Summary Dostoevsky begins this section with a discussion on practical people. He launches an attack on this sort of people and on the kind of mind that reveres them. Originality, on the other hand, he says, has been condemned; no businessman is characterized by it. Inventors and geniuses are always […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part III: Chapter 1Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapters 11-12
Summary The day after the scandalous evening at Prince Myshkins, Adelaida and her fiance visit the prince on the pretext of being out for a walk; they are in search of a nice scene for Adelaida to paint, they say, but ask Myshkin about the mysterious woman in the carriage. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapters 11-12Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 10
Summary Radomsky carefully watches Ippolits behavior; he wonders if the young man’s profuse compliments to Lizaveta Prokofyevna do not foreshadow some awful eccentricity. His thoughts are confirmed, for Ippolit begins to reveal crucial information concerning the attack on Prince Myshkin’s character. Lebedyev, he says, edited the satiric newspaper article before […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 10Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 9
Summary Ganya says that Burdovsky’s case is fabricated and/or distorted and that Burdovsky insults himself and his mother. From letters Ganya has seen, it can be proved that Burdovsky was born two years after his mother was legally married to Mr. Burdovsky. Furthermore, Mr. Paylishtchev had gone abroad a year […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 9Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 8
Summary The four young visitors to Lebedyev’s villa are after money. One of them, Burdovsky (the “son of Pavlishtchev”), claims that he is the illegitimate son of the late Nikolay Andreyevitch, a wealthy landowner, who was Myshkin’s guardian after the prince’s father died. Pavlishtchev. Burdovsky claims, spent vast sums on […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 8Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapters 6-7
Summary Resting at Lebedyev’s villa after his attack Myshkin begins to recover. The villa is most comfortable, surrounded by lemon and jasmine trees, and Kolya scarcely leaves his friend’s side. There is only one discordant note in this luxurious setting: Lebedyev seems overly protective of Myshkin. General Ivolgin, who has […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapters 6-7Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 5
Summary Leaving Rogozhin, Myshkin goes to the Epanchin house and, finding no one at home, he goes to the Scales Hotel to try and find Kolya. He has no luck there either, so, as it is a bright and sunny day, he goes for a walk, wandering rather aimlessly around […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 5Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapters 3-4
Summary Myshkin’s next call is to a house he has wanted to visit for some time — that of Rogozhin. And he is not surprised when he sees it, for the house is large and dark and full of tiny rooms and winding corridors. Rogozhin himself opens the door. He […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapters 3-4Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 2
Summary When Myshkin returns to Petersburg in June, most of his old friends are absent; they are all summering at Pavlovsk. Myshkin, however, does not find this out immediately, for the first thing he does is go see Lebedyev in Peski; there, he discovers strange things going on. Lebedyev is […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 2Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 1
Summary The details of Nastasya’s melodramatic birthday evening and the whereabouts of Prince Myshkin, Nastasya, and Rogozhin are gossiped about for many months. In the Epanchin family, however, it is some time before the prince’s name is mentioned; by silent consent, the family avoids the subject. Significantly, however, the family’s […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 1