Crime and Punishment & Other Great Novels of Dostoevsky
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Contents
Book XI Ivan
Overview
Alyosha answers Grushenka’s urgent call and finds her steadier yet beset by jealousy and fear before Dmitri’s trial. She reveals Ivan’s two secret visits to Dmitri and hints at a hidden matter unsettling him. Discussing counsel and an insanity defense, Alyosha promises to learn Dmitri’s secret and reassure her.
Summary
Alyosha visits Grushenka at the widow Morozov’s after an urgent summons. He finds her altered by illness yet steadier in spirit, with the dependent Maximov still sheltered in her rooms. Grushenka recounts a quarrel with Dmitri in prison: he lashed out in jealousy over her continued aid to the impoverished Poles and even rejected the pies she brought.
Grushenka explains how the Poles, reduced to destitution, pester her for loans; she continues helping them out of pity, worsening Dmitri’s suspicions. She remains fiercely jealous of Katerina Ivanovna, fearing Dmitri still loves her, and vows spitefully to send the Poles pies to defy his jealousy. Alyosha urges that Dmitri’s jealousy stems from love, not indifference.
Turning to the imminent trial, they discuss the prominent counsel Fetyukovitch and a Moscow doctor enlisted to support an insanity defense, which Dmitri rejects. Grushenka insists the valet is the true killer, worries over the town’s stacked evidence, and notes Grigory’s unwavering claim that the gate stood open, the prosecution’s strongest point.
Grushenka then describes Dmitri’s agitated, changeable mood and his cryptic talk of a “babe” and Siberia. She reveals that Ivan secretly visited Dmitri twice—once on arrival and again a week ago—and that Dmitri now bears a tormenting secret tied to those visits. She suspects a plot against her involving Katerina.
Alyosha denies that Ivan loves Katerina, affirms that Dmitri truly loves Grushenka, and refuses to pry; but he promises that if Dmitri confides in him, he will tell Grushenka the truth the same day. He departs quickly, resolved to see Dmitri and learn the nature of the secret.
Who Appears
- Grushenka (Agrafena Alexandrovna)Ill but steadier; confides jealousy and fears before the trial; aids the destitute Poles; reveals Ivan’s secret visits to Dmitri.
- Alyosha (Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov)Visits at her request; counsels and reassures; discusses counsel and defense; promises to learn Dmitri’s secret.
- Dmitri (Mitya) KaramazovIn prison, volatile and jealous over the Poles; rejects pies; hints at a tormenting secret after Ivan’s visits.
- Ivan Fyodorovich KaramazovSecretly visited Dmitri twice; his involvement leaves Dmitri troubled by a concealed matter.
- MaximovA dependent lodger with Grushenka; ill and contrite; provides light, nervous commentary.
- FenyaServant who summoned Alyosha and carries messages and pies; her testimony previously hurt Dmitri.
- Pan MussyalovitchImpoverished Polish admirer; repeatedly begs loans with pompous letters; receives small aid from Grushenka.
- Pan VrublevskyPolish companion; co-signs pleas for money; part of the pair relying on Grushenka’s charity.
- RakitinVisitor to Dmitri; suspected by Grushenka of inflaming Dmitri’s jealousy.
- The valetSuspected by Grushenka as the true killer; gravely ill after a seizure; examined and largely dismissed by investigators.
- Grigory VassilyevitchInsists the gate was open, a key point against Dmitri; remains unshakable.
- Katerina IvanovnaFunds counsel and a Moscow doctor; focus of Grushenka’s jealousy and fears.
- FetyukovitchRenowned counsel from Petersburg; takes the case for its notoriety; considers Alyosha’s input.