Crime and Punishment & Other Great Novels of Dostoevsky
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Contents
Crime and Punishment — Part IV
Overview
Svidrigaïlov visits Raskolnikov, pressing to meet Avdotya Romanovna and casting himself as a would-be benefactor. He recounts ghostly visits from his late wife, Marfa Petrovna, and rationalizes his past. Svidrigaïlov offers 10,000 roubles to break Dunya’s match with Luzhin and reveals Marfa’s 3,000-rouble bequest, complicating family and moral dynamics.
Summary
Raskolnikov, stunned to see Arkady Svidrigaïlov, confronts him warily. Svidrigaïlov insists he seeks Raskolnikov’s acquaintance and his help with Avdotya Romanovna, rationalizing his past pursuit of her and denying guilt in Marfa Petrovna’s death, which he attributes to apoplexy.
The conversation turns strange as Svidrigaïlov boasts of adaptability and recalls his life with Marfa, then claims he is visited by her ghost. He philosophizes about illness, other worlds, and a bleak afterlife, unsettling Raskolnikov and hinting at a kinship between them.
Pressed for his purpose, Svidrigaïlov attacks Luzhin’s suitability and proposes to give Dunya 10,000 roubles to help her break the engagement, asserting no ulterior motive and saying he may soon marry elsewhere. Raskolnikov rejects the idea as impertinent and refuses to relay it.
Svidrigaïlov threatens to approach Dunya himself and, as he departs, adds a crucial revelation: Marfa Petrovna’s will left Dunya 3,000 roubles, payable soon. He leaves just as Razumihin arrives, deepening the web around Raskolnikov’s family and alliances.
Who Appears
- Arkady Ivanovitch SvidrigaïlovUnexpected visitor; rationalizes past, claims ghostly visits, offers 10,000 roubles to end Dunya’s engagement, reveals Marfa’s bequest.
- Rodion Romanovitch RaskolnikovWary and hostile host; challenges Svidrigaïlov’s motives, rejects conveying his offer to Dunya.
- Marfa PetrovnaSvidrigaïlov’s late wife; said to appear as a ghost; left Dunya 3,000 roubles in her will.
- Dmitri Prokofitch RazumihinArrives as Svidrigaïlov departs, briefly intersecting the encounter.