Part I - Chapter I Practice Quiz — Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Part I - Chapter I
Where does Raskolnikov live at the beginning of the novel?
He lives in a tiny garret under the roof of a five-story house in St. Petersburg, described as more like a cupboard than a room.
Why does Raskolnikov sneak past his landlady?
He is hopelessly in debt to her and dreads being stopped on the stairs to hear her demands for payment, threats, and complaints.
What does Raskolnikov pawn at Alyona Ivanovna's apartment?
He pawns an old flat silver watch with a globe engraved on the back and a steel chain. It was his father's watch.
How much money does Raskolnikov receive for pawning his watch?
He receives one rouble and fifteen copecks, after Alyona Ivanovna deducts interest in advance from the rouble-and-a-half valuation.
What is the real purpose of Raskolnikov's visit to the pawnbroker?
It is a "rehearsal" for a crime he has been contemplating for about a month. He studies the apartment layout, her keys, and her locks.
How many steps does Raskolnikov count from his lodging to the pawnbroker's house?
Exactly seven hundred and thirty steps, which he had counted previously while lost in dreams about his plan.
Where does Raskolnikov go after leaving the pawnbroker's apartment?
He stumbles into a basement tavern, where he drinks a glass of cold beer and temporarily feels calmer and more clearheaded.
How is Raskolnikov's physical appearance described in Chapter I?
He is described as exceptionally handsome, above average height, slim, well-built, with beautiful dark eyes and dark brown hair, though dressed in terrible rags.
Who is Alyona Ivanovna?
She is the elderly pawnbroker whom Raskolnikov visits. She is described as a diminutive, withered woman of sixty with sharp, malignant eyes, a sharp little nose, and a thin neck like a hen's leg.
Who is Lizaveta, and how is she referenced in Chapter I?
Lizaveta is Alyona Ivanovna's half-sister. Though she never appears, Raskolnikov attributes the apartment's cleanliness to her work and asks whether she is home.
What is Raskolnikov's relationship to his landlady?
He is hopelessly in debt to her for rent, meals, and attendance. He avoids her by sneaking down the stairs like a cat.
What detail does Raskolnikov notice about Alyona Ivanovna's keys?
He notices she carries all her keys in one bunch on a steel ring, with one key three times bigger than the others with deep notches, likely for a strong-box.
How does the chapter introduce the theme of alienation?
Raskolnikov is completely isolated from other people, dreading contact with anyone. He has withdrawn from his studies and avoids even his landlady, consumed by his own obsessive thoughts.
How does poverty function as a theme in this opening chapter?
Poverty pervades every detail: Raskolnikov's cupboard-like room, his shameful rags, his hunger, and his need to pawn family heirlooms for tiny sums. It serves as the material pressure pushing him toward crime.
What tension between theory and action is established in Chapter I?
Raskolnikov has spent a month theorizing about his plan, calling it a "plaything" and "fantasy," yet he is physically carrying out a rehearsal. His mind resists what his body is already doing.
How does the motif of heat and suffocation operate in Chapter I?
The oppressive July heat, stench, dust, and airlessness of St. Petersburg mirror Raskolnikov's trapped, feverish psychological state, creating a sense that both the city and his mind are unbearable.
What narrative point of view does Dostoevsky use in this chapter?
Third-person limited narration, staying so close to Raskolnikov's consciousness that readers experience his fragmentary, feverish thought processes almost as interior monologue.
What is the effect of Raskolnikov's vague references to "a thing like that" and "the project"?
These evasive references create suspense and foreshadowing. The reader senses something terrible is being planned, but the crime is never named, mirroring Raskolnikov's own inability to confront what he intends to do.
How does Dostoevsky use irony at the end of Chapter I?
Raskolnikov dismisses his turmoil as mere "physical derangement" curable by beer and bread, but the narrator undercuts this by noting that "this happier frame of mind was also not normal," showing his self-deception.
What does "hypochondria" mean in the context of this chapter?
In nineteenth-century usage, it refers to a state of morbid anxiety and obsessive worry, not specifically concern about health. Raskolnikov is in an "overstrained irritable condition, verging on hypochondria."
What does "prevaricate" mean as used in this chapter?
It means to speak or act evasively in order to avoid telling the truth. Raskolnikov would rather "creep down the stairs like a cat" than prevaricate with his landlady about his debts.
What is the significance of Raskolnikov's thought, "So the sun will shine like this then too"?
This fleeting thought reveals that Raskolnikov is already mentally projecting himself to the day of the crime, imagining what the pawnbroker's apartment will look like when he returns to carry out his plan.
What does Raskolnikov mean when he says, "It's because I chatter that I do nothing. Or perhaps it is that I chatter because I do nothing"?
He is reflecting on his paralysis between thought and action. He recognizes that his endless theorizing may be either the cause or the symptom of his inability to act, revealing deep self-awareness about his own indecision.