Crime and Punishment characters

Also known as Rodya, Rodion Romanovich

Appears from the start

A destitute former law student in St. Petersburg, living in a cramped attic room he can barely pay for. Proud, intelligent, and withdrawn, he has abandoned his studies and drifts through the city in a feverish, isolated state. He is preoccupied with a theory that a small number of extraordinary people are entitled to overstep ordinary moral limits for a greater purpose, and he broods on whether he might be such a person. Poverty, shame at his family's sacrifices for him, and his own detached intellect drive him toward a terrible act against a local pawnbroker.

Also known as Sofya Semyonovna, Sonechka

Appears from the start

The gentle, self-effacing daughter of the drunkard Marmeladov. To keep her starving family fed, she has been forced into prostitution, a degradation she bears with quiet suffering and deep religious faith. Meek in manner but unshakable in her belief in God and forgiveness, she becomes a figure of compassion and moral steadiness in Raskolnikov's life.

Appears from the start

A ruined former civil servant whom Raskolnikov meets in a tavern. A hopeless alcoholic, he has drunk away his post and his family's livelihood, and speaks with maudlin eloquence about his own worthlessness and his daughter Sonya's sacrifice. He is married to the consumptive, proud Katerina Ivanovna and lives in squalid poverty.

Appears from the start

Marmeladov's wife, a proud, high-strung woman of genteel background reduced to misery. Suffering from consumption and burdened with young children and a drunken husband, she clings desperately to memories of a better past and to her sense of dignity, veering between fierce tenderness and hysterical despair.

Also known as Dunya, Dounia

Appears from the start

Raskolnikov's younger sister, strong-willed, intelligent, and morally upright. Devoted to her brother, she is prepared to sacrifice her own happiness for his sake, including a loveless engagement to the self-satisfied Luzhin. She carries herself with composure and courage, and has left behind a troubling episode as a governess in the Svidrigailov household.

Appears from the start

Raskolnikov's aging mother, tender and anxious, who has scraped together what little she has to support her son's education and future. She adores Rodion and travels to St. Petersburg with Dunya, worrying over both her children and clinging to hope for their happiness.

Appears from the start

A poor but energetic and warm-hearted student, and Raskolnikov's loyal friend. Cheerful, talkative, and practical where Raskolnikov is brooding and idle, he takes it upon himself to help Raskolnikov and later his mother and sister, offering steady friendship and common sense.

Appears from the start

The shrewd, affable examining magistrate charged with investigating the pawnbroker's murder. Genial and roundabout in conversation, he masks a keen, probing intelligence, and takes a particular psychological interest in the case and in Raskolnikov himself, favoring subtle mental pressure over open accusation.

Appears from the start

A prosperous, pompous, and self-important lawyer engaged to Dunya. Vain and calculating, he wishes to marry a poor but respectable young woman who will feel indebted to him, and he expects gratitude and deference. His condescension quickly brings him into conflict with Raskolnikov.

Appears from the start

A cynical, sensual landowner in whose household Dunya once served as governess, and where his unwanted attentions caused scandal. Idle, wealthy, and morally unrestrained, he follows Dunya to St. Petersburg. Coolly self-aware and given to disturbing candor, he moves through the story as an ambiguous figure of appetite and boredom.

Appears from the start

An old, miserly pawnbroker to whom Raskolnikov and many other poor people bring their few valuables. Suspicious, hard, and grasping, she mistreats her meek half-sister Lizaveta. Raskolnikov regards her as a worthless, predatory creature, and she becomes the target of his theory-driven plan.