A man in his fifties taller than average, portly. Crime and punishment characterization of the image of Svidrigailov Arkady Ivanovich

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

(Novel, 1866)

Svidrigailov Arkady Ivanovich - one of the central pfoi. “... About fifty years old, taller than average, burly, with broad and steep shoulders, which gave him a somewhat stooped appearance ... His broad, cheeky face was rather pleasant, and his complexion was fresh, not Petersburg. His hair, which was still very thick, was quite blond and a little grey, and broad, thick beard, descending with a shovel, was even lighter than head hair. His eyes were blue and looked coldly, intently and thoughtfully; red lips." Raskolnikov notices that his face looks like a mask and there is something extremely unpleasant in it.

Nobleman. He served two years in the cavalry. Then, in his words, he "wandered around" in St. Petersburg. Was a swindler. Having married Marfa Petrovna, who bought him out of prison, he lived in the village for seven years. Cynic. Loves debauchery. On his conscience a number serious crimes: the suicide of Philip's servant and the fourteen-year-old girl insulted by him, perhaps, and the poisoning of his wife ... Raskolnikov's double, S., as it were, was generated by the hero's nightmare. Appearing in his closet, he declares that they are “of the same field of berries” and invites Raskolnikov to transfer ten thousand to his sister Duna, who, due to his harassment, was compromised and lost her place. Having lured her to him under the pretext of important news concerning her brother, he reports that Rodion is a murderer. He tries to gain Dunya's favor by offering to save Raskolnikov and then blackmailing her. Dunya, to prevent violence, shoots him with a revolver and misses. However, C, humbled himself, suddenly releases her. In his question: “So you don’t love? And you can't? Never?" - sounds sincere bitterness, almost despair.

Unlike Raskolnikov, he is already on the other side of good and evil and seems to have no doubts. It is no coincidence that S. is so worried about Raskolnikov, who feels his power over himself, with his mystery. He's free, moral law no longer has power over him, but this does not bring him joy. All that remains for him is worldly boredom and vulgarity. S. had fun as best he could, trying to overcome this boredom. At night ghosts appear to him: Marfa Petrovna, Philip's servant... The indistinguishability of good and evil gives rise to evil infinity, makes life meaningless. It is no coincidence that eternity appears to him in the form of a rustic smoky bathhouse with spiders. And although he helps arrange the children of Marmeladov after the death of Katerina Ivanovna, takes care of a little girl in a hotel before committing suicide, his soul is almost dead. S. commits suicide with a shot from a revolver.

Svidrigailov characterization and image in Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment

Plan

1. The versatility of the heroes of the novel "Crime and Punishment".

2. Svidrigailov. Characteristics and image of the hero

2.1. Immoral villain

2.2. Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov

2.3. Love for Dunya

3. The end of Svidrigailov

In his difficult novel Crime and Punishment, F. M. Dostoevsky depicted several living and vivid images which still impress readers with their eccentricity and complexity.

First of all, it is, of course, main character, - a hardworking sympathetic young man who decided to cross the line of what is permitted. This is Sonya Marmeladova - a destitute, deprived of childhood, impoverished and selling herself girl, capable of strong feelings and sincere devotion. This is Sonya's father, and Luzhin, and, of course, Svidrigailov.

Arkady Ivanovich appears before readers handsome man fifty years old, well-dressed, youthful. He is a nobleman and former officer, was married to a wealthy woman. It would seem that life smiles at this hero, he is full of strength and conceit, because the circumstances surrounding him are developing successfully. But not everything is so simple. Svidrigailov is an immoral and vicious person who has no conscience and moral principles. Because of such dirty beliefs, he breaks the life of himself and others, becomes unhappy himself and makes those around him unhappy.

At a young age, he quits the service, because it is difficult for him to obey the army routine, live on friendly terms with his comrades and observe the norms of decency. Having no regular income and spending all your savings on wild image life and play, Svidrigailov becomes a beggar. He is imprisoned for cheating and debts. At this time, he is assisted by a rich woman. Marfa Petrovna pays a lot of money to free a man, marries him and leaves with him for the village.

Another person, imbued with gratitude for this loving noblewoman, would respect and appreciate her. But Arkady Ivanovich was not like that. He humiliates his wife and shamelessly cheats on her. “I had such squalor in my soul and a kind of honesty to declare to her directly that I can’t be completely faithful to her,” declares this vicious person, and still boasts of his immorality. But his adventures in the village do not end there.

With unprecedented sophistication and cruelty, Svidrigailov mocks the peasant, and thereby drives him to suicide. And his immoral relationship with a fifteen-year-old girl causes disapproval and condemnation in the reader. The unfortunate girl kills herself, but this has no effect on the villain. He, without feeling remorse, continues to enjoy life and depravity.

Committing crimes and excesses, Arkady Ivanovich does not suffer, like Raskolnikov, who is tormented whether he has the right to take a person's life. Svidrigailov commits his atrocities without hesitation, and it's scary. For him there is no crime or offense, for him there is only the need to satisfy his desires and lusts, regardless of how it affects others. And although he tells the main character that they are both “of the same field”, this is not so.

Svidrigailov does not doubt his evil deeds, he does not waver between good and evil. He has long been on the side of evil and does not feel the slightest sign of remorse. In contrast to Raskolnikov, Arkady Ivanovich does not withdraw into himself after the crime. He continues to live and strives to get everything from life. The relationship between Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov's sister Dunya is amazing and extraordinary. The girl comes to serve in the family of Arkady Ivanovich, where he notices her and is imbued with love for her. Most likely, the man conquered spiritual beauty and the purity of the young maid. She behaves meekly and humbly, with zeal performs homework She is kind and accommodating. But this flexibility has another side.

Dunya is an honest, chaste girl, she preserves her purity and innocence. No threats and intimidation, no gifts and no flattery can shake her determination to resist the hated master. Svidrigailov cannot come to terms with this. He thinks that his wife is interfering with the girl. Therefore, a man commits a terrible act - he becomes the culprit in the death of his wife, the mother of his children, who all the time saved him and saved him from the consequences of his dirty deeds. After that, Arkady Ivanovich goes to Dunya to force her to give herself to him.

He blackmails the girl with the secret of her brother and indulges in other terrible tricks to seduce the unfortunate. But Dunya, driven to despair, understands that she can become a puppet in the hands of a cruel, unprincipled person, whom she abhors and despises, and decides to kill. The first shot missed the villain, and the second time the girl could not shoot and threw back the revolver. Svidrigailov, who was not frightened by either the assassination or the real threat, was broken by Dunya's despair and grief, her extinguished gaze and dull indifference. He realized that he was disgusted by his beloved, that she would never and never love him sincerely and voluntarily. “- So you don’t love? .. And you can’t? Never? Never!" - this quiet short conversation decides further fate heroes. Arkady Ivanovich, who truly loves this steadfast, pure young woman, lets her go and decides to commit suicide.

His existence is meaningless, without a beloved who could become his joy and salvation, he sees no reason in his existence. Svidrigailov commits suicide, but, oddly enough for villain, V last hours of his being, he performs noble deeds that save the lives of others. The man leaves money to his bride, who is young and innocent, and Sonechka, thanks to which she can change her profession and follow Raskolnikov into exile to take care of his mental well-being. Arkady Ivanovich also arranges the lives of the Marmeladov children. If not for his good deeds, who knows how the life of the main characters would have ended. And so we have the hope that by his suicide Svidrigailov saved Sonya and Rodion, that they will live happily ever after.

– Who is Svidrigailov? How is his first information in the novel characterized?

(The first information in the novel about Svidrigailov characterizes him .. as a villain, a debauchee. They say that he was involved in the case of “murder”, he was guilty of the suicide of the serf lackey Philip, that he cruelly insulted the girl, poisoned his wife Marfa Petrovna, that he was a cheater, that he was not At the same time, throughout the whole novel, he does a number of good deeds: he saved Dunya from shame, restored her good name, wants to help Dunya get rid of Luzhin, took upon himself the arrangement of the fate of the orphaned Marmeladov family. )

– He has a conscience by nature, but does good and evil out of boredom. This is a man without convictions and without activity. A real person cannot live without convictions and without activity. Svidrigailov understood this and executed himself, having lost his "last goal - to achieve Dunya's disposition). This hero goes the furthest: stepping over other people's lives, he also steps over his own conscience, that is, he fully corresponds to Raskolnikov's idea of ​​​​strong personalities. But instead expected, from his point of view, the triumph of the idea in the dislocated world of Svidrigailov, she suffers a complete collapse. "Arithmetic", according to which one can kill one "harmful" old woman, and then, having done a hundred good deeds, atone for this sin, is refuted by Svidrigailov's "experiments": on his account there are more good deeds than all other heroes of the novel, but, firstly, the good deeds done by him can in no way justify the crimes of the past, and, secondly, it is not able to revive his sick soul. conscience is eventually released and bursts into the realm of the conscious, giving rise to suffocating nightmares in which reality and unreality continue fantastically in each other and coalesce into one continuous hallucination. Svidrigailov is the chosen one who “crossed over”, and “crossed over” more than once, and without moral torment (here it is, Raskolnikov’s ideal!), But at the same time he did not become Napoleon. life total Svidrigailov is not only his suicide, but also the death of Raskolnikov's idea, revealing the monstrous self-deception of the protagonist.

- Is Svidrigailov right when he asserts that he and Raskolnikov are “of the same field”, that there is a “common point” between them?

(We see Svidrigailov as a person devoid of all moral foundations, not recognizing any moral prohibitions; he lives according to the principle “everything is allowed.” Raskolnikov, allowing himself “blood according to conscience”, also denies the moral responsibility of a strong person for his actions; moral norms, according to him opinion, exist only for the lowest category of people - "trembling creatures". The truth, which Raskolnikov came to as a result of long reflections, Luzhin and Svidrigailov use as a guide to action.)

The first information in the novel about Svidrigailov characterizes him as a villain, a debauchee. From the same letter to Raskolnikov's mother, it becomes known that Mr. Svidrigailov "had a passion for Dunya" and in every possible way sought her reciprocity. His identity remains a mystery to both the reader and Raskolnikov. There were rumors that Svidrigailov was the cause of the death of a fourteen-year-old deaf-mute girl, the serf Philip, as well as Marfa Petrovna herself, his wife.

At the first meeting, Rodion had the impression of this person as a person who decided on something and “on his mind”, as well as a very good society or who knows how to “be a decent person on occasion”, and upon closer acquaintance - as a cynic . The former cheater, bought out by Marfa Petrovna "for thirty thousand pieces of silver", who lived without a break in the village for seven years and became a "decent master" during this time, now he does not know what to do with himself out of boredom. Svidrigailov himself recognizes himself as "a depraved and idle man." After the death of his wife, he is going to marry a sixteen-year-old girl, taking advantage of the fact that her father is disabled, and her mother, in addition to her own daughter, has two more nephews in her arms. His principle: "Everyone is looking after himself and he lives the most cheerfully, that it is better for everyone to cheat himself."

Svidrigailov overhears Raskolnikov's conversation with Sonya (when he confesses to the murder of an old pawnbroker) and offers Rodion his help: “Run, young man! .. I say sincerely. No money, right? I'll let you on the road." But then, using information about his brother, he blackmails Dunya, forcing her to come to him on a date. He promises Dunya to save his brother by sending him abroad if she is favorable to him; but then, having received a refusal, he again turns into a cynic capable of violence.

The image of Svidrigailov is contradictory. Throughout the novel, he also does good deeds: he saved Dunya from shame, restored her good name, ready to help her get rid of Luzhin, arranged the fate of the Marmeladov orphans. But all this - both good and evil - he does out of boredom. By nature, he has a conscience, but he has no convictions, he is not engaged in useful activities. Having lost his last goal - to achieve the location of Dunya, Svidrigailov commits suicide. I believe that Svidrigailov is one of those heroes who "has no one to go to ... nowhere else to go." By the death of this hero, the author affirms the idea that a real person cannot live without convictions and without activity.

Svidrigailov claimed that he and Raskolnikov were "of the same field." And for the most part, he's right. He himself is deprived of all moral foundations, does not recognize any moral prohibitions. Raskolnikov, allowing himself "blood according to his conscience", also thereby denies the moral responsibility of a strong person for his actions. Moral norms, according to the protagonist, exist only for ordinary people, "trembling creatures."

When comparing Raskolnikov with the images of Luzhin and Svidrigailov, it becomes clear that they all adhere to the same theory. Only Raskolnikov still could not live according to this theory, and Luzhin and Svidrigailov, on the contrary, use the power that material well-being gives them, use those around them for their own purposes. Pushing these heroes together, the author thereby refutes the theory, revealing its inhuman essence. That human thing that lives in Rodion helps him to “resurrect”, not to lose his soul.

Together with the character, Luzhin forms a system of twins Rodion Raskolnikov in the novel. .

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 3

Dostoevsky. The riddle of Svidrigailov

Twins and antipodes of Raskolnikov

Svidrigailov's last night.avi

Subtitles

Svidrigailov in the novel

Svidrigailov is about 50 years old. He is a nobleman who served in the cavalry, "not without connections." Widower of Marfa Petrovna Svidrigailova, in love with Raskolnikov's sister Dunya (Avdotya Romanovna). First mentioned in a letter from Raskolnikov's mother to her son. Then he arrives in St. Petersburg and meets Raskolnikov, asking him to arrange a meeting with Dunya, but is refused. Accidentally settles next door to Sonya Marmeladova and, having overheard her conversation with Raskolnikov, finds out who killed the old usurer, after which he tells Raskolnikov that he overheard the conversation and knows everything, but promises to remain silent. Further, Raskolnikov meets Svidrigailov in a tavern. After meeting with Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov lures Dunya to his apartment, where Dunya almost kills him with a pistol shot. Finally realizing that his feeling of love is unrequited, Svidrigailov soon commits suicide.

Appearance

He was a man of about fifty, taller than average, burly, with broad and steep shoulders, which gave him a somewhat round-shouldered appearance. He was smartly and comfortably dressed and looked like a portly gentleman. In his hands was a beautiful cane, with which he tapped, with every step, on the sidewalk, and his hands were in fresh gloves. His broad, cheeky face was rather pleasant, and his complexion was fresh, not Petersburg. His hair, which was still very thick, was quite blond and a little grey, and his broad, thick beard, descending like a shovel, was even lighter than his head hair. His eyes were blue and looked coldly intently and thoughtfully; scarlet lips. In general, he was a well-preserved man and seemed much younger than his years ...

Through the eyes of Raskolnikov towards the end of the novel:

It was a kind of strange face, resembling, as it were, a mask: white, ruddy, with ruddy, scarlet lips, with a light blond beard, and with rather thick blond hair. The eyes were somehow too blue, and their gaze was somehow too heavy and motionless. There was something terribly unpleasant in this handsome and extremely youthful, judging by his age, face. Svidrigailov's clothes were dapper, summery, light, and he especially flaunted underwear. On the finger was a huge ring with an expensive stone ...

Character

Svidrigailov is a calm, balanced person in communication. Educated, educated. Has a dual character. On the one hand, he is an ordinary, normal, sober person, as he appears before Raskolnikov, on the other hand, Raskolnikov's mother, Dunya and Luzhin speak of him as an infinitely depraved, voluptuous, evil and cynical person. On the one hand, he is a rapist, poisoner and destroyer, on the other hand, he donates money to Sonya and the orphans Marmeladov, offers help to Raskolnikov. He usually speaks in a monotone, but as if with some kind of smirk, like a person who has seen a lot, tasted and knows the value of himself and people. Somewhat superstitious, may have become so in Lately life, after the death of his wife, whom many believe he poisoned and whose spirit appears to him.

Prototypes

The surname Svidrigailov reflects the contradictory, dodgy essence of this hero. Dostoevsky, being interested in the history of his kind (having Lithuanian roots), probably drew attention to the etymological composition of the surname of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Shvitrigailo (Svidrigailo): gail (German geil) - lustful, voluptuous. In addition, in one of the feuilletons of the Iskra magazine (1861, No. 26), which was part of Dostoevsky’s reading circle, there was talk of a certain Svidrigailov who was rampaging in the province - a “repulsive” and “disgusting” personality. In the image of Svidrigailov, to some extent, the psychological appearance of one of the inhabitants of the Omsk prison, the murderer from the nobles of Aristov, is captured (in "Notes from the House of the Dead" he is displayed as A-v). .

Actors who played Svidrigailov

• Peter Sharov (1923, USA)
• Douglas Dumbrille (1935, USA)
• Yefim Kopelyan (1969, USSR)
• Anthony Bate (1979, England, TV movie)
• Vladimir Vysotsky (1979, Russia, Taganka Theatre)
• Richard Bremmer (1998, England, TV movie)
• Alexander Baluev (2007, Russia, TV movie)
• Evgeny Dyatlov (2012, Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov)
• Igor Gordin (2015, MTYuZ)
• Dmitry Shcherbina (Mossovet Theatre, director Yuri Eremin)
• Dmitry Lysenkov (2016, Alexandrinsky Theatre)
• Evgeniy Valts (2016, Musical Theatre)
• Alexander Marakulin (2016, Musical Theater)

Notes

Literature

• O. A. Bogdanova,. Svidrigailov // Encyclopedia of literary heroes / S.V. Stakhorsky. - Agraf. - M., 1997. - ISBN 5-7784-0013-6.
• Nikolay Nasedkin. SVIDRIGAILOV Arkady Ivanovich// Dostoevsky. Encyclopedia. - 2nd ed. - Eksmo, Algorithm, Oko. - 800 s. - (Encyclopedia of great writers). - 4000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-699-21068-8.
• Svidrigailov //

Svidrigailov

The name of Svidrigailov appears early in the novel - in a letter to his mother, which so excited Rodion Raskolnikov and played such big role in the final form of his terrible design. Pulcheria Alexandrovna talks about Svidrigailov as a rude and voluptuous despot, as a vile debauchee who tried to seduce and disgrace Dunya. For Raskolnikov, the name Svidrigailov became a household name - when faced with a tipsy, lustful dandy chasing a teenage girl on the boulevard, he called him Svidrigailov: this nickname seemed to him sharper and more accurate than all the other words used in such cases.

It would seem that all the information and rumors preceding the real appearance of Svidrigailov among actors novel, confirm its so definite and at the same time primitive negative characterization. They said about him that he poisoned his wife Marfa Petrovna, that he tortured and drove his servant Philip to suicide, that he severely insulted the girl, that he was a dirty slut, a cheat, that there is no such vice that would not nest in him. Pulcheria Alexandrovna saw him only twice - and he seemed to her "terrible, terrible!" The most exhaustive negative characterization is given to Svidrigailov by Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin: “This is the most depraved and perished in vices of a person, of all this kind of people,” but with some shade of incomplete reliability of what he talks about. Luzhin neither confirms nor refutes Pulcheria Alexandrovna's belief that Svidrigailov is the cause of Marfa Petrovna's death. It is Luzhin who reports that the deaf-mute fourteen-year-old girl, who lived with the German procuress Resslich, who tortured her, was severely insulted by Svidrigailov and hanged herself, that the footman Philip died from the beatings of his master, back in the days of serfdom.

The fact that the information disgracing Svidrigailov comes from Luzhin should have alerted, but meanwhile, almost everyone perceives them as indisputable facts expressing the opinion of the writer himself about the character. The researchers were not alarmed by the fragility of Luzhin's stories, formulated in such a way that they could be denied in case of emergency.

And a strange thing - it is Dunya, who in the novel is the center of Svidrigailov's desires and should have been especially resolute in judging him, undermines the impression of the reliability of Luzhin's stories, softens and even refutes them: “Are you telling the truth that you have accurate information about this?” - she interrupts Luzhin "sternly and impressively". “On the contrary, I heard,” she continues, “... that this Philip was some kind of hypochondriac, some kind of domestic philosopher, people said, “he read out”, and that he hung himself more from ridicule, and not from the beating of Mr. Svidrigailov. And he treated people well with me, and people even loved him, although they really also blamed him for Philip's death ”(6; 215).

Luzhin was even offended: “I see that you, Avdotya Romanovna, somehow suddenly became inclined to justify him,” he remarked, twisting his mouth into an ambiguous smile, and predicts a rather vulgar prospect for Svidrigailov: “disappearance” in the debt department . Dunya, unlike Luzhin, foresees a formidable tragedy in the fate of Svidrigailov. "He's up to something terrible! she said almost in a whisper to herself, almost shuddering.

And Svidrigailov's bride, an innocent teenager whom bad parents sell to him, senses something unusual and not at all criminal in her fiancé - in her eyes "a serious dumb question", surprised and a little sad.

A villain, a libertine and a cynic, Svidrigailov does a lot of good deeds throughout the novel, more than all the other characters combined. Already from the ingenuous letter of Pulcheria Alexandrovna, who only knew how to love her children, but did not understand anything complicated, we learn that it was he who saved Dunya from shame and restored her good name, Svidrigailov, the one who was the cause of her cruel troubles: “.. .by the mercy of God, our torment was reduced: Mr. Svidrigailov ... probably taking pity on Dunya, presented Marfa Petrovna with complete and obvious evidence of all Dunechkin's innocence ... "(6; 51).

Svidrigailov did not want and did not tolerate false gossip sullying Dunya's name.

Going on a tragic “voyage”, Svidrigailov secured the future of his children financially and morally by placing them with his aunt: “They are rich, but I personally do not need them. And what a father I am!” (6; 310).

Svidrigailov came to St. Petersburg mainly to help Duna get rid of Luzhin. At the same time, it turns out that the last and fatal quarrel for Marfa Petrovna occurred with him precisely because of his unwillingness to agree to a shameful marriage deal that his wife cooked up. “Before the voyage, which, perhaps, will come true,” he says to Raskolnikov, “I want to put an end to Mr. Luzhin. It’s not that I really couldn’t stand him, but through him, however, this quarrel between me and Marfa Petrovna came out when I found out that she had concocted this wedding. I wish now to see Avdotya Romanovna, through your intermediary, and, perhaps, in your own presence, to explain to her, firstly, that Mr. Luzhin will not only not bring her the slightest benefit, but even probably there will be obvious damage. Then, having asked her to apologize for all these recent troubles, I would ask permission to offer her ten thousand rubles and thus ease the break with Mr. Luzhin ... "(6; 219).

Svidrigailov adequately and convincingly reassures Raskolnikov, who suspects ulterior and offensive intentions in his generosity.

“... My conscience is completely calm, I propose without any calculations ... - he explains. - The thing is that I really brought a few troubles and troubles to your esteemed sister; therefore, feeling sincere repentance, I sincerely wish - not to pay off, not to pay for the trouble, but simply to do something beneficial for her, on the grounds that I really did not take the privilege to do only evil.

The last words put by Dostoevsky into the mouth of Svidrigailov are quite remarkable. Svidrigailov understands what his reputation is, but he himself does not agree with it. He does not consider himself only a demon of evil, he sees in himself the ability to do good.

Dunya did not accept the money, Svidrigailov used it in a different way, for another good and, perhaps, even more urgent purpose. He took over the organization of the orphaned Marmeladov family, starting with youngsters and ending with Sonya herself.

“All this fuss, that is, funerals and so on, I take upon myself ... - he said. “I’ll put these two chicks and this Polechka in some better orphanage institutions and put each, until adulthood, one thousand five hundred rubles in capital, so that Sofya Semyonovna is completely at peace. Yes, and I will pull her out of the pool, because good girl, is not it? Well, so you tell Avdotya Romanovna that I used her ten thousand like this ”(6; 319).

Raskolnikov cannot possibly comprehend how capable Svidrigailov is of disinterested good; he is always looking for secret evil intent in his intentions. Svidrigailov then, in a kind of ironic turn, enters into a controversy with the satanic philosophy of Raskolnikov himself:

“Eh! The man is incredulous! Svidrigailov laughed. - After all, I said that I have extra money. Well, but simply, according to humanity, you don’t allow it, or what? After all, she was not a “louse” (he pointed his finger at the corner where the deceased was), like some old pawnbroker. Well, you'll agree... "Is Luzhin, in fact, to live and do abominations, or should she die?" And I don’t help, because “Polenka, for example, will go there, along that road ...”.

He said this with an air of some kind of winking, merry cheating, without taking his eyes off Raskolnikov" (6; 320).

In this tirade there is something from Rameau's nephew, but it does not sound like a justification for the relativity of good, but as a justification for the relativity of evil.

Indeed, Svidrigailov found a patroness lady who took on the duties and chores of disposing of the capital bequeathed to the Marmeladov family, of educating and arranging the future of both Polechka and her brother and sister. So that the lady would not change her mind and not give up somewhere halfway, he donated money to those orphanages in which she was patroness.

Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov offer funds to escape to America. Concentrated on the thought of his “voyage” (that is, on the intention to shoot himself), he nevertheless carefully collects the documents necessary for the children, hands them to Sonya, and Sonya herself leaves an additional three thousand. Svidrigailov arranges the fate of the humiliated, almost already crushed by life, with the greatest delicacy and tact, without seeking either gratitude or good memory About Me. He convinces the modest and disinterested Sonechka:

“To you, to you, Sofya Semyonovna, and please, without much talk, because even I have no time. And you will need. Rodion Romanovich has two roads: either a bullet in the forehead, or along Vladimirka ... Well, how will Vladimirka get out - he goes along it, and you follow him? It is so? It is so? Well, if so, it means that money will be needed here. He will need it, you understand? Giving you, I don’t care what I give him” (6; 352).

Svidrigailov makes a good contribution to the preparation of conditions that should return Raskolnikov to a normal track in the future.

Svidrigailov understands people well, and he uses last days and even hours of his life in order to direct the fate of others in a good direction. He not only makes possible the upcoming, following Raskolnikov, Sonya's trip to Siberia, he guesses and goes towards her other desire: to pay off the debts of Katerina Ivanovna.

Svidrigailov is practically kind until the very last minute, not only in relation to Sonya, Dunya, a young bride, but also in relation to the first comers. On his final mournful journey, he wandered into a cheap pleasure garden. The clerks quarreled there with some other clerks. He reconciled them and paid for the missing spoon, which was the cause of contention.

But Svidrigailov does not see the guiding star, he does not know the goal to which one must strive, he understands that Raskolnikov also mistook an unfaithful and wandering fire for a star. Conscious of his "non-genius", Svidrigailov extrapolates his internal state on the society that gave birth to him, but the society that gave birth to him - in contrast to what he thinks - is not a people. Yes, and he himself ends his tirade: “I myself am a white-handed woman, and this is what I adhere to ...”.

Despite all his physical strength, health and courage, Svidrigailov has no foundations for life. Svidrigailov is a subtle person in his own way and can understand a lot. It is amazing that Dostoevsky entrusted some of his hidden thoughts to him. Svidrigailov talks about St. Petersburg exactly like Dostoevsky in some of his "soil" articles, and exactly like in the author's text of his novels. Talking badly about his bride (he is fifty, and she is not even sixteen), Svidrigailov suddenly remarks: “You know, she has a face in the genus of the Raphael Madonna. After all, Sistine Madonna a fantastic face, the face of a mournful holy fool, didn’t it catch your eye? (6; 318).

Svidrigailov does not have a religious attitude to eternity, but not the same as Raskolnikov's. Raskolnikov does not believe in God, he is outraged by the course of earthly affairs, but he is looking for "consolation", looking, albeit in an erroneous and criminal way, for justice, for the realization of the ideal. The aspirations for the ideal and eternity are conjugated, so he retains an exalted idea of ​​infinity, of eternity. Svidrigailov is disappointed to the bottom, he does not believe in God, nor in the devil, nor in people, nor in the ideal, for him the whole world is a deterministic absurdity - why shouldn't this absurdity appear in the form of a village bathhouse with spiders?

Svidrigailov is nowhere single-lined, he is not so uniformly black as it seems at first glance. For all his difference from Dmitry Karamazov, in him, like the hero of The Brothers Karamazov, not yet written at that time, “two abysses” are laid, two ideals live, the ideal of the Madonna and the ideal of Sodom. “... Another person, even higher in heart and with a lofty mind, begins with the ideal of the Madonna, and ends with the ideal of Sodom. It is even more terrible, who already with the ideal of Sodom in his soul does not deny the ideal of the Madonna, and his heart burns from him and truly, truly burns ... No, a man is wide, too wide, I would narrow it down ”- these words of Dmitry Karamazov can be applied to a certain extent to Svidrigailov. And although Sodom had already almost completely absorbed Svidrigailov, he still could not extinguish the charm of beauty in him, as highest symbol femininity and humanity.

Dunya knows that Svidrigailov is not just a villain, and at the same time understands that everything can be expected from him. In the name of his brother, Svidrigailov lures her into an empty apartment, into his rooms, from which no one will hear anything: “Although I know that you are a man ... without honor, I am not at all afraid of you. Go ahead,” she said, apparently calmly, but her face was very pale.

The interpreters of Crime and Punishment in the Nietzschean spirit did not notice that with a purely Napoleonic interpretation of Raskolnikov's idea, they agree with Svidrigailov, although Svidrigailov's opinions should be treated with caution: Svidrigailov cannot really understand Raskolnikov. It was Svidrigailov who reduced Raskolnikov completely to the Napoleonic idea, with the prospect of a tempting devilish, personal, selfish career that it opens up. It was Svidrigailov who saw in Raskolnikov a homegrown Napoleon who did not dare to follow his own path to the end.

“Here, too, there was one theory of its own, - a so-so theory, - according to which people are divided, you see, into material and into special people, that is, on such people for whom, according to them high position, the law is not written, but, on the contrary, who themselves compose laws for the rest of the people, the material, something, rubbish. Nothing, so-so theory: une théorie comme une autre. Napoleon fascinated him terribly, that is, he was actually fascinated by the fact that so many brilliant people they did not look at a single evil, but walked through without thinking ... "(6; 362).

Svidrigailov reduces everything, he is not able to penetrate into the innermost essence of Raskolnikov's idea and, sorting through one after another the possible motivations for Rodion's crime, he finally stops at the figure of Napoleon.

Svidrigailov has all arithmetic, and Raskolnikov has higher mathematics. Svidrigailov is the first - and explains the crime of Rodion Raskolnikov pluralistically, by adding many different reasons and motives: poverty, character, irritation, awareness of the "beauty of one's social position", the desire to help relatives, the desire for wealth, for a career.

Svidrigailov does not blame Raskolnikov at all. He is only trying to explain to Duna, in whose disposition he is interested, how Raskolnikov reached his villainy, and, realizing that his sister adores her brother, he finally chooses the most profitable version - Raskolnikov started to catch up with the brilliant Napoleon, without being brilliant himself.

The Napoleonic motif was indeed part of Raskolnikov's idea and its terrible realization. Raskolnikov really saw before him the example of Napoleon, he really wanted to check whether he was capable of becoming Napoleon, whether he was capable of withstanding dictatorial, tyrannical power over all of humanity and the entire universe.

However, when Raskolnikov's understanding of power and dominion is limited to simply the Napoleonic idea in itself, curious shifts occur in his mind - both in thinking and in psychology. At these moments, he forgets that he killed not only Alena, but also Lizaveta, the named sister of Sonya Marmeladova. “Why do I not feel sorry for Lizaveta. Poor creature!"

He killed only one louse, "the most useless of all lice." When he hears the word "crime", he shouts furiously in response: "Crime? What crime?.. that I killed a nasty, malicious louse, an old pawnbroker who is of no use to anyone, who will be forgiven for forty sins to kill, who sucked the juice out of the poor, and this is a crime? I don’t think about it and I don’t think about washing it off.

Yes, in other “minutes” Raskolnikov regrets that he did not manage to become Napoleon or Mohammed, did not seize power for the sake of power, no matter how bloody and dirty applications its retention required: “Oh, vulgarity! oh, meanness! .. Oh, as I understand the "prophet", with a saber, on a horse. Allah commands, and obey the “trembling” creature ... the “prophet” is right when he puts a good battery somewhere across the street and blows on the right and the guilty, without even deigning to explain himself! Obey, trembling creature, and - do not wish, therefore - this is none of your business! .. Oh, for nothing, for nothing I will forgive the old woman! (6; 211).

However, the Napoleonic idea in its pure form, power for the sake of power, is treason and betrayal in relation to something more important, where it enters only as a part or as a means. This happens often: a part that replaces the whole, a means turned into an end, begin to contradict the whole, begin to displace the end. He knew that Dunya should not marry Luzhin, that her proposed marriage was the same prostitution: “Here's what, Dunya,” he turns to his sister, “... I consider it a duty to remind you again that I do not deviate from my main thing. Either I, or Luzhin. Let me be a scoundrel, but you shouldn't. One somebody. If you marry Luzhin, I immediately stop considering you a sister, "- in his" main "Raskolnikov stands on the same basis as Razumikhin.

Svidrigailov's death is absurd, meaningless, ugly, it is the end, a complete metaphysical end, a transition to a bathhouse with spiders.

Neither man, nor society, nor humanity can live without a goal, without an ideal. Svidrigailov is dead in his existence, he does not see a star, even a deceptive one - his dead indifference is stronger than the instinct of life, stronger than the fear of non-existence. Non-existence is better than indifference, which makes it impossible to cling to anything, even if only to kill time. This is the reason for the death of Svidrigailov, the basis of the sentence pronounced by Dostoevsky. After all, whether he is a hopeless villain and a hopeless lecher is unclear, ambiguous, with two ends, depends on the point of view, on rumors, on rumors, and not on categorically established facts.

Svidrigailov, who touched the mountain heights and plunged from there into a stinking swamp, cannot live without faith in truth and goodness, he understood this. He executed himself.

In the final text of the novel, the name Svidrigailov appears initially as a synonym for a well-fed, vulgar and dissolute dandy pursuing a defenseless girl. The contradictions inherent in it, the magnitude and intensity of the forces destroyed in it, are revealed gradually. And only at the end, in Svidrigailov's suicide, Dostoevsky's moral and philosophical plan is fully realized, in brilliant perfection. Dostoevsky himself understood that he succeeded in the image. “It will be great,” he wrote in rough sketches.

Having created the image of an “ordinary,” albeit terrible, villain, Dostoevsky would not have experienced such a creative upsurge and the consciousness of such a creative victory.