Babienko AP English
Some IDEAS (not definitive answers) on Svidrigailov
 Linguistic slippage - “I, too, am a man et nihil humanum” (261). What does Svidrigailov
apparently want to say here? What does the phrase actually say?
 “The question is, am I a monster, or am I myself a victim? And what if I am a victim? I am
proposing to the object of my passion to elope with me to America or Switzerland….Reason
is a slave to passion, you know; why, probably I was doing more harm to myself than
anyone” (262).
Given what Svidsigailov may represent, what is “reason” here? Reason=___________.
In light of this notion of reason, what does passion represent?
Think extraordinary man theory…. Consider what love represents in this novel….
Look carefully at diction! Irony?
 “With all Avdotya Romanovna’s natural aversion and in spite of my invariably gloomy and
repellent aspect – she did at last feel pity for me, pity for a lost soul And if once a girl’s
heart is moved to pity, it’s more dangerous than anything [for WHOM?]. She is bound to
want to ‘save him,’ to bring him to his senses, and lift him up and draw him to nobler aims,
and restore him to new life and usefulness – well we all know how far such dreams can go”
(438-439).
In this passage, the compulsion to pity and attempt to ‘save’ can be interpreted as dangerous
to Dounia, but given that “passion” enslaves “reason,” and given Svidrigailov’s final scene
with Dounia, how else might the ‘danger’ be interpreted?
 “She is simply thirsting to face some torture for someone, and if she can’t get her torture,
she’ll throw herself out of the window” (439).
How might these lines be applied to Svidrigailov? Look at his final meeting with Dounia.
Read through to 441 for further interesting lines….
Is Svidrigailov Raskolnikov’s alter ego?
The “superman” that one part of R. wants to be?
R.’s Id – the beastly, primitive [look at setting], narcissistic side of his personality? Pure “I
want” and no “thou shalt not” of the Superego?
“Can this still be a dream?” (261).
Svidrigailov enters right after Raskolnikov’s dream in which he relives the murder…
Both:
Willfully murder
Give away money – motives same or different?
Are threatened by and drawn to women who might ‘save’ them – Investigate!
Confrontation with Dounia and subsequent suicide
 Does Svidrigailov have a conscience that eventually destroys him? Assumption: he’s
capable of love; he feels remorse for his wrongs.
 Does inability to exercise his will – failure of the superman – destroy him?
Look at the ‘monster/victim’ question again. How would he answer it after the scene with
Dounia? How would this relate to superman idea?
Other related questions:
 “’She’s dropped it!’ said Svidrigailov with surprise, and he drew a deep breath [fresh air?].
A weight seemed to have rolled from his heart – perhaps not only the fear of death; indeed,
he may scarcely have felt it at that moment [ compare to knife!]. It was the deliverance from
another feeling, more darker and more bitter, which he could not have defined” (459).
What feeling, within the context of this novel, is worse than the fear of death?
Look at the times when Raskolnikov feels the worst:
“A gloomy sensation of agonising, everlasting solitude and remoteness, took conscious form
in his soul…He has never experienced such a strange and awful sensation. And what was
most agonising – it was more a sensation than a conception or idea, a direct sensation, the
most agonising of all the sensations he had known in his life” (99).
Why, then would this feeling vanish when Dounia throws down the gun?
Possibilities:
Svidrigailov thinks she loves him –
Possibility A) He truly loves her and believes they will be united.
Possibility B) He is only interested in exercising personal will; her apparent submission
makes him think his will has triumphed.
Other possibilities:
 Svidrigailov’s attempts to assert his will are related to his rejection of God and attempt to
make himself divine. He commits evil to go beyond good and evil – to rise “above”
morality. He constantly tests his will against the will of others, against others’ resistance to
his will. The deliverance from the feeling more dark and bitter than the fear of death would
then be viewed as a deliverance into nothingness – Dounia allows his will to triumph
without resistance; he does not need to overpower her (kill or rape her), he has “won” but
the victory is hollow and meaningless. Additionally, his failure to assert his will over
Dounia (whether that entails making her love him or simply raping her) reinforces the
experience of nothingness.
 He’s a masochist [repressed guilt?], he wants to be shot. Svidrigailov is unworthy of love
and wants to be “punished.” The deliverance from a feeling darker and more bitter than the
fear of death is not actually a good thing.
While it does appear that he relishes the thought of Dounia shooting him somehow [like the
knife?], is it a stretch to claim that the “deliverance” is negative at this moment?
 Also, it may be that Svidrigailov idealizes Dounia’s chastity to such an extent that her
submission to what she perceives to be his intention to rape her is actually repugnant to him.
While this would be hard to reconcile with the deliverance from the feeling worse than fear
of death, it can be connected to his dream of the child-harlot.
 Also consider the idea of Svidrigailov’s suicide as a result of the failure of his amoral stance.
He becomes conscious of feeling when Dounia throws the gun away. If he has a conscience,
this would constitute a corruption of the amoral “purity,” as Dalton put it, that Svidrigailov
has maintained up to this point – superman fails.
 Look at Sonia/Raskolnikov and Dounia/Svidrigailov: For Raskonikov, Sonia offers
unconditional love, which leads him through suffering to redemption/resurrection/salvation.
For Svidrigailov, Dounia offers no love; he anticipates only suffering, with no chance of
resurrection/salvation.
 If America represents freedom – freedom from what? If Svidrigailov is the beastly,
narcissistic “Id,” he fears suffering. Freedom from suffering would be death – death as an
escape from hopeless suffering.
 Svidrigailov’s suicide can be read as the consequence of unchecked individual freedom.
Exercising individual freedom – not bound by laws of the church, state, and society – leads
to moral destruction. Those who act in this manner are actually “committing suicide.”
 If Svidrigailov is Raskolnikov’s beastly alter ego - his Id - then his suicide helps pave the
way for Raskolnikov’s resurrection/rebirth/salvation.