Beautiful…Noble…Educated…Throughout The Brothers Karamazov, Katerina Ivanovna is put up on a pedestal to be praised. The combination of exaltation from others and from herself, creates a noble, almost holy, image that Katerina must live up to. Through the shifts in Katerina’s attitude and love toward Dmitri, Dostoevsky reveals a great deal about her personal identity and the role of her character in the novel. In addition, Dostoevsky uses other characters’ descriptions of Katerina to reveal various aspects of her character and in particular, her relationship with Dmitri. The strain with which Katerina loves Dmitri epitomizes her, either conscious or subconscious, desire to fulfill the noble image others have of her, in which she personally identifies.
Other characters begin raising Katerina up on a pedestal from the moment her character enters the story. At first Katerina is set above for her beauty, education, self-confidence, and wealth. As the novel progresses, however, she is also exalted for her magnanimity, her willingness to sacrifice, and her supposed righteousness. One of the very first times Katerina is mentioned in the novel is at the monastery scene. In his confrontation with Dmitri, Fyodor describes Katerina to Zosima saying “Most holy father, would you believe that he got one of the noblest girls to fall in love with him, a girl from a good family, with a fortune, the daughter of his former superior,” (71). When Rakitin and Alyosha discuss Katerina after the monastery scene, Rakitin describes Katerina as “an incomparable beauty, Katerina Ivanovna, rich, an aristocrat and a colonel’s daughter,” (81). With descriptions such as these, Katerina is lifted up as an icon of beauty and wealth.
Dmitri’s account of his first meeting with Katerina not only increases the noble, educated image of Katerina, but it also clearly brings her virtue and pride into the light. Dmitri accounts to Alyosha: I began talking, she barely looked at me, pressed her contemptuous lips together. Well, I thought, just wait, I’ll get my revenge! I was a terrible boor then, on most occasions, and I felt it. Mainly I felt that ‘Katenka’ was not like some innocent institute girl, but a person of character, proud and truly virtuous, and above all intelligent and educated, while I was neither the one nor the other. (111) Not only did others lift Katerina up on a pedestal, but as references to her pride reveal, Katerina also exalted herself up. Dmitri clearly despised her pride but was intrigued by the challenge she posed to him. He wanted revenge for her ‘contemptuous lips,’ and so the relationship between Dmitri and Katerina began.
When Dmitri sets his scheme for revenge in motion and becomes the only source of help for Katerina’s family to turn to in a time of dire trouble, Katerina’s attitude towards Dmitri begins to shift. Describing the night Katerina came to Dmitri for the money, Dmitri says: She was beautiful at that moment because she was noble, and I was a scoundrel; she was there in the majesty of her magnanimity and her sacrifice for her father, and I was a bedbug. And on me, a bedbug and scoundrel, she depended entirely, all of her, all of her entirely, body and soul. (113) Instead of humbling her, going to Dmitri for money only served to raise Katerina higher and higher up in her family’s eyes, in Dmitri’s eyes, and in her own eyes.
In Katerina’s going to Dmitri for the salvation of her family, and as can be seen in later scences, Katerina puts herself up on a pedestal by giving of herself for the sake of someone else. In surrendering herself to Dmitri, Katerina gives up her own dreams, goals, and freedoms in order to save her father’s reputation and honor. When Dmitri promptly gives Katerina the money, he describes: She was startled, she looked intently at me for a second, turned terribly pale – white as a sheet – and suddenly, also without saying a word, not impulsively but very gently, deeply, quietly, bent way down and fell right at my feet – with her forehead to the ground, not like an institute girl but like a Russian woman. (114) While this act of submission may also seem like an act of humility, the humility is only external. Internally, Katerina is further exalted for her selfless sacrifice for her family.
After the incident with her father’s jeopardized honor settles down, Katerina’s father dies and an even greater change takes place in Katerina’s attitude toward Dmitri. Katerina moves to Moscow with her living relatives and writes back to Dmitri: ’I love you madly,’ she says, ‘even if you do not love me – no matter, only be my husband. Don’t be afraid, I shan’t hinder you in any way, I’ll be your furniture, the rug you walk on…I want to love you eternally, I want to save you from yourself…’ (116) This declaration of love from Katerina is the beginning of her love for him stemming from a desire to save him from himself. After this letter, the arrangements are made for their marriage, and Katerina comes back with Dmitri to his hometown as his fiancé.
When Alyosha goes to visit Katerina, the next greatest change occurs in Katerina’s love for Dmitri. Upon arriving, Alyosha and Katerina begin to discuss her relationship with Dmitri. At this point in the novel, Dmitri has been chasing after Grushenka’s love right in front of Katerina’s eyes. Katerina asks Alyosha “Why, then, does he still not know how much I can endure for him? Why, why does he not know me, how dare he not know me after all that has happened? I want to save him forever,” (147). Dmitri’s love for Grushenka does not turn Katerina away from him but instead serves to strengthen her resolve to “save him forever.”
An eye-opening look into Katerina’s character comes through her interaction with Grushenka. When Alyosha is over to visit, Katerina and Grushenka have quite a confrontation. The meeting begins calmly; however, near the end, Katerina becomes enraged with Grushenka, and a different side of Katerina is seen in her calling Grushenka a “slut,” a “bought woman,” and a “tiger” (152). Grushenka’s comment to Katerina, “You yourself as a young girl used to go to your gentlemen at dusk to get money, offering your beauty for sale, and I know it,” infuriates Katerina and compells her to try and leap on Grushenka (152). This scene is the only time Katerina breaks from her “holy, noble, and virtuous” image thus far in the novel. Katerina’s enraged reaction to Grushenka’s comment reveals Katerina’s humiliation of Grushenka knowing her past. Dostoevsky uses the narration of this scene to depict the inner struggle of Katerina, “She could not restrain herself in front of Alyosha, and perhaps did not want to restrain herself,” (152). A few lines later, Katerina declares that Dmitri is an inhuman, dishonest scoundrel. This declaration raises the opportunity for Katerina’s anger and hurt to lead her away from Dmitri.
Nevertheless, Katerina’s love is not hindered by the confrontation with Grushenka. When Alyosha returns to visit her the next day, she asserts her love for Dmitri anew: “In these affairs the main thing now is honor and duty, and something else, I don’t know what, but something higher, even perhaps higher than duty itself...Even if he marries that creature, I still will not leave him! From now on I will never leave him!” she spoke with a sort of strain, in a sort of pale, forced ecstasy. (189) The key words in this passage are the ‘strain’ with which she spoke and her ‘forced ecstasy.’ From ‘honor and duty, and something else’ Katerina is sacrificing her whole life for Dmitri. She explains that when Dmitri becomes unhappy with Grushenka, she [Katerina] will be there as a loving sister for him. Furthermore, Katerina exclaims, “I will be his god, to whom he shall pray” (189). This exclamation more than almost any other line in the book embodies Katerina’s exaltation of herself. Not only is she claiming that she will be a good, faithful sister, Katerina is equating herself with the position of divinity in Dmitri’s life.
Other characters in the novel also notice this ‘strain’ with which Katerina loves Dmitri. Dmitri himself realizes that Katerina loves her own virtue and not him (117). Madame Khokhlakov is convinced that Katerina really loves Ivan, but that Katerina is simply forcing herself to love Dmitri (185). Even Alyosha can see the strain involved in Katerina’s love, and he declares to Katerina that she “acted on purpose” (192). Alyosha expresses the inauthenticity of Katerina’s love by telling her “you are tormenting him [Ivan] because you love Dmitri from strain…not in truth…because you’ve convinced yourself of it…” (192). Ivan effectively tells Katerina what he sees by saying: And the more he insults you, the more you love him. That is you strain . . . But you need him in order to continually contemplate your high deed of faithfulness, and to reproach him for his unfaithfulness. And it all comes from your pride. Oh, there is so much humility and humiliation in it, but all of it comes from pride. (192) Katerina does not take any these comments very well; she becomes very angry and only reaffirms her love for Dmitri. The comments to Katerina are hard for her to hear probably from the amount of truth she knows they hold.
Thus far in The Brothers Karamazov, Katerina’s “strained” love for Dmitri is interwoven into greater overarching themes of the novel. In Katerina, Dostoevsky takes a unique look at pride. The illustration of Katerina’s mix of virtue and pride is in her relationship with Dmitri. Katerina claims her love for Dmitri involves ‘duty and honor, and something else.’ I think that something else is the necessary fulfillment of the image that others have created of her and to which she has contributed. Ivan expresses this idea remarkably by stating: What for others would be just a promise, for her is an everlasting, heavy, perhaps grim, but unfailing duty. And she will be nourished by this feeling of fulfilled duty! Your life, Katerina Ivanovna, will now be spent in the suffering contemplation of your own feelings, of your own high deed and your own grief. (190) In Katerina, readers can see a twisted combination of virtue, magnanimity, and pride. It seems that Katerina’s role in the book is to point out that some of those people who are so exalted for their supposed holiness and magnanimity, are truly some of the most prideful people of all.
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Beautiful…Noble…Educated…Throughout The Brothers Karamazov, Katerina Ivanovna is put up on a pedestal to be praised. The combination of exaltation from others and from herself, creates a noble, almost holy, image that Katerina must live up to. Through the shifts in Katerina’s attitude and love toward Dmitri, Dostoevsky reveals a great deal about her personal identity and the role of her character in the novel. In addition, Dostoevsky uses other characters’ descriptions of Katerina to reveal various aspects of her character and in particular, her relationship with Dmitri. The strain with which Katerina loves Dmitri epitomizes her, either conscious or subconscious, desire to fulfill the noble image others have of her, in which she personally identifies.
Other characters begin raising Katerina up on a pedestal from the moment her character enters the story. At first Katerina is set above for her beauty, education, self-confidence, and wealth. As the novel progresses, however, she is also exalted for her magnanimity, her willingness to sacrifice, and her supposed righteousness. One of the very first times Katerina is mentioned in the novel is at the monastery scene. In his confrontation with Dmitri, Fyodor describes Katerina to Zosima saying “Most holy father, would you believe that he got one of the noblest girls to fall in love with him, a girl from a good family, with a fortune, the daughter of his former superior,” (71). When Rakitin and Alyosha discuss Katerina after the monastery scene, Rakitin describes Katerina as “an incomparable beauty, Katerina Ivanovna, rich, an aristocrat and a colonel’s daughter,” (81). With descriptions such as these, Katerina is lifted up as an icon of beauty and wealth.
Dmitri’s account of his first meeting with Katerina not only increases the noble, educated image of Katerina, but it also clearly brings her virtue and pride into the light. Dmitri accounts to Alyosha:
I began talking, she barely looked at me, pressed her contemptuous lips together. Well, I thought, just wait, I’ll get my revenge! I was a terrible boor then, on most occasions, and I felt it. Mainly I felt that ‘Katenka’ was not like some innocent institute girl, but a person of character, proud and truly virtuous, and above all intelligent and educated, while I was neither the one nor the other. (111)
Not only did others lift Katerina up on a pedestal, but as references to her pride reveal, Katerina also exalted herself up. Dmitri clearly despised her pride but was intrigued by the challenge she posed to him. He wanted revenge for her ‘contemptuous lips,’ and so the relationship between Dmitri and Katerina began.
When Dmitri sets his scheme for revenge in motion and becomes the only source of help for Katerina’s family to turn to in a time of dire trouble, Katerina’s attitude towards Dmitri begins to shift. Describing the night Katerina came to Dmitri for the money, Dmitri says:
She was beautiful at that moment because she was noble, and I was a scoundrel; she was there in the majesty of her magnanimity and her sacrifice for her father, and I was a bedbug. And on me, a bedbug and scoundrel, she depended entirely, all of her, all of her entirely, body and soul. (113)
Instead of humbling her, going to Dmitri for money only served to raise Katerina higher and higher up in her family’s eyes, in Dmitri’s eyes, and in her own eyes.
In Katerina’s going to Dmitri for the salvation of her family, and as can be seen in later scences, Katerina puts herself up on a pedestal by giving of herself for the sake of someone else. In surrendering herself to Dmitri, Katerina gives up her own dreams, goals, and freedoms in order to save her father’s reputation and honor. When Dmitri promptly gives Katerina the money, he describes:
She was startled, she looked intently at me for a second, turned terribly pale – white as a sheet – and suddenly, also without saying a word, not impulsively but very gently, deeply, quietly, bent way down and fell right at my feet – with her forehead to the ground, not like an institute girl but like a Russian woman. (114)
While this act of submission may also seem like an act of humility, the humility is only external. Internally, Katerina is further exalted for her selfless sacrifice for her family.
After the incident with her father’s jeopardized honor settles down, Katerina’s father dies and an even greater change takes place in Katerina’s attitude toward Dmitri. Katerina moves to Moscow with her living relatives and writes back to Dmitri:
’I love you madly,’ she says, ‘even if you do not love me – no matter, only be my husband. Don’t be afraid, I shan’t hinder you in any way, I’ll be your furniture, the rug you walk on…I want to love you eternally, I want to save you from yourself…’ (116)
This declaration of love from Katerina is the beginning of her love for him stemming from a desire to save him from himself. After this letter, the arrangements are made for their marriage, and Katerina comes back with Dmitri to his hometown as his fiancé.
When Alyosha goes to visit Katerina, the next greatest change occurs in Katerina’s love for Dmitri. Upon arriving, Alyosha and Katerina begin to discuss her relationship with Dmitri. At this point in the novel, Dmitri has been chasing after Grushenka’s love right in front of Katerina’s eyes. Katerina asks Alyosha “Why, then, does he still not know how much I can endure for him? Why, why does he not know me, how dare he not know me after all that has happened? I want to save him forever,” (147). Dmitri’s love for Grushenka does not turn Katerina away from him but instead serves to strengthen her resolve to “save him forever.”
An eye-opening look into Katerina’s character comes through her interaction with Grushenka. When Alyosha is over to visit, Katerina and Grushenka have quite a confrontation. The meeting begins calmly; however, near the end, Katerina becomes enraged with Grushenka, and a different side of Katerina is seen in her calling Grushenka a “slut,” a “bought woman,” and a “tiger” (152). Grushenka’s comment to Katerina, “You yourself as a young girl used to go to your gentlemen at dusk to get money, offering your beauty for sale, and I know it,” infuriates Katerina and compells her to try and leap on Grushenka (152). This scene is the only time Katerina breaks from her “holy, noble, and virtuous” image thus far in the novel. Katerina’s enraged reaction to Grushenka’s comment reveals Katerina’s humiliation of Grushenka knowing her past. Dostoevsky uses the narration of this scene to depict the inner struggle of Katerina, “She could not restrain herself in front of Alyosha, and perhaps did not want to restrain herself,” (152). A few lines later, Katerina declares that Dmitri is an inhuman, dishonest scoundrel. This declaration raises the opportunity for Katerina’s anger and hurt to lead her away from Dmitri.
Nevertheless, Katerina’s love is not hindered by the confrontation with Grushenka. When Alyosha returns to visit her the next day, she asserts her love for Dmitri anew:
“In these affairs the main thing now is honor and duty, and something else, I don’t know what, but something higher, even perhaps higher than duty itself...Even if he marries that creature, I still will not leave him! From now on I will never leave him!” she spoke with a sort of strain, in a sort of pale, forced ecstasy. (189)
The key words in this passage are the ‘strain’ with which she spoke and her ‘forced ecstasy.’ From ‘honor and duty, and something else’ Katerina is sacrificing her whole life for Dmitri. She explains that when Dmitri becomes unhappy with Grushenka, she [Katerina] will be there as a loving sister for him. Furthermore, Katerina exclaims, “I will be his god, to whom he shall pray” (189). This exclamation more than almost any other line in the book embodies Katerina’s exaltation of herself. Not only is she claiming that she will be a good, faithful sister, Katerina is equating herself with the position of divinity in Dmitri’s life.
Other characters in the novel also notice this ‘strain’ with which Katerina loves Dmitri. Dmitri himself realizes that Katerina loves her own virtue and not him (117). Madame Khokhlakov is convinced that Katerina really loves Ivan, but that Katerina is simply forcing herself to love Dmitri (185). Even Alyosha can see the strain involved in Katerina’s love, and he declares to Katerina that she “acted on purpose” (192). Alyosha expresses the inauthenticity of Katerina’s love by telling her “you are tormenting him [Ivan] because you love Dmitri from strain…not in truth…because you’ve convinced yourself of it…” (192). Ivan effectively tells Katerina what he sees by saying:
And the more he insults you, the more you love him. That is you strain . . . But you need him in order to continually contemplate your high deed of faithfulness, and to reproach him for his unfaithfulness. And it all comes from your pride. Oh, there is so much humility and humiliation in it, but all of it comes from pride. (192)
Katerina does not take any these comments very well; she becomes very angry and only reaffirms her love for Dmitri. The comments to Katerina are hard for her to hear probably from the amount of truth she knows they hold.
Thus far in The Brothers Karamazov, Katerina’s “strained” love for Dmitri is interwoven into greater overarching themes of the novel. In Katerina, Dostoevsky takes a unique look at pride. The illustration of Katerina’s mix of virtue and pride is in her relationship with Dmitri. Katerina claims her love for Dmitri involves ‘duty and honor, and something else.’ I think that something else is the necessary fulfillment of the image that others have created of her and to which she has contributed. Ivan expresses this idea remarkably by stating:
What for others would be just a promise, for her is an everlasting, heavy, perhaps grim, but unfailing duty. And she will be nourished by this feeling of fulfilled duty! Your life, Katerina Ivanovna, will now be spent in the suffering contemplation of your own feelings, of your own high deed and your own grief. (190)
In Katerina, readers can see a twisted combination of virtue, magnanimity, and pride. It seems that Katerina’s role in the book is to point out that some of those people who are so exalted for their supposed holiness and magnanimity, are truly some of the most prideful people of all.
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