Part I - Chapter III Practice Quiz — Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Part I - Chapter III
What is Raskolnikov's mood when he wakes up at the beginning of Part I, Chapter III?
He wakes up bilious, irritable, and ill-tempered after a broken, unrefreshing sleep, and he looks at his room with hatred.
What does Nastasya bring Raskolnikov, and what does she tell him about the landlady?
She brings him weak tea and cabbage soup, and tells him the landlady Praskovya Pavlovna intends to report him to the police for not paying rent.
What important item does Nastasya deliver to Raskolnikov?
A letter from his mother, Pulcheria Alexandrovna, which arrived the day before while he was out. Nastasya paid three copecks of her own for the postage.
What happened to Dunya while she worked for the Svidrigailov family?
Svidrigailov developed an illicit passion for her, treated her rudely to hide it, then openly propositioned her. When his wife Marfa Petrovna discovered the situation, she wrongly blamed Dunya and publicly disgraced her.
How was Dunya's reputation eventually restored?
Svidrigailov showed Marfa Petrovna a letter Dunya had written rejecting his advances. Marfa Petrovna then went house to house reading the letter aloud, restoring Dunya's innocence and shifting all blame to her husband.
Who has proposed marriage to Dunya, and what is his background?
Pyotr Petrovitch Luzhin, a forty-five-year-old government counsellor and lawyer who has "already made his fortune" and is distantly related to Marfa Petrovna.
How does Raskolnikov react after finishing his mother's letter?
His face becomes pale and distorted with a bitter, wrathful, and malignant smile. He leaves his room agitated, muttering aloud to himself on the streets so that passersby think he is drunk.
What does Nastasya's character reveal about Raskolnikov's social position?
Nastasya is the cook and only servant who brings him her own food out of kindness. Her familiarity and teasing tone show that Raskolnikov has sunk to the level where a servant treats him as an equal or even pities him.
How is Pulcheria Alexandrovna characterized through her letter?
She is a loving, anxious mother who conceals painful truths to protect her son, borrows against her tiny pension to help him, and maintains an optimistic tone despite the family's hardships.
What qualities of Dunya does the letter reveal?
Dunya is strong-willed, self-sacrificing, clever, and dignified. She endured Svidrigailov's harassment without complaint, wrote a firm letter of refusal, and agreed to marry Luzhin largely to help her brother's career.
What concerning views does Luzhin express about marriage?
He states that a man should not be indebted to his wife, and that it is better for a wife to look upon her husband as her benefactor. He deliberately sought a bride who had experienced poverty.
How is Svidrigailov initially portrayed in the novel?
He is introduced through Pulcheria's letter as a morally dissolute landowner with "old regimental habits" who concealed his passion for Dunya under rudeness, then openly propositioned her and offered to abandon his family.
How does the theme of sacrifice manifest in Part I, Chapter III?
Both Pulcheria and Dunya sacrifice for Raskolnikov: Pulcheria borrows against her pension, Dunya sends her earnings and agrees to marry a man she doesn't love, all to secure Raskolnikov's future.
How does the chapter introduce the theme of marriage as a transaction?
Luzhin's preference for a poor bride who will feel indebted to him frames marriage as an economic arrangement rather than a union of love, paralleling the broader commodification of women in the novel.
How does the chapter explore the conflict between pride and poverty?
Raskolnikov refuses to accept his destitution, claims he is doing important "thinking," and declares he wants "a fortune," revealing a grandiose self-image that clashes with his squalid living conditions.
What does the chapter suggest about the suffering of women in the novel?
The letter reveals a pattern of women suffering at the hands of men: Dunya endures Svidrigailov's harassment and Marfa Petrovna's unjust punishment, and she agrees to marry Luzhin out of duty rather than love. This foreshadows Sonya's story.
What is the epistolary technique, and how does Dostoevsky use it in this chapter?
The epistolary technique involves embedding a letter within the narrative. Dostoevsky uses Pulcheria's letter to deliver extensive backstory, introduce key characters, and reveal her personality through her own voice.
How does dramatic irony function in Pulcheria's letter?
Pulcheria writes with hope and optimism about Luzhin and the family's future, but the reader already knows Raskolnikov is in a desperate mental state, planning something dark, making her cheerfulness deeply painful.
What does the imagery of Raskolnikov's room symbolize?
His tiny "cupboard" of a room with peeling yellow wallpaper and low ceilings symbolizes his psychological confinement, poverty, and the oppressive mental state driving him toward his crime.
What examples of foreshadowing appear in Part I, Chapter III?
Raskolnikov's declaration that he wants "a fortune," the introduction of Svidrigailov as a morally corrupt figure, and Luzhin's controlling views on marriage all foreshadow major plot developments later in the novel.
What does "bilious" mean in the context of Raskolnikov's waking state?
Bilious means ill-tempered, irritable, or feeling nauseous. Dostoevsky uses it to describe Raskolnikov's sickly, agitated condition upon waking, reflecting both his physical neglect and psychological turmoil.
What does "expostulating" mean when Raskolnikov is described as not having "thought of expostulating" with his landlady?
Expostulating means to reason earnestly with someone in an effort to dissuade or correct them. Raskolnikov is so withdrawn he hasn't even bothered to argue with his landlady about withholding his meals.
What is a "verst" as used in the mother's letter?
A verst is an obsolete Russian unit of distance equal to about 1.067 kilometers (two-thirds of a mile). Pulcheria mentions Dunya being sent seventeen versts in an open cart and the ninety versts to the railway station.
What is the significance of Raskolnikov's reply "Yes, I want a fortune" to Nastasya?
This line reveals Raskolnikov's grandiose ambitions lurking beneath his squalid poverty. His firm, serious tone frightens Nastasya and foreshadows that he is contemplating drastic action to transform his circumstances.
What does Luzhin mean when he says "a wife should look upon her husband as her benefactor"?
Luzhin reveals his desire for a power imbalance in marriage: he wants a wife grateful for being rescued from poverty, ensuring her dependence and deference. This exposes his calculating, controlling nature beneath a veneer of respectability.