Crime and Punishment

This summary was created by AI (Konspekto) from the text of this edition. Quotes are checked against the book text automatically.

About this edition

• Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Title: Преступление и наказание
• Edition: Типография П. Ф. Пантелеева, С.-Петербург, 1904
• Edition language: Russian
• Original language: Russian
• Content pages: p. 5–493
• Rights: Public domain
• Quote spelling: modern (text aligned to the pages of the edition)

About the author (AI note, not from the book's text)

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) was a Russian novelist. His other novels include The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov.

In brief

Impoverished and isolated, Rodion Raskolnikov plans to kill the pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna. News that his sister Dunya intends to marry the wealthy Pyotr Luzhin to help her family intensifies his distress. He murders Alyona, then kills her sister Lizaveta when she returns unexpectedly. He hides the stolen property without examining it and becomes ill, tormented by fear of discovery. His friend Razumikhin cares for him, but affection from friends and family becomes increasingly difficult to bear. After helping the fatally injured Marmeladov, Raskolnikov gives money to his destitute family. Dunya breaks her engagement when Luzhin's demands and insults expose his wish to control her. Luzhin later tries to discredit Raskolnikov by framing Marmeladov's daughter Sonya for theft, but Lebezyatnikov exposes him. Meanwhile, the investigator Porfiry Petrovich questions Raskolnikov about his belief that exceptional people may violate the law for an idea. Another man's confession briefly relieves the pressure, but Porfiry remains suspicious. Raskolnikov confesses to Sonya, who urges him to acknowledge his guilt publicly. Katerina Ivanovna, Marmeladov's widow, dies after trying to earn money through her children's street performances. Svidrigailov helps the children but uses his knowledge of the murders to pressure Dunya into accepting him. When she refuses, he releases her and later kills himself. Raskolnikov finally confesses and receives an eight-year sentence in Siberia. Sonya follows him. Initially unrepentant, he begins after an illness to return her love, opening the possibility of a shared future. Poverty, exploitation, pride, isolation, faith, and responsibility shape these intersecting lives.

Key ideas

1. Poverty and anxiety over Dunya's future push Raskolnikov toward murdering the pawnbroker, although compassion for others makes him recoil from his plan. He later admits that money mattered less than testing whether he could cross a moral boundary to achieve his purpose. — p. 5–20, 35–81, 220–250, 363–377, 407–421, 463–493
2. Raskolnikov carefully prepares Alyona Ivanovna's murder, but Lizaveta's unexpected return leads him to kill her too. Chance helps him escape. He hides the stolen goods without discovering their value, while traces of the crime and fear of exposure drive him into illness. — p. 5–20, 50–144, 363–377, 407–421, 478–493
3. Marmeladov's drinking again deprives his family of income, forcing Sonya to support her stepmother and the children at the cost of her own social standing. After his death, illness and poverty drive Katerina Ivanovna to make the children perform in the street for money. She soon dies, leaving them in Sonya's care. — p. 5–35, 144–175, 279–294, 323–363, 377–406
4. Dunya agrees to marry the wealthy Luzhin in the hope of helping her mother and brother, but Raskolnikov regards the marriage as a sacrifice that Luzhin intends to exploit. When Luzhin demands obedience and insults the family, Dunya ends the engagement. — p. 20–49, 128–144, 160–220, 251–279
5. Luzhin expects marriage to a poor woman to give him power over her, and he defends putting personal advantage first as beneficial to society. After Dunya rejects him, he plants money on Sonya and accuses her of theft to retaliate against Raskolnikov, but Lebezyatnikov's testimony exposes the scheme. — p. 20–49, 128–144, 190–220, 265–279, 323–363
6. After the murders, Raskolnikov becomes increasingly estranged from others, finding even his friend's care and his family's love burdensome. Yet he helps Marmeladov's family and entrusts his mother and Dunya to Razumikhin because he cannot remain close to them himself. — p. 20–49, 82–113, 128–220, 235–250, 279–294, 393–406, 449–477
7. Razumikhin finds the sick Raskolnikov, nurses him, and tries to shield him from suspicion without knowing the truth. As he grows close to Dunya and her mother, he becomes their source of support. After Raskolnikov's trial, he marries Dunya. — p. 35–65, 97–220, 251–294, 377–406, 478–493
8. Porfiry connects Raskolnikov to the murders through his article, his behavior, and his return to the victim's apartment, but considers these observations insufficient grounds for arrest. Nikolai's confession gives Raskolnikov temporary relief, yet Porfiry continues to suspect him and urges him to surrender. — p. 82–97, 113–160, 205–250, 294–322, 393–421
9. Sonya, who sacrifices herself to support the Marmeladov family, does not abandon Raskolnikov when she learns that he murdered Lizaveta and her sister. She urges him to confess, waits outside the police office while he hesitates, and follows him to Siberia when he is sentenced to penal servitude. — p. 5–35, 160–175, 205–220, 279–307, 349–406, 435–449, 463–493
10. Svidrigailov renews his pursuit of Dunya and, after discovering Raskolnikov's secret, offers to save her brother in exchange for her love. Dunya fires at him and declares that she will never love him. He lets her leave, provides for Katerina Ivanovna's children, leaves money to Sonya, and soon kills himself. — p. 20–35, 190–220, 235–279, 294–307, 377–477
11. Raskolnikov resists confessing because he believes the investigators lack decisive evidence and punishment will not settle his inner conflict. After speaking with Porfiry, saying goodbye to his family, and seeing Sonya outside the police office, he returns inside and admits both murders. — p. 82–97, 144–160, 294–322, 363–421, 449–493
12. Sentenced to eight years of penal servitude, Raskolnikov initially feels no remorse, regarding his failure to withstand his own test as his defeat. During an illness he begins to worry about Sonya, and when they meet he openly returns her love. They intend to endure the remaining years together. — p. 220–250, 363–392, 463–493

Summary by chapter

Part One (p. 5–20)

• Raskolnikov slips out of his cramped room to avoid the landlady he owes. Hunger, poverty and isolation have unsettled him, while his contemplated act both draws and frightens him.
• On the way to Alyona Ivanovna’s apartment, he worries that his conspicuous hat could be remembered. He has already measured the route, and at the building he checks the staircase, the departing neighbors, the rooms and Alyona’s keys.
• Alyona pays far less than he requests for his father’s watch. He accepts the money, mentions another pledge and tries to find out whether her sister is usually at home.
• Disgusted by his plan after the visit, Raskolnikov enters a tavern. Beer briefly clears his head and makes him want company, and the drunken former official Marmeladov speaks to him in the hope of finding sympathy.
• Marmeladov says that after marrying the widowed Katerina Ivanovna and her three children, he lost his job, resumed drinking and left them destitute. When hunger drove his daughter Sonya to earn money through prostitution, Katerina acknowledged her sacrifice; Sonya now lives apart but still supports the family.

Part One (continued, p. 20–35)

• Ivan Afanasyevich gives Marmeladov another job. His wages raise the family’s hopes, but after his first payday he steals the remaining money, drinks himself out of work and takes Sonya’s last thirty kopecks for more alcohol.
• Sonya’s refusal to reproach him pains Marmeladov. He believes God will forgive her sacrifice and may show mercy even to people who think themselves beyond forgiveness.
• Raskolnikov escorts him home and sees the sick, exhausted Katerina and her hungry children. Discovering the missing money, she mistakes Raskolnikov for a drinking companion and drives him out; he quietly leaves the family some coins despite his own need.
• The next morning Nastasya feeds Raskolnikov and warns that his landlady has complained about his unpaid rent. He opens a letter from his mother in private.
• His mother explains that Dunya could not immediately leave the Svidrigailovs when her employer pursued her because she had borrowed money to help her brother. Marfa Petrovna falsely accused Dunya, then restored her reputation after seeing Dunya’s letter to Svidrigailov. Soon afterward, the prosperous Pyotr Luzhin proposed, and Dunya accepted despite the haste and her lack of love for him.

Part One (continued, p. 35–49)

• Pulcheria Raskolnikova writes that Dunya agreed to marry Luzhin after a sleepless night and prayer. His remarks about a poor wife’s dependence trouble her mother, though both women hope he might help Rodion find legal work and hesitate to ask him directly.
• As they prepare to travel cheaply to St. Petersburg for the wedding, they promise to send Rodion money. He reads the letter in tears and resolves to stop the marriage, angered by Luzhin’s limited help and his apparent wish for a grateful wife.
• Raskolnikov believes Dunya would not marry a man she did not respect for her own sake. He sees her decision as a sacrifice for her mother and brother, comparable in that respect to Sonya’s situation.
• He also questions his right to forbid the marriage when he depends on his family and has nothing to offer them. Their predicament makes a long-standing, troubling idea feel urgent.
• On a boulevard he suspects a man intends to exploit a drunken young girl and gives a policeman money to help her. When the man follows her, Raskolnikov abruptly tells the policeman to leave them alone, then fears for the girl’s future and Dunya’s.
• He remembers that he was heading toward his former university friend Razumikhin, who supports himself despite his poverty and hopes to resume his studies. Raskolnikov has long avoided him, though he once confided in him more than in others.

Part One (continued, p. 50–65)

• Raskolnikov decides to seek Razumikhin’s help only after carrying out his plan. Frightened by that decision, he wanders aimlessly, drinks vodka and falls asleep on Petrovsky Island.
• He dreams that, as a seven-year-old, he watched a drunken man and others beat an overburdened horse to death. The child kissed the horse and attacked its owner.
• On waking, Raskolnikov imagines killing someone with an axe and concludes that he could not bear it, whatever his earlier calculations suggested. Giving up the plan briefly relieves him.
• Crossing Haymarket Square, he happens to hear Lizaveta agree to visit some traders the next evening at seven. Realizing that her sister Alyona will be alone, he again feels driven toward the murder.
• He recalls overhearing a student argue that killing the pawnbroker could put her money to good use, though the student admitted that he would not kill her himself.
• After a long, motionless sleep and little food, Raskolnikov sews a loop inside his coat to carry an axe and prepares a false pledge whose wrapping should occupy Alyona. As seven o’clock approaches, he sets out for the kitchen axe because he distrusts a knife and his own strength.

The Murders of Alyona Ivanovna and Lizaveta (continued, p. 65–81)

• Raskolnikov doubts that he will carry out the plan, yet believes he has settled his moral objections. Because he does not regard the intended act as a crime, he expects to keep his composure.
• Finding Nastasya in the kitchen, he loses access to the axe he planned to take. He finds another in an empty caretaker’s room and reaches Alyona’s apartment unseen.
• Alyona admits him suspiciously. When she turns toward the light to inspect what he presents as a pledge, he kills her with the axe.
• He takes her purse and keys, finds a chest of valuables beneath the bed and fills his pockets without examining what he has taken. Lizaveta returns, sees her sister’s body and is killed too, though he had not intended to harm her.
• Fear and revulsion overtake his interest in the valuables. After washing blood from himself and the axe, he realizes the entrance door has been partly open and hears visitors on the stairs.
• Koch and a younger visitor find the apartment locked from inside and go downstairs. Raskolnikov slips out, hides from people returning upstairs in a vacant apartment, then takes a roundabout route home, replaces the axe and collapses on his sofa.

Part Two (p. 82–97)

• Coming out of a prolonged daze, Raskolnikov searches feverishly for evidence. He cuts bloodied fringe from his trousers and hides the stolen property behind loose wallpaper, but illness leaves other bloodstains and the axe loop unattended.
• Nastasya and the caretaker bring a police summons. Fearing it concerns the murders, he goes to the station without moving the hidden property.
• The summons concerns his debt to his landlady. Relieved, he argues with Lieutenant Ilya Petrovich and sees him berate Luiza Ivanovna over a disturbance at her establishment.
• Raskolnikov explains that he gave his landlady a promissory note after promising to marry her daughter, who has since died. She had agreed not to collect, but complained when he lost his income.
• His account leaves him suddenly estranged from everyone present. Barely able to sign his promise to pay, he decides to confess the murders to Nikodim Fomich.
• A conversation about the weak case against Pestryakov and Koch stops him: the officers think the killer escaped while Koch fetched the caretaker. Raskolnikov faints before reaching the door and, on waking, faces questions about his illness and his movements the previous evening.

Part Two (continued, p. 97–113)

• Afraid of a search after leaving the station, Raskolnikov retrieves Alyona’s property and purse from behind the wallpaper. Too many people are near the canal for him to throw the items away safely, so he conceals them beneath a stone in an empty yard.
• His brief satisfaction gives way to bewilderment: he has not even opened the purse he thought he killed for. He attributes his inconsistency to illness and increasingly avoids people.
• He visits Razumikhin to ask for help but cannot bear his company. He accepts an offer of paid translation work and money, then returns both.
• After a coachman strikes the distracted Raskolnikov with a whip, a passerby gives him a coin. Remembering his former life, he throws it into the Neva and feels cut off from his past.
• At home he imagines that Ilya Petrovich is beating his landlady and expects the police to come for him. Nastasya says nobody has arrived, and he falls into a fever.
• Days later he learns that Razumikhin has found him and brought a doctor, Zosimov. At Razumikhin’s urging he signs for money sent by his mother; while accepting food and care from him and Nastasya, he conceals his improvement to learn what has been happening.

Part Two (continued, p. 113–128)

• Razumikhin says that Raskolnikov’s landlady sought payment through Chebarov, expecting his family to help. Razumikhin guaranteed the debt, recovered the note and tore it, but Raskolnikov turns away.
• Learning that Razumikhin brought the clerk Zametov to see him, Raskolnikov anxiously asks what he said while delirious. Razumikhin recalls remarks about jewelry, a sock and scraps of clothing.
• Alone, Raskolnikov checks his sock and the clothing scraps, afraid they will expose him. He resolves to flee but falls asleep after drinking beer.
• That evening Razumikhin brings clothes bought with the money from Raskolnikov’s mother and helps him change despite his resistance. Zosimov judges him to be recovering, while Raskolnikov irritably insists he is well.
• Razumikhin hopes to help a house painter suspected of murdering the pawnbroker because he believes investigators have misread the evidence. A dealer received earrings from the painter, Nikolai, who fled and later tried to hang himself; Nikolai says he found them behind the door of an apartment where he worked.
• The location of the find frightens Raskolnikov. Zosimov considers the earrings strong evidence, but Razumikhin argues that Nikolai and another painter, Mitrei, were seen laughing and fighting without concern immediately after the murders.

Luzhin and Raskolnikov’s Departure (continued, p. 128–144)

• Razumikhin believes the real killer hid in the empty apartment and accidentally dropped the earrings Nikolai found. He admits that the jewelry box and Nikolai’s attempt to hang himself make this difficult to prove.
• Luzhin arrives and announces that Raskolnikov’s mother and sister will soon come to St. Petersburg. Razumikhin objects to the shabby rooms arranged for them, while Luzhin says the lodging is temporary.
• Trying to impress the others, Luzhin argues that people benefit society by pursuing their own prosperity. Razumikhin dismisses the argument as empty generalization.
• Talk of the murders unsettles Raskolnikov because people who pawned goods are being questioned. Razumikhin thinks an inexperienced killer escaped by chance, taking small items while overlooking larger sums.
• Raskolnikov says Luzhin’s reasoning about self-interest could justify murder and accuses him of wanting power over a poor bride. Luzhin blames Raskolnikov’s mother for misrepresenting him; after Raskolnikov threatens him, he leaves.
• Raskolnikov orders everyone else out. Zosimov notices his fixation on the murders, but once alone Raskolnikov dresses and slips away. Unsure how, he means to change his life that day and wanders through Haymarket Square, speaking to strangers and giving money to a singer and to Duklida.

Raskolnikov on the Way to the Police Station (continued, p. 144–160)

• Pondering how fiercely people cling to life, Raskolnikov enters a tavern to search old newspapers for reports of Alyona’s murder. Zametov approaches, and Raskolnikov deliberately reveals what he is looking for.
• After discussing why counterfeiters were betrayed by their accomplices and their own nervousness, Raskolnikov describes how he would conceal stolen goods. He asks whether Zametov thinks he killed Alyona and Lizaveta, but Zametov concludes that Ilya Petrovich’s suspicions were mistaken.
• Razumikhin finds Raskolnikov outside and invites him home. Raskolnikov rejects his care and demands solitude, leaving Razumikhin frightened that he may drown himself.
• On a bridge Raskolnikov sees Afrosinyushka jump into the water and be rescued. Rejecting that way of dying for himself, he heads toward the police station, uncertain whether he will tell them everything.
• Instead, he turns into Alyona’s building. In her apartment, which is being renovated, he rings the old bell and alarms the workers by asking about the blood. He gives the caretakers his name and agrees to go to the station, but they push him outside.
• Still undecided, Raskolnikov notices a crowd around Marmeladov, who has been gravely injured beneath a carriage. He offers to pay for a doctor and persuades the police to carry Marmeladov home because he may not survive a trip to hospital.

Part Two (continued, p. 160–175)

• Raskolnikov helps bring Marmeladov home and sends for a doctor. Though ill and exhausted herself, Katerina Ivanovna tends her husband, sends Polenka for Sonya and drives away curious neighbors so he can rest.
• The doctor says Marmeladov will soon die. Marmeladov asks for a priest, while Katerina prays with the children but rejects the priest’s consolations, remembering the money her husband drank away and the nightly labor his drinking left her.
• When Sonya arrives, Marmeladov asks her forgiveness and dies in her arms. Katerina worries about the funeral and the children, and Raskolnikov gives her twenty rubles.
• Polenka catches up with Raskolnikov at Sonya’s and her mother’s request to learn his name and address. He asks the child to pray for him, and on a bridge feels that he may be able to live again.
• Raskolnikov visits Razumikhin but is too weak to stay with his guests. Zosimov advises sleep, and Razumikhin walks him home, reporting that Zosimov suspects a mental illness after speaking with Zametov. Raskolnikov tells Razumikhin that he gave all his money to the dead man’s family.
• At home Raskolnikov unexpectedly finds his mother and Dunya waiting anxiously after hearing from Nastasya about his illness. Unable to return their embrace, he faints; Razumikhin revives him.

Part Three (p. 176–190)

• Overwhelmed by his mother’s and Dunya’s presence, Raskolnikov tells them to leave until morning. Razumikhin promises to remain with him.
• Raskolnikov demands that Dunya reject Luzhin, believing she is sacrificing herself for his sake. Dunya objects, but he insists she must choose between her brother and her fiancé.
• Razumikhin persuades the women not to stay, fearing that an agitated Raskolnikov might go out again during the night. He asks Nastasya to watch him and promises to bring the doctor and report back.
• On the way, the intoxicated Razumikhin praises Dunya, with whom he is infatuated, and criticizes Luzhin for the rooms chosen for the women. Pulcheria is alarmed by her son’s coldness and unsure of Razumikhin; Dunya attributes her brother’s conduct to illness but expects him to oppose her marriage again.
• Razumikhin reports that Raskolnikov is sleeping peacefully, then brings Zosimov. The doctor links his illness to deprivation and anxiety and thinks the family’s arrival may help if it brings no new shocks.
• After jealously confronting Zosimov over his praise of Dunya, Razumikhin asks him to stay near Raskolnikov’s landlady. By morning Razumikhin regrets criticizing Luzhin without knowing him well and resolves to fulfill his promises quietly. Zosimov worries that discussion of the suspected painter may have intensified Raskolnikov’s fixation.

Part Three (continued, p. 190–205)

• Razumikhin visits Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Dunya, who are anxious for news of Raskolnikov. He describes Rodion’s illness but leaves out the incident at the police office.
• Razumikhin sees Rodion as both kind and cold, proud and suspicious. His mother recalls that he once intended to marry his landlady’s daughter against her wishes, before the young woman died.
• Razumikhin acknowledges that Raskolnikov deliberately insulted Luzhin but avoids criticizing Dunya’s choice of husband. Luzhin’s letter demands a meeting without Rodion and disparages the woman whose family received his money; Dunya insists that both men attend at eight.
• On the way to Rodion, Pulcheria admits she fears seeing him, while Dunya urges her to trust him. Zosimov finds Rodion nearly recovered but notices how much his family’s arrival troubles him.
• Rodion thanks Zosimov and Razumikhin, offers Dunya his hand after their quarrel, and admits that he gave his mother’s money to the dead official’s needy family. Dunya rejects his suggestion that he first needed a right to help them.
• Pulcheria reports that Marfa Petrovna died suddenly after a quarrel with Svidrigailov. Rodion shows interest, then grows irritable, and Dunya confirms that their mother is afraid of him.

Part Three (continued, p. 205–220)

• Pulcheria is happy to see Rodion, but he feels unable to speak openly with his family. He demands that Dunya choose between him and Luzhin; she says she will marry only if she can respect her fiancé, but Rodion doubts her.
• Rodion reads Luzhin’s letter as a threat to abandon the women unless they comply and as a distortion of his help to the Marmeladovs. Dunya invites Rodion and Razumikhin to the evening meeting.
• Sonya brings Katerina Ivanovna’s invitation to Marmeladov’s funeral service and memorial meal. Rodion introduces her to his family, and Dunya treats Sonya respectfully when she learns that he gave the Marmeladovs all his money despite his own poverty.
• Pulcheria remains uneasy about Sonya and the meeting with Luzhin. Dunya defends Sonya and believes that if Luzhin rejects her after the meeting, his response will reveal his true feelings.
• Rodion asks Razumikhin to introduce him to Porfiry Petrovich, who is investigating the murders: a ring from Dunya and his late father’s watch remain among the murdered woman’s pledges. He also promises to visit Sonya that day.
• A stranger hears Rodion’s name, follows Sonya, and learns that he lives next door to her. On the way to Porfiry, Razumikhin connects Rodion’s pledges with his feverish talk of rings; Rodion realizes that his dealings with the murdered woman may already draw suspicion.

A Conversation with Porfiry Petrovich (continued, p. 220–235)

• Fearing that Porfiry knows he returned to the murdered woman’s apartment, Raskolnikov teases Razumikhin about being in love so that he can enter laughing rather than betray his anxiety.
• Raskolnikov finds Zametov with Porfiry and explains that he wants his pledged belongings back. He cites his lack of money and the value his mother places on his father’s watch, while worrying that his explanation sounds suspicious.
• Porfiry says he has long expected Raskolnikov because the watch and ring were found with a signed paper. As Porfiry asks about his illness, Razumikhin describes his friend’s recent absences and the money he gave Marmeladov’s widow.
• Raskolnikov alternates between suspecting that Porfiry and Zametov are watching him and wondering whether fever has made him imagine it. He is especially concerned about whether they know of his visit to the apartment.
• Razumikhin rejects an account he attributes to socialists that explains every crime through social conditions, arguing that it neglects human nature. Porfiry disputes him, though Razumikhin thinks his objections are insincere.
• Porfiry brings up Raskolnikov’s published article on crime and casts it as permission for exceptional people to break the law. Raskolnikov replies that someone with a new idea may permit himself even bloodshed only if carrying out that idea requires it; he also affirms belief in God and Lazarus’s resurrection.

Part Three (continued, p. 235–250)

• Raskolnikov says people capable of bringing a new idea into the world are rare, for reasons governed by an unknown natural law. Razumikhin is horrified by the possibility of killing with a clear conscience, while Raskolnikov links conscience to suffering.
• Porfiry asks whether Raskolnikov considers himself exceptional and could kill for a purpose. Zametov mentions Alyona Ivanovna’s murder, sharpening Raskolnikov’s suspicion that their questions are aimed at him.
• Porfiry asks whether Raskolnikov saw painters in the building. Raskolnikov says he did not, and Razumikhin points out that the painters worked there on the day of the murders, after Raskolnikov’s earlier visit.
• Raskolnikov tells Razumikhin that Porfiry tried to trap him with a simple question. Razumikhin dismisses the suspicion and intends to speak to the investigator himself.
• Suddenly afraid that he left evidence behind, Raskolnikov searches his hiding place at home and finds nothing. An unfamiliar man then twice calls him a murderer without explaining what he knows.
• Exhausted, Raskolnikov pretends to sleep when Razumikhin comes. He later dreams of striking the old woman with an axe while she laughs and a crowd blocks his escape. On waking, he finds a visitor who waits for him to speak before introducing himself as Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov.

Part Four (p. 251–265)

• Svidrigailov asks Raskolnikov to help him meet Dunya and attributes his earlier pursuit of her to love. Raskolnikov rejects that excuse and asks about Marfa Petrovna’s death.
• Svidrigailov denies causing his wife’s death, though he admits striking her with a whip. He says she once freed him from debtors’ prison and then held his debt over him.
• Svidrigailov claims to have seen Marfa Petrovna three times since her funeral. Raskolnikov does not believe in ghosts, but their talk of an afterlife disturbs him.
• Svidrigailov says he no longer loves Dunya and believes she is sacrificing herself for her family by marrying Luzhin. He offers her ten thousand rubles to break the engagement, angering Raskolnikov.
• Still seeking a meeting with Dunya, Svidrigailov asks Raskolnikov to tell her that Marfa Petrovna left her three thousand rubles. After he leaves, Raskolnikov asks Razumikhin to protect his sister.
• Razumikhin confirms that the visitor was real and says his own conversation with Porfiry went badly, though he believes Raskolnikov has nothing to fear. The two men reach Pulcheria and Dunya at the same time as Luzhin, who resents Raskolnikov’s presence but decides to learn why he was invited.

Dunya Breaks with Luzhin (continued, p. 265–279)

• Luzhin announces that Svidrigailov has come to Petersburg and cites rumors connecting him to the deaths of a girl and a servant. Dunya replies that the circumstances of those deaths are uncertain.
• Raskolnikov tells the family that Svidrigailov wants to meet Dunya and that Marfa Petrovna left her three thousand rubles. For the moment, he conceals Svidrigailov’s offer of more money.
• Dunya asks Luzhin and her brother to reconcile so she will not have to choose between them. Luzhin instead accuses Raskolnikov, who exposes his false account of the money given to Marmeladov’s family.
• Luzhin demands gratitude for agreeing to marry Dunya despite earlier rumors about her. When he also treats her inheritance as a reason to question the family’s independence, Dunya ends the engagement, Pulcheria supports her, and Raskolnikov orders him out.
• Luzhin had expected to control a poor wife and improve his position in Petersburg through the marriage. Shocked by Dunya’s refusal, he blames Raskolnikov, hopes to win her back, and worries about Svidrigailov.
• Dunya admits she was tempted by money. Raskolnikov relays Svidrigailov’s offer of ten thousand rubles for a meeting, rejects it, and suspects an ulterior motive. Razumikhin promises to protect Dunya and proposes that the family stay in Petersburg and start a publishing business using money from his uncle and part of her inheritance.

Raskolnikov Visits Sonya (continued, p. 279–294)

• Raskolnikov approves of Razumikhin’s publishing plan but refuses to stay with his mother and Dunya. He asks to be left alone for a time and entrusts them to Razumikhin, who seems to sense something terrible after they exchange a silent look.
• Raskolnikov visits Sonya’s poor room unexpectedly and says he may never see her again. Frightened and embarrassed, she answers his questions about her family and defends the ailing Katerina Ivanovna.
• Katerina dreams of making a new life although the family cannot even afford shoes for the children. Sonya painfully recalls refusing her a gift, while Raskolnikov forces her to consider what might happen to the children, especially Polechka, if Katerina dies or Sonya herself falls ill.
• Sonya despairs at those possibilities and hopes God will prevent them. Raskolnikov bows to her in respect for human suffering but calls her sacrifice futile; he sees that concern for the children keeps her alive and that faith sustains her.
• Learning that Sonya knew Lizaveta and received a Gospel from her, Raskolnikov asks her to read the account of Lazarus’s resurrection. She reads despite her fear, hoping he will believe, while he listens motionlessly as she reaches Lazarus’s emergence from the tomb.

Sonya and the Contest with Porfiry (continued, p. 294–307)

• Sonya finishes reading about Lazarus and closes the book, trembling. Raskolnikov tells her he has broken with his mother and sister and asks her to go with him because he believes she too has ruined her life.
• Sonya cannot understand what he intends, though she sees his misery. Worried about Polechka and the other children, Raskolnikov speaks of the need for decisive action and power, then frightens Sonya by promising to name Lizaveta’s killer the next day.
• Sonya spends the night anxious and unaware of what Raskolnikov meant. Svidrigailov has secretly heard their conversation and places a chair by the door so he can listen again.
• The next morning Raskolnikov brings Porfiry a statement about his watch. Seeing no guards, he considers the possibility that the stranger who accused him has told the investigators nothing.
• Porfiry greets him pleasantly but avoids a formal interrogation. Afraid that anger will betray him, Raskolnikov demands official questions or permission to leave.
• Porfiry explains that he sometimes lets a suspect remain free while seeking conclusive evidence, because sustained fear may prompt a mistake. Raskolnikov stays silent as Porfiry describes ways a person might unwittingly give himself away.

Part Four (continued, p. 307–322)

• Raskolnikov demands that Porfiry either arrest him or stop tormenting him. Porfiry feigns concern for his health but reveals that he knows about Raskolnikov’s visit to the murdered woman’s apartment.
• Porfiry attributes Raskolnikov’s strange behavior to illness and claims he would not disclose what he knew if he truly suspected him. Raskolnikov does not believe him and presses for a clear answer.
• When Raskolnikov tries to leave, Porfiry promises to show him someone behind a locked door. Raskolnikov suspects a trap meant to provoke a confession, but noise interrupts their confrontation.
• Nikolai unexpectedly enters and confesses to the murders of Alyona Ivanovna and Lizaveta, insisting that Mitka is innocent. Porfiry doubts his answers and releases the heartened Raskolnikov, while warning that they will meet again.
• At home, Raskolnikov knows Nikolai’s confession offers only temporary relief because it may be exposed as false. Uncertain what evidence Porfiry has, he still plans to attend the memorial meal and see Sonya.
• The man who called Raskolnikov a murderer comes to apologize. He says he reported the apartment visit to Porfiry only that day and was waiting behind the partition. Raskolnikov concludes that Porfiry lacks decisive evidence and prepares to continue resisting him.

Part Five (p. 323–336)

• After Dunya breaks their engagement, Luzhin blames Raskolnikov and loses money committed to an apartment and furnishings. He regrets not having made Dunya and her mother dependent on gifts.
• Learning that Sonya and Raskolnikov are invited to Marmeladov’s memorial meal, Luzhin begins to form a plan. He has sought Lebezyatnikov’s help in navigating a circle of advocates of new ideas that he fears, despite privately despising him.
• Lebezyatnikov gradually notices Luzhin’s contempt, straining their relationship. When Luzhin mocks Katerina Ivanovna’s spending on the meal, Lebezyatnikov says he will not attend because of his beliefs.
• Lebezyatnikov rejects Luzhin’s scorn for Sonya. He attributes her circumstances to social conditions and respects her choice, while their disagreement over the value of work further exposes the distance between them.
• Luzhin asks Lebezyatnikov to bring Sonya and remain as a witness, fearing gossip involving Raskolnikov. Sonya arrives uneasy and notices money on the table.
• Luzhin declines to attend the meal, tells Sonya not to hope for a pension for Katerina, and proposes raising donations. He insists, however, that giving money directly to the widow would be risky.

Marmeladov’s Memorial Meal (continued, p. 336–349)

• Luzhin criticizes Katerina Ivanovna’s spending and proposes helping her family without her knowledge. He gives Sonya ten rubles and asks her not to name him; Lebezyatnikov witnesses the gift and approves despite his beliefs.
• Katerina spends almost half the funeral money Raskolnikov gave her on the meal, hoping to honor her husband and show the other tenants that poverty has not erased her former standing.
• Amalia Ivanovna helps arrange the gathering, but her satisfaction irritates Katerina. The guests Katerina hoped to impress stay away, while poor and drunken tenants arrive, and she blames Amalia.
• Katerina welcomes Raskolnikov and complains about the guests, even as a coughing fit leaves blood on her handkerchief. To comfort her, Sonya publicly embellishes Luzhin’s promise of help.
• Katerina defends her husband against a drunken guest’s mockery. Sonya worries that insults aimed at her will inflame Katerina further, especially after invited women refused to come because of her.
• Katerina mocks Amalia, describes her dream of opening a boarding school with an expected pension, and shows the guests proof of her education. When Amalia offers advice, Katerina tells her to be quiet; the offended landlady responds by bringing up the unpaid rent.

The Accusation Against Sonya (continued, p. 349–363)

• Katerina’s quarrel with Amalia over status and unpaid rent reaches the threat of eviction. Luzhin arrives, refuses to defend Katerina, and turns to Sonya.
• Luzhin publicly accuses Sonya of stealing a hundred rubles after their meeting and threatens action against her. She denies it and tries to return the ten rubles he gave her.
• Remembering Sonya’s sacrifices for the children, Katerina defends her and turns out her pockets. A hundred-ruble note falls out of one, but Katerina continues to believe her.
• Lebezyatnikov says he saw Luzhin slip the note into Sonya’s pocket. He explains that he initially took it for a discreet gift, and the people present begin to believe him.
• Raskolnikov suggests that Luzhin framed Sonya to avenge his broken engagement to Dunya, turn Raskolnikov’s family against him, and regain their favor. Luzhin calls both accounts malicious lies and leaves as the crowd turns against him, still threatening Sonya.
• Sonya looks to Raskolnikov as her defender. The accusation destroys her hope that caution and submission could keep her safe.

Part Five (continued, p. 363–377)

• Sonya goes home distressed after being cleared, while Amalia Ivanovna evicts Katerina Ivanovna and her children. Katerina rushes out to seek justice, leaving the younger children with Polenka.
• Raskolnikov comes to Sonya intending to confess Lizaveta’s murder. When he first asks whether anyone has the right to decide who should live, she refuses to claim that power.
• He reveals that he killed the pawnbroker and Lizaveta, who entered unexpectedly. Horrified, Sonya embraces him and promises to stay with him; he weeps but rejects the prospect of penal servitude.
• Raskolnikov says he killed to steal, then admits that he hid the stolen purse and objects without checking their value. Sonya cannot reconcile his actions with that motive.
• He offers Napoleon’s example, then his family’s needs and his wish to fund his studies, but abandons both explanations under Sonya’s questions. He admits that he turned down available work and shut himself away, and says he killed to test whether he could cross a forbidden boundary and gain power.
• Believing he has destroyed himself, Raskolnikov asks Sonya what to do. She urges him to confess publicly and bow to the earth, believing that this can bring him back to life.

Part Five (continued, p. 377–392)

• Sonya urges Raskolnikov to confess and accept suffering for his crime. He refuses, condemns the authorities’ cruelty, and hopes to avoid punishment because the investigators lack reliable evidence.
• Sonya promises to visit him in prison and offers him her cross as a sign that they will share his suffering. He postpones taking it, and her love deepens his anguish rather than easing it.
• Lebezyatnikov reports that Katerina Ivanovna has been driven away after appealing to her dead husband’s superior. She now plans to make the children perform in the street, and Sonya hurries to find her.
• Alone, Raskolnikov fears causing Sonya more pain. Dunya, convinced that suspicions against her brother are false, offers her support. He praises Razumikhin but cannot bring himself to embrace her.
• Refusing to live any longer at Sonya’s expense, Katerina makes the frightened children perform before a crowd to earn money and shame the general. Neither Sonya nor Raskolnikov can stop her. When the children flee from a policeman, Katerina falls and begins bleeding; she is carried to Sonya’s home, entrusts the children to her, and dies.
• Svidrigailov offers to pay for the funeral, provide for the children, and help Sonya. By repeating words from Raskolnikov’s private conversation with her, he reveals that he listened through the wall and frightens Raskolnikov.

Part Six (p. 393–406)

• After Katerina’s death, Raskolnikov shifts between panic and indifference and loses track of events. He worries about what Svidrigailov knows but delays confronting him.
• Svidrigailov arranges the funeral and places the three orphans where money set aside for them will help support them. At the memorial service, Sonya takes Raskolnikov’s hands; struck by her lack of revulsion, he leaves distressed.
• Raskolnikov seeks solitude, yet feels more troubled when he is away from others. Thoughts of his mother and Dunya frighten him, and after spending a night in the bushes he returns home.
• Razumikhin says Raskolnikov’s mother has fallen ill after failing to see her son and reproaches him for his harshness. Raskolnikov asks Razumikhin, who loves Dunya, to care for them both.
• A letter that has upset Dunya alarms Raskolnikov. Razumikhin also reports that Mikolka has confessed to the murders; having dropped his own suspicion of Raskolnikov, he mistakenly attributes his friend’s behavior to a political conspiracy.
• Raskolnikov doubts that Porfiry accepts Mikolka’s confession, given their earlier encounter. As he sets out to find Svidrigailov, Porfiry arrives and explains that he has suspected Raskolnikov but wanted physical evidence rather than psychological clues. He lists rumors, Raskolnikov’s behavior at the police office, his article, and his remarks about the bells among his reasons, while admitting that much of it could be explained otherwise.

Porfiry and Svidrigailov (continued, p. 407–421)

• Porfiry says he deliberately drew Razumikhin away from their conversation and never believed Mikolka’s confession. He thinks the impressionable sectarian took the blame in order to suffer.
• Porfiry describes a murderer driven by a theory who killed two people, failed to use what he stole, and returned to the place where he had been afraid. When pressed, he directly accuses Raskolnikov, who denies it; Porfiry concedes that psychological arguments alone cannot yet justify an arrest.
• Porfiry urges Raskolnikov to surrender in hope of a lighter sentence. Raskolnikov refuses, and Porfiry gives him roughly two days to think, asking him to leave a note if he decides to kill himself.
• Raskolnikov hurries to Svidrigailov, fearing that he will use the murder to threaten Dunya. He considers confessing to protect her, or killing Svidrigailov if he threatens her.
• Raskolnikov spots Svidrigailov at a tavern window and sees him try to slip away. Svidrigailov says Raskolnikov may have come there because he had once mentioned the address, which Raskolnikov could have remembered without realizing it.
• Svidrigailov says he has seen Raskolnikov talking to himself in the street and warns that others may notice, but does not confirm that he has been following him. Raskolnikov threatens to kill him if he uses the secret against Dunya; Svidrigailov denies having any particular plan and says Raskolnikov’s predicament and connection to Dunya caught his interest.

Conversation with Svidrigailov (continued, p. 421–435)

• Svidrigailov says he came to St. Petersburg for women: sexual pursuits relieve his boredom, though he regards excess as an illness and fears death. He says Marfa Petrovna freed him from debtors’ prison and tolerated occasional affairs on condition that he stay with her and disclose any serious love.
• According to Svidrigailov, Dunya pitied him after hearing Marfa Petrovna speak about him. When Dunya demanded that he leave the servant Parasha alone, he pretended to repent so that he could grow closer to her.
• Svidrigailov says Dunya withdrew when she noticed his desire for her. He then offered her money to run away with him, counting on her poverty, and the proposal ended their relationship.
• Raskolnikov suspects that Svidrigailov still wants Dunya. Svidrigailov points to his impending marriage, but his alarm when she comes up strengthens Raskolnikov’s suspicions. His intended bride is nearly sixteen, and he knows her family needs money and that Resslich hopes to exploit her if he abandons her.
• Svidrigailov also recounts how, after a humiliating incident at a dance, he won the trust of another poor girl and her mother by offering help. He enjoys Raskolnikov’s anger at the story.
• Raskolnikov follows Svidrigailov when he leaves, fearing for Dunya. Svidrigailov says Sonya has taken Katerina’s children to a woman he knows who oversees their care, whom he persuaded to accept them by giving her money.

Part Six (continued, p. 435–449)

• Svidrigailov mocks Raskolnikov’s doubts and offers him money to flee. After showing him Sonya’s empty room, he drives away, then secretly returns once Raskolnikov has left.
• On a bridge, Dunya sees her distracted brother but, at Svidrigailov’s signal, does not call to him. She enters Svidrigailov’s apartment to hear his explanation of his hints about a crime.
• Svidrigailov shows Dunya where he listened to Raskolnikov confess to Sonya that he killed two women. He links the crime to poverty, pride, and a theory that some people may place themselves above the law.
• Dunya cannot believe her brother is guilty and wants to speak with Sonya, but Sonya is away. Finding the door locked, Dunya realizes she is alone with Svidrigailov. He offers to save Raskolnikov if she returns his love and threatens to force himself on her, assuming she will not report him because of her brother.
• Dunya shoots Svidrigailov and wounds him slightly, but her second shot fails. She drops the revolver; when she says she will never love him, he gives her the key and lets her leave.
• Svidrigailov takes the revolver and spends the evening among tavern patrons without drinking. After returning home in a storm to get money, he tells Sonya he has provided for the orphans and insists that she accept money for a journey after Raskolnikov if he confesses and is sent to penal servitude.

Part Six (continued, p. 449–463)

• Svidrigailov asks Sonya to keep his visit and gift secret, or to leave the money with Razumikhin if necessary. His farewell frightens her.
• That night he brings his fiancée fifteen thousand rubles, saying he will soon depart. Her mother hides the money and orders silence, while the girl remains uneasy.
• Ill and unable to sleep in a cheap hotel, Svidrigailov remembers Dunya and feels pity for her, then tries to push the thought away.
• He dreams of a fourteen-year-old girl who drowned herself after humiliation and despair, lying in a coffin among flowers. In another dream he warms a five-year-old girl found in a corridor, but her face takes on an expression that terrifies him awake.
• In the morning Svidrigailov writes a few lines and takes his revolver into the foggy city. Instead of going to Petrovsky Island, he stops by a fire watchtower and shoots himself in the temple in front of a watchman.
• That evening Raskolnikov visits his mother, having made his decision. Pulcheria Alexandrovna praises his article and attributes his former distance to his studies, but seeing the article revives painful memories for him. He asks whether she will love him whatever she learns, then says goodbye; when she offers to go with him, he asks her to pray for him.

Part Six (continued, p. 463–477)

• Raskolnikov leaves his mother without explaining his secret. She senses that something terrible is near, and he again asks her to pray for him.
• Dunya, who knows about the murders, waits for him. He says he thought of drowning himself during the night but could not do it, and confirms that he is going to confess.
• When Dunya calls confession the start of atonement, Raskolnikov objects: he still justifies killing the pawnbroker by the good he hoped to do. Seeing Dunya’s pain, however, he admits that he has made his family miserable. He asks her to stay with their mother, gives her a portrait of his dead fiancée, and leaves in dread of penal servitude.
• Sonya and Dunya have feared all day that he might kill himself. Raskolnikov visits Sonya for her cross, which she puts on him, but irritably refuses to take her with him.
• At the Haymarket, Raskolnikov remembers Sonya’s request, kneels, and kisses the ground. Mocking bystanders keep him from declaring himself a murderer aloud. He sees Sonya following and understands that she will not abandon him.
• At the police office, Raskolnikov hesitates. After Ilya Petrovich tells him of Svidrigailov’s suicide, he leaves without confessing. The sight of an exhausted Sonya in the courtyard brings him back, and he tells Ilya Petrovich and the gathered people that he murdered and robbed the pawnbroker and killed Lizaveta.

Epilogue (p. 478–493)

• At his trial, Raskolnikov confesses in detail to both murders and identifies where he hid what he stole. He cites poverty as his motive and remorse as his reason for surrendering, but does little to defend himself. The court considers his illness, his failure to use the stolen goods, his voluntary confession, and his past help to others, then sentences him to eight years of penal servitude in Siberia.
• Dunya and Razumikhin conceal Raskolnikov’s fate from the ailing Pulcheria Alexandrovna. She speaks of his great future but avoids asking about him, leading Dunya to suspect she senses trouble. Sonya follows Raskolnikov to Siberia; Dunya marries Razumikhin, and they plan to move near him. His mother waits for his return, develops a fever, and dies.
• Sonya regularly tells Dunya and Razumikhin about Raskolnikov’s life in prison. At first he avoids her, then grows used to her visits, though he remains withdrawn. News of his mother’s death barely changes his outward behavior.
• Raskolnikov becomes seriously ill, not because of prison conditions but because his pride is wounded. He does not repent of the murders and regards his inability to withstand his own test, followed by his confession, as his chief defeat.
• The other prisoners shun Raskolnikov but love Sonya, who helps them keep in touch with their families. In the hospital he dreams of an infection that makes people certain only they are right, driving them to destroy one another.
• After his illness, Raskolnikov worries when Sonya falls sick. At their reunion he weeps at her feet, and she realizes he loves her. They resolve to wait through the seven years ahead; he takes her copy of the Gospels but has not yet opened it.

Quotes

“— А коли не к кому, коли идти больше некуда! Ведь надобно же, чтобы всякому человеку хоть куда-нибудь можно было пойти. Ибо бывает такое время, когда непременно надо хоть куда-нибудь да пойти!” — p. 15–16

Translation: “But what if there is no one to turn to, nowhere left to go! Surely everyone must have somewhere to go. For there are times when one absolutely must go somewhere, anywhere!”

“потому, как объяснил он, что муж ничем не должен быть обязан своей жене, а гораздо лучше, если жена считает мужа за своего благодетеля.” — p. 35

Translation: “Because, as he explained, a husband should owe his wife nothing, and it is much better if the wife regards her husband as her benefactor.”

“Мрачное ощущение мучительного, бесконечного уединения и отчуждения вдруг сознательно сказались душе его.” — p. 95

Translation: “A dark sense of agonizing, boundless solitude and estrangement suddenly made itself consciously felt in his soul.”

“Старуха была только болезнь... я переступить поскорее хотел... я не человека убил, я принцип убил! Принцип-то я и убил, а переступить-то не переступил, на этой стороне остался... Только и сумел, что убить.” — p. 246

Translation: “The old woman was only an illness... I wanted to step across as quickly as possible... I did not kill a human being, I killed a principle! I did kill the principle, but I failed to step across; I stayed on this side... All I managed to do was kill.”

“— Я не тебе поклонился, я всему страданию человеческому поклонился, - как-то дико произнес он и отошел к окну.” — p. 288

Translation: “It was not to you that I bowed; I bowed to all human suffering, he said with a strange wildness, and went over to the window.”

“Мне другое надо было узнать, другое толкало меня под руки: мне надо было узнать тогда, и поскорей узнать, вошь ли я, как все, или человек? Смогу ли я переступить или не смогу!” — p. 376

Translation: “There was something else I needed to find out, something else driving me on: I needed to discover then, and discover quickly, whether I was a louse like everyone else or a human being. Could I step across, or could I not!”

“Раскольников отвел рукой воду и тихо, с расстановкой, но внятно проговорил: — Это я убил тогда старуху-чиновницу и сестру ее Лизавету топором и ограбил.” — p. 477

Translation: “Raskolnikov pushed the water aside with his hand and said quietly, slowly, but distinctly: It was I who killed the old woman, the official's widow, and her sister Lizaveta with an axe that time, and robbed them.”

“Они оба были бледны и худы; но в этих больных и бледных лицах уже сияла заря обновленного будущего, полного воскресения в новую жизнь. Их воскресила любовь, сердце одного заключало бесконечные источники жизни для сердца другого.” — p. 492

Translation: “They were both pale and thin; but in those sickly, pale faces there already shone the dawn of a renewed future, full of resurrection into a new life. Love had resurrected them; the heart of each held inexhaustible sources of life for the heart of the other.”