Dramatis personae

The people of the novel

Faces, names, and the lives that bind them. Browse the cast below; each name opens its full character plate.

05

The House of Karamazov

  2. Study of Katerina bowing low at the left, with Dmitri in uniform at the right, in a room with a tall mirror and curtained window.
    Katerina Ivanovna and Dmitri KaramazovAI-generated study after Boris Grigoriev’s illustration.

    Dmitri Fyodorovitch Karamazov

    The eldest, by Adelaïda. An ex-officer: reckless, generous, loud. Owed money by his father, engaged to Katerina, ruined by Grushenka. Convicted of a murder he did not commit.

    The eldest son, by the first wife. Passed from relative to relative, now an ex-officer who believes his father owes him his mother’s money.

    Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk I, ch. 2.

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  3. Study of Ivan and Smerdyakov at a wooden gate beneath the moon: one man turns through the gate while the other stands beside the fence.
    Ivan Karamazov and SmerdyakovAI-generated study after Boris Grigoriev’s illustration.

    Ivan Fyodorovitch Karamazov

    The second son, by Sofya. A cold intellectual who argues that without God everything is permitted — then meets a man who acted on it.

    The second son, by Sofya. Raised on charity, a gifted writer and a sceptic; nobody can quite explain why he has come to stay with his father.

    Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk I, ch. 3.

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  4. A drawn study of Smerdyakov seated by a wooden door, turning his sharp, wary face over the shoulder of a heavy olive coat.
    Pavel SmerdyakovAI-generated study after Boris Grigoriev’s illustration.

    Pavel Smerdyakov

    The household’s cook, epileptic and contemptuous. Born to Lizaveta in the garden; the town assumes Fyodor is the father. He listened to Ivan more carefully than Ivan did.

    The household’s cook, raised by Grigory and trained in Moscow. Silent, fastidious about his clothes, contemptuous — and subject to fits.

    Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk III, ch. 6.

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  5. Study of a balding Fyodor in a grey dressing gown, seated amid mirrors, chairs and houseplants.
    Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov in his roomAI-generated study after Boris Grigoriev’s illustration.

    Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov

    The father. A buffoon and a sensualist who forgot his children entirely, then competed with his eldest son for the same woman. Murdered in his own house.

    The father. A landowner, buffoon and sensualist who made money, married twice, and forgot all three of his sons.

    Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk I, ch. 1.

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04

The Women

  1. Study of Grushenka with centre-parted brown hair, dark expressive eyes and flushed cheeks, wearing a blue garment patterned with orange spirals.
    Agrafena (Grushenka)AI-generated study after Boris Grigoriev’s illustration.

    Agrafena Alexandrovna Svyetlov

    Agrafena Alexandrovna. Brought to town by the merchant Samsonov at eighteen and kept by him since. Courted by father and son at once — which is what sets the murder in motion.

    Agrafena Alexandrovna. Kept for years by an old merchant, and the woman both Dmitri and his father are pursuing.

    Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk III, ch. 5.

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  2. Study of Katerina Ivanovna, eyes lowered, in a fringed headscarf and a blue coat, before a red building with barred windows.
    Katerina IvanovnaAI-generated study after Boris Grigoriev’s illustration.

    Katerina Ivanovna Verhovtsev

    Proud and rich. Engaged to Dmitri out of gratitude for a humiliation she never forgave, while in love with Ivan. Her letter destroys Dmitri at the trial.

    A proud colonel’s daughter. Dmitri tells how he once saved her family’s honour in a way that humiliated her; she became his fiancée.

    Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk III, ch. 4.

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  3. Lise HohlakovMadame Hohlakov’s daughter. Fourteen, an invalid, engaged to Alyosha — and privately telling him she dreams of destruction.Madame Hohlakov’s daughter, fourteen and unable to walk — quick, mischievous, and fond of Alyosha.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk II, ch. 3.
  4. Madame HohlakovA wealthy widow of enthusiasms, comic and useless. Lise’s mother — and the one who sends Dmitri chasing gold-mines when he needs three thousand roubles.A rich, excitable widow who has brought her invalid daughter to see the elder.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk II, ch. 3.

04

The Monastery

  1. Mihail RakitinA seminarist on the make and Grushenka’s cousin. Explains everyone by their motives, takes twenty-five roubles to bring the grieving Alyosha to her, and turns up at the trial with a theory.A seminarist and Alyosha’s friend — clever, ambitious, and quick to explain everyone by their lowest motive.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk II, ch. 7.
  2. Study of the white-bearded elder Zossima resting his hand on the bowed head of the young Alyosha, both in dark robes.
    Father Zosima blesses AlyoshaAI-generated study after Boris Grigoriev’s illustration.

    Father Zossima

    The elder, and Alyosha’s teacher. His answer to Ivan is that every one of us is responsible to all men for everything. He sends Alyosha out into the world.

    The elder of the monastery, sought out by crowds for his counsel. Alyosha’s teacher.

    Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk I, ch. 5.

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  3. Father PaissyA monk close to Father Zossima. He reads the Gospel over the elder’s body and remains a steady presence when the monastery’s reverence turns to doubt.A learned monk of the hermitage, in delicate health, close to the elder.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk II, ch. 2.
  4. Father FerapontThe rival ascetic — fasting, visions, and hostility to the elders. Piety as spite, set beside Zossima’s piety as love.An old ascetic monk — fasting, silence, visions of devils — and an open enemy of the elders.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk IV, ch. 1.

04

The Schoolboys

  1. Kolya KrassotkinThirteen — “fourteen in a fortnight”, he insists — brilliant and insufferable, repeating borrowed nihilism he half understands. An Ivan who can still be reached.A widow’s only son, the boldest boy in his class, and the terror of his mother’s nerves.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk X, ch. 1.
  2. Ilusha SnegiryovA schoolboy who bit Alyosha’s finger because his father had been dragged through the street by the beard. He dies at nine, and the novel ends at his funeral.A small, sick schoolboy of about nine who fights a whole gang of boys alone — and bites Alyosha’s finger.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk IV, ch. 3.
  3. SmurovOne of the boys who stoned Ilusha, and the one who told Alyosha about him. Later Kolya’s devoted go-between.One of the schoolboys throwing stones at Ilusha.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk IV, ch. 3.
  4. Captain SnegiryovIlusha’s father. Destitute, and humiliated in front of his son by Dmitri. He tramples the money that would save his family because his boy is watching.Ilusha’s father, a destitute former captain who plays the buffoon to cover his shame.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk IV, ch. 6.

04

The Court

  1. Nikolay ParfenovitchThe young investigating lawyer. With the prosecutor, he questions Dmitri at Mokroye, turning the night’s confused events into the case against him.Nikolay Parfenovitch, the young investigating lawyer, two months out from Petersburg.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk IX, ch. 2.
  2. FetyukovitchThe celebrated defence counsel from Petersburg. He dismantles the evidence piece by piece — and loses.The celebrated defence lawyer, brought from Petersburg for the trial.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk XII, ch. 1.
  3. Ippolit KirillovitchThe prosecutor, consumptive and giving the speech of his life. His psychology of Dmitri is persuasive, and wrong.The town’s deputy prosecutor, called from a game of whist on the night of the alarm.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk IX, ch. 2.
  4. Trifon BorissovitchThe innkeeper at Mokroye. He welcomes Dmitri’s extravagant spending, then becomes a witness to the money and revelry of that last night.Trifon Borissovitch, the innkeeper at Mokroe, who remembers Dmitri’s last visit well.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk VIII, ch. 6.

06

The Town

  1. Grigory KutuzovFyodor’s servant for decades, and the man who actually raised the sons. He is struck down with a pestle on the night of the murder, and his evidence that the garden door stood open is the most damning at the trial.Fyodor’s old servant — gloomy, obstinate and honest — who looked after each of the boys when their father would not.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk I, ch. 2.
  2. Pyotr PerhotinThe young official holding Dmitri’s pistols as a pledge. Alarmed by his bloodstained hands and sudden money, he follows the trail that brings the authorities to Mokroye.Pyotr Ilyitch Perhotin, the young official with whom Dmitri has pawned his pistols.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk VIII, ch. 5.
  3. Kuzma SamsonovThe old merchant who keeps Grushenka. Dying, and amused enough by Dmitri’s desperation to send him on a wild errand.An old, rich, ailing merchant who has been Grushenka’s protector for years.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk VII, ch. 3.
  4. MaximovAn elderly hanger-on, eager for company and a place at the table. After the revels at Mokroye, Grushenka takes him into her care.A small elderly landowner with a honeyed lisp who attaches himself to the Karamazov party at the monastery.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk II, ch. 1.
  5. Marfa IgnatyevnaGrigory’s wife, and the other half of the household that brought up the boys their father ignored.Grigory’s wife, and the other half of the household that brought up the boys their father ignored.Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk III, ch. 1.
  6. Study of barefoot Lizaveta seated on a rustic fence in a pale dress, with a thatched shed and a birch tree nearby.
    The Reeking LizavetaAI-generated study after Boris Grigoriev’s illustration.

    Lizaveta Smerdyastchaya

    Lizaveta Smerdyastchaya — a mute, homeless girl of the town. She climbed into the Karamazov garden to give birth and died doing it. Smerdyakov takes his name from her.

    Lizaveta Smerdyastchaya — a mute, homeless girl of the town who slept wherever she lay down. She climbed into the Karamazov garden to give birth and died there.

    Not yet met at your place in the book: first appears in Bk III, ch. 2.

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