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Part 1, Chapter 1, Section 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Demons, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Politics and Self-Interest
Ideology and Extremism
Morality and Nihilism
Herd Mentality
Atheism vs. Belief in God
Summary
Analysis
Anton says that he will tell two stories to illustrate how forgiving Varvara can be. At one point, rumors swirled about the “emancipation of the peasants” (a reform bill passed in 1861 to eliminate serfdom in Russia). A baron visited Varvara’s house. Varvara was eager to entertain the lord, considering that her social position had fallen slightly after her husband’s death. She invited Stepan to help her entertain the lord. During that visit, the lord confirmed the rumors about the prospective emancipation of the peasants. Stepan cried, “Hurrah!” It’s possible that he even planned the outburst. Varvara was mortified. After the lord left, she told Stepan that she would never forgive him. The next day, she treated him as if nothing had happened. That was the second time Varvara told Stepan she would never forgive him.
Stepan’s cry of “hurrah” doesn’t quite come off as he had planned. It’s possible that the moment is simply socially awkward, and Varvara holds it against Stepan because she values good manners and social etiquette. The baron is also from the noble class. He would have held serfs and benefitted from the previously established order prior to the great reform of the 1860s. In that sense, Stepan’s cry of “hurrah” can be interpreted as an attempt to express his opposition to the baron and the noble class in general. With that in mind, the cry of “hurrah” also shows that Stepan, while he supports progressive causes, doesn’t risk much more than expressing a private opinion that may not be met with approval by all present.
Themes
The first time Varvara told Stepan she would never forgive him came near 1855, after Varvara’s husband died. Stepan was constantly at Varvara’s side while she grieved. At some point, Stepan became convinced that Varvara would be expecting a marriage proposal from him once her period of mourning for her husband expired. Stepan began to act differently around Varvara, and Varvara gradually picked up on why his behavior had changed. One day, after they had one of their long conversations and parted amicably, Varvara went to find Stepan and said to him, “I shall never forgive you for that!” Stepan was so petrified he didn’t see Varvara leave. He couldn’t believe what had happened and spent years waiting for Varvara to follow up on what she said, which she never did.
This passage further underlines the idea that there is a romantic connection between Varvara and Stepan. While Anton (the novel’s narrator) has previously disclosed that Varvara and Stepan love each other in one way or another, this passage makes it clear that, for Stepan at least, marriage at one point seemed imminent. Varvara seems to have taken offense to Stepan’s overfamiliarity. The two didn’t end up getting married, which raises the question of what their relationship has looked like since then and what has happened to the romantic connection the two seem to have shared.
Themes
