The Brothers Karamazov Characters

The superior of the hermitage. He is “not yet a very old man.” He is uneducated and “of humble origin,” but “firm in spirit, with inviolable and simple faith.” He has a stern appearance and often conceals his tender-heartedness, as though he is ashamed of it.

The priest with whom Lyagavy was living before moving on to Sukhoy Possyolok for another timber deal. Father Ilyinsky takes Dmitri Fyodorovich to meet with Lyagavy at his new location.

The deputy commissioner who drives Dmitri Fyodorovich into town to his prison cell. He is described as “a squat, thickset man with a flabby face.”

Grushenka’s maid. When Dmitri Fyodorovich enters her home in a frenzy, looking for Grushenka, Fenya begs for her mistress’s life, worried that he may kill her. It is her pestle that Dmitri seizes before leaving her cottage to go meet with Perkhotin.

A landowner around sixty years of age, who is also called “Maximushka.” He becomes homeless, as well as “obviously ill and weak,” and ends up living with Grushenka at the widow Morozov’s house.

A clergyman who “intensely disliked Father Zosima.” He rarely leaves his little wooden cell in the apiary and does not go to church “for long stretches of time.”

Anna Fyodorovna Krasotkin’s maid. She is overweight, pockmarked, and around forty years old. She and Kolya Krasotkin have a contentious relationship and they often exchange insults.

Often referred to as “Mrs. Krasotkin,” Anna is a widow who rents out rooms in her house to a doctor’s wife and the woman’s two children, Kostya and Nastya. She is the mother of Kolya Krasotkin.

The son of the doctor’s wife and the younger brother of Nastya. He is seven years old.

The daughter of the doctor’s wife and the older sister of Kostya. She is eight years old.

One of the group of boys who threw stones at Ilyusha in Alexei Fyodorovich’s presence. He is the ruddy-cheeked eleven-year-old son of a well-to-do official and a friend of Kolya Krasotkin, though his father forbids him to associate with Kolya.

Dmitri Fyodorovich’s coachman. He handles a troika, or trio, of horses that takes Dmitri to Mokroye in pursuit of Grushenka.

A hieromonk and the librarian at the monastery.

Known as “the silent and learned hieromonk,” Father Paissy wants the government to be subordinate to the Orthodox Church. He becomes Alexei’s new elder after Zosima dies.

A “tall, lean, but still vigorous old man.” He is “dark-haired with much gray” and has “a long, pious, and important face.” He invites the Karamazovs, Pyotr Alexandrovich Miusov, and Pyotr Fomich Kalganov to dine with him in his apartment at the monastery.

The prosecutor who participates, along with Ippolit Kirillovich, in the interrogation of Dmitri Fyodorovich. He came from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in St. Petersburg two months before working on the Karamazov case. He is described as a “short young man in spectacles.”

The young district doctor from Moscow. He completed his studies at the Petersburg Medical Academy. He is critical of Dr. Herzenstube’s competence as a doctor.

The justice of the peace in the town of Skotoprigonyevsk.

Captain Snegiryov’s wife and the mother of Ilyusha, Nina Nikolaevna, and Varvara Nikolaevna. She is a simple, “half-witted” woman but also light-hearted and easily amused.

Also called “Ninochka,” Nina is Snegiryov and Arina’s daughter, and Ilyusha and Varvara’s sister. She is crippled with a hunchback and is described as quiet and meek.

Snegiryov and Arina’s daughter, and Ilyusha and Nina’s sister. She is an educated young woman who eventually returns to her university in St. Petersburg.