Female Characters in Dostoevsky's Pre-Siberian Work

Rado Pribić, Lafayette College

Although Dostoevsky's pre- and post-Siberian novels and shorter narratives have often been thoroughly investigated, no comprehensive study has yet been written on the female characters of his work. Except for Victor Terras' book, The Young Dostoevsky, (1) which includes a chapter entitled "The Young Dostoevsky and the Very Young Female," no serious attempts has been made to set up a typology of the female characters and to pursue their development diachronically. One cannot help noticing, even after one reads Terras' fine presentation, that it is still the male protagonist who stands in the foreground.

It would be more than presumptuous to claim that this situation could be remedied in a relatively short article. This article, therefore, will focus on Dostoevsky's pre-Siberian female characters, trying to group them semantically, and will focus on those traits which recur in Dostoevsky's mature works. Furthermore, the emphasis will be primarily on those female types previously dealt with only marginally and less on those repeatedly investigated, even if only in connection with or from the point of view of the male protagonist, as with studies of the novels Poor Folk, The Landlady, and the unfinished Netochka Nezvanova. A chronological list of Dostoevsky's early novels and stories to be considered from the perspective of the handling of female characters would include: Poor Folk, The Double, "Mr. Prokharchin," A Novel in Nine Letters, The Landlady, "Polzunkov," "Another Man's Wife and the Husband under the Bed," "The Faint Heart," "The Honest Thief," "The Christmas Tree and the Wedding," White Nights, Netochka Nezvanova, and "The Little Hero." All of these works were written or drafted between 1844 and 1849 and, although Dostoevsky restructured and rewrote some of them after his return from Siberia, he hardly altered the basic character of the female characters.

For our purpose, it would be fruitless to group Dostoevsky's early works thematically or in accordance with his indebtedness to the Natural School, or to sentimental and romantic literature, as Rudolf Neuhäuser did(2). Traits of the Natural School may be detected as late as 1848 ("The Honest Thief"), and sentimental/ romantic elements as well as social criticism can be traced in almost every work of this period. For even the most inexperienced and naive reader immediately notices several striking structural features when reading Dostoevsky's early works:
1. Several stories have an all or almost all male cast.
2. Elderly women occur only in minor, sexless, and non-erotic roles. In most cases they serve merely as the introduction to the narrative and do not actively participate in the narrative.
3. The main female characters are always young and beautiful, but never really happy.

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4. A triangle relationship can be found in almost all of the early works.

One should perhaps begin with the elderly female characters, for they are the ones most neglected in Dostoevsky scholarship. Not only do they not play a prominent role in Dostoevsky's prose, but they are also endowed with rather negative traits. In Poor Folk, for example, Anna Fëdorovna, the old woman with whom Varenka Dobrosëlova lives is described as very virtuous but quite uneducated. Objectively, this is still acceptable. However, in the following works the negative traits intensify. Karolina Ivanovna, Goliadkin's German landlady in the novel The Double, is a middle-aged woman whom Goliadkin describes as nasty, vulgar, and repulsive. (3) He calls her a witch and blames his misfortune on her. In "Mr. Prokharchin," the title character's middle-aged landlady, Ustinia Fëdorovna, is introduced by the narrator as an honest woman with a propensity to gluttony. Between the lines one reads that she is also quite greedy. She frequently complains about her defenselessness, but she is absolutely capable of taking care of herself and she handles her financial affairs profitably. Mr. Prokharchin becomes her favorite after the death of another privileged lodger. But, as the narrator immediately adds, this relationship "has to be understood in a noble and honorable sense."(4) Ustinia Fëdorovna's true nature becomes conspicuous at Mr. Prokharchin's death bed. In the manner of the Russian funeral laments, Ustinia Fedorovna mourns the death of her lodger. However, she is not concerned with the loss of a friend; rather she mourns the loss of his money, the 2,500 rubles which Mr. Prokharchin had hidden in the mattress of his bed and which she failed to secure for herself. Ustinia's lament is her only active participation in the plot.

Other examples include Katerina's maid in The Landlady, who is old, stooped, and dressed in dirty rags. She seems to be spiteful and is constantly mumbling something under her breath.(5) The babushka in "Polzunkov" is blind, mute, deaf, and stupid. In Russian the two last words, "glukh-glup," alliterate thus, accoustically emphasizing the unpleasant visual appearance. (6) The housekeeper in "The Honest Thief" is stubborn and hardly ever talks, having said no more than two words a day for six years. The only time she became more talkative was when she obstinately insisted that her master should take in a lodger. But even then her speech was awkwardly incoherent and her logic primitive. (7) In White Nights Matrëna, the Dreamer's housekeeper, has no imagination whatsoever. (8) She is slovenly, nothing in the apartment seems to be in the right place, and cobwebs are hanging from the walls. She also does not respond at all to the reproaches of her master.(9)

The negative portrayal of elderly women is not restricted to lower social ranks; it is applied to women of the high society as well. The old princess in Netochka Nezvanova is very unfriendly with everyone; her face is stern and morose, and with her black eyes and her lips firmly pressed together she looks piercingly at her visitors.(10) Finally, in "The Little Hero", an unattractive spinster, one of those who constantly hangs around young and beautiful women, causes serious trouble for the young protagonist. (11) Another elderly lady in the same story is said to be constantly spying and gossiping so that nobody likes her. (12) In con-

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clusion, one can say that the reader is left with the impression that Dostoevsky is harboring some phobia towards elderly women.

Not all of Dostoevsky's early works, however, have female protagonists. "Mr. Prokharchin" and "The Honest Thief" have all male casts, eKcept for the housekeepers who do not actively participate in the development of the plots. The Double, Dostoevsky's second novel, also has an all male cast. The reader learns only from Goliadkin's deranged conversations and monologues about his previous involvement with his German landlady, Karolina Ivanovna, and his absolutely fictitious relationship with Klara Olsufievna, the young and beautiful daughter of State Councilor Berendeev. Goliadkin apparently promised to marry Karolina Ivanovna instead of paying his bills, but he abandoned her later, for he fancied marrying Klara Olsufievna. (13) He accuses Karolina Ivanovna of contriving intrigues and gossiping about him, yet the only thing she did was complain about her lodger to his superior. One learns about Klara Olsufievna, of whom the reader merely catches a glimpse at her birthday party, from Goliadkin's monologue. Waiting for Klara in order to elope with her, Goliadkin criticizes her upbringing in the French boarding school of a Mme. Fal'bala and maintains that she has been spoiled with sweets and frills. Karolina Ivanovna now is no  longer the "bad witch"; rather she becomes "a good witch." The role of the bad witch is assumed by Klara Olsufievna who wants to destroy Goliadkin.

Another story which has predominantly male cast is "Polzunkov." Besides the afore mentioned old woman, the reader learns from the protagonist about his unsuccesssful courtship and abortive engagement to Maria Fedoseevna, the daughter of Polzunkov's superior. Maria was in love with someone else and rejected Polzunkov, although he, like Devushkin, showered her with gifts, romances, and sweets. Maria Fedoseevna agreed to marry Polzunkov, only to save her father, who was involved in various incriminating actions about which Polzunkov had known. Once the danger of indictment was averted, of course with the help of Polzunkov, the engagement was called off. In order to mock Polzunkov, Maria returns the bird cage with the talking starling, which he had previously given to her. She encloses a note that reads "April 1st". The final story without a direct involvement of female characters is The Novel in Nine Letters, to be considered later in this study.

It has been pointed out in previous scholarship, most recently by V. Terras and R. Neuhäuser, that the relationship between man and woman is a central theme in all of Dostoevsky's works (14) and that he remained interested in this theme until the end of his life. In his early work, though Dostoevsky already illuminated various facets of his relationship and created a series of lifelike female characters, all of whom have one common trait: they are all young and beautiful. But each of them has her own distinct personality and is unhappy in her own way.

Dostoevsky's first heroine is Varenka Dobrosëlova in Poor Folk. Neuhäuser suggests that "poor" should be interpreted as "unhappy," as in Karamzin's "Poor Liza." (15) From Varenka's diary, the reader learns that she had lost her father when she was only fourteen. She then moves with her destitute mother to a distant relative.

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At sixteen she loses her mother, experiences a brief innocent romance with her tutor, Pokrovskii, who died of tuberculosis, and is abused and abandoned by the lecherous middle-aged country squire Bykov. She moves out of her relative's house and begins to support herself with needlework. At this point the correspondence with Devushkin begins. The 47-year-old man falls in love with Varenka and showers her with presents which Varenka accepts, although she knows that Devushkin cannot afford such gifts. Just when Devushkin's sentimental attachment to Varenka reaches its climax, Bykov appears and proposes to Varenka. Although Varenka knows that Bykov wants to marry her only because he needs an heir in order to disinherit a rascal of a nephew, she accepts his proposal. Devushkin is entrusted with various silly, time-consuming errands which he has to carry out during his working hours. But Varenka does not care that he might lose his job because of this activity. She does not invite Devushkin to the wedding, nor does she give him some of the money Bykov had left her, which would certainly have relieved Devushkin's financial situation.  Instead she leaves him some useless trifles and briefly informs him that she is leaving with her husband for a country estate and that she will not write him anymore. Thus, Varenka acts rather selfishly. But in the back of her mind she has a premonition that this marriage of convenience might not be as happy as she would like it to be. Bykov had already referred to Varenka's past, stating that he is going to marry her "despite her past". We also learn that he did not like Varenka's squandering of money. He is eager to bring his bride to his estate as soon as possible in order to have complete control over her.

Nastenka in White Nights is another young and beautiful girl. She too is an orphan, she lives with her grandmother, and she waits for her fiancé, who had left a year earlier but has not yet returned. Nastenka, however, is better off than Varenka, for her grandmother has a small pension and owns a house. While waiting for her fiancé, Nastenka meets the anonymous Dreamer, who rescues her from an obtrusive elderly gentleman. They meet four nights in a row and Nastenka like Varenka, tells the Dreamer her life story, which is less sentimental than Varenka's story. On the second night, Nastenka asks the Dreamer to deliver a letter to her fiancé, hoping to find out whether he has returned. On the fourth night, the Dreamer is so in love with Nastenka that he decides to confess, and the girl who feels abandoned is ready to forget her fiancé. But at the moment that Nastenka and the Dreamer begin to make plans for the future and the Dreamer is about to move to Nastenka's home, the fiancé returns. The practical-minded Nastenka leaves the Dreamer with the likewise practical-minded fiancé. The next day the Dreamer, like Devushkin, receives a farewell letter in which Nastenka begs forgiveness and assures him of her eternal gratitude and love. She, too, does not invite the Dreamer to the wedding; rather, she invites him to come to see her and her husband. She does not, however, give him an address. She asks him to remain her brother and to continue loving her. In spite of all the sweetness, the Dreamer correctly reads between the lines Nastenka's selfish request to stay away and cause no trouble. The form of this letter may be different, but the content does not differ considerably from Varenka's letter.

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