The Idiot

Myshkin visits the Epanchin family. The head of the family, General Epanchin, owns a "profitable and considerable estate" (25) though he is not from a noble family. He has risen rapidly through the ranks of the military by socializing with the right people and he now has a "flourishing family" (26). He married the aristocratic Madame Epanchin, and they have three "remarkably good-looking" (27) daughters: Alexandra, Adelaida, and Aglaya. All three daughters are attractive, sociable, and well-educated. Aglaya, particularly, has a reputation for being beautiful. Myshkin waits to meet the General and his assistant, Ganya. His untidy clothing makes the servants suspicion of him, though he assures them that he is only visiting "to get acquainted" (28) with his relatives. Myshkin talks amicably with the valet about the "outrage" (30) of capital punishment. Eventually, Ganya appears and leads Myshkin to the General's study.

The General suspects that Myshkin wants money. However, the unfailingly polite and "gentle" (33) Myshkin reassures his host that he only wants to meet his distant relatives. Eventually, the General accepts that Myshkin's likeable demeanor is sincere. The General and Ganya listen to Myshkin explain that he was orphaned as a young boy and sent to Switzerland to cure his epilepsy with "cold water and gymnastics" (35) thanks to the patronage of Pavlishchev and, after Pavlishchev's death, his doctor, Dr. Schneider. While Myshkin is practicing his handwriting, Ganya and the General discuss Nastasya. Ganya hopes to marry Nastasya. That very evening is Nastasya's 25th birthday and she will announce whether or not she has accepted Ganya's proposal. The General is pleased for his assistant, but Ganya confesses that his own family are hesitant with regards to the marriage. They have heard rumors about Nastasya's potentially scandalous relationship with an aristocrat named Totsky. They are concerned that Nastasya is no longer a virgin. Myshkin interjects; he recalls Rogozhin's comments about Nastasya. Myshkin's mention of Rogozhin's "sick passion" (38) for Nastasya concerns Ganya. Observing a photograph of the young woman, Myshkin is struck by Nastasya's beauty. He detects a tragedy in her face, however. He mentions that Rogozhin seems so intensely in love with Nastasya that he may well marry her, only to kill her shortly afterward. Myshkin's talent for neat handwriting wins him a modest job offer from the General. At the General's recommendation, Myshkin agrees to rent a room in Ganya's apartment.

Myshkin is invited to meet with his relative, Madame Epanchin, who is becoming "somehow eccentric" (41) as she grows older. She is the mother of three daughters of marriageable age though, together with her husband, she has decided against "rushing [their] daughters into marriage" (42). All three daughters are now more than 20 years old, however, so the time for their marriage seems imminent. The two older sisters seem to have decided among themselves that they will be willing to make sacrifices in order to secure a better marriage for Aglaya, the youngest and most attractive daughter. Rumors abound that Totsky wants to marry the eldest daughter, Alexandra, but his relationship with Nastasya complicates matters. He is Nastasya's benefactor; he helped to raise her after her aristocratic but poor father's small estate burned down, killing his wife and leading him to be driven "mad" (44). When Nastasya grew into a beautiful young woman, Totsky realized what she had become and spent several months with her in a remote village. During this time, he forced her into become his sexual concubine. Having returned to Saint Petersburg, however, Totsky now plans to marry and rumors regarding Nastasya have already ruined one proposed marriage. Totsky now fears Nastasya, who views him with the "deepest contempt" (45). She has grown into a vengeful woman who resents her benefactor for the damage he has done to her reputation and for the innocence he has stolen from her. She now wants to "wreak havoc" (46) on his life. He has been unable to pay her to remain silent and he fears her ever since. She now lives in Saint Petersburg, where she has befriended a common moneylender named Ptitsyn and a "very indecent and salacious buffoon" (47) named Ferdyshchenko. His attempts to marry Nastasya to Ganya have been undermined by her refusal to completely commit to the engagement and her (correctly placed) suspicions that Totsky is seeking revenge against her in some fashion "as a recompense for her maimed life" (50).

The General introduces Myshkin to his wife, Madame Epanchin, and their daughters. He hopes that she will be distracted from the Nastasya situation by Myshkin's simplemindedness and his calligraphy skills. Despite Madame Epanchin's initial hesitation, the Epanchin women are charmed by Myshkin and pay him "special attention" (54). After the meal, they laugh at Myshkin's comments about seeing a donkey in Switzerland, since which time he has had "a terrible fondness for asses" (55). Myshkin understands the puns made by the daughters as Madame Epanchin tries to ignore their salacious comments. Myshkin changes the subject, telling a deeply psychological story about a condemned man who was saved from execution and who remembered the minutes before his salvation with "extraordinary clarity" (58). On the same subject, Myshkin once witnessed a public execution in France, he explains, and he "couldn't tear [his] eyes away" (60). Now, the expression on the man's face still haunts him. He suggests that Adelaida may wish to paint such an expression. Adelaida asks instead for a story about when Myshkin was "in love" (62).

The young girls would rather listen to stories about love, but Myshkin admits that his medical condition means that he has never had the opportunity to fall in love. He spent most of his time "only with children" (63). He does, however, have a story about a young Swiss girl named Marie who was seduced by a travelling merchant and then abandoned afterward. Marie was socially ostracized and Myshkin took pity on her. While the people of the village believed that he loved her, in reality he only pitied her. Marie died of a sickness some time later. Myshkin admits that the experience has taught him to love children more than adults, as the children as much nicer to Marie than the judgmental adults. Myshkin mentions again that he plans to see someone in Saint Petersburg about an urgent administrative matter, but he finishes the meal by telling his hosts that he is adept at reading faces. Madame Epanchin's face, he says, is that of a "perfect child" (69). She is flattered by the comparison.

With some hesitancy, Myshkin says that Aglaya's face is "extremely" (70) beautiful but not quite as beautiful as that of Nastasya. When the girls ask to see a picture of Nastasya, they ask Myshkin to collect the photograph from Ganya. Myshkin goes to Ganya, who is angry and "obviously alarmed" (71) that Myshkin told the Epanchin family about his marriage proposal. Talking privately to Myshkin, he asks Myshkin to deliver a message to Aglaya. He agrees. While passing along the message, Myshkin is struck again by Nastasya's beauty. Madame Epanchin sees the portrait of Nastasya and summons Ganya to ask him about the proposed marriage. Ganya insists that he has no such plans and, when he is alone again with Myshkin, he criticizes Myshkin for discussing his private affairs. After, he pesters Aglaya, who speaks privately to Myshkin and reveals that Ganya has also proposed to her. Aglaya views Ganya as a weak coward whose "soul is dirty" (75) and who cannot decide for himself. She gives Ganya's note back to Myshkin, to return to Ganya, even though she warns him that Ganya will never forgive Myshkin for this apparent betrayal. Aglaya is proved correct when Myshkin returns the message to Ganya. He angrily accuses Myshkin of gossiping in front of the Epanchin women. Ganya accuses Myshkin of being an " idiot" (78). Myshkin calmly suggests that they part ways, but Ganya immediately changes his demeanor and asks for forgiveness, inviting Myshkin back to the apartment where he has agreed to rent a room.

At the "cramped and squeezed" (79) apartment, Myshkin is introduced to Ganya's family, including his sister Varya, his mother Nina, his teenage brother Kolya, and his father General Ivolgin. Nastasya's friend Ferdyshchenko also rents a room in the apartment, whose first interaction with Myshkin is to insist that Myshkin does not lend him any money even though he is "sure to ask" (82). General Ivolgin is an alcoholic, dishonest man. He claims to have known Myshkin's father and tells an elaborate and incorrect story about serving in the military with Myshkin's father. At the same time, General Ivolgin bemoans his family's economic hardship and criticizes his son's proposed marriage to Nastasya, who he believes is "an ambiguous woman" (84). Nina Ivolgin is also critical of the marriage, but she is resigned to its inevitability. Varya insists that if Nastasya marries her brother, she will leave the house, as she does not understand why her brother would marry a woman he does not love. The conversation is interrupted by Myshkin, who sees Nastasya herself ringing the broken doorbell. She enters and mistakes him for a servant.