoolboy Krassotkin. Captain Snegiryov says the family may hear more about the alleged penknife incident involving Ilusha.

The lawyer in K. province

Also known as the lawyer

An unnamed old friend of Captain Snegiryov who may offer him a clerk’s position if he moves to the province.

The chemist

An unnamed chemist who sells the mineral water prescribed by Doctor Herzenstube for Nina.

The widow of a non-commissioned officer

Also known as Prohorovna

An unnamed elderly townswoman whose son, Vasenka, serves in the commissariat and had gone to Irkutsk without writing for a year. After Zossima told her her son was alive and would soon send word or return, a letter arrived from Siberia saying he was coming home.

Vasenka

Also known as Vassya

The son of the widow Prohorovna; he serves in the commissariat and had gone to Irkutsk without writing for a year. He writes from the road from Ekaterinenburg that he is returning to Russia with an official and hopes to embrace his mother.

The monks who confess to Zossima

Also known as the brothers

The unnamed monks of the hermitage who gather for Zossima’s evening practice of openly confessing their sins, thoughts, and disputes. Some attend reluctantly, and a few resent the practice; here they hear of Zossima’s prediction and repeat Father Païssy’s hope that greater things will be seen.

Father Iona

A deceased ascetic who once lived in the cell later occupied by Father Ferapont. He reportedly lived to be 105, and stories of his saintly deeds remain in the monastery and neighborhood.

The monk sharing the Obdorsk visitor’s cell

An unnamed brother who shares a cell with the visiting monk from Obdorsk.

The Superior of the monastery

Also known as the Father Superior

The head of the monastery, a tall, vigorous elderly monk. He receives visitors at dinner with calm humility and sends sacrament bread to Father Ferapont on Sundays.

The maid at Katerina Ivanovna’s house

Also known as the maid-servant

An unnamed servant who admits Alyosha to Katerina Ivanovna’s home and later gives him Madame Hohlakov’s letter. She runs to report that Katerina Ivanovna is crying and having hysterics.

The eldest schoolboy

Also known as the boy in the black jacket

An unnamed, rosy, curly-haired schoolboy who speaks to Alyosha at the bridge. He and the other boys say their solitary schoolfellow is dangerous because he stabbed Krassotkin with a penknife.

The healthy schoolboy

Also known as the boy in the red shirt

An unnamed schoolboy in the group who says the solitary boy began the fight and must be thrashed for stabbing Krassotkin.

The old cabinet-maker

An unnamed cabinet-maker who rents lodging to Dmitri. He tells Alyosha that Dmitri has not slept there for three nights and appears to answer according to instructions.

The cabinet-maker’s son

An unnamed man, son of the old cabinet-maker, who lives in the lodging house where Dmitri rents a room. He looks suspiciously at Alyosha.

The cabinet-maker’s wife

Also known as the old wife

An unnamed elderly woman, wife of the cabinet-maker, who lives in the house where Dmitri rents a room and looks suspiciously at Alyosha.

The two decrepit landladies

Also known as Dmitri’s landladies

Two unnamed elderly women who rented Dmitri a room during his military service. At his request, they kept quiet about Katerina Ivanovna’s visit.

The bearer of Rakitin’s message

Also known as the monk who brought his message

An unnamed monk who brings Rakitin’s message to the hermitage, first informing Father Païssy of Rakitin’s urgent request and then summoning Alyosha.

The official accompanying Vasenka

Also known as the official

An unnamed official traveling with Vasenka as he returns to Russia from Siberia.

Dmitri’s current landlady

Also known as the old woman at the lodging house

An unnamed old woman who shares a house with her husband, a cabinet-maker, and their son. Dmitri rents a room there, but has not slept there for three nights.

The elder of Katerina Ivanovna’s aunts

An unnamed, stylish Moscow woman of consequence who lives with Katerina Ivanovna despite their straitened circumstances. Her husband was caught stealing government money, and she tried unsuccessfully to dissuade Katerina from receiving Grushenka.

The younger aunt of Katerina Ivanovna

Also known as the colonel’s sister-in-law · Agafya Ivanovna’s aunt

An unnamed, simple and illiterate woman, sister of the colonel’s first wife. She lives with Katerina Ivanovna and previously helped care for her in her father’s house.

The Russian soldier captured in Asia

An unnamed Russian soldier taken prisoner in a remote part of Asia. According to a newspaper account, he refused to renounce Christianity, was tortured and flayed alive, and died praising Christ; Smerdyakov argues that a prisoner in such circumstances could be forgiven for renouncing his faith.

The Tatar captive-taker

Also known as the enemy

An unnamed enemy who, in Smerdyakov’s hypothetical argument, captures a Christian and demands that he renounce his faith.

The Russian soldier’s captors

Also known as the enemies

Unnamed captors in the newspaper story who threatened the Russian soldier with death unless he renounced Christianity and followed Islam.

The old man at Mokroe

An unnamed man whom Fyodor Pavlovitch says he met at Mokroe. He tells Fyodor that the locals enjoy sentencing girls to be beaten and having young men carry out the punishment.

The girl from Mokroe

Also known as the girl sentenced to be thrashed

An unnamed girl in the story Fyodor Pavlovitch recounts, sentenced to be beaten by a young man who may ask for her hand in marriage the next day.

The Governor Schultz

Also known as Governor Schultz

An unnamed governor whom Fyodor Pavlovitch claims Father Zossima told, “Credo, but I don’t know in what.”

The merchant Dernidov

Also known as Dernidov

A merchant whom Fyodor Pavlovitch claims a monk once defrauded of 60,000 roubles by persuading him to keep the money for safekeeping.

The monk accused of defrauding Dernidov

An unnamed monk in Fyodor Pavlovitch’s story who kept 60,000 roubles entrusted to him by Dernidov and claimed the merchant had given it to the Church. Fyodor admits he mixed up the story and its subject with someone else.

Belyavsky

A handsome, wealthy man who used to visit Fyodor Pavlovitch’s second wife and was slapped by Fyodor in her presence.

The peasant girl Fyodor has noticed

Also known as the bare-footed girl

An unnamed young woman in Tchermashnya whom Fyodor Pavlovitch says he has watched for a long time and wants to show Ivan. He describes her as still running around barefoot.

The First wife of Fyodor Pavlovitch

Also known as Sofya Ivanovna

Fyodor Pavlovitch’s second wife and the mother of Ivan and Alyosha. A meek, troubled woman, she died when Alyosha was a young child. Fyodor recalls that he deliberately alternated neglect with exaggerated devotion, and once frightened her by threatening to spit on a sacred image; Alyosha’s distress at the story reveals his strong resemblance to her.

Karp

Also known as the escaped convict

A dangerous convict who escaped prison and hid in town. Grigory claimed he was the culprit who had wronged Lizaveta, and townspeople recalled his presence nearby and robberies around the time of her pregnancy.

The general’s widow who became Katerina’s benefactress

An unnamed, wealthy widow and Katerina Ivanovna’s nearest relation in Moscow. She welcomed Katerina as a daughter, changed her will in her favor, and gave her money; she is now kept in Moscow by illness and receives detailed letters from Katerina twice a week. She is the sister of Katerina’s elder aunt.

The elder monk who supports voluntary submission

An unnamed, older and more experienced monk who believes that sincere obedience and sacrifice in the monastery can help those seeking salvation, while those who resent it belong in the world.

The monk who opposes elders’ confession practice

An unnamed monk who believes that the brothers’ open confessions before Zossima profane the sacrament of confession and may lead to sin.

Katchalnikov

The town’s justice of the peace, who describes Dmitri as having an unstable and unbalanced mind.

The colonel, Katerina Ivanovna’s father

Also known as the colonel · the lieutenant-colonel

An unnamed, kind-hearted former lieutenant-colonel, Katerina Ivanovna’s father and Dmitri’s former superior. Facing an inquiry over missing government funds, he attempted suicide but was rescued; he produced the money, later became ill, and died.

Father Isidor

A monk at the monastery who calls Fyodor Pavlovitch’s conduct disgraceful and protests his attack on the monks.

The Father Superior’s invited monk

An unnamed monk who meets the visitors after they leave Zossima’s cell and escorts them toward the Superior’s dinner.

Grigory and Marfa’s infant

Also known as the baby · the child with six fingers

The unnamed child of Grigory and Marfa, born with six fingers and called a dragon by Grigory. The baby died of thrush at two weeks old.

Ilya

Lizaveta Smerdyastchaya’s homeless, sickly, alcoholic father, who beat her when she returned to him. He had lost his property and worked for well-to-do townspeople.

The governor of the province

Also known as the new governor

An unnamed governor who saw Lizaveta wandering in only a smock and objected that her clothing violated propriety, but left without changing her circumstances.

The Archbishop

An unnamed church authority who had heard rumors that elders in monasteries received excessive respect and misused confession.

The priest at Grigory and Marfa’s child’s christening

An unnamed priest who questions Grigory’s claim that their newborn child is a dragon and proceeds with the christening.

Von Sohn

Also known as the murder victim called von Sohn

A man in a famous murder case whom Fyodor Pavlovitch says was killed and robbed in a house of prostitution, then nailed into a box and shipped from Petersburg to Moscow. Fyodor jokingly identifies Maximov with him.

Karl Moor

A character from Schiller’s play The Robbers, whom Fyodor Pavlovitch jokingly compares to Ivan as his dutiful son.

Franz Moor

A character from Schiller’s play The Robbers, whom Fyodor Pavlovitch jokingly compares to Dmitri as his undutiful son.

Alexander of Macedon

Also known as Alexander the Great

A historical figure invoked by Fyodor Pavlovitch in a comparison between a generous heart and a small dog’s heart.

Fido

A little dog invoked by Fyodor Pavlovitch as a comic comparison for his own supposedly small-hearted nature.

The Synod

The unnamed governing church body to which Fyodor Pavlovitch threatens to write with allegations about the monastery.

The monk who meets the visitors

An unnamed, pale, courteous monk who guides the visitors toward Zossima’s hermitage and explains its arrangements for receiving women.

The novice accompanying Zossima

Also known as the novice

An unnamed novice who accompanies Zossima and Alyosha and helps escort the elder when he leaves to meet the waiting people.

The possessed woman

Also known as the crazy woman

An unnamed peasant woman known to Zossima, who suffers an illness described as possession. She is soothed when he lays his stole on her forehead and prays.

Nastasya

A town-dwelling woman of peasant background who has come on pilgrimage to grieve for her youngest child, Alexey. Zossima urges her to return to her husband, Nikita.

Nikita

Nastasya’s husband, a driver who drinks when she is away. He shares her grief over their dead children, and Zossima urges her to return to him.

Alexey, Nastasya’s son

Also known as Alexey

Nastasya and Nikita’s youngest son, who died at nearly three years old. His death has left his mother inconsolable.

The old woman beggar

An unnamed elderly woman who comes to Zossima seeking advice about her son, who is away in Siberia and has stopped writing.

Stepanida Ilyinishna

A wealthy merchant’s wife who advises the widow Prohorovna to have her son prayed for as if he were dead, believing it will prompt him to write.

The repentant widow

An unnamed young peasant woman who confesses that, after years of abuse by her sick husband, she wished for his death and believes this was sinful. Zossima counsels her to repent and forgive him.

The dead husband

The repentant widow’s unnamed husband, an old man who beat her cruelly before his death.

The sentimental society lady

An unnamed woman of good disposition who brings her daughter to Zossima and confides her anguish over doubts about the afterlife. She dreams of serving the sick but fears she could not bear ingratitude.

The doctor who spoke to Zossima

Also known as the doctor

An unnamed older, clever doctor who once told Zossima, in bitter jest, that he loved humanity in general but could not tolerate people individually.

The Metropolitan Platon

A bishop in an anecdote told by Fyodor Pavlovitch, who supposedly answered Diderot’s denial of God with a biblical rebuke. Fyodor admits that the story of Diderot’s conversion was invented.

Denis Diderot

Also known as Diderot

A philosopher mentioned in Fyodor Pavlovitch’s anecdote about denying God to Metropolitan Platon; the alleged conversion story is acknowledged as false.

Princess Dashkov

Mentioned by Fyodor Pavlovitch as Diderot’s supposed godmother in the anecdote he admits making up.

Potyomkin

Mentioned by Fyodor Pavlovitch as Diderot’s supposed godfather in the anecdote he admits making up.

The captain of police

Also known as the Ispravnik

An unnamed tall, fat, fair, and sulky police official in a story Fyodor Pavlovitch tells about a failed pun that ruined a business meeting.

Napravnik

Also known as Mr. Napravnik

A Russian orchestra conductor invoked in Fyodor Pavlovitch’s pun to the captain of police; he is mentioned but does not appear.

The influential person in Fyodor Pavlovitch’s story

An unnamed influential man whose wife Fyodor Pavlovitch says he once insulted by calling her “ticklish”; the man retaliated by tickling him.

The French superintendent of political detectives

Also known as the superintendent

An unnamed French official whom Miüsov met in Paris. He said that Christian socialists were more frightening to the authorities than atheist socialists.

The French official’s chief

Also known as the influential personage in the Government

An unnamed influential figure in the French government whom Miüsov visited in Paris; the superintendent of political detectives was present as his subordinate.

Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov

Also known as Adelaïda Ivanovna

Fyodor Pavlovitch’s first wife and Dmitri’s mother, from the Miüsov landowning family. She left her husband and died in Petersburg.

The young lady who drowned herself

An unnamed woman from an earlier generation who died by suicide after an enigmatic passion and an imagined attachment to Shakespeare’s Ophelia.

Ophelia

A character in Shakespeare’s work, invoked as the model for the unnamed woman’s chosen manner of suicide.

Adelaïda Ivanovna’s grandfather

Also known as Mitya’s grandfather

Dmitri’s maternal grandfather, who had died before Dmitri was left in Grigory’s care.

Adelaïda Ivanovna’s mother

Also known as Mitya’s grandmother

Dmitri’s maternal grandmother, who moved to Moscow and was seriously ill.

Proudhon

A political thinker whom Pyotr Alexandrovitch Miüsov had known personally.

Bakunin

A political thinker whom Pyotr Alexandrovitch Miüsov had known personally.

The Moscow guardian

An unnamed cousin of Pyotr Alexandrovitch Miüsov who took Dmitri into her care in Moscow.

The Moscow guardian’s married daughter

An unnamed woman who took over Dmitri’s care after her mother died.

The Jewish business companion

An unnamed man who accompanied Fyodor Pavlovitch on a business trip to the province where he met Sofya Ivanovna.

Sofya Ivanovna’s father

Also known as The deacon

An unnamed deacon whose daughter, Sofya Ivanovna, was orphaned in childhood.

The general’s widow

Also known as Sofya Ivanovna’s benefactress

A wealthy widow who raised Sofya Ivanovna and later took Ivan and Alyosha from Grigory’s cottage, arranged their education, and left them money.

Yefim Petrovitch Polenov

Also known as Yefim Petrovitch

The provincial Marshal of Nobility and principal heir of the general’s widow. He took a personal interest in Ivan and Alyosha, housed and educated them, and was especially fond of Alyosha.

The Moscow teacher

Also known as The celebrated teacher

An unnamed, experienced teacher and old friend of Yefim Petrovitch who taught Ivan in Moscow.

Alyosha’s nurse

Also known as the nurse

An unnamed nurse who took Alyosha from his mother during one of his earliest remembered scenes.

The elder who preceded Zossima

One of the three elders who served at the monastery before Zossima; no name or further details are given.

The pilgrims

Also known as the visitors to Zossima

Unnamed people, including peasants and people of distinction, who come to Zossima to confess, seek counsel, or ask for blessings and healing.

The sick woman visitors

Unnamed women who bring sick children or relatives to Zossima and ask him to pray for them.

The general at the monastery

Also known as the very old general

An unnamed, very old general staying at the monastery’s hotel.

The drunken reveler who challenged Fyodor

One of five or six drunken men returning from a club with Fyodor Pavlovitch when he encountered Lizaveta asleep. He challenged Fyodor to act on his licentious claim about her; he is not named, and the narrator says the group later dispersed, with only one elderly civil councilor remaining in town.

The elderly civil councilor

Also known as the respected civil councilor

The sole member of the drunken group who remained in town after the others left, an elderly and respected official with grown-up daughters. The narrator doubts he could have spread the rumor that Fyodor fathered Lizaveta’s child.

Kondratyev

Also known as the merchant’s widow

A well-to-do merchant’s widow who took Lizaveta into her home while she was pregnant and arranged to keep watch over her until the confinement.

The old midwife

An unnamed midwife who lived near the Karamazov home and was fetched by Grigory when Lizaveta went into labor; she helped save the baby.

The bedridden old woman

An unnamed sick, elderly woman who lives in a small house beside Fyodor Pavlovitch’s garden with her daughter. Marfa regularly gives them soup and bread.

The former maid-servant

Also known as the bedridden woman’s daughter

An unnamed woman who had been a genteel maid-servant in generals’ families in Petersburg. She returned home to care for her bedridden mother, remains poor, and keeps her fine dresses.

The name-day tradesman

An unnamed local tradesman who, when refused more vodka at his name-day party, smashed his own household goods and tore clothing for effect, then regretted the damage when sober.

The woman who bore Dmitri’s child

Also known as Agafya Ivanovna

The colonel’s twenty-four-year-old elder daughter by his first wife, living with her father and maternal aunt. A cheerful, generous dressmaker, she is close to Katerina Ivanovna and was entrusted with 3,000 roubles that Dmitri was supposed to send from Katerina; he admits he spent that money instead.

The colonel’s second wife

An unnamed woman from a distinguished general’s family and Katerina Ivanovna’s mother. She died before Dmitri arrived in the town where the colonel served.

The new major

An unnamed officer who arrived to take command of the battalion after the colonel was ordered to retire.

Dr. Kravchenko

The doctor who declared that the colonel was genuinely ill during the inquiry into the battalion funds.

Trifonov

Also known as the merchant Trifonov

An elderly, wealthy local merchant and widower who had regularly borrowed the colonel’s battalion funds to trade at the fair, returning the principal with interest and a gift. On the last occasion, he failed to return the money.

Trifonov’s son and heir

An unnamed, dissolute young man who told Dmitri that Trifonov had not brought back the borrowed government money from the fair.

The orderly

An unnamed military orderly who arrived with the battalion’s books and an order requiring the colonel to hand over the government funds.

The general’s two nieces

Two unnamed nieces and heirs of Katerina Ivanovna’s wealthy relation. They died of smallpox in the same week, after which the general’s widow made Katerina her heir and gave her a marriage portion.

The shopkeeper Lukyanov

A shopkeeper who told Grigory about the newspaper account of the captured Russian soldier.

The young woman from the winter picnic

Also known as the official’s daughter

An unnamed, gentle and submissive young woman, daughter of an official, whose hand Dmitri forced during a winter picnic and whom he persuaded to kiss him. She expected him to propose, but he ignored her for months; she later married an official and left town.

The colonel’s second daughter

Also known as Katerina Ivanovna

The colonel’s younger daughter by his second wife, who returned from a fashionable school in the capital and became the belle of local balls and picnics. This is the same Katerina Ivanovna who later came to Dmitri for money to save her father.

The lieutenant-colonel’s two wives

The unnamed first and second wives of Dmitri’s former colonel; both were dead by the time Dmitri served under him.

The general who inspected the battalion

An unnamed commander who inspected the battalion and whose visits were when the colonel held the government funds himself.

The battery commander

An unnamed officer who hosted an evening gathering where Katerina Ivanovna first caught Dmitri’s attention.

The two Excellencies

Two unnamed high-ranking women who, along with other town ladies, welcomed Katerina Ivanovna and hosted entertainments in her honor.

The colonel’s wife

An unnamed woman among the town’s leading ladies who helped welcome Katerina Ivanovna and organize events in her honor.

The famous teacher Smaragdov

Also known as Smaragdov

The author of a universal history book Fyodor Pavlovitch gave Smerdyakov to read; Smerdyakov found it dull.

Kramskoy

A painter mentioned by the narrator as the artist of a picture called “Contemplation,” used to describe Smerdyakov’s habit of standing absorbed in thought.

The young gentleman in the drunken group

An unnamed young man among the revelers who questioned whether anyone could regard Lizaveta as a woman. The others joined his rejection of Fyodor Pavlovitch’s claim that she could be desired.

Paul de Kock

A writer whom Dmitri invokes to characterize his youthful sexual adventures as commonplace, passing episodes.

Silenus

A mythological figure Dmitri quotes in a verse about a drunken old man riding an ass, while insisting he is not drunk.

Ceres

Also known as the mother Ceres

A goddess in the poem Dmitri recites, who descends from Olympus seeking her lost daughter Proserpine.

Proserpine

Ceres’s lost daughter in the poem Dmitri recites.