Svidrigailov's principles of life. The image and characteristics of svidrigailov in the novel crime and punishment dostoevsky composition

Svidrigailov

The name of Svidrigailov appears early in the novel - in a letter to his mother, which so excited Rodion Raskolnikov and played such a big role in the final design of his terrible plan. Pulcheria Alexandrovna talks about Svidrigailov as a rude and voluptuous despot, as a vile lecher who tried to seduce and disgrace Dunya. For Raskolnikov, the surname Svidrigailov became a household name - when faced with a drunken, lustful dandy who was chasing a teenage girl on the boulevard, he called him Svidrigailov: this nickname seemed to him sharper and more precise than all the other words used in such cases.

It would seem that all the information and rumors preceding the actual appearance of Svidrigailov among the characters in the novel confirm his so definite and at the same time primitive negative characterization. They said about him that he poisoned his wife Marfa Petrovna, that he tortured and drove his servant Philip to suicide, that he brutally insulted the girl, that he was a filthy swindler, a sharper, that there was no such vice that would not nest in him. Pulcheria Alexandrovna saw him only twice - and he seemed to her "terrible, terrible!" The most exhaustive negative characterization is given to Svidrigailov by Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin: “This is the most depraved and perished in vices person of all such people,” but with a certain tinge of incomplete reliability of what he is talking about. Luzhin does not confirm, but does not refute Pulcheria Alexandrovna's confidence that Svidrigailov is the cause of Marfa Petrovna's death. It is Luzhin who reports that a deaf-and-dumb fourteen-year-old girl who lived with the German pimp Resslich, who tortured her, was severely insulted by Svidrigailov and hanged herself that Philip, the lackey, had died from the beatings of his master, back in the days of serfdom.

The fact that the information shaming Svidrigailov comes from Luzhin should have alerted him, and yet almost everyone perceives them as indisputable facts expressing the opinion of the writer himself about the character. The researchers were not alarmed by the fragility of Luzhin's stories, formulated in such a way that they could be denied in case of anything.

And a strange thing - it is Dunya, who in the novel is the center of Svidrigailov's desires and should have been especially decisive about him, undermines the impression of the reliability of Luzhin's stories, softens and even refutes them: "Are you telling the truth that you have accurate information about this?" she interrupts Luzhin “sternly and impressively”. “I heard on the contrary,” she continues, “... that this Philip was some kind of hypochondriac, some kind of domestic philosopher, people said,“ he read it, ”and that he strangled himself more from ridicule, and not from the beating of Mr. Svidrigailov. And in my presence he treated people well, and people even loved him, although they really also blamed him for Philip's death ”(6; 215).

Luzhin was even offended: “I see that you, Avdotya Romanovna, somehow suddenly became inclined to justify him,” he remarked, twisting his mouth into an ambiguous smile, ”and predicts a rather vulgar prospect for Svidrigailov:“ disappearance ”in the debt department ... Dunya, in contrast to Luzhin, foresees a terrible tragedy in the fate of Svidrigailov. “- He's up to something terrible! - she said almost in a whisper to herself, almost shuddering.

And Svidrigailov's bride, an innocent teenager whom bad parents sell to him, senses something unusual and not criminal at all in her fiancé — in her eyes there is a “serious dumb question,” surprised and a little sad.

A villain, a libertine and a cynic, Svidrigailov does a lot of good deeds throughout the novel, more than all the other characters put together. Already from the innocent letter of Pulcheria Alexandrovna, who only knew how to love her children, but did not understand anything complicated, we learn that it was he, Svidrigailov, who had been the cause of her cruel troubles, who had saved Dunya from shame and restored her good name: . by the mercy of God, our torment was reduced: Mr. Svidrigailov ... probably pitying Dunya, presented Marfa Petrovna with complete and obvious evidence of all Dunechka's innocence ... "(6; 51).

Svidrigailov did not want and did not tolerate that false gossip would stain Dunya's name.

Going on a tragic "voyage", Svidrigailov secured the future of his children financially and morally, placing them with his aunt: “They are rich, and they personally do not need me. And what a father I am! " (6; 310).

Svidrigailov came to St. Petersburg mainly to help Duna get rid of Luzhin. At the same time, it turns out that the last and fatal quarrel for Marfa Petrovna occurred precisely because of his unwillingness to agree to the shameful marriage deal that his wife concocted. “Before the voyage, which may come true,” he says to Raskolnikov, “I want to end Mr. Luzhin as well. Not that I really hated him, but through him, however, this quarrel between mine and Marfa Petrovna came out when I learned that she had concocted this wedding. I wish now to see Avdotya Romanovna, through your mediation, and, perhaps, in your presence, explain to her, firstly, that Mr. Luzhin will not only not benefit her in the slightest, but there will probably be obvious damage. Then, having asked her for an apology for all these recent troubles, I would ask permission to offer her ten thousand rubles and thus facilitate the break with Mr. Luzhin ... ”(6; 219).

Svidrigailov adequately and convincingly reassures Raskolnikov, who suspects backward and offensive intentions of his generosity.

"... My conscience is completely at peace, I propose without any calculations ..." he explains. - The fact is that I really did bring some trouble and trouble to your dear sister; therefore, feeling sincere repentance, I sincerely wish - not to buy off, not to pay for the troubles, but simply to do something beneficial for her, on the grounds that it was not a privilege that I really took to do only evil. "

The last words that Dostoevsky put into the mouth of Svidrigailov are quite remarkable. Svidrigailov understands what his reputation is, but he himself does not agree with it. He does not consider himself only a demon of evil, he sees in himself the ability to do good.

Dunya did not accept the money, Svidrigailov used it differently, for another kind and, perhaps, even more urgent goal. He took over the organization of the orphaned Marmeladov family, starting with the youngsters and ending with Sonya herself.

“All this fuss, that is, the funeral and so on, I take on myself ... - he said. “I’ll place these two chicks and this Polechka in some better orphanage, and I’ll put on each one, until the age of majority, a thousand five hundred rubles in capital, so that Sofya Semyonovna will be completely at peace. Yes, and I’ll pull her out of the pool, because she’s a good girl, isn't she? Well, so you tell Avdotya Romanovna that I used her ten thousand like this ”(6; 319).

Raskolnikov simply cannot understand how Svidrigailov is capable of disinterested good, he is looking for a secret malicious intent in his intentions. Svidrigailov then, in a kind of ironic turn, enters into polemics with the satanic philosophy of Raskolnikov himself:

“Eh-eh! Distrustful man! - Svidrigailov laughed. - After all, I said that I have extra money. Well, but simply, according to humanity, you do not admit, eh? After all, she was not a "louse" (he pointed his finger at the corner where the deceased was), like some old woman pawnbroker. Well, you must agree ... "Does Luzhin really live and do abominations, or should she die?" And don't help me, because "Polechka, for example, will go there, along that road ...".

He said this with the air of some kind of winking, cheerful trickery, not taking his eyes off Raskolnikov ”(6; 320).

This tirade has something of Rameau's nephew, but it sounds not like a justification for the relativity of good, but as a justification for the relativity of evil.

Indeed, Svidrigailov found a lady patroness who took upon herself the responsibilities and worries of disposing of the capitals bequeathed to the Marmeladov family, the upbringing and arrangement of the future of both Polechka and her brother and sister. So that the lady would not change her mind and leave her business somewhere half-way, he donated money to those orphanages in which she was a patroness.

Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov offers means of escape to America. Concentrated on the thought of his "voyage" (that is, on the intention to shoot himself), he nevertheless carefully collects the documents necessary for the children, hands them over to Sonya, and leaves Sonya herself an additional three thousand. Svidrigailov suits the fate of the humiliated, almost crushed by life, with the greatest delicacy and tact, without seeking either gratitude or a good memory of himself. He convinces the modest and unselfish Sonechka:

“You, you, Sofya Semyonovna, and please, without much talk, because even I have no time. And you will need it. Rodion Romanovich has two paths: either a bullet in the forehead, or along Vladimirka ... Well, how will Vladimirka come out - he follows it, and you follow him? It is so? It is so? Well, if so, then it means that the money will be needed. You will need it for him, do you understand? In giving to you, I am all the same as giving to him ”(6; 352).

Svidrigailov is making a good contribution to the preparation of conditions that should return Raskolnikov to a normal track in the future.

Svidrigailov understands people well, and he uses the last days and even hours of his life in order to direct the fate of those around him in a good direction. He not only makes possible the forthcoming, following Raskolnikov, journey of Sonya to Siberia, he guesses and goes to meet her other desire: to pay off Katerina Ivanovna's debts.

Svidrigailov is practically kind until the very last minute, not only towards Sonya, Duna, the young bride, but also towards the first people he meets. On his final mournful journey, he wandered into a cheap amusement garden. The scribes quarreled there with some other scribes. He reconciled them and paid for the missing spoon, which caused the contention.

But Svidrigailov does not see the guiding star, he does not know the goal to strive for, he understands that Raskolnikov also mistook the wrong and wandering fire for a star. Aware of his "non-genius", Svidrigailov extrapolates his inner state to the society that gave birth to it, but the society that gave birth to it - in contrast to what he thinks - is not a people. And he himself ends his tirade: "I myself am a white-handed, and this is what I adhere to ...".

Despite all his physical strength, health and courage, Svidrigailov has no foundations for life. Svidrigailov is a subtle man in his own way and can understand a lot. It is striking that Dostoevsky was the one who entrusted some of his hidden thoughts. Svidrigailov talks about St. Petersburg exactly like Dostoevsky in some of his "soil" articles, and just like in the author's text of his novels. Talking badly about his bride (he is fifty, but she is not even sixteen), Svidrigailov suddenly remarks: “You know, she has a face like the Raphael Madonna. After all, the Sistine Madonna has a fantastic face, the face of a mournful holy fool, didn't you catch your eye? " (6; 318).

Svidrigailov does not have a religious attitude towards eternity, but not the same as that of Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov does not believe in God, he is outraged by the course of earthly affairs, but he seeks "consolation", seeks, albeit in an erroneous and criminal way, justice, the realization of the ideal. Aspirations for the ideal and eternity are mated, so he retains a sublime idea of ​​infinity, of eternity. Svidrigailov is disappointed to the bottom, he does not believe in God, or the devil, or in people, or in the ideal, for him the whole world is a determined absurdity - why shouldn't this absurdity appear in the form of a village bathhouse with spiders?

Svidrigailov is nowhere monolane, he is not so monochromatic black as it seems at first glance. For all his differences from Dmitry Karamazov, like the hero of The Brothers Karamazov, who were not yet written at that time, “two abysses” are laid, two ideals live, the ideal of Madonna and the ideal of Sodom. “... Someone, a person who is even higher in heart and with a lofty mind, begins with the ideal of the Madonna, and ends with the ideal of Sodom. It is even more terrible who, with the ideal of Sodom in his soul, does not deny the ideal of the Madonna, and his heart burns from him and truly, truly burns ... No, the man is wide, too wide, I would narrow it down "- these words of Dmitry Karamazov can be to a certain extent applied to Svidrigailov. And although Sodom had almost completely absorbed Svidrigailov, he still could not extinguish the charm of beauty in him, as the highest symbol of femininity and humanity.

Dunya knows that Svidrigailov is not just a villain, and at the same time understands that everything can be expected from him. In the name of her brother, Svidrigailov lures her into an empty apartment, into his rooms, from which no one will hear anything: “Although I know that you are a man ... without honor, I am not at all afraid of you. Go ahead, "she said, apparently calm, but her face was very pale."

Interpreters of Crime and Punishment in the Nietzschean spirit did not notice that with a purely Napoleonic interpretation of Raskolnikov's ideas, they agree with Svidrigailov, although Svidrigailov's opinions should be treated with caution: Svidrigailov cannot really understand Raskolnikov. It was Svidrigailov who relegated Raskolnikov completely to the Napoleonic idea, with the prospect of a tempting devilish, personal, selfish career that it opened up. It was Svidrigailov who saw in Raskolnikov a home-grown Napoleon, who did not dare to follow his path to the end.

“There was also one own theory - a so-so theory - according to which people are divided, you see, into material and into special people, that is, into people for whom, due to their high position, the law is not written, but, on the contrary , who themselves compose laws for other people, material, rubbish. Nothing, so-so theory: une théorie comme une autre. Napoleon terribly carried him away, that is, he was actually carried away by the fact that many brilliant people did not look at a single evil, but walked through without thinking ... ”(6; 362).

Svidrigailov reduces everything, he is not able to penetrate into the innermost essence of Raskolnikov's idea and, sorting out one after another the possible motivations for Rodion's crime, he finally stops at the figure of Napoleon.

Svidrigailov has everything arithmetic, and Raskolnikov has higher mathematics. Svidrigailov is the first - and explains Rodion Raskolnikov's crime pluralistically, by the addition of many different reasons and motives: poverty, character, irritation, consciousness of the "beauty of his social position", the desire to help relatives, the desire for wealth, for a career.

Svidrigailov does not blame Raskolnikov at all. He is only trying to explain to Dune, in whose location he is interested, how Raskolnikov got to his villainy, and, realizing that his sister adores her brother, finally chooses the most profitable version - Raskolnikov has begun to catch up with the genius Napoleon, without being a genius himself.

The Napoleonic motive really entered Raskolnikov's idea and its terrible implementation. Raskolnikov really saw the example of Napoleon in front of him, he really wanted to check whether he was capable of becoming Napoleon, whether he was capable of withstanding a dictatorial, tyrannical rule over all mankind and the entire universe.

However, when Raskolnikov's understanding of power and domination is limited to simply the Napoleonic idea in itself, curious shifts occur in his consciousness - both in thinking and in psychology. At these moments, he forgets that he killed not only Alena, but also Lizaveta, named the sister of Sonya Marmeladova. “Why I don’t regret Lizaveta. Poor creature! "

He killed only one louse, "the most useless of all lice." When he hears the word "crime," he shouts furiously in response: "Crime? What crime? .. the fact that I killed an ugly, malicious louse, an old woman pawnbroker, useless to anyone, who will be forgiven to kill forty sins, who sucked juice from the poor, and this is a crime? I don’t think about it and I don’t think about washing it off ”.

Yes, in some “minutes” Raskolnikov regrets that he did not manage to become Napoleon or Mohammed, did not seize power for the sake of power, no matter how bloody and dirty applications its retention required: “Oh, vulgarity! oh, meanness! .. Oh, as I understand the "prophet", with a saber, on horseback. Allah orders, and obey the "quivering" creature ... the "prophet" is right when he puts somewhere across the street a hor-r-rosh battery and blows at the right and the guilty, not even deigning to explain himself! Obey, trembling creature, and - do not wish, therefore - this is none of your business! .. Oh, I will never forgive the old woman! " (6; 211).

However, the Napoleonic idea in its purest form, power for the sake of power, is treason and betrayal in relation to something more important, where it enters only as a part or as a means. This happens quite often: a part replacing the whole, a means turned into an end, begin to contradict the whole, begin to supplant the end. He knew that Dunya could not marry Luzhin, that her alleged marriage was the same prostitution: “That's what, Dunya,” he turns to his sister, “... I consider it my duty to remind you again that I am not giving up on my main thing. Or me or Luzhin. I may be a scoundrel, but you shouldn't. Someone alone. If you marry Luzhin, I immediately cease to regard you as my sister, "Raskolnikov stands on the same basis as Razumikhin in his" main thing ".

The death of Svidrigailov is absurd, senseless, ugly, it is the end, a complete metaphysical end, a transition to a bath with spiders.

Neither man, nor society, nor humanity can live without a goal, without an ideal. Svidrigailov is dead in his existence, he does not see a star, even a deceiving one - his dead indifference is stronger than the instinct of life, stronger than the fear of non-being. Nothingness is better than indifference, which does not give an opportunity to cling to anything, even if only to kill time. This is the reason for the death of Svidrigailov, the basis for the sentence pronounced to him by Dostoevsky. After all, whether he is a hopeless villain and a hopeless libertine is unclear, ambiguous, on two ends, depends on the point of view, on rumor, on rumors, and not on categorically established facts.

Without faith in truth and goodness, Svidrigailov cannot live, having touched the heights of the mountains and plunged from there into a stinking swamp, he understood this. He himself executed himself.

In the final text of the novel, the name Svidrigailov appears initially as a synonym for a well-fed, vulgar and dissolute dandy, pursuing a defenseless girl. The contradictions inherent in it, the magnitude and intensity of the forces destroyed in it, are revealed gradually. And only in the end, in Svidrigailov's suicide, Dostoevsky's moral and philosophical plan is fully realized in brilliant perfection. Dostoevsky himself understood that he succeeded in the image. “It will be great,” he wrote in rough sketches.

Having created the image of an "ordinary", albeit terrible, villain, Dostoevsky would not have experienced such a creative upsurge and consciousness of such a creative victory.

Consider the image of Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov. This hero is one of the main characters in the psychological novel "Crime and Punishment" by F. M. Dostoevsky (a portrait of the author is presented in the article). Fedor Mikhailovich published this work in 1866. It was published in the Russian Bulletin magazine. And this work was created in the period from 1865 to 1866.

The image of Luzhin and Svidrigailov is united by the fact that both of these heroes are Raskolnikov's moral doubles. Arkady Ivanovich personifies the decline of personality and spiritual degradation, which leads to the implementation of Rodion's philosophy, his view of the world.

External characteristics of Svidrigailov

Considering the image of Svidrigailov, let us first describe his external features. In the work, Arkady Ivanovich is already more than 50 years old, but he looks much younger than his years. He is a broad-shouldered man of medium height who dressed smartly and looked like a "dignified gentleman." Arkady has a fresh, pleasant face, beard and hair are still quite thick, and his blue eyes look with a steadfast, cold gaze. However, after a while Raskolnikov found something terrible and unpleasant in this seemingly pretty face. Svidrigailov is a well-connected nobleman who is used to setting a goal and pursuing it by any means. This is the image of Svidrigailov when he first met this hero. However, it is actually much more complicated, as you will see by reading this article to the end.

The inner world of Arkady Ivanovich

Continuing to describe the image of Svidrigailov, let us turn to his inner world. A lot of gossip surrounds this hero, one worse than the other. The society blames him for the death of Martha's wife. He allegedly poisoned his wife, and also tortured and, ultimately, drove Philip to suicide, his servant, and beat the girl.

Dunya, Rodion's sister, with whom this nobleman is in love, also feels the danger emanating from this man. Svidrigailov says about himself that he is a person devoid of norms and principles, who acts according to his own will and will. He does not construct justifying theories to hide his actions, like Luzhin. Arkady Ivanovich directly says that he is a "depraved and idle" person.

Comparative characteristics of two heroes - Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov

The image of Svidrigailov, briefly described above, is largely revealed by comparing him with Rodion Raskolnikov. Thanks to his abilities, experience, money, Arkady Ivanovich already has what Rodion can only dream of - "independence from people and absolute freedom." This hero was able to cross over murder, debauchery, deception for a long time. Raskolnikov could have envied Svidrigailov's cold prudence and restraint during the crime, since Arkady Ivanovich never makes stupid mistakes, he does not give in to sentimentality. And the student suffers from all this. Rodion is tormented in his soul, gathering all his moral strength in order to silence his conscience. Arkady Ivanovich had not felt even a hint of guilt and a torment of conscience for a long time. He does not care about past sins, nor about dirty deeds he has done recently. All this complements his image. Svidrigailov Arkady Ivanovich is used to living in various crimes, enjoying his own baseness.

Arkady Ivanovich has long crossed moral boundaries, the abyss of the spiritual fall of this hero is truly great. His only life principle is to pluck mercilessly the "flowers of pleasure" and then throw them "into the roadside ditch." Arkady is the first to notice that he has a lot in common with Rodion. However, there is one important difference - Svidrigailov erased the border between sin and morality, while Rodion did not. The student is panicked by the fact that good and evil are the same. And for Svidrigailov, this is the truth of life.

Positive aspects of Svidrigailov

While portraying his immoral image, Dostoevsky, at the same time, attaches great importance to the good deeds he committed. Their Svidrigailov does even more than all the positive characters put together. After all, Arkady secured the future not only for his children, but also for the Marmeladovs' orphans. He longs to arrange the fate of Sonya, to pull her out of this "whirlpool". Svidrigailov offers Raskolnikov money so that he fled to America. He also promises to pay off Katerina Ivanovna's debts. The bright side of this hero in relations with Dunya also prevails. After all, Arkady Ivanovich, after the girl harshly refused him, no longer sought a meeting with her, did not harm Sonya. Svidrigailov's "broad" nature is endowed with a strange ability to be noble and vile at the same time. In his soul there is no clear line between good and evil.

The tragic duality of the inner world of Arkady Ivanovich

The life position of Arkady Ivanovich is explained in the work to a certain extent by the tragic duality of his personality. He, like Rodion, painfully perceives the imperfection of this world, its orders based on injustice and falsehood. But Svidrigailov's revolt, on the other hand, has no positive impact.

He does good deeds only “out of boredom”, since material assistance to people is not required from him either infringement in his desires, or suffering. Only to emptiness, and not to self-realization, leads the hero to his theory of "strong personality".

Disgust for life and suicide

Arkady Ivanovich, despite the complete absence of moral principles in him, feels disgust for life. This hero wants to escape from this, he takes risks, kills, after which he sits in prison, then agrees to escape to America or fly in a balloon. However, the severity of existence devoid of meaning weighs on the shoulders, depressing. Everywhere he is pursued by vulgarity, eternity frightens him with a "bath with spiders". It is not surprising, therefore, that Svidrigailov, fed up with life, decides to commit suicide. His soul is practically dead, so the shot from the revolver was logical.

What does the fate of Svidrigailov teach?

The image of Svidrigailov plays an important role in the work. "Crime and Punishment" is a novel that teaches us that permissiveness, absolute freedom does not lead to emancipation, as Rodion secretly hoped, but, on the contrary, to devastation, a feeling of narrowing of living space. The fate of Arkady Ivanovich is a warning to Raskolnikov. The characterization of Svidrigailov's image shows that the path he has chosen is false. It only leads to spiritual emptiness. The fate of this hero teaches with a negative example the truth that Sonya adheres to - you need to accept Christ and be cleansed in order to become truly free.

The image of Svidrigailov in Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment"

Home / Works on Russian literature / Dostoevsky F.M. / The image of Svidrigailov in Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment"

Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment has a psychological focus. Therefore, the author's attention is directed primarily not to the external actions of the characters, but to their internal thoughts and experiences.

One of the brightest images is the image of Svidrigailov. His full name is Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov. He is a wealthy nobleman with connections, accustomed to achieving his goal. Him and Luzhin they are united by the fact that both of them are moral doubles of the protagonist Raskolnikov. Svidrigailov puts into practice Raskolnikov's theory. He achieves 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. In his face, this gentleman still retained freshness and prettiness. His hair and beard were still bushy. A special feature - sharp blue eyes that looked at people coldly and with a grain of disdain. Raskolnikov in Svidrigailova's pretty face, she notices something frightening. Thus, the author hints that the protagonist sees his terrifying reflection 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 temper. Svidrigailov did not try to build exculpatory theories like Luzhin or Raskolnikov. He resigned himself to 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 does not suffer from questions of conscience, unlike the poor student. For this master there are no restrictions, whatever he wants, he achieves.

However, in the novel there is still a person who will make the hero doubt the chosen path. it Dunya, sister of Rodion Raskolnikov. The girl is beautiful, and Arkady Ivanovich longs for her, wants to win her favor at any cost. But Dunya, though poor, is smart and proud. She quickly realizes what drives Arkady Ivanovich. Her resistance, moral purity turn something in the soul of this cold and cynical person. Svidrigailov falls in love with Dunya and tries to win her love. With the help of blackmail, he lures the girl into the bedroom, but his animal plans cannot 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 border between good and evil. He is immoral, but he also does good deeds.

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The image of Svidrigailov in the novel "Crime and Punishment"

The image of Svidrigailov in the novel "Crime and Punishment" plays an important role. Literary critics call this character one of the doubles of the main character, Rodion Raskolnikov, who decided to kill for the sake of an idea.

Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov is a man of about fifty, but looks somewhat younger. There is practically no gray hair on his head, he is well-groomed, his face can be called pleasant. Here are just blue eyes repel - some lifeless, cold. Dostoevsky pays attention to the description of the appearance of this hero twice in his novel. The reader judges Svidrigailov's personality by his actions.

This is the person who is said to have been battered by life. Moreover, in the worst sense of this expression. Looking from the outside at the path traversed by Svidrigailov, you feel disgust. In the past, he was a big reveler and a drunkard, a gambler who was imprisoned for his actions and ransomed by his wife.

It would seem that such an act of a woman should have touched the heart of Arkady Ivanovich, aroused, if not love, then at least gratitude. However, Svidrigailov does not settle down, does not turn into a decent family man. He is depraved and cannot stop. Rape a 14-year-old servant girl, after which she commits suicide. Drives another person to suicide - Philip's servant. Then he poisons his wife in cold blood.

The paths of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov intersect on the storyline, connected with the sister of the protagonist - Dunya. Elderly Arkady Ivanovich falls in love with a young girl working on his estate. He sticks to her, but Dunya rejects such a boyfriend. Svidrigailov is disgusting, disgusting to her.

Meanwhile, the feeling experienced by Svidrigailov for the girl can be called human. It seems that this passion was the last outburst of life in an almost dead, sin-eaten soul. Svidrigailov, who hates his existence, dies of boredom, subconsciously tries to escape. However, he is too dirty for a pure girl to agree to be near him.

As a result, Svidrigailov commits suicide. Before dying, he manages to do several good deeds. Arrange for Marmeladov's children, give money to Sonya so that she can go into exile for Raskolnikov, etc. Knowing about the crime committed by Rodion, Arkady Ivanovich does not betray him to the police.

He offers a lot of money to Duna in order to save her from a marriage of convenience with Luzhin. All this suggests that somewhere in the depths of the atheistic soul of the hero, faith in God glowed. Knowing that he would die, Svidrigailov, it seems, tried to somehow appease heaven.

Arkady Ivanovich, probably, could have lived differently. After all, he was not born vicious. However, having once stepped on the path of sin, it was no longer possible to turn away from it. A disease called "gangrene of the soul" proved to be incompatible with life. Therefore, it was precisely this kind of ending that was prepared for the character by Dostoevsky.

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Mr. Svidrigailov is one of the brightest minor characters in the novel "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoevsky.

This article presents a quotation image and characteristics 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": a description of his appearance and character

Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov is an acquaintance and admirer of Dunya Raskolnikova (sister of the protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov).

Mr. Svidrigailov is about 50 years old:
". It was a man of about fifty. " The following is known about Svidrigailov's appearance:
". taller than average, stout, 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, with which he tapped, with every step, on the sidewalk, and his hands were in fresh gloves. His broad, bony face was rather pleasant, and his complexion was fresh, not Petersburg. His hair, which was still very thick, was completely blond and only slightly gray, and his wide, thick beard, which fell down with a shovel, was even lighter than his head hair. His eyes were blue and looked coldly intently and thoughtfully; lips are scarlet. In general, he was a perfectly preserved person and seemed much younger than his years. " ". leaning on the cane with both hands. As far as one could see through the blinking eyelashes, this man was already middle-aged, dense and with a thick, light, almost white beard ... " ". It was some kind of strange face that looked like a mask: white, ruddy, with ruddy, scarlet lips, with a light white beard and with rather 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 the age, face. Svidrigailov's clothes were smart, summer, light, in particular he sported linen. On my finger was a huge ring with an expensive stone. " Svidrigailov - retired officer, nobleman by birth:
“Who am I? You know: a nobleman, he served two years in the cavalry. " Svidrigailov - widower, husband of the late Marfa Petrovna:
". May be. seeing myself already in years and a 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 their aunt; they are rich, and they personally do not need me. And what a father I am! " Svidrigailov is a wealthy man (until the death of his wife):
". It is, of course, decently dressed and is not considered a poor person. " “I took for myself only what Marfa Petrovna gave me a year ago. I've had enough. " ". I am not rich though. " ". Marfa Petrovna. and if she left him something. which is not enough for a person with his habits for a year. " Mr. Svidrigailov is a madman:
". too harshly dealt with this madcap. " ". this madcap had long had a passion for Duna. " Svidrigailov is a man of "dumb behavior", that is, desperate, capable of anything:
". a man of zabububno behavior. " Svidrigailov is a rude villain, voluptuous and scoundrel:
". from this rude villain, from this voluptuous lecher and scoundrel. " "This is certainly you ... a 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 perished in vices person of all such people. " Svidrigailov is a terrible, dishonest person:
". No, no, this is a terrible person! I can’t imagine anything more terrible. " ". Even though I know that you are a man ... without honor. " Svidrigailov is a gloomy, boring person, in his own opinion:
". But I'm a gloomy and boring person. Do you think hilarious? No, gloomy: I do no harm, and I sit in the corner; sometimes they won't talk for three days. " Svidrigailov is a sinful, low person who loves "places with dirty people":
". I am a sinful man. He-he-he. " ". I love the cloaca with the dirty little thing. " 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, 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 empty, most insignificant villain in the world, according to Raskolnikov:
". In Svidrigailov he became convinced of the most empty and insignificant villain in the world. " Svidrigailov is not interested in the opinion of others:
". Why, I’m not particularly interested in anyone’s opinion. and therefore why not be a vulgar person. " Svidrigailov is a very strange person:
"He is very strange and decided on something ... He seems to know something ... You need to protect Dunya from him ..." When he wants, Mr. Svidrigailov knows how to seem like a decent person and behave charmingly:
". Arkady Ivanovich, when he wanted, was a man with very charming manners. " ". It even seems to me that you are a very good company, or at least know how to be a decent person on occasion. " Mr. Svidrigailov is a cunning person:
". he is a cunning and seductive man about ladies. "

It was a quotation image and characteristic of Svidrigailov in the novel "Crime and Punishment": a description of the appearance and character of the hero.

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Svidrigailov Arkady Ivanovich

1. Essays
2. Characters of works
3. Svidrigailov Arkady Ivanovich

("Crime and Punishment")

Landowner; husband of Marfa Petrovna Svidrigailova. In the novel, his portrait is given twice. In the beginning: “He was a man of about fifty, taller than average, stout, 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, with which he tapped, with every step, on the sidewalk, and his hands were in fresh gloves. His broad, bony face was rather pleasant, and his complexion was fresh, not Petersburg. His hair, which was still very thick, was completely blond and only a little gray, and his wide, thick beard, descending with a shovel, was even lighter than his head hair. His eyes were blue and looked coldly intently and thoughtfully; lips are scarlet. In general, he was a perfectly preserved person and who seemed much younger than his years ... "At the end of the novel (in the 6th part), the portrait is repeated, psychologically clarified, concretized:" It was some kind of strange face, like a mask: white, ruddy , with ruddy, scarlet lips, with a light blond beard and with rather 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 the age, face. Svidrigailov's clothes were smart, summer, light, in particular he sported underwear. On my finger was a huge ring with an expensive stone ... "

For the first time, Svidrigailov is 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, so she had to leave her place. True, later Svidrigailov confessed to slander, but after the mother and daughter Raskolnikovs, 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. Accidentally being a neighbor of Sonya Marmeladova, Svidrigailov overheard Rodion Raskolnikov's confession-confession in the murder of an old woman-pawnbroker and is trying to blackmail his sister. Before that, in a conversation with Raskolnikov, his "double" (this is exactly the psychological role Svidrigailov plays in the novel in relation to the student murderer) frankly admits and talks about his past deeds: he was a cheat, sat in a debt prison, married Marfa Petrovna because of money, raped a girl, who then committed suicide, brought Philip the footman to suicide ... According to Svidrigailov, eternity is "like a village bathhouse, smoky, with spiders in all corners."

This character is the first real, unconditional and, so to speak, logical suicide in Dostoevsky's world: he who thought over suicide, prepared it, substantiated it and committed it. Svidrigailov himself knows that he is lost - and not only in vices, but in the very literal sense of the word, a lost person. Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova is his last and only hope to stay in this world, still stay, continue to live. Alas, from her side he cannot wait not only for tolerance and compassion (which Apollinaria gave to Suslova at times, 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 or drown his despair in wine, for, although in his youth he paid an abundant tribute to Bacchus, now he does not even like champagne and does not tolerate (as, by the way, Dostoevsky himself). His love for Duna is also not just the attraction of an elderly fading man to a young beautiful girl, but also his passionate desire to become at least someone at last. He confesses to Raskolnikov: “- Believe it, at least there was something; well, 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 confesses to Raskolnikov). He is so mystically afraid of death that he invented a kind of euphemism for his impending suicide - voyage to America. He talks about this "voyage" and remembers in conversations with Raskolnikov, with Sonya Marmeladova. By the way, in the mystical fear of death, the novels doubles - Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov - are absolutely similar. About Raskolnikov it is said: “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 psychological details, by Dostoevsky using the example of Svidrigailov. He had a presentiment of his tragic end, but until the last moment he tried to avoid it, or at least postpone it. There were also two options for this: to marry, as he planned, to a 15-year-old innocent girl, or to achieve reciprocity with Dunya Raskolnikova. The bride girl really exists - Svidrigailov goes to her house with gifts, willingly tells Raskolnikov about her. Matchmaking to a young bride, apparently, was not a very serious matter for him - by inertia, out of an ingrained habit of voluptuousness and a tendency to pedophilia, but this man put Avdotya Romanovna seriously. His agonizing passion for Raskolnikov's sister lasted more than one day and reached a boiling point. Even when Dunya lived and was on his estate, he was ready at her first word to kill his wife (which, however, he did later without any permission), and now he decided to put his own life on the line: he withstands several minutes - Dunya even slightly wounded him.

Before the decisive, last date-conversation with Avdotya Romanovna, Svidrigailov does incredible things for him: he pays for the funeral of Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova, allocates capital for the arrangement of her orphans, offers Raskolnikov 10 thousand rubles for Dunya in order to save her from a forced marriage with Luzhin, and the whole Raskolnikov family out of poverty. However, there is nothing strange in this. Svidrigailov is well aware that as he is, he only causes disgust and disgust in Dunya. He is making cardinal, in his opinion, attempts in a single moment, as it were, to be reborn, to become better. To appear before the beloved woman as such a noble and beneficent knight. He, moreover, has one more strong and, as, again, it seems to him, a noble trump card in reserve - he could, but did not betray his brother Dunya to the police. Speaking about ten thousand for his sister in a conversation with Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov assures: “. I propose without any calculations. Believe it or not, and later you and Avdotya Romanovna will find out. "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 - to surprise, to amaze Dunya, to melt the ice in her heart. But now, we must pay tribute to him, after the catastrophe, after a fatal meeting with Dunya, Svidrigailov already completely disinterestedly continues to perform good deeds: he gives 3 thousand rubles to Sonya (so that there is something to go to Siberia after Raskolnikov and what to live 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 the atheistic worldview, before voluntarily leaving this life, he had to reach the limit of cynicism, it’s really some kind of ugly twist to do-do it - for example, rape Dunya or betray her brother, in order send him, if not "to America" ​​after him, then at least to hard labor ... This is how Dostoevsky himself later argued about this in a letter to his reader and admirer N.L. Ozmidov (February 1878): “Now imagine that there is no God and immortality of the soul (the immortality of the soul and God are all one, the same idea). Tell me, why should I then live well, do good, if I die on earth completely? Without immortality, after all, the whole point is just to reach my term, and at least everything burn there. And if so, then why should I (if I only hope for my dexterity and intelligence, so as not to get caught by the law) and not stab another, rob, not rob, or why, if I don’t cut it, do not directly live at the expense of others, into one of your womb? After all, I will die, and everything will die, nothing will happen. "

It turns out that Arkady Ivanovich, in the most secret deep twists of his shabby soul, nevertheless timidly hoped for immortality not only in the form of a smoky bathhouse with spiders, for the existence of God; cynical deeds and sins are the spools of dying blessings.

Having released Dunya in peace, Svidrigailov accidentally drew attention to the revolver thrown by her, picked it up: there were still two charges and one primer. By the way, this revolver once belonged to Svidrigailov himself, and now, by chance, he found his 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 his suicide, Svidrigailov crosses the bridge at midnight and “with some special curiosity and even with a question looked at the black water of the Malaya Neva. »It is likely that if the capsule had not been triggered, it would have simply drowned. This gentleman would hardly have agreed to a rope, not wanting to stoop to the level of his lackey Philip. And one more very curious touch: before the date with Dunya Svidrigailov drinks a glass of champagne for courage, but before leaving for America he drinks and treats everyone he meets, wandering through the taverns, he himself does not drink a sip - 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, is fed up with him to the extreme, he seems to be trying to suppress the rudiments of dying fear, to suppress and drown out completely intolerable aversion to being. The rain is gushing, the wind is howling, and he, drenched to the skin, wanders until late in the dark streets, through the stinking dirty taverns, communicates with drunken rabble, then removes a "room" in a filthy hotel on the outskirts of the city, as if he wants-intends to imagine an afterlife invented them a wretched eternity: “He lit a candle and examined the number in more detail. It was a cage so small that it was almost not even for Svidrigailov's height, with one window; the bed is very dirty, a simple painted table and chair took up most of the space. The walls looked as if they were knocked together from boards with shabby wallpaper, so dusty and tattered that their color (yellow) could still be guessed, but the pattern could no longer be recognized. One part of the wall and ceiling was cut off at a slant. "Well, what is not an analogue of a bathhouse with spiders? Only here and while Svidrigailov is overpowered and tormented not by spiders, but by flies and mice - in nightmares and in reality. Nightmares, on the other hand, almost drive Arkady Ivanovich crazy, and he knew in advance, had a presentiment that nightmares would choke him, however, trying to gain and accumulate more vicious disgust for life, he plunges into a nightmare half-oblivion again and again: he sees in the coffin the suicide girl, ruined by him, then tries to save a five-year-old baby from the cold, but she suddenly begins to seduce him. The subconscious reaction of an inveterate cynic and lecher is striking here - even he was horrified: “How! five year old! - whispered in real horror Svidrigailov, - this. what is it. "

And - the very last actions-deeds of Arkady Ivanovich before setting off on his last journey, on a "voyage": he checks the capsule in a revolver, writes a traditional, quite stupid note, they say, he doesn't blame anyone for his death and. catches a fly. He tries long and hard to catch a fly. “Finally, catching myself on this interesting lesson, I woke up, shuddered, got up and resolutely walked out of the room.” This is Dostoevsky! Later, in "Demons", he will recreate-use once 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-guessing about what is happening in the closet, at first also stubbornly catches a fly, and then begins to closely examine "a tiny red spider on a geranium leaf."

In the description of the last minutes of Svidrigailov's life there is another extremely curious detail, as if connecting him with the hero of V. Hugo's story "The Last Day of the Condemned to Death" with Rodion Raskolnikov and, moreover, with Dostoevsky himself. The French criminal, who is being taken to execution, in the last moments of the journey, glances over the signs on the benches; Raskolnikov, going to the police station with a confession (also, in essence, to the execution, at least of his own fate), “eagerly looked around to the right and to the left”, reading the signs and even noting the mistakes in them (“Tavarishchestvo”); 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 with his eyes for the familiar sign of a baker. Apparently, this detail has sunk into the memory of the writer-Petrashevist! So Svidrigailov, on his way to the place of self-execution, with his gaze every now and then “stumbled upon shop and vegetable signs and carefully read each one. "

At the last decisive minute, Svidrigailov behaved calmly, he controlled his nerves and feelings in full measure. He even somehow ironically brought his joke-euphemism about the voyage to its logical conclusion, announcing to a random witness - a guard soldier-fireman (Achilles) - that he was going to America and let him then explain to the police: he went, they say, to America. And - 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 kind (having Lithuanian roots), probably drew attention to the etymological composition of the surname of the great Lithuanian prince Shvitrigailo (Svidrigailo): gail ( German geil) - lustful, voluptuous. In addition, in one of the feuilletons of the Iskra magazine (1861, no. 26), which was part of Dostoevsky's reading circle, there was talk of a certain outrageous Svidrigailov in the province — a “repulsive” and “disgusting” personality.

Seniority pension for firefighters What is the pension for firefighters? Unfortunately, people also die in peacetime. By their own carelessness or negligence of housing and communal services. They just burn out in their own apartments, [...]

A minor character in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. An old nobleman, dreams of marrying the sister of the protagonist of the novel -. He learns about the murder committed by Raskolnikov, but promises to keep quiet about it. Dodgy type, depraved and cynical.

History of creation

The image of Svidrigailov was formed under the influence of heterogeneous impressions. The psychological prototype of the character, probably, was a certain murderer of Aristov, a nobleman by birth, who was sitting in the Omsk prison. This man has already been deduced in another work - "Notes from a dead house." The surname "Svidrigailov" is consonant with the name of the Lithuanian prince Svidrigailo, as well as with the German word geil, which translates as "voluptuous", "lustful".

In addition, Dostoevsky, while working on the novel, involved in the case numerous materials and notes from magazines and newspapers that he read. Among other things, the writer read the Iskra magazine. One of the issues for 1861 contains a feuilleton, which speaks of a certain Svidrigailov, a "repulsive" and "disgusting" man who rages in the provinces.

"Crime and Punishment"

Arkady Svidrigailov is a tall, plump, stooped gentleman of about fifty. He dresses smartly and gives the impression of a dignified master. He wears fresh gloves, an elegant cane, and a huge ring with an expensive stone. Svidrigailov has a pleasant, high-cheekbone face, a healthy complexion, not typical for a Petersburg resident, thick blond hair, in which gray hair barely breaks through, a thick beard with a "shovel" and blue "thoughtful" eyes.

The character is "perfectly preserved" and looks younger than his own age. At the same time, Svidrigailov's youthful face looks like a mask and for some unknown reason makes a "terribly unpleasant" impression, and his gaze seems heavy and motionless.

Svidrigailov was a nobleman by origin, a retired officer - he served in the cavalry for two years. The hero was married, but Svidrigailov's wife died. After his wife, there are children who live with their aunt, and, according to Svidrigailov himself, they do not need a father. The hero's children are well provided for. Svidrigailov himself was also rich before, but after the death of his wife, the hero's fortune was shaken. Svidrigailov is used to living luxuriously and is still listed as a wealthy man and dresses well, but what remains after his wife is hardly enough for the hero for a year.

Svidrigailov has an extravagant and unpredictable character. Other characters call Svidrigailov a voluptuous lecher, a scoundrel and a rude villain. The hero himself shares the opinion of others about himself as an idle and perished in vices a man devoid of honor.

The hero also calls himself a boring and gloomy person, admits that sometimes he sits in a corner for three days and does not talk to anyone, loves hot places and is mired in sins. Svidrigailov has no specialty or business to which the hero could devote himself, on this occasion the hero calls himself an "empty man."

Raskolnikov also calls Svidrigailov "the most insignificant villain." Svidrigailov is in love with Raskolnikov's sister Dunya and wants to marry her. However, he himself is against this marriage and believes that Dunya should be protected from Svidrigailov. Svidrigailov is not interested in the opinion of others, however, when necessary, the hero knows how to give the impression of a decent and charming person from a good society. The hero is cunning and knows how to seduce ladies, he is inclined to brag and spread his tail.

Svidrigailov has many acquaintances in high society, so he still has useful connections. The hero himself used to trade in fraud and was a sharpie - a card player who deceives partners. The hero was in the company of the same card fraudsters who acted in high society and at first glance looked like the most decent people with refined manners, businessmen and the creative elite.

Eight years before the events in the novel, Svidrigailov ended up in a debt prison, from where he did not have the means to get out. The hero had a huge debt that he could not pay. Svidrigailov was saved by Marfa Petrovna, who is in love with him, who bought the hero out of prison for "thirty thousand pieces of silver." The hero married Marfa Petrovna, after which he immediately left for his wife's estate, in the village. The wife was five years older than Svidrigailov and loved her husband very much.

For the next seven years, before arriving in St. Petersburg, the hero did not leave the estate and enjoyed the fortune of his wife. Marfa Petrovna seemed too old to the hero and did not arouse that love interest, so Svidrigailov directly told his wife that he was not going to keep that fidelity. The wife took this statement with tears, but as a result, the couple came to an agreement.

Svidrigailov promised that he would not leave his wife and would not divorce her, would not go anywhere without the permission of his wife and would not have a permanent mistress. In exchange, Marfa Petrovna "allows" Svidrigailov to seduce young peasant women on the estate.

Svidrigailov raped a deaf and dumb underage girl who later hanged herself in the attic. The guilt of the hero became known from a certain denunciation. A criminal case was opened against the hero, and Svidrigailov was threatened with exile to Siberia, but Marfa Petrovna again helped her husband to get out and tried to hush up the case. Thanks to the money and connections of his wife, Svidrigailov escaped justice. It is also known that the hero drove one of his servants to suicide by endless torture and humiliation.

Dunya, the sister of the protagonist of the novel, Rodion Raskolnikov, worked as a governess in the house of Marfa Petrovna when she was still alive. Svidrigailov fell in love with Dunya and planned to seduce the girl with money and flee with her to Petersburg. Svidrigailov tells Duna that at her behest he is ready to stab or poison his wife. Soon, Svidrigailov's wife actually dies under strange circumstances, but Dunya refuses the hero.

The girl believes that Svidrigailov terribly beat and poisoned his wife, but whether this is true is unknown. Suspecting the hero of murder, Dunya takes the revolver that had previously belonged to Marfa Petrovna, so that he could defend himself on occasion.

Another illegal act of Svidrigailov is blackmail. The hero overhears the conversation between Raskolnikov and Sonechka Marmeladova. From this conversation, Svidrigailov learns about the murder that Raskolnikov committed, and decides to use this information to blackmail Dunya and force her to marry him. However, Duna manages to get rid of Svidrigailov. Later, the hero offers Raskolnikov money so that he can escape from St. Petersburg abroad and escape from justice.

The deceased wife begins to appear to Svidrigailov in hallucinations. The hero goes crazy and begins to do strange things, for example, gives a prostitute three thousand rubles (a lot of money at that time) so that the heroine can start a new life. Soon after, Svidrigailov commits suicide - he shoots himself in the street. This concludes the hero's biography.

Svidrigailov in the novel appears as Raskolnikov's double. The characters are related by the philosophy that they adhere to. Svidrigailov has a theory that is consonant with Raskolnikov's theory. Both heroes believe that evil done in the name of a "good goal" is not considered such a significant evil that the end justifies the means. Svidrigailov formulates his own life position of permissiveness as follows:

"A single villainy is permissible if the main goal is good."

The first meeting of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov takes place as follows. The hero appears in Raskolnikov's closet when he is asleep. Raskolnikov at this moment sees a terrible dream about his own crime and, half asleep, perceives Svidrigailov, who has appeared in the room, as a continuation of the nightmare. A conversation takes place between the characters, during which Svidrigailov admits that from time to time he sees the "ghosts" of his deceased wife and Filka's servant, who committed suicide through the fault of Svidrigailov.

It is also about Duna, for whom Svidrigailov has tender feelings. The girl refused to Svidrigailov himself, but is going to marry a lawyer, whom she does not like, but is ready to "sell out" in order to improve the financial affairs of the family. Svidrigailov wants to give Duna ten thousand rubles so that she can abandon the forced marriage and freely build her own life.

Screen adaptations

In 1969, a two-part film "Crime and Punishment" directed by Lev Kulidzhanov was released at the film studio named after. The role of Svidrigailov in this film was played by the actor.

In 2007, the TV series Crime and Punishment, directed by Dmitry Svetozarov, was released. The series was filmed in St. Petersburg, the role of Svidrigailov went to the actor.

In 1979, he played the role of Svidrigailov in a play staged by the Taganka Theater. This was the last theatrical role of the actor.

Quotes

The principles of life of Svidrigailov are well described by the quote:

"Everyone is engaged in himself, and he is the happiest and lives who best knows how to cheat himself."

"Why are you so driven into virtue with your whole pole?"

“Why leave women, if I’m even a hunter before them? At least an occupation ... Agree yourself, isn't it an occupation of its own kind? "

“The fact that in his house he pursued a defenseless girl and“ insulted her with his vile suggestions ”—is it, sir? ... Here the whole question is: am I the monster or the victim himself? Well, what about the victim? After inviting my subject to flee with me to America or Switzerland, I, perhaps, had the most respectful feelings at this, and even thought to arrange mutual happiness! "

Being a card sharper and having been in a debt prison, Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov finds himself in St. Petersburg in a hopeless position, but he is picked up by the landowner Marfa Petrovna, with whom he lives on her estate as her husband. He is about fifty years old, he is a voluptuous. On the estate, he meets Raskolnikov's young and beautiful younger sister, Dunya, who serves as a home teacher in the house, and, despite the difference in age, falls passionately in love with her. Marfa Petrovna, who has warmed him, suffers sudden death, but there are rumors that Svidrigailov poisoned her. Following Dunya, this old libertine moves to Petersburg, but she irrevocably rejects him. And then Svidrigailov, this filthy libertine, shoots at himself.

What did Dostoevsky want to say when introducing this character to the reader? It is difficult to answer this question unambiguously - too much in his character remains unclear. His very suicide is so unexpected that it bewilders the reader. Some even argue that Svidrigailov in the novel "Crime and Punishment" is an unnecessary image, and there is some truth in this statement.

Nevertheless, there is some kind of magnetism in Svidrigailov that makes us follow his fate. While agreeing with the statement about the lack of clarity of the image of this hero, one can at the same time assert that he makes many empathize with him.

It so happens that a nightmare haunts us. It is terrible, dense and sticky. You instinctively want to get rid of and save yourself from it. When you awaken from this dark obsession, you feel relief, accompanied by bodily impotence and inexpressible joy.

When faced with Svidrigailov in the novel Crime and Punishment, the reader also experiences a depressing nightmare feeling. From the words, gestures and experiences of this hero comes some kind of terrible and invisible threat. Svidrigailov's speech rushes randomly from one subject to another: here he beat a woman, here he talks about his clothes, here he talks about the boredom of life, about anthropology, his cheating ... He speaks then to speak, and the reader ceases to understand, about what, in fact, is the speech. Starting with one thing, Svidrigailov suddenly turns to another completely, something dark is hidden in the depths of his soul, he is full of unhappy forebodings that he cannot cope with, he cannot calm down, as if constant surveillance was established for him. Therefore, his speeches are a stream of consciousness, it is a chaotic and chaotic monologue. But if this monologue is interrupted, then the terrible pursuer of Svidrigailov will overtake him and drag him into a terrible and dark pit. When the hero tells how the late Marfa Petrovna "will be pleased to visit him", appearing from the other world, his eyes become unusually serious. Or here's the famous episode when, without listening to his interlocutor Raskolnikov, he says that eternity for him "is like a village bath, smoky, and there are spiders in the corners." Svidrigailov in the novel "Crime and Punishment" is afraid of ghosts and the other world. He knows the feeling of a deadly cold, and it terrifies him.

Dostoevsky suffered from epilepsy, and the fear of death constantly haunted him. The same can be said about Svidrigailov, and it was not some abstract, but completely living fear. As the writer's wife Anna Grigorievna testifies in her diaries, her husband felt horror with every seizure. And each time his mind became turbid, his body grew cold and became as if dead. After the end of the seizure, the fear of death prevailed over Dostoevsky, and he prayed not to leave him alone. Due to epilepsy, Dostoevsky was haunted by the fear of death even in happy moments of life, and this fear never left him. Death was his constant companion. He always clearly felt the possibility of death and was afraid of it.

Probably, Svidrigailov owes his appearance on the pages of the novel to the fact that through him Dostoevsky wanted to convey his fears in the face of death. In this case, it becomes clear why this hero talks so much about the other world, ghosts and his feelings of mortal coldness. Hence his endless conversations, from which there is a feeling that Svidrigailov fearfully awaits the unexpected appearance of someone in black. There is no doubt that through this "inappropriate" character Dostoevsky conveyed his immediate bodily sensations concerning the problem of death that worried him so much.

Svidrigailov in the novel "Crime and Punishment" is not worried about the moral problem - how best to live his life in this world. This voluptuary is indifferent to the problems of good and evil, justice and injustice, virtue and sin. He - against his will - is worried about the problem of the disappearance of life and immortality. Does immortality exist? What is it - light, warm and joyful? Or is it dark, cold and woeful? He wants someone to give a firm answer to these questions. Perhaps it would be correct to say that these questions are addressed to a physician and not to a philosopher or theologian.

The fear of death is manifested everywhere in Dostoevsky, the writer in his various works performs the operation of visualizing death. Evening "pale sky" Varenka from "Poor People", huge spiders that Ippolit from "The Idiot" sees in his dreams, Rogozhin's favorite painting depicting the dead Christ. In Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky "conveyed" his fears to Svidrigailov. And in this respect, Svidrigailov can be called Dostoevsky's "double".

The influence of Fyodor Mikhailovich's personality on this character is visible not only in relation to death.

When Svidrigailov is already plotting suicide, and after wandering through the Petersburg streets, he stops for the night in a cheap hotel, he has a dream: the corpse of a prostitute girl who rushed into the river. "She was only fourteen years old." It seems to him that he knows her. Her dying "last cry of despair" is in his ears, and it shakes him to the core. Svidrigailov in the novel "Crime and Punishment" is tormented by a feeling of sinfulness and guilt.

In the works of Dostoevsky, one can see that in his world it is not the crime itself that is of great importance, but the feeling of guilt, which is a reflection of the complex of the writer himself, who did not commit any crime, but for some unknown reason felt a feeling of guilt for this imperfect crime.

If we take into account these "passing" circumstances, it becomes clearer why Svidrigailov commits an unexpected suicide, which does not follow from the logic of the story. Svidrigailov carries in himself the complexes of Dostoevsky himself - fear of death and a sense of guilt. Strakhov wrote: "Dostoevsky is the most subjective of the novelists, almost always creating faces in his own image and likeness." And the death of Svidrigailov is an expression of this subjectivity.

As for Dostoevsky, he tried to transform his feelings of sinfulness and guilt into universal sympathy. Feodor Mikhailovich's sense of guilt did not have a practical dimension, it was "head", and therefore did not lead to a discussion of the problem of social responsibility. Dostoevsky set the following task for his characters: to get rid of the feeling of guilt and to merge in a single impulse with others.

Although you suffer from the feeling of your own guilt, all are sinful, and this provides a basis for the solidarity of the sinful. Hence the need for universal sympathy. The path from this mentality leads to the affirmation of life and to the joy of being together. This is the line of thought of Dostoevsky. The realization that all people are equally sinful frees from stress, hostility and hatred; it gives rise to the feeling of being a member of the community, leading to the joy of compassion, empathy and mutual acceptance. Many of Dostoevsky's characters are prone to self-deprecation and antics. Through this, they seek a path to the hearts of others. And this behavior has something in common with the idea of ​​a "community of sinners."

According to M. Gorky, Leo Tolstoy spoke about Dostoevsky as follows: "He is sure that if he himself is sick, the whole world is sick" (M. Gorky. "Leo Tolstoy"). And, indeed, Dostoevsky, through his characters, spreads his painful feeling of guilt and sinfulness to all other people.

Thus, behind the facade of Dostoevsky's artistic world there is a deeply hidden feeling of his own sinfulness. It is hidden in his characters, it serves as the basis for their behavior and actions. Dostoevsky directly conveys the energy of his fears of death and feelings of guilt to Svidrngailov in his novel Crime and Punishment. Therefore, this image captivates the reader and has existential persuasiveness for him - and this is despite the fact that there is much that is not clarified in him, and his words and actions are far from always justified logically.

In his famous philosophical and psychological work "Crime and Punishment" Dostoevsky created a whole galaxy of bright and ambiguous images, which even today amaze readers 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: they both committed a crime, had a "mysterious relationship" with the old woman pawnbroker. And although Svidrigailov and Rodion call them "the same field of berries", this is not entirely true, because he has long been on the side of evil and does not at all doubt 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 notes that his face with cold and thoughtful blue eyes and thin scarlet lips looks like a mask (and rather unpleasant), behind which its owner successfully hides his dastardly essence.

Svidrigailov is a former officer who long ago left the service and indulged in the idle life of a sharpie in the capital until he ended up in debt. From there he is rescued by a rich woman Marfa Petrovna, she pays off all his debts, takes the village to her, where she becomes his wife. However, he does not feel a drop of love and gratitude for her, and continues to lead an immoral lifestyle there. The vicious and immoral Svidrigailov becomes the reason for the suicide of a poor peasant girl of fifteen, whom he seduces and abandons. With special sophistication and cruelty, he also drives Philip's poor servant to suicide. Moreover, having become the cause of the death of two people, Svidrigailov does not feel absolutely any 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 now tormented and tormented himself with 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 low 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 for any of his crimes, because he does not even consider them as such. He lives, striving to satisfy his lust further, and the evil in him continues to grow and expand.

(Dunya shoots at Svidrigailov, in the role of Victoria Fedorov, film by L. Kulidzhanov "Crime and Punishment", USSR 1969)

Having met Raskolnikov's sister Dunya in her house, who appeared there as a servant, the lecher Svidrigailov falls in love with her and begins to harass her. A pure and chaste girl angrily rejects his courtship, and he, in order to achieve what he wants, brings his wife to a terrible sin - suicide. Trying to persuade the girl to connect with him, Svidrigailov resorts to various tricks, blackmails by disclosing the secret of her murderer brother, but Dunya, driven to despair, shoots him with a revolver to stop this cruel and unprincipled person. Only then he realizes how disgusted she is, and truly loving 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 protagonist, Raskolnikov, who he could become if he drowned out the voice of conscience and could live on without completely atoning for the crime he had committed.

Svidrigailov worries and torments Rodion with his mystery and power over him, with the words that they are "one field of the berry." In fact, this terrible person is the embodiment of his dark half, that part of Raskolnikov's soul, with which he constantly tries to fight, because it can lead him to a complete moral fall and switch to the side of evil.

(Alexey Petrenko as Svidrigailov, Lensovet Theater, St. Petersburg)

Overwhelmed by the act 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 is trying to somehow atone for his guilt before God and people: he transfers money to Duna, 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 bear the punishment he deserved.