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Part Three, Chapter Four
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
During Lebedev’s speech, Ippolit fell asleep on the sofa, but he now suddenly wakes up and looks alarmed. He asks if he’s missed the whole thing, but Evgeny tells him he’s only been asleep for a few minutes. Ippolit announces to the whole crowd that Myshkin is in love. He then speaks to Myshkin directly, asking if it’s true that he is a Christian. He requests more champagne from Keller, but Myshkin takes his glass away. Ippolit then announces that “the hour has come,” and takes a sealed envelope out of his pocket. Myshkin asks if it might be better for them to wait until tomorrow, but Ippolit insists that “tomorrow there will be no time.” However, he insists it will only take him an hour to read the article he is holding.
Ippolit’s ruthless, rather bratty behavior makes him instantly unlikeable. His decision to do things like publicly embarrass Myshkin by declaring that he is in love seem to come from nowhere other than a nasty, vindictive spirit. However, it is also important to remember that Ippolit is dying at an extremely young ag, and is thus experiencing a profound and harrowing loss of control. In all likelihood, this is the reason why he acts up, as a desperate attempt to assert his own agency.
Themes
Ippolit rather dramatically asks if he should read the article, and everyone tells him not to. He asks if they’re frightened by the article, and then asks someone to flip a coin. It comes up heads, and Ippolit announces that he will now read. At this point the crowd have become furious, and some are indeed afraid. Ippolit announces that the article he is going to read is called “A Necessary Statement.” It begins with the epigram: “Après moi le deluge” (which means “After me the flood” in French). Rogozhin comments that Ippolit should hurry up. At this point, Ippolit suddenly accuses Rogozhin of sitting in his room for an hour at 1 a.m. last week. He claims it was to “torment” him.
Ippolit’s dramatic reading is comic before it even begins, due to the disconnect between how he evidently wants his audience to feel about it and what they actually feel in reality. While Ippolit attempts to bathe in the drama of his reading and fantasies that the audience are frightened of what he will say, in reality they are just bored and uninspired by Ippolit’s melodramatic antics.
Themes
Ippolit begins reading his article, which is included in full in the novel. It begins with a description of a visit that took place yesterday between Ippolit and Myshkin. Ippolit says he hated Myshkin for five months, but this hatred has become to subside now. He wrote the entirety of the “explanation” in one day. He says he used to feel sad about his coming death, but now that it is just about to happen he feels nothing at all. He wonders aloud if it’s true that he only has two weeks left to live. He notes that tuberculosis can kill someone unexpectedly, in an instant.
Here Ippolit provides a very simple and explicit description of how his imminent death has shaped his nihilistic outlook on the world. Having experienced the trauma and devastation of learning that he was going to die, he now feels a sense of apathy—which some might argue is even worse.
Themes
Ippolit says he was surprised that Myshkin guessed that he has nightmares, and that coming to Pavlovsk would help ease them. He observes that Myshkin is “either a doctor or indeed of an extraordinary intelligence,” yet adds that he is also definitely an idiot. Just before Myshkin came to visit, Ippolit had a dream in which he was lying in a room in the presence of a scorpion-like monster. Mrs. Terentyev and “an acquaintance of hers” entered the room, along with the family dog, Norma, who in reality died five years ago. At first Norma seemed afraid of the monster, but then she opened her mouth and ate it. Norma immediately started squealing, as the monster had stung her and was still alive in her mouth.
Ippolit seems to want to believe that the dream he had is filled with dramatic symbolic meaning. In reality, whatever meaning it has is not necessarily obvious or interesting to anyone present. The only intriguing thing about it is the mention of the “acquaintance” of Mrs. Terentyev. Although there is no way of knowing this, the acquaintance may be General Ivolgin, because in addition to borrowing money from Mrs. Terentyev it is hinted Ivolgin is having an affair with her.
Themes
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At this point, Ippolit woke up and Myshkin came in. The people gathered begin to object that Ippolit is talking too much about himself. Ippolit says if anyone doesn’t want to listen they can leave, and Rogozhin points out that this isn’t even Ippolit’s house. Ippolit looks momentarily embarrassed, but soon embarks again on his reading. He explains that as soon as he learned he was dying of consumption, he became desperate to keep living. He would gladly accept being a homeless beggar, as long as he could be “healthy.” He self-consciously admits that those present might think he is like a second-rate student. He admits that he might not be able to convey all the thoughts that he wants to, but continues anyway.
Significantly, Ippolit’s statement that he would choose to be a homeless beggar if it meant he could keep on living reflects something Myshkin said at the beginning of the novel during his conversation with the Epanchin women. Myshkin noted that while in Switzerland, he came to believe that anyone could have a meaningful life, even someone in prison, and connects this realization to having witnessed an execution. There is thus a surprising point of convergence between Ippolit and Myshkin’s outlooks on life.
Themes
