Svidrigailov full description. The image of Svidrigailov in the novel "Crime and Punishment"
It is interesting to trace how Dostoevsky created the image of Svidrigailov. In the draft notes of “Crime and Punishment” this hero is called A-ov, after the name of one of the convicts of the Omsk prison Aristov, who in “Notes from the House of the Dead” is characterized as the limit of “moral decline ... decisive depravity and ... arrogant baseness” . “This was an example of what one physical side of a person could reach, not internally restrained by any norm, any legality... It was a monster, a moral Quasimodo. Add to the fact that he was cunning and intelligent, handsome, even somewhat educated, and had abilities. No, better is fire, better is pestilence and famine than such a person in society!”
Svidrigailov was supposed to be the embodiment of such complete moral ugliness. However, this very image and the author’s attitude towards it turned out to be incomparably more complex: along with cheating, dirty debauchery and cruelty that led his victim to suicide, he turns out to be unexpectedly capable of good deeds, philanthropy and generosity. Svidrigailov is a huge man inner strength, having lost the sense of boundaries between good and evil.
Svidrigailov. Fragments from the film “Crime and Punishment”
Preparatory notes have been preserved in Dostoevsky's notebooks, which reflect the gradual formation of the characteristics of this image and variations of its essence in the writer's imagination. “Passionate and stormy impulses, bubbling up and down; it’s hard to bear oneself (strong nature, uncontrollable, to the point of feeling voluptuous, gusts of lies (Ivan the Terrible), many meannesses and dark deeds, a child (NB killed), wanted to shoot himself. For three days he decided. He tormented the poor man who depended on him and on whom he kept. Instead of shooting himself, get married. Jealousy. (Charged 100,000.) Slander of wife. Kicked out or killed the hanger-on. A gloomy demon from which he cannot get rid of. Suddenly the determination to expose himself, the whole intrigue; repentance, humility, leaves, becomes a great ascetic, humility, thirst to endure suffering. Betrays oneself. Link. Asceticism.
“I don’t want to imitate the people in a vile way.” Still, there is no humility, a struggle with pride.”
Further, this characteristic is further modified, and it is obvious that the complex image worn in front of creative imagination novelist, contains features not only of Svidrigailov, but also of a number of his later characters - the Great Sinner, the hero of the planned novels “Atheism” (1868–1869) and “The Life of a Great Sinner” (1869–1870), Stavrogin (“Demons”) and Versilov ( "Teenager"):
“Passionate and stormy impulses. No coldness and disappointment, nothing used by Byron. An exorbitant and insatiable thirst for pleasure. The thirst for life is unquenchable. A variety of pleasures and satisfactions. Perfect consciousness and analysis of every pleasure, without fear that it will weaken because it is based on the needs of nature itself, the physique. Pleasures are artistic to the point of refinement and next to them are rude, but precisely because excessive rudeness comes into contact with refinement (a severed head). Psychological pleasures. Pleasures are criminal violations of all laws. Mystical pleasures (fear at night). Enjoyment of repentance, monastery (fasting and prayer). Beggarly pleasures (begging for alms). The Delights of Raphael's Madonna. The pleasures of theft, the pleasures of robbery, the pleasures of suicide. (Having received an inheritance for 35 years, until then he was a teacher or official, and was afraid of his superiors). (Widower). Enjoying education (learning for this). Enjoyment of good deeds."
As a result, Crime and Punishment portrays Svidrigailov as a man who violated the sacred mother earth and severed his connection with the human family. He kills his personality and falls into the power of the faceless Space Force. The last night before his suicide, Svidrigailov wanders through deserted streets under thunderstorms and pouring rain. The spirit of non-existence, embodied in him, recognizes in the revolt of the elements a “fateful inheritance.” Mental chaos merges with natural chaos. The description of this stormy night is the pinnacle of Dostoevsky’s “mystical realism”.
Until ten o'clock in the evening, Svidrigailov visits “various taverns and sewers”, listens to the barrel organ in some kind of pleasure garden. “The evening was stuffy and gloomy. By ten o'clock in the evening terrible clouds came from all sides - thunder struck and the rain poured down like a waterfall. The water did not fall in drops, but gushed onto the ground in whole streams. The lightning flashed every minute, and one could count up to five times during each glow.” At midnight he goes to the St. Petersburg side, rents a room in a dirty wooden hotel, but even this tiny cell does not save him from the raging elements. They are chasing him. “This must be some kind of garden under the window,” he thought, “the trees are rustling; how I don’t like the noise of trees, at night, in a storm and in the dark, it’s a bad feeling! Rain, dampness, water cause unbearable disgust in him. “Never in my life have I loved water, even in landscapes”; he is tormented by a nightmare: the girl he insulted - a drowned woman - lies in a coffin among flowers. He opens the window: “The wind poured violently into his cramped closet and, as if with frosty frost, covered his face... In the midst of the darkness and night, a cannon shot was heard, followed by another... Ah, a signal! The water is rising, he thought.”
The image of a drowned woman (a girl whom Svidrigailov once abused) approaches him like a flood. Water takes revenge on the defiler. Svidrigailov kills himself in a damp fog, on a dirty street, among wet trees: “A milky, thick fog lay over the city. Svidrigailov walked along the slippery, dirty wooden pavement towards the Malaya Neva. He imagined the water of the Malaya Neva rising high during the night, Petrovsky Island, wet paths, wet grass, wet trees and bushes.” He stops in front of a house with a watchtower and pulls the trigger in front of the Jewish fireman.
It is not for nothing that such a mysterious and gloomy person as Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov appears in the novel “Crime and Punishment”. Dostoevsky is enough in an interesting way contrasts him with the main character - Rodion Raskolnikov, but more on that a little later.
Svidrigailov is characterized as a cynical and immoral person, his world is the dark dens of St. Petersburg. Having unexpectedly become rich and gained power over the serfs, he embarked on an even more depraved and destructive path. “We are birds of a feather,” Svidrigailov tells Raskolnikov. “Crime and Punishment” is a novel with deep philosophical thought, which concerns the issues of recognizing good and evil, the justice of crime and moral responsibility, repentance and punishment. And if we take it deeper, then there are questions political system, and the socialist revolution.
Novel "Crime and Punishment". Svidrigailov
The author's contrast of these two characters paints a picture that each of them has his own point of view on life and circumstances, and completely opposite ones. Therefore, different Raskolnikovs and Svidrigailovs will receive punishment. “Crime and Punishment” tells about the fates of these heroes, and here’s what’s interesting: the murderer Svidrigailov, who poisoned his wife, will shoot himself at the end of the novel, and the murderer Raskolnikov will serve eight years in hard labor and receive a reward mutual love with which he will go to hard labor after him, in order to somehow alleviate his suffering, and the deepest repentance for what he has done.
What do these heroes have in common and what makes them so different? Why such different fates?
Svidrigailov (“Crime and Punishment”): characteristics
The whole point is that at will, driven for different purposes, they crossed the line of permissibility and committed premeditated murder. When it became known that Raskolnikov had killed the old woman and her niece, Svidrigailov, unlike Raskolnikov’s close circle - Razumikhin, Dunyasha and Sonya, took this news quite calmly, he even calmed and encouraged the melancholy, painfully nervous and restless Rodion.
So, who is he - Svidrigailov? “Crime and Punishment” (characteristics of this character) shows that the novel describes him as a person who does not have remorse for his actions and actions.
Difference
However, Svidrigailov is very surprised by Raskolnikov’s tossing and doubts. “Crime and Punishment” describes their meeting and conversation, where Arkady Ivanovich tells Rodion that if he was so tormented by his conscience and questions of morality, then why did he need to mind his own business, and expresses all this in a rude and harsh form.
So, if we compare these two heroes, then all that is left in Rodion is something human and alive that tormented him every minute and second, but in Svidrigailov there is nothing of this - only emptiness, anger and disappointment remain. Hence that indifferent cynicism and the accuracy of understanding of Raskolnikov’s idea-theory, which he perfectly accepts as his own. His words are: “A single act of villainy is permissible if the main goal is good.” Everything seems simple and clear, but it turned out to be not so easy to live with these thoughts in my head.
Justifying goals
Continuing to reveal the topic “Crime and Punishment”: the image of Svidrigailov,” it is necessary to immediately note that for this hero moral issues have become completely unnecessary, he believes that achieving a “good goal” justifies any villainy. His goals include boundless voluptuousness, for his sake some terrible things happen, Marfa Petrovna dies, a young girl dies, then Svidrigailov prepares to marry a sixteen-year-old bride and plots violence against Dunyasha Raskolnikova, whom he wants to achieve at any cost.
Everything would continue to go according to his calculating and insidious plan, because he came to St. Petersburg in order to get Dunyasha’s love at any cost. He set a trap for Dunya and knows that the “bird” will definitely fall into it. The poor girl is forced to come to him on a date to talk about the grave secret of her poor brother. And this is the saving straw that Svidrigailov clings to. “Crime and Punishment” in these minutes heats up the plot to the limit. Their date became a very powerful and exciting place in the work.
As a result of the fight, when Dunya, having escaped from strong hands Savidrigailova, grabbed the revolver and pointed it at the offender, he was scared, and not at all by the weapon, but by the spiritual power of the girl. He gave in to his love for her. It was then that he finally realized that he had no salvation from despair, which means there was no future, and now eternity awaited him in a “jar of spiders.”
Svidrigailov's characteristics and image in Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment
1. The versatility of the heroes of the novel “Crime and Punishment”.
2. Svidrigailov. Characteristics and image of the hero
2.1. Immoral villain
2.2. Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov
2.3. Love for Duna
3. The end of Svidrigailov
In his difficult novel “Crime and Punishment,” F. M. Dostoevsky depicted several living and bright images, which still impress readers with their originality and complexity.
First of all, it is, of course, himself main character, is a hardworking, sympathetic young man who decided to cross the line of what is permitted. This is Sonechka Marmeladova - a destitute, deprived of childhood, poor and selling herself girl, capable of strong feelings and sincere devotion. This is Sonya’s father, and Luzhin, and, of course, Svidrigailov.
Arkady Ivanovich appears before readers handsome man fifty years old, well dressed, looking youthful. He is a nobleman and former officer, was married to a rich woman. It would seem that life smiles on this hero, he is full of strength and conceit, because the circumstances surrounding him are developing well. But it's not that simple. Svidrigailov is an immoral and vicious person, without conscience and moral principles. Because of such dirty beliefs, he ruins the lives of himself and others, becomes unhappy himself and makes those around him unhappy.
In his younger years, he quits the service because it is difficult for him to obey army regulations, live on friendly terms with his comrades and observe standards of decency. Having no permanent income and spending all his savings on a wild lifestyle and gambling, Svidrigailov becomes a beggar. He is sent to prison for cheating and debts. At this time, a rich woman helps him. Marfa Petrovna pays a lot of money to free the man, marries him and leaves with him for the village.
Another person, filled with gratitude to this noblewoman in love, would respect and appreciate her. But Arkady Ivanovich was not like that. He humiliates his wife and shamelessly cheats on her. “I had such disgust in my soul and a kind of honesty that I could tell her outright that I couldn’t be completely faithful to her,” declares this vicious man, and still boasts of his immorality. But his adventures in the village do not end there.
With unprecedented sophistication and cruelty, Svidrigailov mocks the peasant, and thereby drives him to suicide. And his immoral relationship with a fifteen-year-old girl evokes disapproval and condemnation from the reader. The unfortunate girl kills herself, but this has no effect on the villain. He, without feeling any remorse, continues to enjoy life and debauchery.
Committing crimes and atrocities, Arkady Ivanovich does not suffer like Raskolnikov, who is tormented whether he has the right to take a person’s life. Svidrigailov commits his atrocities without thinking, and it’s scary. For him there is no crime or wrongdoing, for him there is only the need to satisfy his desires and lusts, regardless of how it affects others. And although he tells the main character that they are both “birds of a feather,” this is not so.
Svidrigailov does not doubt his evil deeds, he does not hesitate between good and evil. He has been on the side of evil for a long time and does not experience the slightest sign of repentance. In contrast to Raskolnikov, Arkady Ivanovich does not withdraw into himself after the crime. He continues to live and strives to get everything from life. The relationship between Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov’s sister Dunya is stunning and extraordinary. The girl comes to serve in the family of Arkady Ivanovich, where he notices her and becomes imbued with love for her. Most likely, she conquered the man spiritual beauty and the purity of the young maid. She behaves meekly and humbly, fulfills with zeal homework, she is kind and flexible. But there is another side to this malleability.
Dunya is an honest, chaste girl; she protects her purity and innocence. No threats and intimidations, no gifts and no flattery can shake her determination to resist the hated master. Svidrigailov cannot come to terms with this. He thinks that his wife is interfering with the girl. Therefore, a man commits a terrible act - he becomes the culprit in the death of his wife, the mother of his children, who all the time saved him and saved him from the consequences of his dirty deeds. After this, Arkady Ivanovich goes to Dunya to force her to surrender to him.
He blackmails the girl with her brother's secret and resorts to other terrible tricks to seduce the unfortunate woman. But Dunya, driven to despair, realizes that she can become a puppet in the hands of a cruel, unprincipled man whom she abhors and despises, and decides to kill. The first shot missed the villain, and the second time the girl was unable to shoot and threw the revolver away. Svidrigailov, who was not frightened by either the assassination attempt or the real threat, was broken by Dunya’s despair and grief, her extinguished gaze and sad indifference. He realized that he was disgusted with his beloved, that she would never, ever love him sincerely and voluntarily. “ - You don’t like that. And you can't? Never? Never!" – this quiet short conversation decides future fate heroes. Arkady Ivanovich, who truly loves this persistent, pure young woman, lets her go and decides to commit suicide.
His existence is meaningless; without his beloved, who could become his joy and salvation, he sees no reason for his existence. Svidrigailov commits suicide, but, strange as it may seem for negative hero, V last hours he accomplishes his existence noble deeds who save the lives of others. The man leaves money to his bride, who is young and innocent, and Sonechka, thanks to which she is able to change her profession and follow Raskolnikov into exile to take care of his mental well-being. Arkady Ivanovich also arranges the lives of the Marmeladov children. If not for his good deeds, who knows how the lives of the main characters would have ended. And so we have hope that by his suicide Svidrigailov saved Sonya and Rodion, that they will live happily ever after.
The image of Svidrigailov in Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”
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Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel “Crime and Punishment” has a psychological orientation. Therefore, the author’s attention is directed primarily not to the external actions of the heroes, but to their internal thoughts and experiences.
One of the most striking images is that of Svidrigailov. His full name is Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov. He is a wealthy nobleman with connections, accustomed to achieving his goals. Him and Luzhina What they have in common is that both of them are moral counterparts to the main character Raskolnikov. Svidrigailov puts Raskolnikov's theory into practice. He gets what he wants in any way. As a result, he became a morally devastated person who is experiencing spiritual degradation.
Svidrigailov in the novel is already about 50 years old, but he looks younger than his years. Arkady Ivanovich was of average height, broad in the shoulders, and dressed smartly. This gentleman's face still retained freshness and good looks. His hair and beard were still thick. A special feature was sharp blue eyes that looked at people coldly and with a degree of disdain. Raskolnikov Svidrigailova notices something terrifying in Svidrigailova’s pretty face. Thus, the author hints that the main character sees his own terrifying image in the eyes of another hero.
There were various rumors about Arkady Ivanovich. It was rumored that he was involved in the poisoning of his wife and the suicide of a servant. He himself did not deny his tough character. Svidrigailov did not try to build exculpatory theories, like Luzhin or Raskolnikov. He accepted the fact that he was an idle and depraved person.
Svidrigailov is a projection onto the image of Raskolnikov. If the main character could realize his theory, he would become Svidrigailov. Arkady Ivanovich has long stepped over the moral boundaries of good and evil and is not tormented by questions of conscience, unlike the poor student. There are no restrictions for this master; whatever he wants, he achieves.
However, in the novel there is still a person who will make the hero doubt his chosen path. This Dunya, sister of Rodion Raskolnikov. The girl is beautiful, and Arkady Ivanovich lusts for her, wants to achieve her location at any cost. But Dunya, although poor, is smart and proud. She quickly understands what motivates Arkady Ivanovich. Her resistance and moral purity turn something over in the soul of this cold and cynical person. Svidrigailov falls in love with Dunya and tries to win her love. Using blackmail, he lures the girl into the bedroom, but his animal plans are not allowed to come true. Dunya was able to stand up for her honor and awakened forgotten feelings in Arkady Ivanovich - nobility and courage.
The image of Svidrigailov in the novel “Crime and Punishment” is not unambiguous; in his soul there is no clear boundary between good and evil. He is immoral, but he also does good deeds.
Who is Svidrigailov from Crime and Punishment
Mr. Svidrigailov is one of the brightest minor characters novel "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoevsky.
This article presents quotation image and the characterization of Svidrigailov in the novel “Crime and Punishment”: a description of the appearance and character of the hero.
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The image and characteristics of Svidrigailov in the novel “Crime and Punishment”: description of appearance and character
Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov is an acquaintance and admirer of Dunya Raskolnikova (sister of the main character, Rodion Raskolnikov).
Mr. Svidrigailov’s age is about 50 years:
". He was a man of about fifty. " The following is known about Svidrigailov’s appearance:
". taller than average, portly, with broad and steep shoulders, which gave him a somewhat stooped appearance. He was smartly and comfortably dressed and looked like a dignified gentleman. In his hands was a beautiful cane, which he tapped along the sidewalk with every step, and his hands were in fresh gloves. His wide, high-cheekbone face was quite pleasant, and his complexion was fresh, not St. Petersburg. His hair, still very thick, was completely blond and just a little gray, and his wide, thick beard, hanging down like a shovel, was even lighter than his head hair. His eyes were blue and looked coldly, intently and thoughtfully; scarlet lips. In general, he was a perfectly preserved man who seemed much younger than his age. " ". He leaned on his cane with both hands. As much as one could see through his blinking eyelashes, this man was already middle-aged, stocky and with a thick, light, almost white beard...” ". It was some kind of strange face, like a mask: white, ruddy, with ruddy, scarlet lips, with a light blond beard and still quite thick blond hair. The eyes were somehow too blue, and their gaze was somehow too heavy and motionless. There was something terribly unpleasant in this handsome and extremely youthful, judging by his age, face. Svidrigailov’s clothes were smart, summer, light, and he especially showed off his underwear. There was a huge ring with an expensive stone on the finger.” Svidrigailov is a retired officer, a nobleman by birth:
“Who am I? You know: a nobleman, served for two years in the cavalry. " Svidrigailov is a widower, husband of the late Marfa Petrovna:
". May be. seeing himself already in years and the father of a family. " Svidrigailov has children, but he considers himself a bad father. According to him, children do not need it:
". My children stayed with my aunt; they are rich, but they don’t need me personally. And what kind of father am I!” Svidrigailov is a wealthy man (before the death of his wife):
". It is, of course, decently dressed and I am not considered a poor person. " “I took for myself only what Marfa Petrovna gave me a year ago. I've had enough. " ". I'm not rich though. " ". Marfa Petrovna. and if she left him something. which is not enough for a year for a person with his habits. " Mr. Svidrigailov is a madman:
". They've already dealt too harshly with this madman. " ". this madman had long since developed a passion for Dunya. " Svidrigailov is a man of “bully behavior,” that is, desperate, capable of anything:
". a person of disturbed behavior. " Svidrigailov is a rude villain, voluptuous and scoundrel:
". from this rude villain, from this voluptuous libertine and scoundrel. " “It must be you... the scoundrel!” ". In a word, this monstrous difference in age and development in you excites voluptuousness! And are you really getting married like that?”
Mr. Svidrigailov is a depraved, vicious, idle person:
". Indeed, I am a depraved and idle person. " “This is the most depraved and lost in vices of all people of this kind. " Svidrigailov is terrible, dishonest man:
". No, no, this is horrible man! I can't imagine anything more terrible. " ". Even though I know that you are a man... without honor. " Svidrigailov - gloomy, boring man, in his own opinion:
". But I’m a gloomy, boring person. Do you think it's funny? No, gloomy: I do no harm, and I sit in the corner; sometimes they won’t talk for three days. " Svidrigailov is a sinner, short person, who loves “dirty places”:
". I am a sinful person. Hehehehe. " ". I love cesspools with dirt. " Svidrigailov is a nasty and empty person who doesn’t really do anything:
". and in such a nasty and empty person like me. "(Svidrigailov about himself) ". at least there was something; well, to be a landowner, well, a father, well, a lancer, a photographer, a journalist... n-nothing, no specialty! Sometimes it's even boring. " Svidrigailov is the emptiest, most insignificant villain in the world, according to Raskolnikov:
". He became convinced of Svidrigailov as the most empty and insignificant villain in the world.” Svidrigailov is not interested in the opinions of others:
". But I’m not particularly interested in anyone’s opinion. and therefore why not be vulgar. " Svidrigailov - very a strange man:
“He is very strange and has decided on something... He seems to know something... Dunya must be protected from him...” When he wants, Mr. Svidrigailov knows how to seem like a decent person and behave charmingly:
". Arkady Ivanovich, when he wanted to, was a man with very charming manners. " ". It even seems to me that you are in very good company, or at least know how to be a decent person on occasion. " Mr. Svidrigailov - cunning man:
". he is a cunning and seductive man about the ladies. "
This was a quotation image and characterization of Svidrigailov in the novel “Crime and Punishment”: a description of the appearance and character of the hero.
Svidrigailov Arkady Ivanovich
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("Crime and Punishment")
Landowner; husband of Marfa Petrovna Svidrigailova. His portrait is given twice in the novel. At the beginning: “He was a man of about fifty, above average height, portly, with broad and steep shoulders, which gave him a somewhat stooped appearance. He was smartly and comfortably dressed and looked like a dignified gentleman. In his hands was a beautiful cane, which he tapped along the sidewalk with every step, and his hands were in fresh gloves. His wide, high-cheekbone face was quite pleasant, and his complexion was fresh, not St. Petersburg. His hair, still very thick, was completely blond and just a little gray, and his wide, thick beard, hanging down like a shovel, was even lighter than his head hair. His eyes were blue and looked coldly, intently and thoughtfully; scarlet lips. In general, he was a perfectly preserved man who seemed much younger than his years...” At the end of the novel (in the 6th part), the portrait is repeated, psychologically clarified, and specified: “It was some kind of strange face, like a mask: white, ruddy , with rosy, scarlet lips, a light blond beard and still quite thick blond hair. The eyes were somehow too blue, and their gaze was somehow too heavy and motionless. There was something terribly unpleasant in this handsome and extremely youthful, judging by his age, face. Svidrigailov’s clothes were smart, summer, light, and he especially showed off his underwear. There was a huge ring with an expensive stone on the finger...”
Svidrigailov was first mentioned in a detailed letter from Pulcheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikova to her son Rodion Raskolnikov with a bitter story about the misadventures of his sister Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova, who served as a governess in the house of Svidrigailov and his wife Marfa Petrovna. The voluptuous Svidrigailov pursued Dunya and, having received a refusal, slandered her, so that she had to leave her place. True, Svidrigailov subsequently admitted to slander, but following the mother and daughter Raskolnikov, who moved to St. Petersburg, he appears in the capital (after the death of his wife, whom he apparently poisoned) and begins to literally pursue Avdotya Romanovna. Having accidentally turned out to be Sonya Marmeladova's neighbor, Svidrigailov overheard Rodion Raskolnikov's confession of the murder of the old pawnbroker and is trying to blackmail his sister with this. Before this, in a conversation with Raskolnikov, his “double” (this is exactly the psychological role Svidrigailov plays in the novel in relation to the student killer) openly admits and talks about his past deeds: he was a sharper, was in debtor’s prison, married Marfa Petrovna because of money, raped a girl who then committed suicide, drove the lackey Philip to suicide... According to Svidrigailov, eternity is “like a village bathhouse, smoky, and there are spiders in all the corners.”
This character is the first real, unconditional and, so to speak, logical suicide in Dostoevsky’s world: he thought through suicide, prepared it, justified it and committed it. Svidrigailov himself knows that he is lost - and not only in his vices, but also in the most literal sense of the word dead person. Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova is his last and only hope to stay in this world, to stay and continue to live. Alas, on her part he cannot expect not only tolerance and compassion (which Apollinaria Suslova sometimes bestowed, to some extent the prototype of Dunya, Dostoevsky): Dunya despises him and even hates him - for her he is definitely disgusting. And Svidrigailov cannot even dissolve and drown his despair in wine, because, although in his youth he paid abundant tribute to Bacchus, now he does not even like or tolerate champagne (as, by the way, Dostoevsky himself). His love for Duna is not just the attraction of an elderly, fading man to a beautiful young girl, but also his passionate desire to finally become someone. He confesses to Raskolnikov: “Believe me, at least there was something; well, to be a landowner, well, a father, well, a lancer, a photographer, a journalist... n-nothing, no specialty! Sometimes it’s even boring...” But, oddly enough, this man is afraid of death (“I’m afraid of death and I don’t like it when they talk about it,” he admits to Raskolnikov). He is so mystically afraid of death that he came up with a kind of euphemism for his impending suicide - voyage to America. He talks about this “voyage” in conversations with Raskolnikov and Sonya Marmeladova. By the way, in the mystical fear of death, the novel's doubles - Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov - are absolutely similar. It is said about Raskolnikov: “In the consciousness of death and in the feeling of the presence of death, there was always something heavy and mystically terrible for him, from childhood. »
But it is known that many suicides, before their fatal step, were afraid of death, denied it and even condemned those who committed suicide. This process - from the denial of death to the execution of the “auto-sentence” - is described and shown in detail, with all the psychological details, by Dostoevsky using the example of Svidrigailov. He foresaw his tragic end, but until the last moment he tried to avoid it, or at least postpone it. There were two options for this: to marry, as he planned, a 15-year-old innocent girl, or to achieve the reciprocity of Dunya Raskolnikova. The girl-bride actually exists - Svidrigailov goes to her house with gifts, willingly tells Raskolnikov about her. Matchmaking with a young bride, apparently, was not a very serious matter for him - out of inertia, out of an inveterate habit of voluptuousness and a tendency towards pedophilia, but this man was serious about Avdotya Romanovna. His tormenting passion for Raskolnikov’s sister had lasted for more than one day and had reached its boiling point. Even when Dunya lived and stayed on his estate, he was ready to kill his wife at her very first word (which, however, he did later without any permission), and now he decided to put his own life on the line: he endures several minutes - Dunya even slightly wounded him.
Before a decisive, final meeting-conversation with Avdotya Romanovna, Svidrigailov commits actions that are incredible to him: he pays for the funeral of Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova, allocates capital for the placement of her orphans, offers Raskolnikov 10 thousand rubles for Dunya in order to save her from a forced marriage with Luzhin, and the entire Raskolnikov family is out of poverty. However, there is nothing strange about this. Svidrigailov understands perfectly well that as he is, he only causes disgust and disgust in Dunya. He makes radical, in his opinion, attempts to be reborn in a single moment, to become better. To appear before the woman you love as a kind of noble and beneficent knight. He, moreover, has another strong and, as, again, it seems to him, noble trump card in reserve - he could, but did not betray Dunya’s brother to the police. Speaking about ten thousand for his sister in a conversation with Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov assures: “. I offer without any calculations. Believe it or not, both you and Avdotya Romanovna will find out later. “But, of course, at that moment not only his interlocutor, but also Arkady Ivanovich himself did not believe that “without any calculations”: the calculation, albeit naive, was just that - to surprise, hit Dunya, melt the ice in her heart. But, we must give him his due, after the catastrophe, after his fatal meeting with Dunya, Svidrigailov completely disinterestedly continues to perform good deeds: he gives 3 thousand rubles to Sonya (so that she has something to go to Siberia after Raskolnikov and something to live on there) , leaves as much as 15 thousand to his young failed bride (although, of course, it would be better to distribute the amounts the other way around!). But according to the nature of his nature and according to his atheistic worldview, before voluntarily leaving this life, he should have reached the limit of cynicism, done some kind of ugly twist - for example, raped Dunya or betrayed her brother in order send him, if not “to America” after himself, then at least to hard labor... This is how Dostoevsky himself later discussed this in a letter to his reader and admirer N.L. Ozmidov (February 1878): “Now imagine that there is no God and no immortality of the soul (the immortality of the soul and God are all the same, one and the same idea). Tell me, why should I then live well, do good, if I die on earth completely? Without immortality, the whole point is just to reach my term, and then at least everything will burn. And if so, then why should I (if I only rely on my dexterity and intelligence, so as not to get caught by the law) not kill another, rob, rob, or why should I, if I don’t kill, then not directly live at the expense of others, in one of your wombs? After all, I will die, and everything will die, nothing will happen. »
It turns out that Arkady Ivanovich, in the most hidden, deep convolutions of his shabby soul, still timidly hoped for immortality, not only in the form of a smoky bathhouse with spiders, for the existence of God, he strove and wished before a meeting with Him, as before a meeting with Dunya, to balance the pounds of his crimes, cynical actions and sins, spools of dying blessings.
Having finally released Dunya in peace, Svidrigailov accidentally noticed the revolver that she had thrown away and picked it up: there were still two charges and one primer left there. By the way, this revolver once belonged to Svidrigailov himself and, by chance, he found its owner, saving the only and last shot for him. However, this last capsule could also misfire, and then what would Arkady Ivanovich do at the last moment? One can guess about this: already having a revolver in his pocket, a few hours before suicide, Svidrigailov crosses the bridge at midnight and “with some special curiosity and even a question looked at black water Malaya Neva. “It is likely that if the capsule had not worked, he would simply have drowned. This gentleman would hardly have agreed to the rope, not wanting to stoop to the level of his lackey Philip. And one more very curious touch: before a date with Dunya, Svidrigailov drinks a glass of champagne for courage, but before leaving for America, he spends the entire evening drinking and treating everyone he meets, wandering around the taverns, without drinking a sip himself - he no longer needs courage to commit self-execution. In the last hours of his life, Svidrigailov does everything to ensure that this life, the surrounding earthly reality, tires him to the extreme, as if he is trying to suppress and drown out the rudiments of his dying fear with a completely unbearable disgust for existence. The rain is lashing, the wind is howling, and he, soaked to the skin, wanders until late through the dark streets, through stinking dirty taverns, communicates with drunken rabble, then rents a “room” in a filthy hotel on the outskirts of the city, as if he wants and intends to vividly imagine an imagined afterlife. a miserable eternity for them: “He lit a candle and examined the room in more detail. It was a cell so small that it was almost too tall for Svidrigailov, with one window; the bed was very dirty, a simple painted table and chair took up almost the entire space. The walls looked as if they had been knocked together from boards with shabby wallpaper, so dusty and tattered that its color (yellow) could still be guessed, but no pattern could be recognized. One part of the wall and ceiling was cut at an angle. “Well, why not an analogue of a bathhouse with spiders? Only here and while Svidrigailov is overcome and tormented not by spiders, but by flies and mice - in nightmares and in reality. Nightmares almost drive Arkady Ivanovich crazy, and he knew in advance that he would be choked by nightmares, however, trying to gain and accumulate more evil disgust for life, he plunges into a nightmarish half-oblivion again and again: then he sees in the coffin he tries to save a five-year-old girl from the cold, but she suddenly begins to seduce him. The subconscious reaction of an inveterate cynic and libertine is striking here - even he was horrified: “What! five year old! - Svidrigailov whispered in real horror, - this. what is this? »
And - the very last actions of Arkady Ivanovich before leaving for last way, on the “voyage”: he checks the primer in the revolver, writes a traditional, completely stupid note, saying that he doesn’t blame anyone for his death, etc. catches a fly. He tries long and hard to catch a fly. “Finally, having caught myself on this interesting activity, woke up, shuddered, stood up and resolutely walked out of the room.” This is Dostoevsky! Later, in “Demons,” he will recreate and use again a similar psychological detail, develop it to a truly philosophical level in the scene of Matryosha’s suicide, when Stavrogin, being behind the wall, and knowing and guessing about what is happening in the closet, at first also stubbornly catches a fly, and then begins to closely examine the “tiny red spider on a geranium leaf.”
In description last minutes There is another extremely curious detail in Svidrigailov’s life, as if connecting him with the hero of V. Hugo’s story “The Last Day of a Man Condemned to Death” with Rodion Raskolnikov and, Furthermore, with Dostoevsky himself. A French criminal, who is being taken to execution, in the last moments of the journey runs his eyes over the signs on the benches; Raskolnikov, going to the police station with a confession (also, essentially, to execution, at least of his fate), “greedily looked around right and left,” reading the signs and even noting mistakes in them (“Tavarischestvo”); and Prince Myshkin in “The Idiot,” talking about the feelings and thoughts of a man (Dostoevsky himself) who is being taken to the scaffold, depicts how he looks for the familiar baker’s sign. Apparently, this detail stuck in the memory of the Petrashevsky writer! So Svidrigailov, on the way to the place of self-execution, glanced every now and then “stumbled upon shop and vegetable signs and carefully read each one. »
At the last decisive minute, Svidrigailov behaved calmly, and was in full control of his nerves and feelings. He even somehow humorously brought his joke-euphemism about the voyage to its logical conclusion, announcing to a random witness - the guard soldier-fireman (Achilles) - that he was going to America and let him then explain it to the police: he went to America. And - he pulled the trigger. There was no misfire.
The surname Svidrigailov reflects the contradictory, quirky essence of this hero. Dostoevsky, being interested in the history of his family (which has Lithuanian roots), probably drew attention to the etymological composition of the surname of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Shvitrigailo (Svidrigailo): gail ( German geil) - lustful, voluptuous. In addition, in one of the feuilletons of the magazine “Iskra” (1861, No. 26), which was part of Dostoevsky’s reading circle, there was talk about a certain Svidrigailov who was rampaging in the provinces - a “repulsive” and “disgusting” person.
The image of Svidrigailov, to some extent, captures the psychological appearance of one of the inhabitants of the Omsk prison - the murderer from the nobles Aristov (in “Notes from the House of the Dead” he is depicted as A-v).
The image and characteristics of Svidrigailov in the novel “Crime and Punishment” by Dostoevsky
Of the many minor characters, Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailova is the most striking and important for characterizing the main character Raskolnikov. The image and characterization of Svidrigailov in the novel “Crime and Punishment” are described by Dostoevsky quite clearly, vividly, and in the most detail. This character so clearly emphasizes many aspects of the protagonist’s character that it is very important to understand the very essence of the unsympathetic Arkady Ivanovich.
Dostoevsky F. M., like an artist, painted a portrait of Arkady Ivanovich with clear, bright, rich strokes with a wide brush. And although Svidrigailov is not the main character, it is difficult to forget him and impossible to pass by.
— This is how the portrait of Svidrigailov was painted. The author drew him in great detail, emphasizing the importance of this character for the destinies of the other heroes of the novel. The portrait is very interesting: at first the reader sees a very pleasant person, even handsome. And suddenly, at the end of the description, it is said about the eyes: a steady, cold gaze, albeit thoughtful. Famous expression“The eyes are the mirror of the soul,” the author emphasized in literally two words that reveal the very essence of the character. Even a very attractive person may turn out to be completely different from what he first appears. Here is the first hint of the true essence of Svidrigailov, which the author reveals through the opinion of Raskolnikov, who noticed that Arkady Ivanovich’s face is more like a mask hiding all the ins and outs, that, despite his attractiveness, there is something very unpleasant in Svidrigailov.
Character, its formation
Svidrigailov is a nobleman, which means that he received a decent education. He served in the cavalry for about two years, then, as he himself said, “wandered around,” already living in St. Petersburg. There he became a sharper and ended up in prison, from where Marfa Petrovna rescued him. It turns out that the entire biography of Arkady Ivanovich is his path to moral and ethical decline. Svidrigailov is cynical, a lover of debauchery, which he himself admits even with some pride. He has no sense of gratitude: even to his wife, who saved him from prison, he directly states that he is not going to remain faithful to her and change his lifestyle for her sake.
All of him life path marked by crimes: because of him, his servant Philip and the servant’s daughter, a girl dishonored by Svidrigailov, committed suicide. It is most likely that Marfa Petrovna was poisoned because of her lecherous husband. Arkady Ivanovich lies, slandering Dunya, Raskolnikov’s sister, slandering her, and also trying to dishonor the girl. With all his dissolute and dishonest life, Svidrigailov is gradually killing his soul. And it would be okay if he destroyed everything good in himself, Arkady Ivanovich kills everything around him, everything he touches.
Character personality traits
Svidrigailov is depicted as a perfect villain who has fallen into the abyss of evil, having seemingly lost every pitiful remnant of conscience. He has absolutely no doubts when doing evil, does not think about the consequences, and even enjoys the torment of the people around him. A lustful libertine, a sadist, he tries to satisfy all his base instincts, without experiencing the slightest remorse for what he has done. It seems to him that it will always be like this.
Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov
Having met the main character, Arkady Ivanovich once notices to him that they are both “birds of a feather.” Raskolnikov finds Svidrigailov extremely unpleasant. Rodion even feels some confusion, feeling the power of Arkady Ivanovich over himself, who understood a lot about the student. Raskolnikov is frightened by the mysteriousness of Svidrigailov.
However, despite the fact that Rodion killed the old pawnbroker, they are not at all alike. Yes, Rodion put forward a theory about superhumans, even killed a man while testing his theory. But in Svidrigailov, as in a distorting mirror, he saw himself in the future, if he continued to live according to the principles of his idea. And this revealed humanity in Rodion, pushed him to repentance and understand the depth of his fall.
The end of Arkady Ivanovich
Dostoevsky except possession writing skills was endowed with the talent of a psychologist. Here too, describing the life path of Svidrigailov, an inveterate villain, he stops him with love, paradoxically as it may seem. Arkady Ivanovich, having met Dunya, first tries to seduce her. When he fails, he denigrates the girl in the eyes of others. In the end, he is surprised to realize that he truly loved her. And this understanding of the truth of love opens in his soul all the floodgates that hitherto had not let out either conscience, repentance, or understanding of the atrocities he committed.
He lets Dunya go, noting with desperate bitterness:
Svidrigailov suddenly realizes that he is absolutely alone in his fall, that he is unworthy of anyone’s love. The epiphany comes too late for him. Yes, he is trying to atone, to somehow make amends for all the evil that he has done so far. Arkady Ivanovich gives money to Dunya and Sonya, donates a large sum the Marmeladov family... But he cannot achieve deep, sincere repentance.
But the pangs of conscience aroused in him memories of the atrocities he had committed. And these memories turned out to be an unbearable burden for the conscience. Svidrigailov committed suicide.
And in this he turned out to be weaker than Raskolnikov, who was not afraid, but confessed and repented, not being afraid to live on.
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Get to the bottom of things human soul regardless of who it belongs to, a righteous man or a murderer, that's what it was main goal works of Mikhail Dostoevsky. Most of his characters live in St. Petersburg in the 19th century. Nevertheless, the books of the great Russian classic are still interesting today. And not only in Russia, but also abroad. The image of Svidrigailov is one of the most interesting images Dostoevsky. Only at first glance it may seem that this character is unambiguous. He is opposed to the main character of the novel “Crime and Punishment”, but at the same time has much in common with him.
The image of Svidrigailov in the novel “Crime and Punishment”
So what do we know about this hero? Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov is an acquaintance of Dunya Raskolnikova. Moreover, he is her admirer, passionate, unstoppable. The image of Svidrigailov emerges even before his appearance. Raskolnikov will one day learn of him as a low man, ready to do anything for profit and pleasure. Of considerable interest is mysterious story Arkady Ivanovich. He, like the main character of the novel, once committed a murder. However, unlike Raskolnikov, he was not brought to trial.
Arkady Ivanovich is fifty years old. This is a man of average height, portly, with cool and broad shoulders. An important part of Svidrigailov’s image is smart, comfortable clothing. He always carries an exquisite cane in his hands, which he taps every now and then. Svidrigailov's broad face is quite pleasant. A healthy complexion means that most he spends no time in dusty St. Petersburg. The hair is blond with graying.
What is the most important thing in the image of Svidrigailov, as, indeed, in any other? Of course, the eyes. Arkady Ivanovich's are blue, they look coldly, intently, and a little thoughtfully. Svidrigailov is a nobleman, a retired officer. He is a desperate man, as one of the characters said, “forlorn behavior.” Briefly, the image of Svidrigailov can be described as follows: a villain, a voluptuous person, a scoundrel.
The story of Arkady Ivanovich
Svidrigailov’s characterization is very unattractive. Nevertheless, in the scene that depicts his death, he is able to evoke pity in the reader. The image of Svidrigailov in Dostoevsky’s novel is considered to be the most striking negative. Still, this is a rather controversial character. Yes, he is a scoundrel, a libertine, an adventurer, a tyrant. But he is an unhappy man.
One day he says to Raskolnikov: “My children need me. But what kind of father am I?” He seems to be trying to denigrate himself, trying to seem more unpleasant and disgusting than he is. Perhaps the whole point is that Svidrigailov once committed a murder. He did not confess, did not repent. He believes in his impunity. Svidrigailov is cruelly mistaken. There is no crime without punishment.
Svidrigailov was once a card sharper. He went to prison for debt. From there he was bought by Marfa Petrovna, an elderly woman, but very rich. After his release, Arkady Ivanovich married her. True, a few months after the wedding he declared that he could not be faithful to her.
Marfa Petrovna forgave her husband's infidelity. Moreover, she once did everything to hide the dirty story that led to the death of a fifteen-year-old girl. But then Svidrigailov had every chance to go to Siberia. If it weren’t for his wife, who, by the way, later died at a very strange circumstances. Dunya Raskolnikova believes that Arkady Ivanovich poisoned her with poison.
Let's take a closer look character traits Svidrigailova. What kind of story happened to him several years before he met Raskolnikov? What does this scoundrel have in common with the main character?
Extravagance
Svidrigailov is a rather eccentric person. He is not at all interested in the opinions of others. As already mentioned, he is called “a man of bad behavior.” He says strange things and takes his interlocutor by surprise with his shameless speeches. Perhaps he really is indifferent to public opinion. But we can also assume another option: Svidrigailov takes pleasure in surprising and shocking those around him.
Depravity
This is the most depraved hero in the novel Crime and Punishment. Once upon a time he cheated on his wife with peasant women. Later, having met Dunya, he became inflamed with passion for her. This destroyed the libertine. The girl will never reciprocate his feelings. She despises him, and once almost kills him. Arkady Ivanovich is used to getting his way. When he realizes that he will never achieve his goal in the person of Dunya Raskolnikova, he commits suicide.
Adventurism
Svidrigailov is an empty man. He is accustomed to idleness and lives in grand style. Svidrigailov's marriage itself is nothing more than an adventure. He connected his life with a woman he did not love. Perhaps Svidrigailov is not at all capable of deep feeling. He lives for momentary pleasure, for which he is ready to pay with someone else's life. The time has come to tell the story, after which Arkady Ivanovich’s reputation as a scoundrel was forever established.
Cruelty
Marfa Petrovna entered into a strange agreement with her husband. His essence was this: he would never leave her, he would never start constant mistress, while he will satisfy his lust with hay girls. One of the peasant women - a girl 14-15 years old - was once found hanged in the attic. It turned out that Svidrigailov’s cruel insult pushed her to suicide. This man had another death on his conscience. He drove Philip, a peasant who could not stand the constant persecution, to suicide.
Svidrigailov and Luzhin
The images of these characters are contrasted with the main character. They are considered to be Raskolnikov's doubles. However, Luzhin, unlike Svidrigailov, and even more so the student who killed the old woman, is a rather simple character.
Luzhin causes nothing but rejection. This is a sleek, middle-aged gentleman, in whose expensive, dandy clothes there is something unnatural, sham. Unlike Svidrigailov, he rose from the bottom. Luzhin was not used to idleness. He serves in two places and values every minute. Finally, the main thing that distinguishes him from Arkady Ivanovich is rationality and prudence. This man will never lose his head because of passion. He wants to marry Duna not because he loves her. Raskolnikov's sister is poor, which means she will be an obedient wife. She is well educated, which means she will help him take a higher place in society.
Birds of a feather
Svidrigailov learns about Raskolnikov's crime after overhearing his conversation with Sonya. He, of course, will not make Rodion Romanovich’s secret public. However, she excites and excites him. “You and I are birds of a feather,” he once says to Raskolnikov. But suddenly he notices incomprehensible tragic movements in the student. A person with such a fine organization has no reason to commit a crime - this is what Svidrigailov believes, contemptuously calling Rodion’s suffering “Shillerism.”
Arkady Ivanovich suffered pangs of conscience only in last days his life. And they were too weak to lead to repentance. He, unlike Raskolnikov, could not admit his guilt.
In his famous philosophical and psychological work “Crime and Punishment,” Dostoevsky created a whole galaxy of bright and ambiguous images that still amaze readers today with their complexity, brightness and originality.
One of these characters in the novel is the rare scoundrel and scoundrel Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov. His image was created by the author in order to draw a parallel between him and the main character Rodion Raskolnikov, because they are in similar life situations: both of them committed a crime, had a “mysterious relationship” with the old pawnbroker. And although Svidrigailov calls him and Rodion “birds of a feather,” this is not entirely true, because he has been on the side of evil for a long time and has no doubt at all about the correctness of his choice.
Characteristics of the main character
Arkady Ivanovich is a rather attractive and youthful fifty-year-old man of noble origin. He is well dressed and makes a favorable impression on those around him, although Raskolnikov subtly notices that his face is cold and thoughtful blue eyes and with thin scarlet lips it looks like a mask (and a rather unpleasant one at that), behind which its owner successfully hides his vile essence.
Svidrigailov is a former officer who left his service long ago and indulged in the idle life of a sharper in the capital until he fell into debt. A rich woman, Marfa Petrovna, rescues him from there, she pays off all his debts, takes him to the village, where she becomes his wife. However, he does not feel a drop of love or gratitude for her, and continues to lead an immoral lifestyle there. The vicious and immoral Svidrigailov causes the suicide of a poor fifteen-year-old peasant girl, whom he seduces and abandons. With particular sophistication and cruelty, he also drives the poor servant Philip to suicide. Moreover, having caused the death of two people, Svidrigailov feels absolutely no remorse, does not repent and calmly continues to lead his depraved life.
(Svidrigailov shamelessly flirts with Dunya)
Unlike Raskolnikov, who also committed a crime and was now tormented and tormented by the question of whether he had the right to do so or not, Svidrigailov is absolutely calm and confident in his actions. He does everything to satisfy his base desires, and he absolutely does not care whether other people suffer from this or not. His soul is no longer at the crossroads of good and evil, he is consciously on the side of evil and does not repent of any of his crimes, because he does not even consider them to be such. He lives, striving to further satisfy his lust, and the evil in him continues to grow and expand.
(Dunya shoots Svidrigailov, in the role of Victoria Fedorova, film by L. Kulidzhanova “Crime and Punishment”, USSR 1969)
Having met Raskolnikov's sister Dunya in his house, who appeared there as a servant, the libertine Svidrigailov falls in love with her and begins to harass her. A pure and chaste girl angrily rejects his advances, and he, in order to achieve what he wants, brings his wife to the point of terrible sin- suicide. Trying to persuade the girl to have a relationship with him, Svidrigailov resorts to various tricks, blackmailing him with revealing the secret of her murderer brother, but Dunya, driven to despair, shoots him with a revolver to stop this cruel and unprincipled man. Only then does he understand how disgusted he is with her, and having truly fallen in love with this brave and pure girl, he lets her go.
The image of the hero in the work
(Svidrigailov to Raskolnikov:)
The image of Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov, a man without conscience and honor, was specially created by Dostoevsky as a warning to the main character, Raskolnikov, what he could become if he drowns out the voice of conscience and is able to live on without fully atoning for the crime he committed.
Svidrigailov worries and torments Rodion with his mystery and power over him, with the words that they are “birds of a feather.” Actually this one scary man is the embodiment of his dark half, that part of Raskolnikov’s soul, with which he is constantly trying to fight, because it can lead him to a complete moral decline and transition to the side of evil.
(Petrenko Alexey Vasilievich in the role of Svidrigailov, Lensoveta Theater, St. Petersburg)
Shattered by the actions of his beloved woman, Svidrigailov realizes how empty and meaningless his life is. His conscience begins to torment him, and in the last hours of his life he tries to somehow make amends for his guilt before God and people: he transfers money to Dunya, helps Sonya Marmeladova and her family. Belated repentance overtakes him and he, unable to bear this burden, commits suicide. He turned out to be too weak and cowardly, and could not, like Raskolnikov, repent and suffer the deserved punishment.
