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Part One, Chapter Fifteen
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Idiot, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Innocence v. Foolishness
Money, Greed, and Corruption
Social Hierarchy, Authority, and Rebellion
Absurdity and Nihilism
Passion, Violence, and Christianity
Summary
Analysis
After a long pause, Ptitsyn confirms the letter’s veracity. Everyone gasps. Ptitsyn explains that Myshkin’s inheritance comes via his late aunt, who spent most of her life in poverty until, just before death, she herself received an unexpected inheritance from her brother-in-law. She was not able to contact Myshkin before she died, but left him the money in her will. Ptitsyn says that Salazkin’s words prove that Myshkin is set to inherit 1.5 million roubles or more. Hearing this, a few guests drunkenly shout for joy, while others wait to congratulate the prince directly. Slowly, everyone remembers that Myshkin also just proposed to Nastasya.
With each new twist that has taken place in this highly dramatic scene, the power dynamics between the characters shift. In this sense, the scene is a little like a game of chess, in which each move (or scandalous plot twist) forces everyone to readjust their relationship to each other and their expectations of what will happen next. By this point, there have been so many unexpected twists that the characters themselves struggle to remember them.
Themes
Nastasya herself seems to be in shock, but then suddenly announces that she is a princess after all. She asks that someone bring champagne to toast her and Myshkin. Nastasya asks Myshkin if he’ll be ashamed that his wife almost married Rogozhin, or that she was Totsky’s “kept woman,” but Myshkin assures her he won’t be. He promises to take care of her and respect her for their whole lives. Nastasya thanks Myshkin for his kindness, but then asks Rogozhin to stay, saying she might still choose him. She declares that she could never “ruin” an innocent like Myshkin, and that he deserves Aglaya instead. Rogozhin is overjoyed, shouting: “She’s mine! It’s all mine!”
Nastasya’s wavering on the issue of whether or not she is going to marry Myshkin might appear to be an unforgivable form of cruelty. Yet the fact that she says she is worried about ruining Myshkin suggests that her doubt is coming from a selfless place, and she actually does not want to harm him. Perhaps she considers marrying Rogozhin because she thinks that she deserves someone corrupt and immoral. She may want to believe Myshkin’s assertion that she is pure, but is not able to.
Themes
Nastasya rebukes Rogozhin, saying it’s still her who’s in control. She tells Myshkin that it’s better this way. She used to dream of marrying someone “kind, honest, [and] good” who saw her as untainted, but her dreams were interrupted by Totsky’s sexual abuse. She asks Rogozhin if he’s ready to go, and then says that before they leave, she wants to leave something for Ganya. She throws the packet of money into the fire and tells Ganya to retrieve it. Everyone is horrified, and General Epanchin asks if they should tie Nastasya up, as she is certainly insane now. Lebedev tries to get the money, but Nastasya stops him, saying it’s only for Ganya.
Nastasya’s actions might be perceived as cruel and insane by the other characters, but the speech she gives beforehand explaining how her actions are informed by her trauma puts her in a sympathetic light. Furthermore, her decision to humiliate Ganya by throwing the money in the fire is arguably nothing compared to Ganya’s willingness to marry her for money as part of an elaborate scheme to benefit himself and Totsky.
Themes
Ganya stands silent, dressed to leave, and watches the money burn. Everyone starts shouting that the money will burn up. Ganya goes to leave, and at this moment he drops to the floor, apparently having fainted. On seeing this, Nastasya orders her maids to get him water, and retrieves the packet of money from the fire. Everyone is relieved to see that only the newspaper it was wrapped in has burned, and that the money itself is safe. She gives it to Ganya, who is still unconscious. Nastasya kisses her maids and cook goodbye, who cry at the thought of her leaving, and declares that she’s going to live in the street. As the guests leave, Totsky comments that although the evening was “indecent,” it was also “colorful.”
Whatever callousness Nastasya showed to Ganya by throwing the money in the fire is alleviated here by her kind attentiveness after he faints. Furthermore, although it takes a subtle, more polite form, the callousness of Totsky’s remarks at the very end of the passage arguably dwarf anything that Nastasya has done so far. In casually calling the evening “colorful,” Totsky reveals his total lack of care for Nastasya and the serious extent to which he has ruined her life.
Themes
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