The Idiot: Part Four, Chapter Eight Summary & Analysis

Following the fit, Myshkin feels very sad. Vera comes to take care of him, but when he kisses her hand she becomes embarrassed and leaves. Before leaving, she tells him that Lebedev had earlier gone to see General Ivolgin, who is likely about to die. Later, Lebedev comes to visit Myshkin, as does Kolya, who asks Myshkin to tell him everything. Myshkin makes an effort to do so, but Kolya still seems to think he is withholding something. In the afternoon, the Epanchins come, and Mrs. Epanchin tells Myshkin to come and see them if he starts to feel better. Myshkin notices that Aglaya looks pale, as if she hasn’t slept well. After they leave, Vera comes with a message from Aglaya: she asks that Myshkin stay at home until late, without leaving even for a second. 

Half an hour after the Epanchins’ visit, Ippolit comes in and collapses straight into a chair. Myshkin tries to speak to him, but Ippolit does not respond. Suddenly Ippolit announces that he’s leaving, and then clarifies that he means he is going to lie down for the final time today and die. He then says that earlier he saw Aglaya meeting with Ganya in the park. He remarks on Myshkin’s lack of surprise, but then continues with his story. He says that he also had a meeting on the park bench that day, but that when he sat down to Aglaya he saw Ganya and Varya coming along. However, Aglaya’s encounter with the brother and sister only lasted a second. She expressed gratitude for their “sincere and friendly feelings.”

Ganya was humiliated, and Varya had to drag him away. Ippolit himself was there to arrange a meeting between Aglaya and Nastasya. He says that the night before he dreamed that Rogozhin smothered him to death with a wet rag. Ippolit expresses surprise that Myshkin doesn’t know about the meeting between Nastasya and Aglaya, for which Nastasya is coming all the way from St. Petersburg. In disbelief, Myshkin asks if Aglaya is really going to see Nastasya that evening, and Ippolit says he believes this is what will happen. He thinks that the meeting will take place around 7 or 8 p.m., and suggests that Myshkin send Kolya as a spy. Ippolit leaves.

Alone, Myshkin is left in a state of horror. He is overwhelmed by Nastasya’s repeated capacity to show up and “snap his whole destiny like a rotten thread.” He is so afraid of Nastasya that he feels as if he is losing his grip on reality. Things only become clear again that evening, when Aglaya comes to the terrace of his dacha, looking pale. She tells Myshkin she can see that he has already been warned about what’s happening, and guesses that it was Ippolit who told him. She insists that he accompany her, and he follows “like a slave.” They arrive at Darya’s dacha, and Rogozhin lets them in, announcing that they the only four people in the house.

Aglaya tells Nastasya that although she doesn’t like her, she hasn’t come to argue. She says that it is clear from the letters Nastasya wrote that she is a deeply selfish person. Myshkin, on the other hand, is the most pure-hearted person Aglaya has ever met, and he was hurt by Nastasya’s abandonment of him. She asks Nastasya how she dared to write her letters and interfere with her life. She also asks why Nastasya didn’t quietly break ties with Totsky if she really wanted to be an “honest woman,” rather than doing it so dramatically. Nastasya scorns Aglaya for judging her. The argument escalates, with both women hurling insults at each other.

Nastasya starts crying, and taunts that Myshkin would marry her if she asked him to, while Aglaya would be left alone. She tells Rogozhin to leave, and declares that if Myshkin doesn’t come to her that instant then Aglaya can have him. Myshkin, who does not fully understand the position in which he is being put, cries out in anguish about how miserable Nastasya is. He does nothing, but nonetheless Aglaya runs out of the room, followed by Rogozhin. Myshkin goes to follow her, but Nastasya grips him and faints in his arms. Returning, Rogozhin wakes Nastasya by pouring a glass of water on her. Laughing maniacally, Nastasya shouts “Mine!” and tells Rogozhin to leave. He does, and Myshkin stays, comforting Nastasya.