The Brothers Karamazov [Naxos AudioBooks Edition] characters

Appears from the start

The wealthy, neglectful father of Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha Karamazov. Vulgar, theatrical, and skilled at turning disgrace into entertainment, he has spent his life pursuing money and sensual pleasure while leaving others to raise his sons.

Also known as Mitya

First appears in chapter 2

Fyodor's eldest son, born to his first wife. Passionate, impulsive, and financially entangled with his father, he returns to settle a disputed inheritance and brings the family's long resentment into the open.

First appears in chapter 3

Fyodor's intellectual middle son, raised away from his father and known for his education and published arguments about church and state. Reserved and independent, he has returned to the family town for reasons not yet clear.

Also known as Alyosha, Alexei

First appears in chapter 4

The youngest Karamazov brother, a gentle and unusually receptive novice at the local monastery. He is devoted to the elder Zosima without withdrawing from ordinary people, and his relatives trust him as a listener and peacemaker.

Also known as Father Zosima

First appears in chapter 5

The revered monastic elder whom Alyosha serves. Frail and near death, he receives visitors with warmth and penetrating attention, teaching that active love and personal responsibility matter more than judgment from a distance.

First appears in chapter 7

A young seminarian associated with the monastery but attracted to radical social ideas and worldly advancement. Intelligent and observant, he moves easily between religious households and local gossip.

First appears in chapter 9

A wealthy widow who visits Zosima seeking reassurance about faith, suffering, and her own charitable impulses. Voluble and changeable, she is devoted to her chronically ill daughter Lise.

Also known as Lise

First appears in chapter 9

Madame Khokhlakov's clever adolescent daughter, who uses a wheelchair and already knows Alyosha. Teasing and emotionally intense, she alternates between mockery and an evident wish for his attention.

First appears in chapter 14

Fyodor's elderly servant, a stern and religious man who raised the neglected Karamazov boys when they were small. He remains loyal to the household despite despising his master's behavior.

First appears in chapter 15

Fyodor's taciturn cook and servant, raised by Grigory after his mother died giving birth. Proud of his education and contemptuous of those around him, he suffers from epilepsy and listens closely to Ivan's arguments.

Also known as Grushenka

First appears in chapter 16

A young woman pursued by both Fyodor and Dmitri. Known locally for beauty, wit, and a talent for keeping rivals uncertain, she has become the center of the father and son's increasingly dangerous competition.

Also known as Katya

First appears in chapter 17

Dmitri's proud and generous fiancée. When her family faced disgrace, Dmitri gave her money without demanding the humiliation she expected; she later repaid him and committed herself to him with equal intensity.

Also known as Ilyusha

First appears in chapter 27

A proud, undersized schoolboy who bites Alyosha's finger after stones are thrown in a fight. His hostility is connected to a recent public humiliation suffered by his impoverished father.

Also known as The Captain

First appears in chapter 30

Ilyusha's impoverished father, a retired staff captain supporting a disabled and troubled family. Deeply humiliated after Dmitri assaulted him in public, he clings fiercely to dignity even when offered needed help.

Also known as Kolya

First appears in chapter 63

A confident thirteen-year-old schoolboy who has established himself as a leader among the local boys. Precocious, theatrical, and proud of his independent ideas, he has stayed away from his gravely ill friend Ilyusha while planning a dramatic reconciliation.

First appears in chapter 80

The celebrated lawyer who comes from St Petersburg to defend Dmitri at trial. He treats the case as both a contest over evidence and a broad psychological portrait of the Karamazov family.