The Idiot: Part Three, Chapter Four Summary & Analysis

Myshkin and Rogozhin approach Lebedev’s dacha and see a lively crowd gathered on the terrace, drinking champagne. Myshkin is confused why they are all there. When he enters the crowd, everyone lines up to wish him happy birthday. A very drunk Lebedev explains that a number of different people had, by chance, been waiting for Myshkin on the terrace when Keller showed up and said the next day was the prince’s birthday. Kolya then insisted that there should be a party with champagne. Lebedev emphasizes that it is his own champagne being served, not the bottles the prince bought. Even Ferdyshchenko is there, as is Evgeny, who tells Myshkin that he’s managed to dissuade the officer from challenging him to a duel.

Evgeny says that he’s going to St. Petersburg the next day to sort out his uncle’s business. He says he wants to be Myshkin’s friend, and that he also wants to have a private conversation with him, but this isn’t the right place for it. Myshkin then speaks to Ippolit, who says that he’s glad that today is Myshkin’s birthday. Seeing Ippolit’s liveliness, Myshkin suggests that he should rest, but Ippolit dismisses him, calling Myshkin his “nanny.” At some point, the group have decided to have a debate, with General Ivolgin acting as “chairman”—a role he enthusiastically embraces. Keller comments that he likes the way members of parliament in England speak, addressing each other as “the noble earl” and “my noble opponent.”

The group debate philosophical matters, although the conversation at times veers into nonsense. Among the questions debated is whether industrialization is ruining the spiritual aspect of human existence. They then move onto a discussion of cannibalism instigated by Lebedev, who claims that in the twelfth century, famines forced poor people to eat “sixty monks and several lay babies.” The others dismiss this as ridiculous, but at this point Myshkin speaks for the first time, suggesting that Lebedev might be right. He talks about the steep taxes that people have to pay to the clergy, and asks how poor people are supposed to be able to feed themselves. Ganya suggests that the starving masses chose to eat monks because in the 12th century, monks were the only people who were fat. 

Lebedev agrees, saying that at this time the clergy were 60 times fatter than everyone else. He continues as if he was in court defending a client who ate several babies. He talks about the present, describing it as “the age of crime and railways” instead of “the age of steam and railways” and blaming it on his drunken state. He considers the question of progress, and argues that although there is more wealth in the contemporary moment than there was in the past, there is also “less force,” less of an idea holding everything together. He claims: “We’re all, all, all overstewed!”

Everyone laughs, but Keller remains serious and accuses Lebedev of “attack[ing] enlightenment” in favor of medieval backwardness. Toward the end of this conversation, Ganya suddenly seems troubled by something, and gets up to sit by Rogozhin. Myshkin, meanwhile, is in a jolly mood. Evgeny expresses annoyance about Ippolit’s presence.