Crime and Punishment & Other Great Novels of Dostoevsky
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Contents
The Idiot — Part II — Chapter XI
Overview
After three tense days, rumors swirl linking Nastasia and Evgenie, deepening the Epanchins’ anger and isolating Prince Myshkin. Gania, Varia, and Colia bring disquieting news, while Keller confesses and borrows money. Lebedeff hints at an intrigue touching Aglaya, and General Epanchin privately defends Evgenie and asks Myshkin to keep away until tempers cool, before a formal reconciliation.
Summary
For three days the Epanchins remain angry, and Prince Myshkin blames himself while oscillating between trust and suspicion. A visit from Adelaida and Prince S avoids the scandal, yet Prince S questions the carriage scene; Myshkin states Nastasia mentioned Evgenie’s IOUs bought by Rogojin. Myshkin senses a deliberate intrigue forming around him.
Lebedeff’s children visit; Colia is away; Gania later arrives with news that Nastasia has been in Pavlovsk only four days, already drawing admirers, and that yesterday’s incident was prearranged. Varvara appears, noting Evgenie and Ptitsin went to Petersburg and that Aglaya has quarrelled with her family.
Alone, Myshkin briefly considers fleeing but decides it would be cowardly and returns home. Keller forces a confession of his life, admits mixed motives, and asks for money; Myshkin discerns the “double motive” and lends him twenty-five roubles. Lebedeff returns, admits indirect involvement in the carriage episode, and begins to implicate Aglaya; Myshkin angrily silences him.
Colia brings more news: a major quarrel over Gania at the Epanchins, cordiality toward Evgenie, and Varia’s permanent expulsion by Lizabetha Prokofievna. The next day General Epanchin waylays Myshkin at the station, declares the IOU story a calumny, privately reveals hopes regarding Evgenie, fears Nastasia’s interference, and urges Myshkin to avoid their house temporarily.
Amid anxiety and rumors, General Epanchin assures Myshkin he is not suspected. Within three days, relations are formally restored between Myshkin and the Epanchins, though the intrigue around Nastasia, Evgenie, and Aglaya still hangs unresolved.
Who Appears
- Prince Lev MyshkinProtagonist; troubled by Epanchins’ anger and rumors; discerns intrigues, lends Keller money, rejects Lebedeff’s insinuations, meets General Epanchin.
- General EpanchinAnxious patriarch; defends Evgenie, fears Nastasia’s interference, asks Myshkin to stay away, later reconciles with him.
- LebedeffSchemer; admits indirect role in carriage episode, hints at an intrigue touching Aglaya, draws Myshkin’s rebuke.
- KellerBoastful penitent; confesses mixed motives, seeks money, and receives twenty-five roubles from Myshkin.
- Gavrila (Gania) IvolginBrings gossip about Nastasia and Evgenie; avoids the Burdovsky topic; central to a quarrel at the Epanchins.
- Varvara (Varia) IvolginReports Evgenie and Ptitsin’s trip; later expelled from the Epanchins’ house by Lizabetha Prokofievna.
- Colia IvolginConveys news: Aglaya’s family quarrel, Evgenie’s good reception, and Varia’s expulsion.
- Adelaida EpanchinVisits with Prince S, avoids scandal talk; her presence signals the family’s displeasure.
- Prince S.Questions the carriage scene, labels it an intrigue, unintentionally confirms Myshkin’s suspicions.
- Nastasia PhilipovnaOffstage focus of rumors; her public stunt fuels intrigue linking her to Evgenie and Rogojin.
- Evgenie PavlovitchTarget of IOU rumors; absent, yet defended by General Epanchin and well received by the Epanchins.
- Lizabetha Prokofievna EpanchinOffstage but pivotal; remains angry, expels Varia, later reconciles with Myshkin.
- Aglaya EpanchinOffstage center of tension; quarrels with family, possibly entangled in the spreading intrigue.