Dostoevsky humiliated and offended message. "humiliated and insulted" - moral criticism

I cannot hide my admiration, despite the fact that, being a model of morality, F.M. This time Dostoevsky appeared to me in a different light, sick, wrong, or rather, correctly perverted. A feeling was born in me, which was the center of gravity. After all, all the great ones are worthy of criticism. And if I looked at him, I'm ready to get a slap in the face. Thank you and be kind. Further in a chaotic order, only manage to catch the meaning.

From the very beginning, we are told that the hero of the novel is writing a novel, and writing is difficult. Also, the author, quite personifies himself with the main character. And what comes out, Vanya, who has been in love with the daughter of the Ikhmenevs since childhood, and who has been following their life so zealously, finally attacks the plot of the novel. And at that moment, when Natasha falls in love with the son of Prince Alyosha, a young rake, Vanya, sacrificing his own feelings, does not break off relations with Natasha, but on the contrary, becomes even more interested in family affairs and Natasha’s relationships, and even tries to fall in love with this ill-fated Alyosha, as trying to fall in love with Alyosha and the author himself. But he does it very superficially, he continually calls the ego stupid, shallow and so dependent on everyone around him. This continues until the very end of the novel, subconsciously he does not love him and cannot love him, because it was he who took away his love from him. Did you take it? Or just gave away a girl who met a man for the first time? A girl who only lived under the parental wing, whose parents rejected Vanya, for lack of a fortune. Natasha, in turn, loves Alyosha to spite everyone, this becomes clear towards the end of the story. To spite Vanya, who, with all the strength of his feelings, retreats. To spite her parents, who would never want to give her in marriage to Alyosha. It mainly concerns the old man Ikhmeniev, who has his own accounts with the prince, and who considers Natasha a traitor, and he is right. In any case, he has no illusions about a happy ending, unlike Anna Andreevna, who continues to see only a profitable game for Natasha, and meanwhile says, “What did he find in the new one?” (speaking of Katya) So why is he truly leaving Natasha from her parents' house? Wants to live with Alyosha? Goes on about a mother who wants a profitable marriage? Tired of your father's care? To spite everyone who didn't appreciate her first choice? Why the author, who is so observant and detailed, does not understand this situation at all. Why is Vanya not interested in true motives? Both of them do not want to disassemble Natasha, she is a mystery to them, an object of love and sympathy.

Let us also recall old Smith, whom the author, for some reason at the beginning of the work, endows with simply mystical qualities, but not like the qualities of an abandoned father, and this whole scene, described in such detail by Dostoevsky in a cafe on his last day, why was this aggression needed to cause us compassion, before that creating an image, rather mystical? I do not understand. Why wasn't his face cut into lines of agony, doubt and pain? Why these incomprehensible habits, which Vanya watched so diligently. But here it’s completely phantasmagoria, when Vanya, out of curiosity, settles in this old man’s apartment, cramped and unlit.

Let's leave, let's note a truly positive character in this story: Masloboev, unlike all our sincere ones, his hands are dirty "in business." But he alone can resist evil, he has enough strength and prudence, skill and other things to squeeze money from those who are the embodiment of evil. Although, as it turns out, and destroys, too ideal performance, he also "cheapened" with the prince's case.

And now we come to my favorite characters, they are truly majestic: Nellie and the Prince, proud, arrogant and bitter in their goals. I didn't just put them side by side, they are father and daughter.

Nellie is a truly tragic creature in this story. It seems to me that everyone else just played, Vanya played, Natasha played (remember, at the end of the book, Natasha turns to Vanya: “Tell me that it was just a dream”), Nikolai Sergeevich played (losing his money in court), Alyosha played, Katya played, the Prince played (although he played for real), and Nellie died for all these games. It was the child who died, who should play, but only she lived for real. Meanwhile, Vanya, for me, becomes a character much worse than the Prince, the most cold-blooded, he signs the already ill Nelly, a death sentence and does this without the slightest trick, appointing her "the savior of everything." But he commits his first atrocity much earlier, when he breaks her stone heart with his notorious love and love of truth. He said she was selfish, vicious. But she did not break under the onslaught, and did not become a child. “But Nellie did not fulfill her will: she knew everything, but she did not go to the prince and died without example.” "I curse him."

How tragic the whole novel is about how insignificant all these high feelings. How erroneous are all these lofty truths in the face of fate-life.

Letter to the prince.

What exactly is a prince? ... he always went to his goal, he had no doubts, he believed that the end justifies the means. And there was something infinitely playful in his character, this feeling that he tried to evoke in Natasha, a truly repentant person, flirting with the truth with mischief, these words ... “There was a time and I was carried away lofty ideas". As if the author says: The weak go to the bottom. The whole novel Vanya and the Prince were at the same time. Remember how Vanya painfully perceived the words of the prince in last scene in a bar, his deliberate lies? But nevertheless he remained, he sacrificed all ideas in order to find out ... "The prince fell silent, as if thinking about something"

Natasha's mother experiences no less suffering, forced to endure both her daughter's departure and her husband's anger. But Natasha also suffers, whose love Dostoevsky portrayed in the novel as self-sacrifice. In the name of feeling for Alyosha, the girl forgets about all her former affections, sacrifices her own dignity. Dostoevsky highly appreciates Natasha's selfless love, sees strength of character in her act.

However, life does not bring her happiness. Natasha suffers both from the fact that her father cursed her, and from the treachery of the prince. But the direct culprit of Natasha's suffering is none other than Alyosha. It was he who tore her away from a family disgraced by his own father; he deceived her with the promise of marriage. He leaves Natasha and, at the insistence of the prince, marries the owner of a million dollar fortune. It would seem that there is every reason to condemn the perpetrator of the drama Natasha Alyosha. But Dostoevsky does not. In accordance with the code of Christian humanism, the writer "mitigates" Alyosha's guilt. The narrator, on behalf of whom the narration is being conducted, the writer Ivan Petrovich, looks at Alyosha with Natasha's loving eyes.

He does not see the selfish behavior of the hero, and sometimes admires, even admires Alyosha and is inclined to interpret all the low deeds of the young prince as a harmless manifestation of sweet childishness. The author forced his dishonored, deceived heroine to call for pity and forgiveness: “Don’t blame him (Alyosha. - P.P.), Vanya,” Natasha interrupted ... “you can’t judge him like everyone else ... he was not brought up like that . Does he really understand what he is doing?.. He has no character...” Here Dostoevsky quite clearly preaches the Christian idea of ​​forgiveness to our offenders, and this weakens the social sharpness of the novel.

The hagokism of this "Christian virtue" was subtly noticed by Dobrolyubov, in whom Alyosha did not arouse sympathy.

Some contemporary critics they highlight the sincerity of Alyosha and even tend to draw a line from this "master" to the hero of the novel "The Idiot" Myshkin or to Alyosha Karamazov. But such a parallel is not solid. Sincerity itself does not protect a person from bad deeds, does not guarantee against selfishness, does not make a person impeccable. Yes, Alyosha is sincere and, perhaps, even kind, but in him, unlike Myshkin, there is selfishness, selfishness. And this is manifested in his attitude towards Katya, and in his love for Natasha. When he convinces Natasha to agree to his marriage to Katya, selfish logic is noticeable in his words: since Natasha loves him, it means that she must love his happiness, that is, agree to his marriage to Katya. By the whole course of the plot, the author proves that if Alyosha were really on Natasha’s side, if his love for her was true, strong, devoid of selfishness, no one would destroy their happiness and neither Natasha nor her parents would become victims of Prince Valkovsky. However, as a moralist, Dostoevsky does not condemn Alyosha. On the contrary, in this case he preaches the idea of ​​forgiveness, making Natasha the bearer of this idea. But modern reader, alien to the Christian idea of ​​forgiveness, cannot look at Alyosha through the eyes of Natasha. He judges the hero by his actions and deeds. Naturally, our assessment of Alyosha diverges from Dostoevsky's assessment.

Dostoevsky's code of humanism also included such a concept as suffering. The writer was sincerely convinced that a person is cleansed by suffering. And therefore in the Ikhmenev family there is no question of an active struggle against social injustice. If in Dostoevsky's first novel "Poor People" the hero Makar Devushkin sharply protested against the suffering of the humiliated and insulted, tried to open social causes of this suffering (“In what manner is all this being done?” he asked), then in the novel “The Humiliated and Insulted” Ikhmenev refuses to protest and calls for proud humility: “Oh! let us be humiliated, let us be offended, but we are together again, and let, let these proud and arrogant ones, who have humiliated and insulted us, triumph now! Dostoevsky attached great importance this passive solidarity of all those who have passed through the crucible of suffering, who have resigned themselves to their plight, humiliated position and are not looking for a way out in the struggle. Therefore, with the call to “go hand in hand,” with which Ikhmenev addresses Natasha, who was forgiven by him, Dostoevsky ends the fourth part of the novel.

But this storyline of "The Humiliated and Insulted" is not the main achievement of Dostoevsky the realist. It is covered by another plot line of the novel, which was completed in the epilogue - the story of Nellie and the entire Smith family.

Old Smith with his dog Azorka, whose fate was "connected in some mysterious, unknown ways with the fate of her master"; Nelly's mother, rejected by her father, begging on the streets of St. Petersburg and dying in a damp basement, and, finally, Nelly herself, who endures beatings from the petty bourgeois and bawd Bubnova and all kinds of abuse from her clients - all these humiliated and insulted are depicted in the novel with even greater social sharpness. It is the tragic fate of Nelly, this proud, not childishly serious girl who went through all the torments and tyranny of earthly hell, excitedly told by Dostoevsky, that makes it possible to deeply reveal the blatant injustice of social relations. But Nelly is not passive. She cannot reconcile and forgive her offenders. On the contrary, she is obsessed with a thirst for revenge. Her rebellion against the prince and against the conditions of hollow tragedy surrounding her. Dostoevsky in the novel "The Humiliated and Insulted" for the first time so sharply raised the question of the suffering of innocent children, crippled by the conditions of bourgeois reality.

The image of Nelly is a great artistic achievement of Dostoevsky the realist. From this image, as well as from the image of Netochka Nezvanova (the heroine of the story of the same name), a direct line will stretch to the heroine of the novel "The Idiot" Nastasya Filippovna, the same as Nelly, proud, shy, extremely proud, denouncing the injustices of the bourgeois world.

Thus, depicting the fate of Natasha Ikhmeneva and Nelli, Dostoevsky gives, as it were, two answers to the question about the behavior of a suffering person: on the one hand, passive, enlightened humility, and on the other, an irreconcilable curse to the whole unjust world. These two responses left their mark on artistic structure novel: the whole line of the Ikhmenevs is painted in lyrical, sometimes in sentimental and conciliatory tones; in the description of the story of Nelly and the atrocities of Prince Valkovsky, an accusatory palette of colors prevails. Between these two storylines The novel - passive and active protest - has very significant links: Prince Valkovsky and his antipode - the writer Ivan Petrovich, on whose behalf the narration is being conducted. Valkovsky embodies all the evil of the capitalist world. This is a high society libertine, a scoundrel, a seducer and an egoist. He recognizes one rule: "Love yourself!" Life for him is a commercial transaction, and people are only a means to achieve selfish goals. The prince first marries the daughter of the farmer, appropriates her fortune, and kills his wife from the world. Soon he remarries - to the daughter of the breeder Smith, Nelly's future mother, deceives and robs this woman too, and then drives her out into the street. The prince gives his son Alyosha to be raised by Ikhmenev in order to untie his hands. Having learned about Katya's millions, the prince reads her as Alyosha's bride. Money for this demon of profit is the measure of all things, a symbol of power; in the name of money, he is ready to go to any crimes. “I love meaning, rank, hotel, women, debauchery, and not ideals in life,” the prince cynically declares. He mocks the Schillerian romance of youth, the high ideals of poets - everything that is not subject to monetary interest. The prince is sure that "the deepest egoism lies at the basis of all human virtues." Dostoevsky needed such a concentration of vices in one person in order to vividly depict the truly satanic power of capital in those years, in order to arouse the reader's hatred for it.

If Prince Valkovsky is depicted as the pole of evil, then the narrator Ivan Petrovich is shown as the pole of good, according to the author's intention, a man of the highest degree humane and generous. In this hero, Dostoevsky captured some features of his own biography: Ivan Petrovich is a writer, his first novel resembles Dostoevsky's first novel Poor Folk, and the critic B.'s review of this novel is Belinsky's review of Poor Folk. But Ivan Petrovich is not only a narrator, he is also the protagonist of the novel, a hero in love with Natasha. With the help of Ivan Petrovich, all the threads of the highly branched plot of the novel are connected.

As a narrator, Ivan Petrovich “appears to us as something of a confidante of ancient tragedies,” writes Dobrolyubov. “Natasha’s father comes to him to inform about his intentions, her mother sends for him to ask about Natasha, Natasha calls him to her to pour out before his heart, Alyosha turns to him - to express his love, windiness and repentance, Katya, Alyosha's bride, meets him to talk with him about Alyosha's love for Natasha, he comes across Nelly to show his character, and Masloboev to find out and to tell about Nellie's relationship with the prince; finally, the prince himself ... gets drunk so as to express to Ivan Petrovich all the vileness of his character. And Ivan Petrovich listens to everything and writes everything down. Such a role of Ivan Petrovich is fully justified. And not only by his writing profession, but also by the humanity of his nature, in many respects reminiscent of the nature of Dostoevsky himself. The clash between Ivan Petrovich and Prince Valkovsky gives a well-known idea of ​​​​an ideological conflict. mid-nineteenth centuries between good and evil, altruism and selfishness, predation and unselfishness. Having no real opportunity to actively fight against evil, Ivan Petrovich diligently seeks moral help for all the humiliated and insulted, he mourns them with sorrows and sympathizes with their suffering.

A somewhat different role of Ivan Petrovich as the hero of the novel, as a man who fell in love with Natasha. Creating this image, Dostoevsky developed his theory of sacrificial love, love-altruism. Ivan Petrovich infinitely loves Natasha. His self-forgetfulness in love reaches such an extent that he is ready, in the name of Natasha's happiness, to give her to Alyosha. Dostoevsky creates a character that later in the novel The Idiot will be embodied in Prince Myshkin, where this theory of love-altruism will receive a broad justification.

How to interpret this character? What prevails in it: strength or weakness? Dobrolyubov answered this question quite definitely: weakness. He wrote: “I confess that I don’t like all these gentlemen who bring their spiritual greatness to the point of deliberately kissing their bride’s lover and being his errands. Either they didn't love at all, or they only loved with their heads... If these romantic self-sacrificers truly loved, then what rag hearts, what chicken feelings must they have! And these people were shown to us as the ideal of something!”

Dobrolyubov frankly expressed his dislike for a hero capable of sacrificial love, and this felt the spirit of the era of the 60s, when the debunking of weak-willed noble intellectuals became one of the main tasks of Russian democracy. Dostoevsky himself did not consider the behavior of his Ivan Petrovich a manifestation of weakness. On the contrary, he saw in this a sign of fortitude, the ability of a person to rise above his own egoism and perform an altruistic act - to arrange the happiness of his neighbor. Therefore, he sincerely saw something ideal in the actions of Ivan Petrovich and infected the reader with this mood.

"Humiliated and Insulted" - specific variety novel genre. It combines the features of a psychological novel with elements of an adventurous detective story. Events are extremely concentrated and occur in the shortest possible period of time. Psychological conflicts develop in the form of sharp and tense dialogues. The heroes confess to each other, talk about their past, their feelings and experiences, reveal their views on the world (such are the penetrating confessions of Ikhmenev, Nelly, or the cynical confessions of Prince Valkovsky that reveal their character and repel their ugliness).

Dostoevsky also attaches great importance to the external-objective environment of the characters, pictures of nature. The landscape in Dostoevsky always plays an important psychological role. The novel begins with a symbolic picture of Petersburg in the evening: “In the evening, just before dusk, I was walking along Voznesensky Prospekt. I love March sun Petersburg, especially the sunset, of course, on a clear, frosty evening. The whole street will suddenly shine, doused bright light. All the houses seem to suddenly sparkle. Grey, yellow and dirty green colors they will lose for a moment all their gloominess; as if your soul will clear up, as if you will shudder or someone will nudge you with an elbow. A New Look, new thoughts... It's amazing what one ray of the sun can do to a person's soul!” It is not difficult to notice that the author correlates the picture of nature with his mood (“as if it will clear up in his soul”). Before proceeding to the presentation of events, a description of nature is again given: “But the sunbeam went out; the frost grew stronger and began to pinch his nose; twilight grew thicker; gas flashed from shops and shops. However, here the extinguished ray is no longer just a detail of the landscape, but also a harbinger of some misfortune, some unfortunate event. And then we learn about the death of a lonely old man Smith and his strange dog. Nature in Dostoevsky is always the key to upcoming events. After Smith's death, Ivan Petrovich, who moved into his apartment, speaks of his sadness; as a narrator, he focuses our attention on the fact that “the weather was inclement and cold”, “it was sleet”, but towards evening “the sun peeped through and some kind of stray ray, probably out of curiosity, looked into my room”. The Lost Beam heralds the arrival of Nellie, Smith's granddaughter. In chapter VIII of the fourth part of the novel, the reconciliation of Nikolai Sergeevich Ikhmenev with Natasha is preceded by a remarkable phenomenon: “quite swipe thunder." The chapter ends with Ikhmenev forgiving his daughter, and the author writes about Natasha: “The handkerchief with which she covered her head fell off her neck, and large drops of rain sparkled on the broken thick strands of her hair.” Nature here testifies to the purification, the rebirth of the human soul. In his confession, set out in the subsequent (IX chapter), Ikhmenev explains the true meaning of the symbol: “She is here again, at my heart! - he cried, - oh, thank you, God, for everything, for everything and for your anger and for your mercy! .. And for your sun, which now, after a thunderstorm, shone on us! (Italics mine. - P.P.).

Thus, Dostoevsky not only humanizes nature, but also very skillfully merges the landscape with the action, with the portrait and character of the hero.

Among the visual means by which Dostoevsky creates images of heroes, significant place occupy expressive portrait sketches. Usually they are accompanied by the author's emotional assessment. Here, for example, is a portrait of Natasha Ikhmeneva: “I looked at her with bewilderment and fear. How she has changed in three weeks! My heart ached with melancholy when I saw those sunken, pale cheeks, lips parched as if in a fever, and eyes sparkling from under dark lashes with feverish fire and some kind of passionate determination. It is not difficult to notice that in this portrait it clearly “shines through” inner world heroines.

The portrait of Prince Valkovsky is described in detail and commented on by the author in great detail: “The correct oval of the face is somewhat swarthy, excellent teeth, small and rather thin lips, beautifully outlined, straight, somewhat oblong nose, high forehead, on which not the slightest wrinkle was yet visible, gray, rather big eyes...» These are the objective details of the portrait. Further, there are debunking author's comments: "... all this was almost a handsome man, but meanwhile his face did not make a pleasant impression." We immediately learn that the expression on the face of the prince “was as if not his own, but always feigned, deliberate, borrowed”, that “under the usual mask” lies “something evil, cunning and egoistic to the highest degree”, that “his rays their eyes seemed to split in two, and between the soft, affectionate rays flashed hard, distrustful, inquisitive, evil. The portrait imperceptibly turned into a detailed psychological characterization, and this is the strength of Dostoevsky as an artist, who blurs the boundaries between the external and internal, thanks to which he “shows” main feature your hero.

The novel "The Humiliated and Insulted" preceded such great philosophical and psychological canvases by Dostoevsky as "Crime and Punishment", "The Idiot", "The Brothers Karamazov". It marked the victory of the realistic principle in the work of Dostoevsky in the 60s. "Humiliated and Insulted" deserved the universal recognition of readers and progressive criticism, which, on the basis of this work, was able to predict the further rise of the great writer. The novel had a great influence on Russian society and on subsequent literature, as it aroused hatred for those who humiliate and insult human dignity, called for humanity, for the education of true nobility.

Every self-respecting person should know the works of the great Russian writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. If there is absolutely not enough time to fully read all the books, read "Humiliated and Insulted" first. A summary (part 1 and subsequent ones will be discussed in this review) will tell you about the difficult history of two families and teach you to recognize good and evil, sincerity and lies, love and false feelings.

The main characters of the novel

Fyodor Dostoevsky introduces Ivan Petrovich into the story - a writer who finishes his story by the end of the work. He began to keep a diary not from a good life: in childhood, his parents left him an orphan, and the boy was brought up in the house of Nikolai Sergeevich Ikhmenev. He was a good but impoverished family, lost his estate, but soon became the owner of a small village and married Anna Andreevna Shumilova. In later chapters, the family runs into trouble. The reader understands that the title of the work was not chosen by chance, and it is the Ikhmenevs who are humiliated and offended.

The summary tells that Prince Peter Alexandrovich Valkovsky began to visit the old people with his son Alyosha. Ikhmenev soon became the manager, but after the conflict, his family was forced to go to St. Petersburg again. The daughter of Nikolai Sergeevich and Anna Andreeva, Natasha, was a stumbling block between Alyosha and the writer Ivan. The subsequent events of this love triangle will be described in the book "Humiliated and Insulted". A summary in parts and chapters will convey the complexity of the relationship between the two families.

Secondary characters of the novel and their role

The action begins in a German confectionery, where old man Smith is heading with his dog Azorka. In the room, he annoys those present with his many hours of pastime, but he is no longer destined to return here ... Azorka suddenly dies of old age or hunger, after which the old man hurried to the exit and also died unexpectedly.

Become eyewitnesses of the actions of the novel "Humiliated and Insulted": a summary of the chapters will tell you how important it is to stay in this cruel world a good man what was the main character Ivan. Smith tells him his address, and soon the young man moves to his apartment, where he meets the old man's granddaughter, Elena. Anna Trifonovna Bubnova, the landlady of this orphan girl, often beats her and humiliates her. Filipp Filippovich Masloboev is Vanya's school friend, to whom he tells the story of Smith.

Princess Katerina Fyodorovna Filimonova first becomes Alyosha's girlfriend, and then a bride, thereby destroying his relationship with Natasha. The heroine appears in the novel infrequently, but it immediately becomes clear to the reader that under the mask of this rich woman a naive child is hiding.

Contents of Part 1 "Humiliated and Insulted" (brief)

Reviews of this novel range from enthusiastically positive to disapproving, but in order to appreciate the writer's idea, you yourself need to delve into the era of the 19th century and understand the complexity of the relationship of the main characters.

On the first pages of his book, Dostoevsky introduces the reader to the life of Ivan Petrovich, the Ikhmenev and Valkovsky families. The prince sends his son Alyosha to the house of Nikolai Sergeevich for educational purposes, and there young man an affair begins with Natasha. All this happened during the absence of Ivan, who went to study in St. Petersburg. Upon his return, the young writer realizes that Natasha is his destiny. Ivan makes her an offer, which the girl accepts, but the old people are in no hurry with the wedding, and this mistake becomes fatal ... Soon Natasha goes to Alyosha, who later turned out to be a scoundrel.

The unhappy Ivan moves into Smith's apartment and meets his granddaughter Elena there. Alyosha and Natasha lived in a poor apartment on the Fontanka. The girl was often sad and was sure that the groom would leave her for Katerina Feodorovna, the young lady whom Prince Valkovsky chose his son as his wife. Natasha talked about everything intimate with Ivan, who often visited her.

Prince Valkovsky wants to become related to Katerina Filimonova, but at the same time he understands that only Natasha will bring real happiness to his son. Ivan sees Elena more often and becomes a witness to how cruelly the old woman Bubnova treats her: after the beatings, the girl begins to have seizures. It is hard to believe that such cruel women still live on earth, but a description of such atrocity is given in the book "Humiliated and Insulted". Summary, fortunately, does not convey all the horror of the fourth chapter of the second part.

The young man decides to take the girl away, hires a doctor for her, buys good clothes, but she was eager to work and is ready to go back to the old tyrant. The poor thing begins to take care of her savior herself and asks from now on to call her Nelly - that was the name of her foreign mother.

Approaching Natasha's apartment on the Fontanka, Ivan noticed the carriage of Prince Valkovsky, with whom they then entered the house together. The girl was alone and said that Alyosha had not appeared for several days, but as soon as she started talking, he suddenly returned from Katerina Filimonova. Natasha flared up, deciding that the prince was only trying to seem kind, but in fact he longed for this rich young lady to be his son's bride ...

Alyosha swore to Ikhmeneva in eternal love and that he would treat Katya only as a sister. But the girl did not believe and asked Ivan to visit the countess. It is easy to guess that fate cruelly played a trick on the Ikhmenev family, and it was they who were humiliated and insulted. Short description subsequent events reveal this thought. Soon the prince received an offer to visit the countess. Gradually, the reader learns that Katerina is in love with Ivan, and he almost does not love Natasha. The drunken prince at the evening revealed a different side: he confessed his selfish intentions and announced his desire to marry his son and countess.

Now Ivan's soul hurts for two girls: for Natasha and Nelly. The second became naughty and made fun of her doctor. The unfortunate woman was diagnosed with heart disease, and even drugs are not able to prolong her life. Nelly could not live with Ivan in peace, so she ran away, leaving a note. The doctor, who at first seemed to be her friend, refused to take her in, and the girl did not want to stay with the Ikhmenevs.

This is followed by the culmination of the novel "The Humiliated and Insulted" - a summary of the subsequent chapters reveals the vile essence of the entire Valkovsky family. Alyosha declares that he loves Katerina Filimonova, but is in a hurry to marry Natasha, because he cannot imagine life without her. But their happiness is hindered by the conflict of their fathers, so Ikhmenev deprives his daughter of a parental blessing and curses her. However, the wedding of Alyosha and Natasha did not take place, and the prince, who married his son to the countess, turned out to be the winner in this battle. The old Ikhmenevs found another happiness: they forgave their daughter and began to raise Nelly as their own.

Epilogue

Nelli continued to live in the house of the old Ikhmenevs, and soon got used to them, and Ivan finished his story, on which he had been working for so long. Philip Masloboev often visited the family and did not stand aside when he learned about the tragic fate of the girl. He secretly tells Ivan that Nelly is in fact not an orphan at all, but the daughter of Prince Valkovsky - this is the turning point in the book "Humiliated and Insulted". It turned out that the girl knew everything, but was silent ... She lives out her last days in torment. Before her death, Nelly gives Ivan a cross with an amulet, where her mother's message to Valkovsky was kept.

The story of the fall and resurrection of the main character

First love is always the most sincere, passionate and entails dire consequences - for Natasha Alyosha was probably the first, so she left her father's house for him. She executed herself, deciding to give up everything and become the slave of this "adult child", the eternal player and favorite of women. Because of the Valkovskys, the Ikhmenevs are not only unhappy, but also humiliated and insulted.

The summary further tells that Alyosha, without a twinge of conscience, complained to Katerina that Natasha did not sacrifice anything for him ... Was it really not enough for him to leave the girl from the parental home? Nikolai Ikhmenev forbade pronouncing the name of his daughter, and he himself stole her portrait from his wife in order to secretly admire, remember, suffer from everyone ... Natasha caused a lot of suffering to the old people, but she cannot be blamed for what she did - actions were done for the sake of love, and this is the main justification . At the end of the fourth part, the father forgives his daughter and falls on his knees before her. The Ikhmenevs, humiliated and offended, nevertheless reunite, and for them this is true happiness.

The role of the heroine Nelly in the concept of the book

The tragedy of the novel is enhanced by the description of the difficult fate of a girl with a heart defect, who, as it seems at first glance, became a participant in the action by accident. Illegitimate Nellie, who lost her mother in childhood, is doomed to hate humanity for the rest of her life, which caused her so much pain. She endures all the beatings, humiliations and refuses happiness herself - this little creature does not know what it means to be happy, perhaps that is why she cannot live with people who, like her, are humiliated and offended.

The summary reveals the true story of her family: once Smith cursed and kicked out his daughter, who fled with her lover, who turned out to be Valkovsky. It is Nelly who returns harmony and understanding to the Ikhmenev family. Nikolai Sergeevich realizes the sinfulness of his act and throws himself at Natasha's feet with a request to forgive him. Thus, poor Nelly sacrificed herself for the sins of her mother, her vile father, and for the happiness of the Ikhmenev family.

History of creation

The book "Humiliated and Insulted" was published in 1861 in the magazine "Vremya", during the life of Dostoevsky it was reprinted twice. In Russia, they were wary of writers who returned from exile, so the brilliant novel was not received enthusiastically, although critics responded positively about it (in particular, V. G. Belinsky).

The work was filmed three times: in 1915 by the troupe of artists of the Solovtsov Theater, in 1976 a performance directed by E. Velikhanov was released. In 1991 a film directed by A. Eshpay was made; in 2005 a musical was made to the music of A. Zhurbin. To understand the idea of ​​the novel, it is important not only to watch the production from the screen, but also to read "Humiliated and Insulted" (summary).

Hugo and his novel Les Misérables

The theme of the humiliated and offended remains relevant in world literature for more than a century. Main character the works of Victor Hugo - Jean Valzhac - spent almost 20 years in hard labor for petty theft, and when he was released, he opened his own factory and became mayor. He does all this under a false name, but the authorities become aware of the whole truth: the poor man is again deprived of his liberty, but this time he escapes. Jean brings up Cosette, the daughter of an unfortunate woman who died of consumption. The girl's lover participated in the republican uprising and was convicted, but Valjac saves him and blesses the young. The following year, he dies in poverty in the arms of Cosette and her husband. Les Misérables is the story of a sinner who became a great righteous man. Thus, not only Fyodor Dostoevsky, but also Victor Hugo has works on the theme "Humiliated and Insulted".

The novel “The Humiliated and Insulted” by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is a work that was written by him after hard labor and was first published in the Vremya magazine from January to July 1861. An eyewitness to intense human suffering, the author hatched the idea of ​​“The most downtrodden last man there is also a man, and is called your brother. From the first lines of the novel, we get to know a writer named Ivan Petrovich (narration is in the 1st person), who went out to look for more acceptable housing: the old apartment was damp, and this affected his health.

On the street, he felt unwell, but suddenly he saw something that made his heart clench: an absurd and strange figure of an old man who was approaching a candy store. tall, with a hunched back, in an old coat torn at the seams, the old man gave the impression of a madman who had run away from his guards. Next to him was a dog that also looked very old.

The old man crossed the threshold of the candy store and, as usual, sat down on a chair. He went there often and did the same thing: having settled in a corner, he looked at one point with a meaningless dull look. Didn't read, didn't talk to anyone. A dog lay down next to him - and also gave the impression of being motionless.

This went on until the old man (completely unconsciously!) turned his gaze on a certain Adam Ivanovich, an ambitious visitor to the confectionery, who, as he himself claimed, was "famous at the court" and was indignant at such behavior. A commotion began, because the old man, who did not understand anything, began to fuss and was about to leave. The kind owner of the confectionery Miller was filled with pity for the poor man: “No, no, sit! Schultz begged you not to look at him. He is known at the court."

The poor man seemed to understand nothing. He began to call his dog - Azora - but, as it turned out, the animal had already died. There was no limit to the grief of the old man. Everyone understood this and wanted to help the poor fellow, Miller even offered cognac. Alas, inconsolable an old man left the bakery. The writer rushed after him, offering to take him home. But the old man could no longer get up and managed to mumble only the address, after which he died.

This sad story cost the writer a lot of trouble. Firstly, they found the old man's apartment - a very poor dwelling, where the furniture was only a table, on which stood an earthenware mug and lay a dry crust of bread; sofa, two chairs. The stove has not been heated for a long time. Secondly, the name and surname of the “hero of the incident” were found out - he was a foreigner, a Russian citizen Jeremiah Smith, who was seventy-eight years old and who once worked as a machinist. Also, two books were found in the old man's dwelling - brief geography and the New Testament. The writer bought them for himself. And after the funeral, he himself settled in Smith's empty apartment.

The beginning of the story

So, the hero of the novel had no parents and grew up in the house of the landowner Nikolai Sergeevich Ikhmenev, who had only a daughter named Natalya three years younger than the orphan boy. With her, they grew up like brother and sister! The writer fondly recalls his happy childhood, where "there was such a clear, such non-Petersburg sun in the sky and their little hearts beat so briskly, merrily."

Now it's time to talk about Nikolai Sergeevich Ikhmenev. This man, a former hussar, lost his entire fortune at cards. But, fortunately, at the last moment, when, it would seem, everything collapsed, he recouped and got one of his villages called Ikhmenovka. In the village, he married a poor noblewoman, Anna Andreevna Shumilova, a woman who had been educated at a boarding school. It must be said that Nikolai Sergeevich was an excellent host: everything went smoothly in his hands. Even neighbors-landowners took over useful experience from him.

Life went on as usual, when suddenly Prince Peter Alexandrovich Valkovsky, a man of high rank and significant connections, came to their village from St. Petersburg. He also made a strong impression on the inhabitants of the Ikhmenevs' house, and especially on Anna Andreevna. With some other neighbors (whom he considered below himself), he did not even want to say hello.

He was very kind to this family, often came to them, joked, played the piano and by no means gave the impression of a callous egoist, as his neighbors spoke of him. But soon the reason for this behavior became clear: the prince needed a steward, and he wanted to make him an honest (unlike the previous steward) Nikolai Sergeevich. Naturally, the family agreed to such a proposal, and Nikolai Sergeevich himself even became attached to Pyotr Alexandrovich as a friend. For five years, the estate of Valkovsky flourished, and the prince also acquired new estates. By the way, Peter Alexandrovich himself was married to the daughter of a merchant, from whom he had a son, Alyosha.

Suddenly, Nikolai Sergeevich receives a letter from the prince, which seems surprising, especially against the background of the previous dry, purely business correspondence. Pyotr Alexandrovich describes his family circumstances in detail and asks to take Alyosha (who behaves inappropriately) for education. And from this moment a series of interesting events begins: a rumor spreads around the village of Vasilyevskoye that the Ikhmenovs want the young prince to marry their daughter. It was a vile and vile slander, but, as they say, you can’t throw a scarf on someone else’s mouth. Valkovsky, having learned about this, believed unkind people. And also the fact that Nikolai Sergeevich is by no means honest, as it seemed before, that he squandered a lot of his master's money (twelve thousand silver) in his favor. The trial has begun. Because of these unpleasant circumstances, the Ikhmenevs moved to St. Petersburg.

Pleasant change

The long-awaited meeting of the writer Ivan Petrovich with Natasha, whom he had not seen for many years, brought bright joy to his everyday life.

He constantly communicated with the girl and every day he learned something new in her. He was in love with her. In addition, his first novel was published, which was received very positively by the public, and she herself literary activity aroused the delight of Natasha's parents, who before that did not even suspect what Ivan was doing. The young people dreamed of a wedding, Nikolai Sergeevich and Anna Andreevna were not against it, but they decided to postpone everything for a year. And during this period of time it happened unpleasant event: Alexei, the son of Prince Valkovsky, again appeared in the Ikhmenevs' house, and although there was no intention in that, but only a consolation to the old people, unpleasant rumors and gossip again spread. Like thunder, Nikolai Alekseevich was struck by a terrible letter of accusations written by the prince.

And everything has changed. Natasha has become different: where has the gaiety of the past gone? Now she was a sickly girl with sunken cheeks, eyes sparkling as if in a fever. There was a terrible determination in her eyes. Ivan, who at that time visited the Ikhmenevs, saw her condition and, succumbing to the persuasion of her parents, who wanted her daughter to go to pray, undertook to accompany the girl to church.

On the way, Natalya confessed to him that this evening she was leaving her parents forever, that she really loves Alexei selflessly and devotedly and cannot live without him, that they agreed to meet at an agreed place, live separately, and then get married - secretly from Peter Alexandrovich. Their meeting made a stunning impression on Vanya. He did not know what to do next, how to live on, how to explain himself to Natalya's unfortunate parents, who were waiting for her and believed in her. After all, this news is another blow for Nikolai Sergeevich, who has already suffered a lot from the prince, for Anna Andreevna. From that moment Vanya's life broke in two.

Recovering from unrequited love

After such a failed love, Vanya finds himself in a poor dwelling, where the old foreigner Smith lived before him. He creates his own works, occasionally sees Natasha, who has settled separately with Lesha. Suddenly, Smith's granddaughter named Nellie suddenly appears in the apartment - a thin and pale girl with tangled hair. She is looking for her grandfather and is overwhelmed by the news of his death. The young man tries to console Nelly, but in vain. In fear, the child runs away, and no matter how Ivan tries to catch up with the girl, nothing comes of it. But on the street, he quite by chance (at such and such an evening!) meets Nikolai Sergeevich, and contrary to his plans to visit Natasha, so as not to offend the old man, he goes to their house.

In a sincere conversation with Anna Andreevna, Vanya tells the details life together Natalia and Alexei: there has been a quarrel between them for a long time, and Alexei is infatuated with another girl named Katya. This, of course, was facilitated by Pyotr Alexandrovich in order to upset these objectionable relations. But Vanya learns from Anna Andreevna that the prince wants to marry Lesha to Catherine for a reason. With her stepmother, the countess, Pyotr Alexandrovich had love affair but he could not marry her. And now he wants to become a relative of her stepdaughter because of the grown - three million - fortune.

Suddenly, in the evening, when Natalya and Ivan, who once again came to visit, are discussing Lesha's behavior, he himself appears - declaring his desire to break off relations with Katerina, because he wants to be with Natasha (he already told Katya about this). Prince Valkovsky, unexpectedly coming to visit, suddenly - as it turned out later, feignedly - agrees to the marriage of his son with Natalya.

But that Prince Pyotr Alexandrovich is completely bad person and pursues only the goal of its own way out, is confirmed by one more, or rather two circumstances. Firstly, having asked for a friend to Ivan Petrovich, he once “takes off his mask” and during a conversation with him reveals his true face and real intentions: he laughs at his feelings for Natasha, mocks Ikhmenev’s gullibility and nobility, as a cynic talks about feminine virtues of the girl - and, of course, against this marriage of Alyosha. Secondly, one more, very curious thing turns out - oh, how people's destinies are intertwined in this book! We are talking about an orphan girl that Ivan encountered recently. This poor child suffers real bullying from the petty-bourgeois Bubnova, a vicious and enraged woman. She beats the girl, pulls her hair, curses, calls names with terrible words. And a young writer becomes a witness of one of these cases, passionately desiring to find out the conditions of the girl's life and therefore following her. He wants to protect Nelly, but in that situation it seems impossible.

A happy accident comes to the rescue (if at all one can call what happens to people an accident): the hero meets his school friend Masloboev right on the street and he, a frequent detective, tells this sad story. Thanks to joint efforts, they manage to snatch the girl from a terrible brothel and settle in Ivan Petrovich's apartment. But here a very curious circumstance turns out - it turns out that Nelly's father is none other than ... Valkovsky, the same Pyotr Alexandrovich. Once, many years ago, the prince had a business relationship with Smith (who at that time was a non-poor foreigner). In order to take possession of his money, Pyotr Aleksandrovich tried to make his daughter fall in love with him and seduce her, promising to marry. In Switzerland, a little girl, Nellie, was born from them. Valkovsky achieved his goal, but the bankrupt Smith cursed his daughter, not wanting to forgive her.

He did not accept her even after, after long wanderings, the poor woman returned with the girl to Petersburg, hoping for support - both from her father and the prince. But, alas, the prudent Pyotr Alexandrovich cherished plans for a new marriage and, of course, did not want documents about his obligation to marry Smith's daughter someday to be found out. Of course, about any father's help little child there was no question. In the end, the woman died of consumption, and the girl ended up with Bubnova. It was Masloboev who undertook the investigation of this case.

Do not disregard other books by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, a talented Russian writer, artist and master of words, who in his works touches on the topics of philosophy, religion, history and ethics.

You may also be interested in a summary of The Brothers Karamazov, an outstanding last novel F. M. Dostoevsky, which the author wrote for two years. The novel touches on deep questions about God, freedom, morality.

Meanwhile, Alyosha, torn between the two girls, became completely confused. He does not know about the prudent plan of his father, he is naive, like a child, and he cannot be blamed. The meeting of two rivals - Katya and Natasha - decides everything: Natalya, although with pain, decides to give in to her beloved Alyosha Ekaterina. Both - oddly enough - they loved this narrow-minded young man for spinelessness and childish naivety.

After everything experienced, Natalya must return to parental home. But how do you get your father's forgiveness? And here Nelly comes to the rescue. At the request of old Ikhmenev to settle with them as a daughter, she resolutely refuses: “I don’t want to, because you are evil ...” She cannot come to terms with the fact that Nikolai Sergeevich does not forgive her daughter. But after a short time, he succumbs to Ivan's persuasion and goes to "save Natasha." Ivan Petrovich had an idea, and it consisted in the fact that the girl would tell her story without concealment: what dire consequences could her father's unforgiveness lead to. The plan was a success: Nikolai Sergeevich's heart softened, and the family was reunited again.

Ivan Petrovich, a twenty-four-year-old aspiring writer, in search of new apartment meets a strange old man with a dog on a St. Petersburg street. Impossibly thin, in tatters, he has a habit of sitting for hours in Miller's confectionery near Voznesensky Prospekt, warming himself by the stove and staring with a deathly unseeing gaze at one of the visitors. On this March evening, one of them is indignant at the “impoliteness” of the poor man. He leaves in fear and dies nearby on the sidewalk. Arriving home to a stranger, Ivan Petrovich learns his name - Smith - and decides to settle in his deserted dwelling under the very roof of an apartment building,

An orphan from childhood, Ivan Petrovich grew up in the family of Nikolai Sergeevich Ikhmenev, a small estate nobleman of an old family, managing the rich estate of Prince Peter Alexandrovich Valkovsky. Friendship and love connected him with the daughter of the Ikhmenevs, Natasha, who was three years younger than him. As a young man, the hero went to St. Petersburg, to the university, and saw "his own" only five years later, when they moved to the capital because of a quarrel with Valkovsky. The latter showed friendship and trust to his manager for many years, even to the extent that he sent him his then nineteen-year-old son Alyosha to “educate”. Believing the rumors about the desire of the Ikhmenevs to marry the young prince to his daughter, Valkovsky in retaliation accused the kind, honest and naive old man of theft and started a lawsuit.

Ivan Petrovich is almost a daily guest at the Ikhmenevs, where he is again accepted as a native. It is here that he reads his first novel, just published and extremely successful. The love between him and Natasha grows stronger, we are already talking about the wedding, with which, however, they decide to wait one year until the literary position of the groom is strengthened.

The “wonderful” time passes when Alyosha begins to visit the Ikhmenevs. Valkovsky, who has his own plans for the future of his son, repeats the accusation of pandering and forbids the latter to see Natasha. The offended Ikhmenev, however, does not suspect the love of his daughter and the young prince until she leaves her parental home for her lover.

The lovers rent an apartment and want to get married soon. Their relationship gets complicated unusual character Alyosha. This handsome, graceful secular youth is a real child in terms of naivety, disinterestedness, innocence, sincerity, but also selfishness, frivolity, irresponsibility, spinelessness. Loving Natasha immensely, he does not try to provide for her financially, often leaves her alone, drags out the painful state of her mistress. Carried away, weak-willed Alyosha succumbs to the influence of his father, who wants to marry him to a rich woman. To do this, it is necessary to separate the son from Natasha, and the prince refuses the young man financial support. This is a serious test for the young couple. But Natasha is ready to live modestly and work. In addition, the bride found by the prince for Alyosha - Katya - is a beautiful girl, pure and naive, like her alleged fiance. It is impossible not to get carried away, and new love, according to the calculation of a smart and insightful prince, will soon force out the old one from the unstable heart of his son. And Katya herself already loves Alyosha, not knowing that he is not free.

From the very beginning, her lover is clear to Natasha: “if I am not with him always, constantly, every moment, he will stop loving me, forget and leave me.” She loves "like crazy", "not good", she "even suffering from him is happiness." More strong nature, she seeks to dominate and "torment to the point of pain" - "and therefore ‹...› she hastened to surrender herself ‹...› to the first sacrifice." Natasha continues to love Ivan Petrovich too - as a sincere and trusted friend, support, "golden heart", selflessly endowing her with care and warmth. "We will live together."

Smith's former apartment is visited by his thirteen-year-old granddaughter Nellie. Struck by her isolation, savagery and beggarly appearance, Ivan Petrovich finds out the conditions of her life: Nelly's mother recently died of consumption, and the girl fell into the hands of a cruel bawd. Thinking about ways to save Nelly, the hero runs into an old school friend Masloboev, a private detective, with the help of which he pulls the girl out of a depraved brothel and settles her in his apartment. Nelly is seriously ill, and most importantly, misfortunes and human malice have made her distrustful and painfully proud. She takes care of herself suspiciously, slowly thaws, but finally becomes passionately attached to her savior. He is even jealous of Natasha, whose fate is so busy with her older friend.

It's been six months since the last one left her inconsolable parents. The father suffers silently and proudly, at night shedding tears over the portrait of his daughter, and during the day condemning and almost cursing her. Mother relieves her soul in conversations about her with Ivan Petrovich, who reports all the news. They are disappointing. Alyosha is getting closer to Katya, not showing up to Natasha for several days. She thinks about the break: “He cannot marry me; he can't go against his father." It’s hard, “when he himself, the first, forgets” her near the other - that’s why Natasha wants to get ahead of the “traitor”. However, Alyosha announces to Katya that their marriage is impossible because of his love for Natasha and obligations to her. The generosity of the “bride”, who approved of his “nobility” and showed concern for the position of a “happy” rival, delights Alyosha. Prince Valkovsky, concerned about the "hardness" of his son, takes a new "move". Having come to Natasha and Alyosha, he gives feigned consent to their marriage, hoping that the young man's calm conscience will no longer be an obstacle to his growing love for Katya. Alyosha is "delighted" by his father's act; Ivan Petrovich, on the basis of a number of signs, notices that the prince is indifferent to the happiness of his son. Natasha is also quick to figure out Valkovsky's "game", whose plan, however, succeeds quite well. During a stormy conversation, she exposes him in front of Alyosha. The pretender decides to act differently: he asks himself to be friends with Ivan Petrovich.

The latter is surprised to learn that the prince uses the services of Masloboev in a certain case related to Nelly and her deceased mother. In a roundabout way and hints, a classmate dedicates the hero to his essence: many years ago, Valkovsky "climbed" into an enterprise with an English breeder Smith. Wishing to take possession of his money "for free", he seduced and took abroad an idealist passionately in love with him, Smith's daughter, who gave it to him. The bankrupt old man cursed his daughter. Soon the swindler left the girl, with whom, apparently, he was nevertheless forced to marry, with little Nellie in her arms, without a livelihood. After long wanderings, the terminally ill mother returned with Nelly to Petersburg in the hope that the girl's father would take part in her fate. In desperation, she more than once tried to write to her scoundrel husband, overcoming pride and contempt. Valkovsky himself, cherishing plans for a new profitable marriage, was afraid of documents on legal marriage, possibly kept by Nelly's mother. To search for them, Masloboev was hired.

Valkovsky is taking the hero to Katya's for the evening, where Alyosha is also present. Natasha's friend can be convinced of the futility of her hopes for Alyosha's love: Natasha's "groom" cannot tear himself away from Katya's society. Then Ivan Petrovich and the prince go to dinner at a restaurant. During the conversation, Valkovsky drops his mask: he arrogantly treats Ikhmenev's gullibility and nobility, cynically talks about Natasha's feminine virtues, reveals his mercenary plans for Alyosha and Katya, laughs at Ivan Petrovich's feelings for Natasha and offers him money for marrying her. This is a strong, but absolutely immoral personality, whose credo is “love yourself”, and use others to your advantage. The prince is especially amused by playing on the lofty feelings of his victims. He himself values ​​only money and gross pleasures. He wants the hero to prepare Natasha for a close separation from Alyosha (he must leave for the village with Katya) without "scenes, pastorals and Schillerism." His goal is to remain in the eyes of his son a loving and noble father "for the most convenient mastery of Katya's money later."

Far from his father's plans, Alyosha is torn between two girls, no longer knowing which one he loves more. However, Katya, by his nature, is more “pair” to him. Before leaving, the rivals meet and decide the fate of Alyosha in addition to his participation: Natasha painfully yields to Katya her lover, "without character" and childishly "not far off" in mind. in a strange way"That's what" she "loved in him most of all," and now Katya loves the same thing.

Valkovsky offers abandoned Natasha money for a relationship with a depraved old man, the count. Ivan Petrovich, who came to the rescue, beats and rudely kicks out the offender. Natasha must return to her parents' house. But how to convince old Ikhmenev to forgive, although dearly beloved, but disgraced his daughter? In addition to other grievances, the prince has just won a lawsuit and is taking away all his small fortune from the unfortunate father.

For a long time, the Ikhmenevs decided to take an orphan girl to their place. The choice fell on Nelly. But she refused to live with "cruel" people like her grandfather Smith, who never forgave her mother during his lifetime. By imploring Nelly to tell Ikhmenev the story of her mother, Ivan Petrovich hopes to soften the old man's heart. His plan succeeds: the family is reunited, and Nelly soon becomes the "idol of the whole house" and responds to "universal love" for herself.

On warm June evenings, Ivan Petrovich, Masloboev and the doctor often gather in the hospitable house of the Ikhmenevs on Vasilyevsky Island. Soon parting: the old man got a place in Perm. Natasha is sad because of the experience. Darkens family happiness and Nelly's serious heart disease, from which the poor thing soon dies. Before her death, the legitimate daughter of Prince Valkovsky does not forgive, contrary to the gospel commandment, her traitor father, but, on the contrary, curses him. Natasha, dejected by the future parting with Ivan Petrovich, regrets that she ruined their possible joint happiness.

These notes were compiled by the hero a year after the events described. Now he is alone, in the hospital and, it seems, will die soon.