The blond man happily answers the dark-haired man’s questions, explaining that he has been away for more than four years receiving treatment for “some strange nervous illness” which causes fits. The dark-haired man then introduces himself as. Coming from a noble family, while often associated with wealth, does not guarantee that one has money. Again, it becomes clearer that Rogozhin and Myshkin are opposites. After that step, Varya had the luxury to concentrate on her brother's future. Concerning his relationship with Aglaia and Nastasya, Dostoevsky says that he is frightened of Aglaia, hangs onto her, but never really believes that she will stoop to marry him. Not long after, a third man, who is short, stocky, and has a red nose, joins in the conversation. Upon arrival, Myshkin is met by a servant and then an administrative assistant to the General, both of whom regard the prince with suspicion, thinking him a dubious individual who has come to ask the Yepanchin for money or for some favor. Totsky brought Nastasya to Petersburg as a status symbol; General Epanchin's entire career has been arranged with cunning; Ganya's interest in Nastasya centered upon her fortune (with it, he could become "original"); almost everyone, it would seem, except Prince Myshkin, is guilty of plotting against someone else in order to gain social position or money. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. But, Dostoevsky says, fiction must contain ordinary people, for if it does not, it cannot have a semblance of truth. Chapters 9-10. Know-it-alls like him basically treat gossip as a profession. All rights reserved. Prince Myshkin, a young man in his mid-twenties and a descendant of one of the oldest Russian lines of nobility, is on a train to Saint Petersburg on a cold November morning. The combination of his epilepsy and his apparent poverty means that he must depend on the kindness of others to survive. He then explains that the women are angry with him at the moment, and asks the prince to deliver a note to Aglaya from him without anyone seeing. Analysis. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of The Idiot and what it means. Two men in third class strike up a conversation. When Myshkin returns to Ganya ’s office and tells him about his conversation with the Epanchin women, Ganya is furious and calls Myshkin an idiot under his breath. And, for the sake of doing something original, they do something base. The surprise of this chapter is Varya's announcement that Myshkin and Aglaia are formally betrothed. He cites girls who don the garb of the nihilists to convince others (and themselves most of all) that they have convictions. During the year and a half that he was writing The Idiot, he was penniless more often than not. Occasionally, our author tells us, there are clever commonplace people (in contrast to the simple variety), who harbor a worm of despair that gnaws at their heart. There is certainly something naïve or overly trusting in the fact that Myshkin is coming to St. Petersburg with no money, or even a guarantee that anyone will receive him there. As noted by critic and novelist A.S. Byatt, The Idiot is a meditation on both the imminence and immanence of death. It was no feat, but it did enrich her social standing, and Ptitsyn's money, while not on the scale of the Epanchins' or Totsky's, was sufficient for financial security. Visit BN.com to buy new and used textbooks, and check out our award-winning NOOK tablets and eReaders. -Graham S. As this passage shows, the social world depicted in the novel is fast-paced, and having the latest information about what is going on is very important to the characters. She got a foot into the Epanchin circle and, with high hopes, set herself to bringing Aglaia and Ganya together. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. This was not a particularly uncommon occurrence in Russia at the time. Where Rogozhin is dark-haired and somewhat sinister, Myshkin has lighter features and seems kind, if a little innocent or naïve. Know-it-all” who is always up to date on society gossip. His plan to marry Nastasya was founded on his belief that money could be the means of attaining all his dreams. Yet, at the same time, Myshkin has very little money or security. This greedy gnawing to be something else, something special, can be seen, in fact, throughout the novel. Like her brother Ganya, Varya too dreams of distinguishing herself from the commonplace, but being more practical than Ganya, she considers the ends in addition to certain means. The opening of the novel introduces two key characters who, even from the limited information provided, are clearly opposites. After Aglaia's burst of anger during the scene at the green bench, in which she vowed she would marry Ganya, Dostoevsky inserts a shocking piece of gossip and thus retains our curiosity as he begins yet another section of this very long novel. Whereas Myshkin is noble, poor, innocent, and naïve, Rogozhin is non-noble, rich, and seemingly mired in violence and corruption. Plot Part 1. He was no ordinary man, and detested a system that, ironically, reared children to be "ordinary." Dostoevsky begins this section by speaking of the ordinariness of Varvara (Varya) Ptitsyn. It was this system that drove geniuses to suicide, or to foreign countries, and rewarded its robot-like dullards with monies and respectable positions. A nearby clerk joins the conversation, someone the narrator describes as a “Mr. Those children, once grown, dreamed of escaping from their thick-skinned mediocrity.