Violence, Hatred, and Pain in The Idiot
"There was a look of unbounded pride and contempt, almost hatred, in that face, and at the same time something confiding, something wonderfully simplehearted." There began Prince Myshkin's curiosity of and infatuation with the complex Nastasya Filippovna as he sat in awe of this woman's picture in Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot . This story, set in Russia during the late 1860's, is one of continuous love rivalries which describe the life of the Russian aristocracy during that time period.
Prince Myshkin is described as the "ideal" man due to his compassion for everyone and his firm belief that there is a good side to all people. The story begins as Myshkin returns to Petersburg after a stay in a Swiss mental hospital for his epilepsy. Upon arrival in Russia, he visits distant relatives who are quite receptive to him and he ends up staying for a while. While there, he believes he has fallen in love with Nastasya Filippovna and prematurely proposes to her. She first accepts, but then rejects him. Nastasya is the driving force behind the novel and carries the reader, as well as the characters, from scene to scene.
The duration of the book consists of Myshkin's quest for happiness and love through which he encounters jealousy for his love and for the love of those who love him. Unfortunately, the tragic end to this book, including the predicted death of Nastasya, causes Myshkin to regress to his former epileptic state.
The time directly following Myshkin's first proposal to Nastasya stands out as an extremely memorable moment in the book. At Nastasya's birthday party, several men bring money and begin bidding on her hand in marriage. Eventually, she announces to everyone that she wants to alter her lifestyle and start over as a poor woman. Any man who cannot accept her for who she is, she decides, is not the right man for her. She feels that all men are motivated by greed and that the men will not want her for love, only greed.
Myshkin feels that he can love Nastasya for who she is and not for her money and so he proposes to her. She immediately accepts and shocks the rest of the party. One of the other suitors, Rogozhin, offers to give up everything he has for Nastasya and Myshkin encourages her to accept his offer because this sacrifice shows that he truly loves Nastasya. She agrees and as the couple is leaving, Nastasya makes one final movement. She takes the money Rogozhin had brought to buy her with and throws it into the fire. She then tells her other suitor, Ganya, that if he reaches into the fire with his bare hands to retrieve it, all of the money would be his. Nastasya does this in an attempt to demonstrate how greedy Ganya really is and to reveal his true character to the entire party. Ganya is so distraught over this, that he faints.
The description of this scene and the language used help to make it such a memorable moment. For example, the book shows Nastasya "snatched up the tongs, separated two smoldering chunks of wood, and as soon as the fire flared up, she flung the bundle into it." The use of words such as "snatched," "chunks," and "flung" illustrate the harshness in her actions. Despite "an outcry from the party" where "many even crossed themselves," Nastasya continued to let the fire burn. Lebedyev cried out that he had many children and his wife is sick and he would be willing to pull the money out with his teeth, but Nastasya refuses. She just stands and watches as the money continues to turn to ashes. The image of Ganya actually pulling the money out of the fire is such a violent and painful image that it is extremely effective in causing the reader to remember it.
This incident is the first time in the novel that Nastasya is shown in this light. It is shocking to the reader to see her as such at such a cruel moment. Members of the party cry out, "She has gone out of her mind! She is mad!" This is the first example in which the crowd is horrified with Nastasya's actions. It is, however, a foreshadowing of what is to become of her. Eventually, she goes mad and runs from several of her planned marriages, but this is our first account of her madness, and therefore it comes as a shock to the reader and makes them notice and remember what is occurring.
After Ganya faints, Nastasya allows the money to be removed from the flame and it is still in relatively good condition because it was wrapped in several layers of newspaper. She tells the party the money is for Ganya and states, "His vanity is even greater than his love for money." She then leaves. This abrupt end to such a dramatic scene leaves the reader wondering. Thoughts of that scene are left lingering in the reader's mind as he or she continues with the story. One is left pondering this most memorable scene of violence, hatred, and pain. Partner sites: Study Spanish in Guatemala, American Bulldog Information, and Eulogies