The Idiot

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Also known as the Foundation · PGLAF

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Michael S. Hart

Also known as Professor Michael S. Hart

The originator of the Project Gutenberg concept of a freely shared electronic library. He produced and distributed its eBooks for forty years.

Prince Lef Nicolaievitch Muishkin

Also known as Prince Muishkin · Lef Nicolaievitch · the prince

A kind, epileptic prince who had formally proposed marriage to Aglaya but is engaged to Nastasia Philipovna after choosing to comfort her during their confrontation. He says he loves both women, though he regards Nastasia as a sick, unhappy child; after she flees their wedding with Rogojin, he finds her murdered and remains by Rogojin in a feverish, unresponsive state. He is returned to Dr. Schneider’s care in Switzerland, with grave fears for his mental recovery.

Aglaya Epanchin

Also known as Aglaya · Aglaya Ivanovna

The youngest Epanchin daughter, whom Muishkin loves and had formally asked to marry. She later marries a Polish count in exile against her parents’ wishes; he proves to be a dubious figure, and his priestly friend helps estrange her from her family.

General Epanchin

Also known as General Ivan Fedorovitch Epanchin · Fedor Ivanovitch · Ivan Fedorovitch

A wealthy government official, husband of Lizabetha Prokofievna and father of the Epanchin daughters. He declines to interfere in Muishkin’s marriage, and later remains in St. Petersburg while his family visits the prince in Switzerland.

Aglaya’s mother

Also known as Mrs. General Epanchin · Elizabetha Prokofievna · Lizabetha Prokofievna · Madame Epanchin · Mrs. Epanchin

Wife of General Epanchin and mother of the Epanchin daughters. She declines Lebedeff’s attempt to enlist her in stopping Muishkin’s wedding, but later weeps when she sees the prince incapacitated in Switzerland and appears to forgive him.

Alexandra Epanchin

Also known as Alexandra · Alexandra Ivanovna

The eldest Epanchin daughter. She later visits Muishkin in Switzerland with her family and thanks Evgenie Pavlovitch for his kindness to the prince.

Adelaida Epanchin

Also known as Adelaida · Adelaida Ivanovna

The middle Epanchin daughter, who later visits Muishkin in Switzerland with her family and thanks Evgenie Pavlovitch for his kindness to him. Evgenie observes some lack of harmony between her and her fiancé.

Gavrila Ardalionovitch Ivolgin

Also known as Gavrila Ardalionovitch · Gania

An ambitious young man whose father dies after a second stroke. He attends the prince’s planned wedding and later visits Muishkin in Switzerland with the Epanchin family.

Hippolyte

Also known as Hippolyte Terentieff

A consumptive young man who warns Muishkin that Rogojin may harm Aglaya, frightening the prince before the wedding. He dies about two weeks after Nastasia Philipovna’s death.

Lebedeff

Also known as Lukian Timofeyovitch

A talkative clerk and Muishkin’s landlord. He tries to have the prince declared mentally incapable to stop the wedding, then confesses the failed scheme to him; after Nastasia’s murder, he helps bring the police to Rogojin’s flat.

Vera

Also known as Lebedeff’s big daughter · Vera Lukianovna

Lebedeff’s eldest daughter, who is distressed by Muishkin’s marriage plans but remains at his house on the wedding night. She keeps his plan to leave for Petersburg secret and later corresponds with Evgenie Pavlovitch about the prince’s condition.

Colia Ivolgin

Also known as Colia · Kolia · Nicolai Ardalionovitch

Gania’s thirteen-year-old brother, who reconciles with Muishkin before their father dies. After the wedding disaster, he helps the prince and later chooses Evgenie Pavlovitch as his confidant, sharing what he knows about Muishkin’s condition.

Nina Alexandrovna Ivolgina

Also known as Nina Alexandrovna

Gania and Colia’s mother and General Ivolgin’s wife. After her husband dies, Muishkin visits her family during their mourning; she later worries that Colia is unusually thoughtful.

Varvara Alexandrovna Ivolgina

Also known as Varvara Alexandrovna · Varia · Varvara Alexandrovna Ptitsin · Varvara Ardalionovna

Gania’s sister and Ptitsin’s wife. She is among Muishkin’s friends and relatives who continue living as before after the central events.

Evgenie Pavlovitch

Also known as Evgenie Pavlovitch Radomski

A wealthy young officer who challenges Muishkin over the harm he caused Aglaya and doubts that he truly loves either woman. He later becomes the prince’s close friend and confidant, arranges his return to Dr. Schneider’s care, and regularly writes Vera about his condition.

Prince S——

Also known as Prince S

An eminent young prince related to Evgenie Pavlovitch. He declines to intervene in Muishkin’s marriage and later visits the prince in Switzerland with the Epanchin family.

Nastasia Philipovna Barashkoff

Also known as Nastasia Philipovna · Nastasia Philipovna Barashkoff · Nastia

A beautiful, proud woman whom Totski took in as a child and exploited when she was young. She marries neither Muishkin nor Rogojin: on her wedding day she flees with Rogojin, who kills her; she had been increasingly fearful and unstable beforehand.

Parfen Rogojin

Also known as Rogojin

A passionate man infatuated with Nastasia Philipovna and bound to Muishkin by a declared friendship. He takes Nastasia from the wedding and murders her; after a brain fever and trial, he is sentenced to fifteen years’ hard labour in Siberia.

Daria Alexeyevna

Also known as the actress · the loud woman

A lively, kind-hearted actress with whom Nastasia stays. She witnesses Nastasia’s distress before the wedding and is among those who go to Petersburg after learning of the danger.

Keller

Also known as the retired officer · the former lieutenant and boxing teacher · the boxer · ex-lieutenant

A retired officer and boxer, formerly a follower of Rogojin, whom Muishkin appoints his best man. He helps escort Nastasia to the church, then returns after her flight and remains with the prince after the wedding disaster.

Antip Burdovsky

Also known as Pavlicheff’s son · the son of Pavlicheff

A thin, poorly dressed young man who falsely claimed to be Pavlicheff’s son. He serves as a best man at Muishkin’s wedding and later goes to see Hippolyte.

Ptitsin

Also known as Ivan Petrovitch Ptitsin · Mr. Ptitsin

A money-lender and Varvara’s husband. He attends Muishkin’s wedding and later continues living as before.

General Ardalion Alexandrovitch Ivolgin

Also known as General Ivolgin · Ardalion Alexandrovitch

Gania’s father, a retired general whose volatile behavior and drinking trouble his family. He dies after a second stroke, eight days after the first.

The prince’s narrator

Also known as narrator

The narrator recounts the story and comments directly on its characters and events. Here the narrator describes the wedding, Nastasia’s murder, and the later fates of the principal characters.

The old lady, Rogojin’s mother

Also known as Rogojin’s mother · Parfen Rogojin’s mother

An unnamed elderly woman who has been nearly demented since her husband’s death. She remains alive after Parfen’s conviction, and is spared knowledge of the murder and its consequences.

Rogojin’s brother

Also known as Senka Rogojin · brother Senka

Parfen Rogojin’s brother, who lives in the wing of the family house. After Parfen is sentenced, he inherits most of the family fortune.

The porter at Rogojin’s house

Also known as the porter

An unnamed porter who confirms that Rogojin slept at home and later reports seeing him return with a friend. His testimony helps Lebedeff secure police assistance to open the flat.

Old woman who opened the door at Rogojin’s mother’s home

Also known as the old woman

An unnamed elderly servant who opens the door at the Rogojin home and denies knowing whether Nastasia visited. Rogojin had instructed her to conceal his presence from Muishkin.

The servant at the Ismailofsky lodgings

Also known as the aged servant

An unnamed elderly servant who tells Muishkin that Rogojin is not at his mother’s flat and answers his questions about Nastasia evasively.

The family at the Ismailofsky lodgings

Also known as the good people at the lodgings · the agitated ladies

An unnamed family at the respectable widow’s lodging, who recognize Muishkin and learn about his abandoned wedding. They urge him to confront Rogojin and help search for Nastasia.

The mother at the Ismailofsky lodgings

Also known as the mother

An unnamed woman in the family at the Ismailofsky lodgings. She searches several places for Nastasia and plans to ask Daria Alexeyevna for news.

The widow who rents rooms near Ismailofsky barracks

Also known as the respectable widow · the lady of the house

An unnamed widow who lets furnished rooms near the Ismailofsky barracks, where Nastasia had previously lodged. Her household receives Muishkin while he searches for Nastasia.

The German lady who was Nastasia’s friend

Also known as the German lady

An unnamed German woman who had been a friend of Nastasia. She has not seen or heard from Nastasia since a quarrel several weeks earlier.

The old doctor who examined Muishkin informally

Also known as the doctor · Lebedeff’s old friend

An unnamed married doctor and father of a family whom Lebedeff brings to visit Muishkin under the pretext of discussing Hippolyte. He concludes that the prince’s conduct does not show mental incapacity and later attends the wedding.

The doctor’s wife and children

Also known as the doctor’s family

The unnamed wife and children of the doctor Lebedeff brings to visit Muishkin; the doctor’s compliments to Vera offend her.

The Polish count

Also known as the Polish count · the count

An unnamed Polish man in exile to whom Aglaya becomes briefly attached and then marries against her parents’ wishes. He proves neither a genuine count nor a political exile, and his priestly friend helps estrange Aglaya from her family.

The Jesuit priest who influenced Aglaya

Also known as the celebrated Jesuit priest · the priest

An unnamed celebrated Jesuit priest whom Aglaya visits in confession. He makes her a fanatic and, with the Polish count, contributes to her estrangement from her family.

The old gentleman leading the wedding-day crowd

Also known as the old gentleman

An unnamed elderly man at the head of a crowd that presses to enter Muishkin’s house after Nastasia flees. Muishkin courteously invites him and some others inside for tea.

The young woman at the station

Also known as the girl on the platform

An unnamed young woman at the station wearing an old-fashioned black cloak and silk headscarf. Rogojin pays her fifty roubles for them to disguise Nastasia as they board the train.

The coachman who drove Rogojin and Nastasia

Also known as the coachman

An unnamed coachman whom Rogojin pays to drive him and Nastasia to the station quickly.

The crowd at Nastasia’s wedding departure

Also known as the spectators · the crowd

A crowd gathered outside Nastasia’s house and the church, some of whom jeer and whistle as she leaves for the wedding. Their taunts and attention intensify her humiliation.

The crowd of visitors at Muishkin’s house

Also known as the excited bands of people · the would-be guests · the strange visitors

Unnamed onlookers who besiege Muishkin’s house after Nastasia flees. He invites several inside and receives them courteously, turning the disturbance into a civil gathering.

The lawyer who advised Lebedeff

Also known as the clever lawyer · the old gentleman

An unnamed lawyer known to Lebedeff. He says a legal effort to restrain Muishkin could succeed if competent witnesses established the prince’s mental incapacity.

The lawyer who defended Rogojin

Also known as Rogojin’s counsel · the clever and eloquent counsel

An unnamed defense lawyer who argues at Rogojin’s trial that brain inflammation caused the murder and had been brought on by the accused’s sufferings.

The Polish count’s friend

Also known as the count’s friend

An unnamed priestly friend of Aglaya’s Polish husband who helps cause a quarrel between Aglaya and her family.

Nastasia’s companions at the wedding

Also known as the friends about her

Unnamed friends who accompany Nastasia from Daria Alexeyevna’s house toward her wedding carriage. They are stunned when she suddenly runs to Rogojin.

The dressmakers and maids at Nastasia’s house

Also known as the army of dressmakers and maids

Unnamed dressmakers and maids who surround Nastasia on her wedding morning and report that she is cheerful and absorbed in choosing her diamonds.

Prince N.

Also known as the eminent Prince N.

A wealthy, handsome prince and charming storyteller. He attends the Epanchins’ gathering and later helps restore the evening after Muishkin’s seizure.

Princess Bielokonski

Also known as Old Princess Bielokonski

An elderly friend of Lizabetha Prokofievna and Aglaya’s godmother. She comforts Muishkin after he breaks the vase, recalls his earlier visit to her in Moscow, and advises Lizabetha that he is an unsuitable husband for Aglaya.

The wife of the dignitary

Also known as the dignitary’s wife

An unnamed society woman married to an elderly high official. At the gathering, she speaks with General Epanchin’s chief while Muishkin addresses the company.

The old dignitary

Also known as the high official · General Epanchin’s chief

An unnamed elderly and influential official who is General Epanchin’s superior and long-standing protector. He treats Muishkin kindly after the vase breaks, tries to calm him during his speech, and later advises General Epanchin about Aglaya’s future.

The old general who is General Epanchin’s superior

Also known as the German-named general · the count or baron

An unnamed elderly military general, reputed for administrative ability, who is General Epanchin’s immediate superior. At the gathering he ignores Muishkin’s speech and converses with the dignitary’s wife.

Ivan Petrovitch

Also known as Pavlicheff’s cousin

A distant cousin of Nicolai Andreevitch Pavlicheff and an acquaintance of Muishkin from the prince’s childhood. At the Epanchins’ gathering, he laughs kindly with Muishkin and confirms that he once helped villagers rebuild their homes.

The student Porkunoff

Also known as Porkunoff

A student whom the old dignitary reportedly helped save from being sent to Siberia.

The clerk Shoabrin

Also known as Shoabrin

A clerk whom the old dignitary reportedly helped save from being sent to Siberia.

The villagers whose homes burned

Also known as the burned-out villagers

Unnamed villagers whose homes were destroyed by fire. Ivan Petrovitch reportedly gave them wood to rebuild, though the prince had heard an inaccurate version of the story.

Nastasia’s housemaid who testified in court

Also known as the housemaid

An unnamed housemaid who recently testified against her lover in court. Nastasia invokes her as someone who would understand her better than Aglaya does.

The Frenchman who became a priest

Also known as the Frenchman

An unnamed Frenchman in a story used by the narrator to illustrate the implausible rumors about Muishkin. He accepts ordination, then tells his bishop he does not believe in God and asks to give up the priesthood.

The Frenchman’s bishop

Also known as the bishop

An unnamed bishop to whom the Frenchman writes after being ordained, asking to surrender his orders.

Mr. Turgenieff

Also known as Turgenieff

An author whose writing is cited in the gossip about the prince’s supposed dabbling in Nihilism.

The narrator’s gossip-mongers

Also known as the talented gossip-mongers

Unnamed people in various social circles who rapidly spread and embellish stories about Muishkin, Aglaya, and Nastasia.

The prince’s wedding guests

Also known as the wedding guests

Unnamed members of society who attend the wedding gossip surrounding Muishkin and Nastasia; reports say the ceremony is to be public in Pavlofsk.

The prince’s supposed bride

Also known as the daughter of the family

Aglaya, referred to in circulating rumors as Muishkin’s fiancée, whom he is falsely said to have publicly discarded at the Epanchins’ gathering.

The French priest in the gossip anecdote

Also known as the newly ordained priest

The Frenchman who reportedly became a priest despite not believing in God, then wrote to his bishop the next day asking to surrender his orders.

The girl at Varia’s house

Also known as the daughter at Varia’s house

Aglaya, who reportedly takes refuge at Varia’s home after leaving Nastasia’s house, then returns home with her mother and sisters.

The prince’s best man

Also known as the best man

Keller, whom Muishkin earnestly asks to serve as best man at his planned wedding to Nastasia.

The man who gives Nastasia away

Also known as the giver-away

Antip Burdovsky, who is assigned to give Nastasia away at her planned wedding to Muishkin and is delighted by the role.

The bridegroom-to-be

Also known as the recognized bridegroom

Muishkin, described in the circulating gossip as Aglaya’s recognized bridegroom before he is said to have thrown her over for Nastasia.

The little child Muishkin praises

Also known as the little child

An unnamed child whom Muishkin cites as an example of a lovely thing in life.

God’s day

Also known as the dawn

A personified image in Muishkin’s speech, representing the beauty of daybreak.

The green tree

Also known as the tree

A tree Muishkin cites as an example of beauty that can make a person happy simply by looking at it.

Adelaida’s fiancé

Also known as Adelaida’s bridegroom

An unnamed man engaged to Adelaida Epanchin. She discusses Muishkin’s emotional response to Ivan Petrovitch with him.

The wealthy distant relative of Lizabetha Prokofievna

Also known as the dissatisfied gentleman

An unnamed, elderly and wealthy distant relative of Lizabetha Prokofievna, known as one of the dissatisfied. He attends the Epanchins’ gathering and is thought by Lizabetha to be a possible suitor for Alexandra.

The colonel of engineers

Also known as the serious colonel

An unnamed, serious and quiet colonel of engineers, a friend of Prince S. He attends the Epanchins’ gathering and wears a large ring on his right hand.

The German-Russian poet

Also known as the German poet

An unnamed Russian poet from a German family who translates German verse and cultivates the patronage of influential people. He attends the Epanchins’ gathering and listens with a spiteful smile to Muishkin’s speech.

Nicolai Andreevitch Pavlicheff

Also known as Mr. Pavlicheff · Nicolai Andreevitch

A wealthy man who supported Muishkin in Switzerland and arranged for his treatment there. Ivan Petrovitch says Pavlicheff was kind and worthy, but also reports that he abandoned public service, became a Jesuit, and tried to leave property to the order.

The elder old lady at Zlatoverhoff

Also known as the elder sister

An unnamed older woman, a cousin of Pavlicheff, who cared for Muishkin as a sick child at Zlatoverhoff. Ivan Petrovitch recalls that she was severe with him.

The younger old lady at Zlatoverhoff

Also known as the younger sister

An unnamed younger woman, a cousin of Pavlicheff, who cared for Muishkin as a sick child at Zlatoverhoff. Ivan Petrovitch remembers her as kind to the prince.

Abbot Gurot

Also known as the Jesuit abbot

A Jesuit abbot who, according to Ivan Petrovitch, influenced Nicolai Andreevitch Pavlicheff to convert to Roman Catholicism. Gurot and others tried to make a claim under Pavlicheff’s will.

Countess K.

Also known as the countess

An unnamed countess who joined a Roman convent abroad the previous year, an example cited in the conversation about conversions to Catholicism.

Countess Levitsky

Also known as the beautiful Countess Levitsky

A beautiful countess whom the old dignitary once ran away with in Vienna in 1832, according to Princess Bielokonski.

The man who reprieved Muishkin’s friend

Also known as the man reprieved from execution

An unnamed man whom Muishkin met during treatment with Professor Schneider. Sentenced to death for a political crime, he spent fifteen to twenty minutes believing he would die before being reprieved, and later regretted not making good use of his life.

Kostia Lebedeff

Also known as Kostia

Lebedeff’s son, who accompanies Colia while they buy a hedgehog and hatchet with money entrusted to them by Petroff. He is shy about entering the Epanchins’ home.

Petroff

Also known as the schoolmate

A schoolmate of Colia and Kostia who gives them money to buy Schlosser’s History. They spend it instead on a hedgehog and hatchet, then take the purchases to him.

Schlosser

Also known as Schlosser

The author of a history book that Petroff asked Colia and Kostia to buy for him.

The hedgehog

Also known as the hedgehog

An individually owned hedgehog that Colia and Kostia buy with Petroff’s money. Aglaya buys it from them and sends it to Muishkin as a personal token.

Kapiton

Also known as the Kapiton fellow

A man whose existence and story General Ivolgin had discussed with Hippolyte. The passage does not establish whether Kapiton is real.

Gogol

Also known as Gogol

The writer whom Colia identifies as the source of a line General Ivolgin recalls from Dead Souls.

Napoleon

Also known as Napoleon

The French emperor, whom General Ivolgin claims to have met as a child in Moscow in 1812 and later served as a page. Ivolgin recounts intimate conversations and political episodes with him.

De Bazancour

Also known as Napoleon’s page

A page in Napoleon’s service who, according to General Ivolgin’s story, died during the campaign; Ivolgin says he was appointed to the vacant post.

Davoust

Also known as Davoust

A French general and marshal whom General Ivolgin claims was often with Napoleon in Moscow. Ivolgin says he and Napoleon discussed plans for the army’s winter occupation of the Kremlin.

Roustan

Also known as Roustan

A man in Napoleon’s service whom General Ivolgin claims accompanied Napoleon on rides and slept in the next room.

Constant

Also known as Constant

A man in Napoleon’s service whom General Ivolgin says was away carrying a letter to Empress Josephine.

Empress Josephine

Also known as Josephine

Napoleon’s wife, whom General Ivolgin claims Napoleon wrote to after the boy urged him to do so.

Emperor Alexander

Also known as Alexander

The Russian emperor whom General Ivolgin claims Napoleon repeatedly petitioned for peace during the 1812 campaign.

King of Rome

Also known as Napoleon’s son

Napoleon’s son, whom General Ivolgin says Napoleon believed might grieve for him.

King of Prussia

Also known as the King of Prussia

A king whom General Ivolgin claims Napoleon said he hated during a private conversation.

Austrian Emperor

Also known as the Austrian Emperor

An emperor whom General Ivolgin claims Napoleon said he hated during a private conversation.

Empress Katherine

Also known as the Empress Katherine

A Russian empress whose portrait General Ivolgin claims Napoleon paused to admire in a palace in Moscow.

Charasse

Also known as Charasse

An author of a book about Napoleon and the Waterloo campaign, discussed by Muishkin and General Ivolgin.

The general’s mother

Also known as his mother

An unnamed woman whom General Ivolgin says was in Moscow when the French arrived in 1812 and was slow to leave the city.

The general’s sister

Also known as his sister

An unnamed sister of General Ivolgin. He claims Napoleon wrote an inscription in her album when she was three years old.

Tchernosvitoff

Also known as Tchernosvitoff

A person whom Lebedeff claims made his wooden leg, part of the elaborate story about losing a leg in Moscow in 1812.

Eropegoff

Also known as Eroshka Eropegoff

A man whom General Ivolgin claims was like a brother to him for eleven months and for whom he fought a duel. Ivolgin says Eropegoff later died in battle.

Maria Petrovna

Also known as Maria Petrovna

A woman named by General Ivolgin as he begins an attempted confession to Colia, but he suffers a stroke before explaining who she is.

The old soldier who saw the French enter Moscow

Also known as the old soldier

An unnamed soldier whose account of witnessing the French entry into Moscow is lent to General Ivolgin by Muishkin. The general dismisses it as crude and unreliable.

The French chasseur

Also known as the chasseur

An unnamed French soldier in Lebedeff’s story, said to have shot off one of Lebedeff’s legs with a cannon in 1812.

Napoleon’s orderly

Also known as the orderly

An unnamed orderly whom General Ivolgin says accompanied Napoleon on rides, along with another orderly.

The French soldier who fed a baby in Moscow

Also known as the French soldier

An unnamed French soldier in an autobiographical account cited by Muishkin, said to have fed the author bread when he was a baby in Moscow in 1812.

Ferdishenko

Also known as Ferd-Ferd

A poor-mannered, would-be witty young clerk and former lodger in Gania’s family home. Lebedeff suspects him of stealing four hundred roubles after he leaves the prince’s house early, though the evidence is circumstantial.

Nastasia’s letters to Aglaya

Also known as the three letters

Three letters from Nastasia Philipovna to Aglaya, written over the course of a week. They declare Nastasia’s love for Muishkin, urge Aglaya to marry him, and describe Nastasia’s fear and suspicions about Rogojin.

Gania’s family

Also known as the Ivolgins

Gania’s parents and siblings, including his mother Nina Alexandrovna and sister Varvara. Gania is angry and ashamed over his father’s behavior, while Varvara fears the resulting scandal will hurt their mother.

Aglaya’s sisters

Also known as the Epanchin girls

Alexandra and Adelaida Epanchin, who are close to one another and puzzled by Aglaya’s behavior toward Muishkin. They report that she is formally engaged to the prince, and say the family is preparing for a gathering where the engagement may be announced.

The maid at the Epanchin household

Also known as the maid

An unnamed servant who tells Lizabetha Prokofievna that Aglaya went into the park before seven in the morning.

The maid at Wilkin’s

Also known as Wilkin’s maid

An unnamed maid who tells Lebedeff that someone had been hammering at the door at Wilkin’s around eight, but she did not let him in.

Wilkin

Also known as Ferdishenko’s friend

An unnamed tipsy man whom Ferdishenko says he is visiting. Lebedeff goes to Wilkin’s address but finds no trace of Ferdishenko.

The captain’s widow

Also known as the widow

An unnamed widow whom General Ivolgin visits and is said to be infatuated with. Lebedeff plans to catch him at her house in hopes of shaming him into better behavior.

Count rescued by General Ivolgin

Also known as the count

An unnamed count in a story General Ivolgin tells Lebedeff. Ivolgin claims he saved the count from a burning house after being suspected of stealing money from him.

The man who warned Muishkin about Ferdishenko

Also known as the informant

An unnamed person who reportedly told Muishkin that care was needed in Ferdishenko’s presence. The text does not establish who gave him this information.

Podkoleosin

Also known as Podkoleosin

A character in Gogol’s comedy The Wedding, cited by the narrator as a type of man who longs to escape marriage at the last moment.

Georges Dandin

Also known as Georges Dandin

A character invoked by the narrator as a type of husband who regrets the consequences of his marriage.

Pirogoff

Also known as Pirogoff

A character in Gogol’s writing, cited by the narrator as an example of a foolish man certain of his own genius.

Molière

Also known as Molière

A playwright whom the narrator invokes in connection with the character Georges Dandin.

Rothschild

Also known as Rothschild

A wealthy person whom Gania uses as a standard of ambition when mocking Ptitsin’s modest financial goals.

The count who suspected General Ivolgin

Also known as the count

An unnamed count whom General Ivolgin claims suspected him of stealing five hundred thousand roubles, then embraced him after he supposedly saved the count from a fire.

Aglaya’s wedding guests

Also known as the Epanchins’ party

The attendees expected at a gathering at the Epanchins’ home, where Muishkin is to be presented to Princess Bielokonski and Aglaya’s engagement may be announced.

The priest in Nastasia’s imagined painting

Also known as Christ

The Saviour as Nastasia imagines him in a painting, seated with a little child at sunset. She uses the image to describe the innocence and perfection she sees in Aglaya.

The little child in Nastasia’s imagined painting

Also known as the child

An unnamed child in Nastasia’s imagined painting of Christ, leaning against his knee and gazing up at him.

Bachmatoff

Also known as Peter Matveyevitch Bachmatoff · the councillor of state’s nephew

A university student and Hippolyte’s former schoolmate, whose uncle is a councillor of state. He helps secure a new post and financial assistance for the impoverished doctor Hippolyte befriended, and discusses the value of individual acts of charity with Hippolyte.

The impoverished doctor Hippolyte helped

Also known as the provincial doctor · the medical man

An unnamed former provincial doctor who lost his civil-service post after local intrigues and came to Petersburg to appeal for help. With Bachmatoff’s assistance, he receives a new post, travelling expenses, and help to start over; he departs with his wife.

The doctor’s wife

Also known as the pale-looking woman

An unnamed, sickly woman, wife of the impoverished doctor. She and her husband receive help to start over and leave Petersburg.

The old general who helped convicts

Also known as the old general · the civil general

An unnamed elderly state counsellor and civil general in Moscow who devoted his life to visiting convicts bound for Siberia. He treated them as brothers, offered practical help and devotional books, and was remembered even by hardened criminals.

The man who returned from Siberia

Also known as the man I knew

An unnamed man Hippolyte knew who had been to Siberia and returned. He reported that hardened convicts remembered the old general who visited them on their journey.

The murderer who remembered the old general

Also known as the murderer

An unnamed hardened criminal, described in Hippolyte’s example as having killed a dozen people. Even he might unexpectedly wonder whether the old general who had helped convicts was still alive.

The man who stabbed six children

Also known as the child-murderer

An unnamed criminal in Hippolyte’s example who stabbed six children for amusement. Hippolyte mentions him as an example of how even the most hardened convict might remember the old general’s kindness.

Surikoff

Also known as Surikoff

A poor, meek man who lived above Hippolyte’s family. Hippolyte once insulted him by smiling at the body of his child who had died from hunger and cold; Surikoff quietly ordered him out. During a feverish delirium, Hippolyte imagines Surikoff finding a million roubles and making a golden coffin for the child.

Surikoff’s child

Also known as the child

An unnamed child of Surikoff who died from hunger and cold. Hippolyte once behaved cruelly at the sight of the child’s body.

Hippolyte’s mother

Also known as his mother

An unnamed woman who appears in Hippolyte’s dream and calls his deceased dog Norma into the room.

Matreona

Also known as the maid who brings Hippolyte tea

An unnamed household servant who is instructed to bring Hippolyte tea if he has not opened his door by nine in the morning. She confirms that the doors were locked overnight, making Rogojin’s apparent nocturnal visit impossible.

The monstrous reptile in Hippolyte’s dream

Also known as the monster · the beast

A fictional, venomous creature in Hippolyte’s dream, resembling a shelled scorpion or reptile. It frightens him and bites Norma’s tongue when she attacks it.

Norma

Also known as Hippolyte’s dog · the Newfoundland

Hippolyte’s deceased Newfoundland, who appears in his dream and attacks a monstrous reptile that frightens him.

The young mother in Muishkin’s recollection

Also known as the woman in his dream

An unnamed woman who appears in Muishkin’s troubled dream on the park bench. Her face is filled with remorse and horror, and she silently beckons him to follow her.

The painting of Christ taken down from the cross

Also known as the picture

A painting in one of Rogojin’s gloomy rooms depicting Christ’s tortured, dead body without idealized beauty. Its stark image prompts Hippolyte to reflect on death, nature, and the disciples’ faith.

Gilbert

Also known as the French poet

A poet whose French verse about friends witnessing one’s beauty and death is quoted by Hippolyte. Hippolyte interprets its apparent blessing as concealing bitterness and disappointment.

Meyer

Also known as Meyer’s wall

A person whose wall Hippolyte invokes as a visible reminder of his approaching death. The passage gives no further identification.

Lebedeff’s younger daughter

Also known as the girl of thirteen · the dragon-fly

Lebedeff’s unnamed thirteen-year-old daughter, dressed in mourning. During the birthday gathering she sleeps in the next room.

Lebedeff’s eldest son

Also known as Lebedeff’s nephew · the young man on the sofa · Lebedeff’s sister’s son · Vladimir Doktorenko

An unnamed university student and railway employee, son of Lebedeff’s widowed sister Anisia. At the prince’s birthday gathering, he listens intently to the conversation.

Prince Muishkin’s birthday guests

Also known as the company on the verandah

A gathering of the prince’s acquaintances at his villa, including Hippolyte, Lebedeff and his household, Burdovsky, Gania, Ptitsin, Keller, Colia, Evgenie Pavlovitch, Rogojin, and General Ivolgin. They discuss religion, progress, and the “springs of life,” then gather to hear Hippolyte read his sealed manuscript.

The president

Also known as the general

General Ivolgin, presiding over the guests’ discussion at Muishkin’s birthday gathering. He dismisses Lebedeff’s account of the medieval cannibal as nonsense.

General Gregory Semeonovitch Burmistroff

Also known as Gregory Semeonovitch Burmistroff · the interpreter of the Apocalypse

A deceased man whom General Ivolgin recalls as a genuine interpreter of the Apocalypse. Ivolgin says Burmistroff’s sermons deeply impressed generals and made ladies faint.

The medieval cannibal

Also known as the cannibal · Lebedeff’s client

An unnamed man in Lebedeff’s story who supposedly confessed to killing and eating sixty monks and several children during the famines of the Middle Ages. Lebedeff mockingly frames his conduct as a legal case, claiming remorse ultimately led him to denounce himself.

The monks eaten by the medieval cannibal

Also known as the sixty monks

Unnamed monks whom Lebedeff’s medieval cannibal supposedly killed and ate during years of famine.

The children eaten by the medieval cannibal

Also known as the six children

Unnamed children whom Lebedeff’s medieval cannibal supposedly killed and ate, according to his story.

Malthus

Also known as Malthus

A thinker whom Lebedeff calls a friend of humanity, while arguing that philanthropy without sound moral principles can harm people.

Voltaire

Also known as Voltaire

A writer whom Lebedeff invokes as an example of someone whose influence led people to mock the devil’s traditional appearance.

The unnamed young woman at Colomna

Also known as the consumptive young lady

An unnamed young woman with consumption whom Hippolyte says died suddenly while going to market, as an example of how quickly the illness can prove fatal.

Hippolyte’s mother’s friends

Also known as her friends

Unnamed visitors present in Hippolyte’s dream while his mother searches for the monstrous reptile.

Columbus

Also known as Christopher Columbus

The explorer Hippolyte cites as an example of a person happiest during the pursuit of discovery rather than after achieving it.

Nastasia Philipovna’s portrait

Also known as the portrait · the photograph

A portrait Nastasia Philipovna gives to Gania. Muishkin is struck by its beauty and the suffering, pride, disdain, and simplicity he perceives in her face.

Hippolyte’s mother’s children

Also known as the children

Hippolyte’s unnamed younger siblings, whom his mother kept quiet while he was ill.

Terentich

Also known as Terentich

An unnamed man in Hippolyte’s account who is found drunk in a tiny room while Hippolyte searches for the owner of a lost pocketbook.

The old peasant woman at Terentich’s lodging

Also known as the old woman

An unnamed elderly woman who opens the door at Terentich’s lodging and leads Hippolyte to the next room.

The doctor’s newborn baby

Also known as the baby

An unnamed infant, scarcely three weeks old, born to the impoverished doctor and his wife.

The doctor’s little girl

Also known as the little girl

An unnamed daughter of the impoverished doctor, about three years old, who lies on a sofa during Hippolyte’s visit.

Bachmatoff’s uncle

Also known as the councillor of state

An unnamed councillor of state connected to the civil-service matters in the doctor’s appeal. His nephew Bachmatoff may be able to persuade him to help.

The man who dropped the pocketbook

Also known as the pocketbook’s owner

An unnamed man in a shabby summer dust-coat who drops a pocketbook containing the impoverished doctor’s papers. Hippolyte follows him to his lodging and returns it.

Old man who tried to pick up the pocketbook

Also known as the old wretch in a long kaftan

An unnamed elderly man who rushes to pick up the dropped pocketbook before Hippolyte, then disappears when Hippolyte takes it.

Kislorodoff

Also known as the medical student

A medical student whom Hippolyte consults about his consumption. A self-described Nationalist, atheist, and Nihilist, he estimates Hippolyte may have about a month to live.

Hippolyte’s doctor

Also known as Doctor B. · B.

A doctor whom Hippolyte had falsely claimed told him he had only a fortnight to live; Hippolyte admits the doctor had not even examined him.

The young man accused of murdering six people

Also known as the criminal · the young fellow

An unnamed young man who murdered six people. A defense lawyer argued that the crime arose naturally from his poverty; Evgenie and Muishkin debate what that argument says about distorted ideas of right and wrong.

Lawyer who defended the murderer

Also known as the counsel for the defence · the barrister

An unnamed barrister who defended a young man accused of murdering six people, arguing that the man’s poverty made the crime natural. Evgenie presents the defense as an example of a perverted view of right and wrong.

Gentleman who insulted Nastasia

Also known as the young officer · Evgenie Pavlovitch’s friend

An unnamed young officer and confidant of Evgenie who says Nastasia ought to be whipped. She strikes him across the face with a cane; he then moves toward Muishkin, apparently to ask his name, and leaves.

Nastasia’s middle-aged follower

Also known as the respectable-looking man · the parvenu

An unnamed middle-aged man of respectable appearance, marked as a parvenu, who accompanies Nastasia at the Vauxhall. He disappears while Nastasia confronts Evgenie.

Nastasia’s younger follower

Also known as the younger man

An unnamed, younger and less respectable-looking man accompanying Nastasia at the Vauxhall. He stands aside laughing when she strikes the officer.

Man whose cane Nastasia took

Also known as the young man with a thin cane

An unnamed young man standing near Nastasia at the Vauxhall, whose thin cane she seizes to strike the officer who insulted her.

Young officer Moloftsoff

Also known as Lieutenant Moloftsoff · the captain

A young officer and Evgenie Pavlovitch’s friend who tries to engage Aglaya in conversation at the Vauxhall. After Nastasia strikes him with a cane, he is expected to challenge Muishkin because the prince restrained him; Keller offers to act as Muishkin’s second.

Evgenie Pavlovitch’s uncle

Also known as the head of a civil service department

An unnamed, wealthy man who heads a civil service department and is Evgenie Pavlovitch’s uncle. He shoots himself at age seventy, and a substantial sum of government money is reported missing; Nastasia publicly announces the news.

Nastasia’s two other companions

Also known as the two other ladies

Two unnamed women among the three ladies leading Nastasia’s party at the Vauxhall. They are described as remarkably lovely.

Lebedeff’s daughters

Also known as his daughters

Lebedeff’s unnamed daughters, who join the birthday gathering at Muishkin’s villa. One of them is preparing supper.

Muishkin’s new acquaintances at the Vauxhall

Also known as the young officer and other young men

Several unnamed young men who appear to be close acquaintances of Evgenie Pavlovitch at the Vauxhall. One is a handsome, good-natured, talkative officer who tries to attract Aglaya’s attention; another, Lieutenant Moloftsoff, later insults Nastasia.

Pouschkin

Also known as Pouschkin · Pushkin

The poet whom Aglaya cites as having died in a duel. Mrs. Epanchin earlier asked for a copy of his work.

Lermontoff

Also known as Lermontoff

A writer whose work Bal Masque is cited by Colia as being based on the notion that a man must avenge an insult with blood or demand an apology.

Marfa Borisovna

Also known as Madame Terentieff

A widow of about forty and mother of four children, including Hippolyte. She is now living in poverty at Pskoff; Hippolyte fears she will corrupt his younger siblings.

Luboff

Also known as Lubotchka · Lebedeff’s little one

Lebedeff’s infant daughter, born shortly before her mother Helena died. She is delicate and prone to convulsions, and Vera brings her on visits to Muishkin.

Agatha

Also known as Keller’s Agatha

A person Keller says he would like to give a present to, though he adds that she does not deserve one. The passage gives no further identification.

The companion in Nastasia’s carriage

Also known as the other lady in the carriage

An unnamed woman seated with Nastasia Philipovna in the carriage when Nastasia calls to Evgenie Pavlovitch. Her identity is not established.

Girl accompanying Nastasia

Also known as the girl of sixteen · the distant relative of Daria Alexeyevna

An unnamed sixteen-year-old girl, a distant relative of Daria Alexeyevna, who sometimes rides with Nastasia. She sings well, bringing attention to the household.

Gentleman who broke off his engagement

Also known as the gentleman on holiday

An unnamed man on holiday who broke off his engagement because of Nastasia Philipovna.

Old general who quarrelled with his son

Also known as the old general

An unnamed elderly general who quarrelled with his only son over Nastasia Philipovna.

Kupferof

Also known as Kupferof

A person whose IOUs Nastasia says Rogojin has bought up on Evgenie Pavlovitch’s behalf. The passage gives no further information about Kupferof.

Biscup

Also known as Biscup

A person whose IOUs Nastasia says may also be settled. The passage gives no further information about Biscup.

Pavel?

A person whose IOUs Nastasia says may also be settled. The passage gives no further information about this person.

Bourdaloue

Also known as the French archbishop Bourdaloue

A French archbishop whom Keller admires and discussed with Lebedeff late into the night.

Russian liberal

Also known as the Russian liberal

A generalized figure in Evgenie Pavlovitch’s argument, described as rejecting Russia itself while claiming to be liberal. No individual Russian liberal is identified.

Lomonosoff

Also known as Lomonosoff

A writer whom Evgenie Pavlovitch names as one of only three Russian authors he considers genuinely national.

Mrs. Grundy

Also known as Mrs. Grundy

A personified symbol of conventional social disapproval, whom Hippolyte says would not be angry with a dying man for speaking freely.

The perfected human being

Also known as the only human being recognized as perfect

An unnamed figure whom Hippolyte says nature presented to humanity as perfect, giving him a mission whose words caused much bloodshed. The passage does not name this person.

Lebedeff’s sister-in-law

Also known as his sister-in-law

An unnamed woman with whom Nastasia is staying in Petersburg after fleeing Rogojin. She is related to Lebedeff by marriage.

Schneider

Also known as Professor Schneider

A Swiss professor who treated Muishkin for epilepsy and supported him after Pavlicheff died. The article falsely portrays him as a charlatan who sent Muishkin home for lack of payment; Muishkin says Schneider was paid six hundred roubles a year for the first three years.

Pavlicheff’s former beloved

Also known as the serf-girl

An unnamed serf-girl whom Pavlicheff loved in his youth and would have married, according to Gania’s account. She died suddenly; her sister was Burdovsky’s mother, whom Pavlicheff later took under his care.

Burdovsky’s mother

Also known as Burdovsky’s mother · the invalid mother

An unnamed woman from Pskoff, sister of the serf-girl Pavlicheff loved. Pavlicheff cared for her from childhood and later supported her after her marriage; she is now ill and poor, and Gania says she spoke gratefully of her son’s support.

Burdovsky’s father

Also known as Mr. Burdovsky · the land-surveyor

An unnamed land-surveyor who married Burdovsky’s mother when she was twenty. He left his occupation for unsuccessful commercial speculation, took to drink, and died eight years after their marriage.

Madame Zoubkoff

Also known as Madame Zoubkoff

An intimate friend of Gania’s sister, Varvara Alexandrovna Ptitsin. She provides Gania with an old letter from Pavlicheff that helps disprove Burdovsky’s claimed parentage.

Timofei Fedorovitch Viazovkin

Also known as Timofei Fedorovitch Viazovkin

A retired colonel and one of Pavlicheff’s oldest friends. He gives Gania two letters from Pavlicheff that help establish when Pavlicheff was abroad.

Tchebaroff

Also known as Tchebaroff

A lawyer who acted as Burdovsky’s agent in the claim against Muishkin. He obtained a 250-rouble payment, of which 150 roubles were said to cover travel expenses; Gania concludes that he saw the case as a way to profit from Muishkin’s generosity.

Ivan Fedorovitch Epanchin

Also known as Ivan Fedorovitch · General Epanchin

General Epanchin, husband of Lizabetha Prokofievna. He is angered by the visitors and tries to justify his wife’s decision to stay with the ailing Hippolyte.

The prince’s father

Also known as Nicolai Lvovitch Muishkin · Muishkin’s father

Prince Muishkin’s deceased father, an army officer. Keller’s article falsely accuses him of gambling away company funds and excessively flogging a subordinate; Muishkin firmly denies both charges.

The rich merchant who left the inheritance

Also known as the elder brother of Paparchin

A wealthy merchant and Old Believer, a maternal relation of Muishkin, who died childless and left a fortune of several million roubles to the prince.

Kryloff

Also known as Kryloff

A fable writer whose “Cloud” is invoked in Keller’s article as an image for Fortune showering wealth upon Muishkin.

Governesses hired by Pavlicheff

Also known as the pretty governesses

Unnamed governesses whom Keller’s article claims Pavlicheff recruited in Paris to educate Muishkin. Muishkin says they did not exist and that this part of the article is false.

Pavlicheff’s son’s mother’s husband

Also known as the generous husband

An unnamed man of noble character who married the poor, educated serf-girl whom Pavlicheff had seduced. He raised Burdovsky as his own son and refused Pavlicheff’s financial help.

Young man who murdered six people

Also known as the murderer

An unnamed man defended by a lawyer who argued that his poverty made murdering six people to rob them understandable. Evgenie Pavlovitch cites the case to mock excuses based on need.

Prudhon

Also known as Prudhon

A thinker whom Evgenie Pavlovitch cites as having upheld the principle that might is right.

Botkine

Also known as Botkine

A doctor who Hippolyte says predicted he would die within a fortnight.

Diogenes

Also known as Diogenes

An ancient figure invoked in Keller’s article as a comparison for searching unsuccessfully for Muishkin’s equal.

Countess du Barry

Also known as Comtesse du Barry

A historical countess whom Lebedeff says rose from a disreputable life to become a powerful royal favourite and was later guillotined. Her name recurs in Muishkin’s thoughts as he tries to make sense of Lebedeff.

Feodor

Also known as the servant sent to buy Pushkin

An unnamed servant of the Epanchin household whom Mrs. Epanchin suggests sending to Petersburg to buy a copy of Pushkin.

Nastasia Philipovna’s landlady

Also known as Madame Filisoff · the lady of the house

An unnamed landlady at Nastasia’s Petersburg lodging, about forty, with a cunning face and piercing eyes. She tells Muishkin that Nastasia has gone to stay with Daria Alexeyevna and agrees to pass along his name.

Lihachof

Also known as Lihachof

A man in debtor’s prison with whom Lebedeff spent time after his father’s death; Lebedeff says he knew Nastasia Philipovna through him.

Gorsky

Also known as Gorsky

A man Lebedeff’s nephew reportedly cited when describing a radical group; Muishkin calls him an exception to the nephew’s account.

Daniloff

Also known as Daniloff

A man Lebedeff’s nephew reportedly cited when describing a radical group; Muishkin calls him an exception to the nephew’s account.

The four men claiming an inheritance

Also known as Burdovsky’s delegation · the visitors

A group of four young men who arrive at Lebedeff’s villa to press Antip Burdovsky’s claim against Muishkin. The identified members are Burdovsky, Vladimir Doktorenko, Keller, and Hippolyte Terentieff.

Helena

Also known as Lebedeff’s wife

Lebedeff’s late wife, who died five weeks before the events in this passage while giving birth to Luboff.

Anisia

Also known as Lebedeff’s sister

Lebedeff’s widowed sister and mother of his nephew. Lebedeff says he cared for her and her newborn son when they were poor.

Katia

Also known as the maid-servant · Katia

A maid-servant at Nastasia’s home who was frightened by Rogojin’s disorderly party but let them in at Nastasia’s request. Rogojin says Nastasia gave her an expensive shawl.

Semen Rogojin

Also known as Semen Rogojin

Parfen Rogojin’s deceased father, a wealthy hereditary honourable citizen. He was harsh with Parfen and opposed his infatuation with Nastasia Philipovna; his portrait hangs in his former study, now Parfen’s.

Companion of Rogojin’s mother

Also known as the other old woman

An unnamed older woman in mourning who sits beside Rogojin’s mother, silently knitting and apparently serving as her companion.

Zaleshoff

Also known as Zaleshoff

A fashionable acquaintance who introduced Parfen Rogojin to Nastasia Philipovna and delivered the diamond earrings Rogojin bought for her. He told Muishkin on the train that Rogojin and Nastasia had renewed their marriage plans, and Rogojin says Nastasia called him in during their quarrel.

Zemtuznikoff

Also known as Zemtuznikoff

An officer whom Rogojin accuses of having an affair with Nastasia in Moscow, shortly before their planned wedding.

Lebedeff’s sister-in-law’s husband

Also known as the husband of Lebedeff’s sister-in-law

An unnamed man whom Lebedeff says Nastasia once ran away to in Moscow before she returned to Rogojin.

The cook at Lebedeff’s house

Also known as the cook

An unnamed cook who announces Muishkin to Lebedeff and leaves the room angrily after being called to interrupt his speech.

Former lieutenant and boxing teacher

Also known as the ex-lieutenant · Rogojin’s follower

An unnamed former lieutenant, dismissed from service, who teaches boxing and used to follow Rogojin. Lebedeff’s nephew says he cheated him at cards and won his twenty roubles.

Old woman robbed of five hundred roubles

Also known as the old woman

An unnamed elderly woman who had been robbed of her life savings by a usurer. She asked Lebedeff’s nephew to take her case, but he instead defended the usurer, Zeidler, for a promised fee.

Zeidler

Also known as the usurer · the Jew named Zeidler

A usurer who had taken five hundred roubles from an elderly woman. Lebedeff’s nephew defended him in court in exchange for a promised fee.

His Excellency Nil Alexeyovitch

Also known as Nil Alexeyovitch

A former superior of Lebedeff who asked him to explain prophecies about the Antichrist. He died eight days after their meeting, and Lebedeff’s acquaintance Peter Zakkaritch said Lebedeff had foretold his death.

Peter Zakkaritch

Also known as Peter Zakkaritch

An unnamed subordinate who conveyed Nil Alexeyovitch’s invitation to Lebedeff and later recalled the meeting, saying Lebedeff had foretold his death.

Two elderly peasant friends

Also known as the peasants

Two unnamed elderly men who had tea together at a provincial hotel. One, ordinarily not a thief, murdered the other for his silver watch while praying for forgiveness; the other was his victim.

The peasant who murdered his friend

Also known as the murderer

An unnamed elderly peasant who killed his old friend with a knife to steal a silver watch, crossing himself and praying as he did so.

The peasant murdered for his watch

Also known as the murdered friend

An unnamed elderly peasant, reportedly wealthy by local standards, who was killed by his friend for his silver watch.

Drunken soldier who sold Muishkin a cross

Also known as the soldier

An unnamed drunken-looking soldier whom Muishkin met in a provincial town. He sold the prince a tin cross, which Muishkin and Rogojin later exchanged for Rogojin’s gold cross.

Young mother with a baby

Also known as the poor woman · the country-woman

An unnamed young woman carrying her six-week-old baby, whom Muishkin met near his hotel. When her baby smiled at her for the first time, she crossed herself and described God’s joy when a person first turns to Him in prayer.

Baby carried by the young mother

Also known as the baby

An unnamed six-week-old infant who smiles at its mother for the first time, prompting her reflection about God’s joy in a person’s first sincere prayer.

Nastasia Philipovna’s maid

Also known as the maid

An unnamed female servant at Nastasia’s home who opens the door and announces Muishkin to her mistress.

Lebedeff’s eldest son’s card-playing opponent

Also known as the rogue · the card-sharper

An unnamed former lieutenant and boxing teacher, formerly one of Rogojin’s followers. He wins twenty roubles from Lebedeff’s nephew at cards.

General Sokolovitch

Also known as General Sokolovitch

An old comrade-in-arms of General Ivolgin who is said to live with his family in Petersburg. Ivolgin had taken Muishkin to the wrong household while trying to visit Sokolovitch’s family.

Paparchin

Also known as the Moscow merchant

The prince’s maternal grandfather, a Moscow merchant who died bankrupt. His elder brother was a wealthy merchant whose fortune eventually passed through the prince’s aunt to Muishkin.

Captain’s widow who enforced Ivolgin’s IOUs

Also known as the captain’s widow

An unnamed widow whose demands for payment on General Ivolgin’s IOUs led to his imprisonment for debt.

The old Pope’s adversary

Also known as the Emperor

An unnamed emperor in the historical account Nastasia read to Rogojin, who fasted and knelt outside a pope’s palace while vowing vengeance.

Roman Pope

Also known as the Pope of Rome · the Pope

An unnamed pope in the historical account Nastasia read to Rogojin. He was angry with an emperor who came to his palace and knelt there.

The learned atheist Muishkin met on the train

Also known as the atheist

An unnamed, eminent and learned man whom Muishkin met on a train in the account he tells Rogojin. He did not believe in God and discussed atheism, though Muishkin felt he was not truly addressing the subject.

Samson

Also known as the butcher

The executioner said by Lebedeff to have guillotined Countess du Barry.

Young woman accused by the prince in his railway anecdote

Also known as the English girl

An unnamed English girl in a newspaper account of a railway quarrel resembling General Ivolgin’s story about Miss Smith and a poodle.

The Frenchman in the newspaper story

Also known as the Frenchman

An unnamed man in a newspaper anecdote whose reported railway quarrel with an English girl closely matches General Ivolgin’s story about himself, Miss Smith, and a poodle.

Afanasy Ivanovitch Totski

Also known as Totski · Afanasy Ivanovitch

A wealthy, well-connected company director who took in the orphaned Nastasia Philipovna and arranged her education and comfortable living, while exploiting her when she was young. At her birthday gathering, she rejects his 75,000 roubles and publicly recounts his treatment of her. He later marries a French marquise.

German lady at Nastasia’s gathering

Also known as the German lady · the silent German beauty

An unnamed, very pretty, well-dressed German woman at Nastasia’s gathering who does not understand Russian and hardly speaks. She disappears during the disturbance.

Old schoolmaster at Nastasia’s gathering

Also known as the old tutor · the old toothless schoolmaster · the old professor

An unnamed, toothless older tutor or schoolmaster invited to Nastasia’s gathering, whom she seems to love like a grandfather. He does not understand the unfolding events and trembles with fright, but stays beside her.

Rogojin’s companions

Also known as Rogojin’s troop · Rogojin’s party · Rogojin gang

A shifting group of individually unnamed men who accompany Rogojin, including merchants, a medical student, Lebedeff, an athlete proud of his enormous fist, a dissolute old man, and a retired sub-lieutenant who had been begging on the Nevsky. They bring Rogojin’s 100,000 roubles to Nastasia’s gathering and depart with him and Nastasia.

Athlete in Rogojin’s party

Also known as the athlete · the boxer · the gentleman proud of his fists

An individually identifiable, unnamed, very strong member of Rogojin’s party who boasts an enormous fist. He regards the newly joined beggar as a rival and retreats from Nastasia’s salon when he sees General Epanchin.

Beggar in Rogojin’s party

Also known as the beggar · the retired sub-lieutenant

An individually identifiable, unnamed retired sub-lieutenant who joins Rogojin’s party while begging on the Nevsky. He tries to ingratiate himself with the athlete and leaves the salon with him when General Epanchin’s presence unsettles the group.

Dissolute old man in Rogojin’s party

Also known as the dissolute old man · the hero of an ancient scandal

An unnamed old man who joins Rogojin’s party before the visit to Nastasia. A story is told that he once pawned his false teeth to fund a drinking binge and could never reclaim them.

Pasha

Also known as Pasha

An unnamed servant at Nastasia’s home. She is crying with Katia when Nastasia leaves, and Nastasia says she has set aside belongings for the two servants.

Martha

Also known as the cook

An unnamed cook in Nastasia’s household who runs in from the kitchen as Nastasia is leaving and is kissed goodbye.

Nastasia’s four young servants

Also known as the four girls

Four individually unnamed young female servants in Nastasia’s household who cry and kiss her hands as she leaves. Nastasia tells them not to think badly of her.

Platon Ordintzeff

Also known as Platon

A country gentleman who had recently been elected marshal of the nobility and was married to Anfisa Alexeyevna. Totski recounts that Platon desperately sought red camellias for her birthday ball and wept on Totski’s shoulder after Totski obtained them.

Anfisa Alexeyevna

Also known as Anfisa

Platon Ordintzeff’s young wife, whose birthday was celebrated with two balls. She wanted red camellias for effect; Totski’s bouquet won her gratitude and thwarted Peter Volhofskoi’s romantic hopes.

Peter Volhofskoi

Also known as Peter Volhofskoi · Peter

A man who was desperately in love with Anfisa Alexeyevna and hoped to win her gratitude with a bouquet of red camellias. Totski secretly obtained the flowers first; Peter fainted, suffered brain fever and convulsions, later recovered, and went to the Crimea, where he was shot.

Countess Sotski

Also known as Countess Sotski

A countess who was expected at Anfisa Alexeyevna’s birthday ball with a bouquet of white camellias.

Sophia Bespalova

Also known as Sophia Bespalova

A woman who was expected at Anfisa Alexeyevna’s birthday ball with a bouquet of white camellias.

Merchant Trepalaf

Also known as Trepalaf · the old merchant

A wealthy, grey-haired merchant in Ekshaisk who kept canaries and loved flowers. He gives Totski red camellias for Anfisa after Totski begs, and accepts a donation for the village hospital instead of payment.

French marquise

Also known as the marquise

An unnamed French noblewoman who marries Totski and takes him to Paris and Brittany.

Salaskin

Also known as Mr. Salaskin

A prominent solicitor who writes to Prince Muishkin in Switzerland about a substantial inheritance and helps locate the prince’s aunt so she can make her will. Ptitsin confirms the authenticity of his letter, though the estate is smaller than first believed and burdened with debts.

Prince Muishkin’s aunt

Also known as the prince’s aunt · his mother’s sister

The prince’s maternal aunt, a poor woman living on charity who died of dropsy five months before the inheritance was discussed. Before her death, she engaged Salaskin to find her nephew and left him her newly acquired share of a large family fortune.

Sons of the rich merchant

Also known as the merchant’s two sons

Two unnamed sons and the only children of Paparchin’s wealthy elder brother. They died within the same month, shortly before their father.

General Epanchin’s secretary

Also known as the general’s secretary

An unnamed secretary whom Totski suspects may have a secret understanding with General Epanchin.

Captain Terentieff

Also known as Captain Terentieff

A deceased captain who served under General Ivolgin and was Marfa Borisovna’s husband. His widow’s IOUs eventually lead to Ivolgin’s imprisonment for debt.

Lenotchka

Also known as Lenotchka

Marfa Borisovna’s eight-year-old daughter and eldest child. She brings a cushion for the drunken General Ivolgin when he collapses asleep on the sofa.

Marfa Borisovna’s younger children

Also known as the orphans · her children

Two unnamed younger children, a girl and a boy, who live with their widowed mother, Marfa Borisovna. Colia’s family helps provide for them.

Gania’s family maid

Also known as the maid · the servant

An unnamed maid in Gania’s household who helps provide for the lodgers. She answers the drawing-room bell when summoned.

Parfen Rogojin’s companions

Also known as Rogojin’s troop · Rogojin’s party

A group of individually unnamed men accompanying Rogojin, including a couple of young merchants, a man in a great-coat, a medical student, a little Pole, a continuously laughing small fat man, and a very tall stout man who trusts his strength. They back Rogojin during his confrontation at Gania’s home.

Two women at Gania’s front door

Also known as the “ladies”

Two unnamed women who put their heads in at the front door with Rogojin’s party but do not enter; Colia shuts and locks the door on them.

Timid young guest at Nastasia’s gathering

Also known as the timid and silent young man

An unnamed, shy and silent young man at Nastasia’s gathering. He asks whether the confession game might require someone to speak of something unsuitable in front of ladies.

Actress at Nastasia’s gathering

Also known as the loud woman · the actress

An unnamed, lively actress of about forty at Nastasia’s gathering. She questions the proposed confession game and is identified by Nastasia as Daria Alexeyevna.

Anna Fedorovna

Also known as Anna Fedorovna

A person General Ivolgin says is associated with General Sokolovitch’s household. He says he has not called on or seen her lately.

Marie Alexandrovna

Also known as Marie Alexandrovna

A woman whom General Ivolgin mistakes for a member of General Sokolovitch’s household. A housekeeper says she has gone to her mother’s with Alexandra Michailovna.

Alexandra Michailovna

Also known as Alexandra Michailovna

A woman whom General Ivolgin expects to find at the Sokolovitch household. A housekeeper says she has gone with Marie Alexandrovna to her mother’s.

Koulakoff

Also known as Koulakoff

The name on the door of the household General Ivolgin mistakenly visits while claiming to be taking Muishkin to General Sokolovitch’s family.

Housekeeper or governess at the Koulakoff household

Also known as the woman of some forty years

An unnamed woman of about forty, dressed in sombre colours, who appears to keep house or work as a governess at the Koulakoff household. She corrects General Ivolgin’s assumption that the women he names are at home and agrees to deliver his message.

Footman at the Koulakoff household

Also known as the footman

An unnamed footman who tells General Ivolgin and Muishkin that the household is away.

Widow of Captain Terentieff

Also known as the widow of Captain Terentieff

An unnamed widow whom General Ivolgin claims is his friend and visits for comfort; her name is Marfa Borisovna. She expects money from him and angrily accuses him of exploiting her household.

Nikita

Also known as Nikifor

A faithful servant who attended General Ivolgin when he was a young ensign, managing his quarters and sometimes taking other people’s belongings to augment their household goods. Ivolgin recounts that Nikifor reminded him they had left a tureen at an old woman’s house.

Old lieutenant’s widow

Also known as the old lady · the old woman

An unnamed eighty-year-old widow who once lodged the young General Ivolgin. He recalls accusing her of keeping his tureen, then realizing she was dying as he berated her; she had also been suspected of taking one of his fowls.

Niece of the old lieutenant’s widow

Also known as the niece

An unnamed niece who lived with the old lieutenant’s widow and bullied her before dying three years before the events General Ivolgin recounts.

Merchant who lodged the young Ivolgin

Also known as the merchant

An unnamed bearded merchant with a large family who lodged the young General Ivolgin after he left the old widow’s house.

Semeon Ivanovitch Ishenka

Also known as Semeon Ivanovitch Ishenka

A person whose country house hosted a dinner where Ferdishenko stole a three-rouble note from a writing table. The passage does not otherwise describe Ishenka.

Maria Ivanovna

Also known as Maria Ivanovna

The owner of the writing table from which Ferdishenko stole a three-rouble note at a country-house dinner. The passage does not otherwise identify her.

Daria

Also known as the housemaid

A housemaid suspected of stealing a three-rouble note after Ferdishenko took it from Maria Ivanovna’s writing table. She was dismissed despite being innocent; the passage does not establish whether she is the actress Daria Alexeyevna.

Ferdishenko’s servant Nikifor

Also known as Nikifor

A servant in General Ivolgin’s story about his youth. He faithfully managed Ivolgin’s quarters and took other people’s property to increase their household goods.

Nelaton

Also known as Nelaton

A surgeon whom General Ivolgin says sought safe conduct into besieged Sebastopol to treat his wounds.

Village children

Also known as the children · Muishkin’s little companions

The children at the Swiss village school befriended Muishkin, who loved their company. They cared for the ostracized Marie and tearfully saw Muishkin off when he left for Russia.

Muishkin’s mother

Also known as the prince’s mother

Prince Muishkin’s unnamed mother, who died a few months after his father. General Ivolgin claims she died of grief, while the prince says he was told she died of a cold.

Miss Smith

Also known as the English governess · the governess at Princess Bielokonski’s

An English governess employed by Princess Bielokonski. General Ivolgin claims she threw his cigar from a train window and slapped him after he threw her poodle out; Nastasia points out that the same story appeared in a newspaper as an incident involving a Frenchman.

Poodle

Also known as the little poodle

A poodle with a silver collar belonging to the women in General Ivolgin’s railway anecdote. Ivolgin claims he threw it from the train after its owner tossed his cigar out.

Captain Larionoff

Also known as Captain Larionoff

The commander of a company in General Ivolgin’s account of Prince Muishkin’s father’s court-martial. He had died before the command was temporarily handed to Muishkin’s father.

Kolpakoff

Also known as the soldier Kolpakoff

A soldier whom General Ivolgin says was accused of stealing leather and died after being reprimanded by Muishkin’s father, only to be found alive months later in another company. Nina Alexandrovna disputes the story.

Sergeant-major in the Kolpakoff inquiry

Also known as the sergeant-major

An unnamed sergeant-major whom General Ivolgin says witnessed Muishkin’s father reprimand Kolpakoff.

Corporal in the Kolpakoff inquiry

Also known as the corporal

An unnamed corporal whom General Ivolgin says witnessed Muishkin’s father reprimand Kolpakoff.

Barashkoff

Also known as Barashkoff

Nastasia Philipovna’s impoverished father, a gentleman of good descent whose estate was mortgaged. After his house burned and his wife died in the fire, he went mad and died in a town hospital.

Nastasia Philipovna’s mother

Also known as Barashkoff’s wife

An unnamed woman who died in a fire at the family home when Nastasia was a child. Her daughters survived.

Nastasia Philipovna’s younger sister

Also known as Barashkoff’s younger daughter

One of the two little girls adopted by Totski after their father’s ruin; she died of whooping cough, leaving Nastasia as the only surviving child.

Swiss governess

Also known as Nastasia Philipovna’s governess

An experienced, cultured Swiss woman hired by Totski to educate Nastasia. She lived with Nastasia for four years and later accompanied her to another of Totski’s estates.

Totski’s bailiff

Also known as the German bailiff

Totski’s German estate bailiff, whose children were brought up alongside Nastasia during her early years in Totski’s care.

Aleksey

Also known as Epanchin family footman · liveried servant · door-keeper · study servant

A greyish, red-faced man-servant at the Epanchin home. Prince Muishkin spoke to him about the execution he had witnessed while waiting to see the general.

Abbot Pafnute

Also known as Pafnute

A fourteenth-century abbot who oversaw a monastery on the Volga and signed an edict at Oreol. Muishkin copied the abbot’s signature as a sample of his calligraphy.

Donkey

Also known as the donkey

A donkey Muishkin saw in the market at Basle after emerging from a period of mental torpor. The sight delighted him and helped lift his melancholy.

Man reprieved from execution

Also known as Muishkin’s friend

An unnamed man Muishkin met while he was under treatment with Professor Schneider. Sentenced to death by shooting for a political crime, he spent about fifteen to twenty minutes believing he would die before being reprieved; he later recalled that he failed to make good use of the life he regained.

Prisoner under treatment

Also known as the man in prison

An unnamed man treated alongside Muishkin by his professor who had lived twelve years in prison, suffered fits and melancholy, and once attempted suicide. His only companions there were spiders and a tree outside his grating.

Marie

Also known as Marie

A poor, consumptive village woman, daughter of an old tradeswoman, who was betrayed and abandoned by a traveling salesman. The villagers shunned and mistreated her, but Muishkin and the village children befriended her and cared for her before she died.

Marie’s mother

Also known as the old woman

An elderly, ill tradeswoman who sold small goods from her window. She rejected and shamed Marie after the young woman returned home, and died a couple of months later.

Traveling salesman

Also known as commercial traveller

An unnamed salesman who seduced and abandoned Marie, leaving her to walk home sick and destitute.

Marie’s village pastor

Also known as the parson · the clergyman

An unnamed young pastor who publicly blamed and shamed Marie at her mother’s funeral. The village children protested his sermon by breaking his windows, and Muishkin stopped them.

Jules Thibaut

Also known as Thibaut · the schoolmaster

The village schoolmaster who taught the children among whom Muishkin spent four years in Switzerland. He became jealous of Muishkin’s influence over the children and spread scandalous stories about him.

Executioner at Lyons

Also known as the executioner

An unnamed executioner who carried out the guillotine execution Muishkin witnessed in Lyons.

Priest at the Lyons execution

Also known as the priest

An unnamed priest who accompanied the condemned man to the scaffold and repeatedly pressed a small silver cross to his lips.

The executed man

Also known as the criminal

An unnamed, reportedly strong and wicked man whom Muishkin saw executed by guillotine in Lyons. He wept at the scaffold and showed intense fear in the moments before his death.

Colonel C—

Also known as Colonel C—

A military man who is meeting General Epanchin when Prince Muishkin arrives; he leaves carrying a portfolio.

Le Gros

Also known as Le Gros

A French criminal whom Prince Muishkin saw executed by guillotine in Lyons. His visible terror at the scaffold left a lasting impression on Muishkin.