Marfa Ignatievna Character Analysis in The Brothers Karamazov

Grigory Vasilievich’s wife. She is a fellow servant on the Karamazov property. She has submitted to her husband’s will all her life, but she pesters him “terribly” when she wants something, such as when she wants to move to Moscow and open a little shop there after the emancipation of the serfs. Her husband ignores her, and they remain with Fyodor Pavlovich.

Marfa Ignatievna Quotes in The Brothers Karamazov

The The Brothers Karamazov quotes below are all either spoken by Marfa Ignatievna or refer to Marfa Ignatievna. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

“I gathered some information: he hated his origin, was ashamed of it, and gnashed his teeth when he recalled that he was ‘descended from Stinking Lizaveta.’ He was irreverent towards the servant Grigory and his wife, who had been his childhood benefactors. He cursed Russia and laughed at her. He dreamed of going to France and remaking himself as a Frenchman. He used to talk about it often and said that he only lacked the means to do so. It seems to me that he loved no one but himself, and his respect for himself was peculiarly high [….] Considering himself (and there are facts to support it) the illegitimate son of Fyodor Pavlovich, he might very well detest his position as compared with that of his master’s legitimate children: everything goes to them […] to them all the rights, to them the inheritance, while he is just a cook.”

Related Characters: Fetyukovich (speaker), Pavel Fyodorovich Smerdyakov, Lizaveta Smerdyashchaya (“Stinking Lizaveta”), Grigory Vasilievich Kutuzov, Marfa Ignatievna, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov

Page Number and Citation: 738

Explanation and Analysis:

Fetyukovich is continuing his closing remarks. Having already worked to dissuade the jury of viewing Smerdyakov as a weakling, he is now providing the motive for the lackey’s murder of Fyodor. Fetyukovich’s remarks are an attempt to sway attention away from Dmitri as an object of evil. They are also designed to undercut Ippolit Kirillovich’s remarks about the morality of the people hinging on their capability to accurately determine the outcome of this case. Fetyukovich paints Smerdyakov as the problem and as the proper object of contempt. In Fetyukovich’s narrative, Smerdyakov is ungrateful (“irreverent toward the servant Grigory and his Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam.

Marfa Ignatievna Character Timeline in The Brothers Karamazov

The timeline below shows where the character Marfa Ignatievna appears in The Brothers Karamazov. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Ivan are living there. Three servants live in the cottage: the elderly Grigory, his wife Marfa, and Smerdyakov, who is a young man. (full context)

...“beaten badly.” Outwardly, Grigory is cold, pompous, and a man of few words. His wife, Marfa, is more intelligent than her husband but submits to him and has done so without... (full context)

Grigory and Marfa had only one baby, and it died. Grigory loves children and doesn’t conceal this sentiment.... (full context)

Two weeks after his baptism, Grigory and Marfa’s son died of thrush. For many years afterward, Grigory never mentioned his child, and Marfa... (full context)

On the day that they buried their son, Marfa awoke during the night and listened to what sounded like a woman groaning. She woke... (full context)

...servant’s cottage. He saw the newborn as a gift from his dead child. He and Marfa baptized the baby and named him Pavel Fyodorovich, which Fyodor found amusing. Grigory then invented... (full context)

Grigory and Marfa notice that, at dinner, Smerdyakov has become particularly discerning and studies his food before eating... (full context)

...his father’s house. He wonders why Fyodor didn’t want Ivan to know about this visit. Marfa Ignatievna opens the gate for Alexei (Grigory is ill and in bed in the cottage)... (full context)

...he would never tell Grigory about the signals without Fyodor’s permission. Anyway, both Grigory and Marfa Ignatievna would probably be asleep anyway. (full context)

...asks if he’ll return, because he’ll always be glad to see him. Smerdyakov, Grigory, and Marfa also come out to say goodbye. Ivan gives them each ten roubles. While Ivan sits... (full context)

...the house, Smerdyakov goes to the cellar for something and falls from the top step. Marfa hears his cry and goes to him. She sees that he hasn’t broken any bones,... (full context)

...in the small of his back. Smerdyakov “lay in the next room without moving” and Marfa Ignatievna is also still. Grigory remembers that he didn’t lock the garden gate that evening.... (full context)

...commissioner’s house, he learns that Fyodor Pavlovich really was murdered and robbed at his home. Marfa Ignatievna woke up and rushed to Smerdyakov, who was “struggling and gasping horribly.” When she... (full context)

Grigory muttered incoherently to Marfa Ignatievna. She began to scream and saw that Fyodor Pavlovich’s window was open. She called... (full context)

...that, even if Grigory were still alive, he was unconscious. The only risk was that Marfa Ignatievna might wake up. Smerdyakov went to the window again and announced that Grushenka had... (full context)

...if Grigory lived, he would be a witness against Dmitri. He began groaning to waken Marfa Ignatievna, who rose, saw that Grigory was missing, and went into the garden. Ivan asks... (full context)

Marfa Ignatievna Character Analysis

Marfa Ignatievna Quotes in The Brothers Karamazov

Part 4: Book 12, Chapter 12 Quotes

Marfa Ignatievna Character Timeline in The Brothers Karamazov