{"id":612,"date":"2023-07-18T11:36:53","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T18:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/alexander-zholkovsky\/?page_id=612"},"modified":"2024-04-09T17:32:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T00:32:12","slug":"time-money-authorship-dostoevsky","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/","title":{"rendered":"TIME, MONEY, AND AUTHORSHIP IN DOSTOEVSKY\u2019S “A GENTLE SPIRIT”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n \n
\n\n \n

<\/a>“Krotkaia.\u00a0Fantasticheskii rasskaz\u201d\u00a0<\/i>(1876), translated as \u201cThe Meek One\u201d or “A Gentle Spirit,\u201d\u00a0[1]<\/a>\u00a0is Dostoevsky\u2019s acknowledged late masterpiece. The relevant scholarship is vast, and in what follows, I am only aiming at sketching out a clearer picture of the way some of its already established\u00a0leitmotifs<\/i>\u00a0cohere\u00a0[2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. Writing and the flow of time<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two components of my title triad \u2013 time and writing — appear already on the novella\u2019s very first page, in fact, even earlier. In his prefatory note, “From the author,” Dostoevsky discusses the convention of the supposedly synchronous recording of the protagonist\u2019s narration. It is implausible but naturalized through the imaginary figure of a stenographer and a reference to a literary precedent, provided by Victor Hugo “The Last Day of a Condemned Man”:<\/p>\n

\n

Now, a few words about <\u2026>\u00a0the form of the story itself<\/i>\u00a0[3]<\/a>. Imagine a husband whose wife\u00a0only a few hours earlier<\/i>\u00a0has killed herself by jumping out a window; her body now lies on the table before him <\u2026> And so he is <\u2026>\u00a0telling the story<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> If a\u00a0stenographer<\/i>\u00a0had been able to <\u2026>\u00a0write down<\/i>\u00a0everything he said <\u2026> assumption <\u2026> that I call the\u00a0fantastic element\u00a0<\/i>of my story. Yet <\u2026> Victor Hugo <\u2026> allowed an even greater\u00a0breach of verisimilitude<\/i>\u00a0when he presumed that a man condemned to execution could (and would\u00a0have the time<\/i>) to\u00a0keep a diary<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> even in his\u00a0last hour<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> literally his\u00a0last moment<\/i>\u00a0of life. But had he not allowed\u00a0this fantastical<\/i>\u00a0element, the\u00a0work itself\u00a0<\/i><\u2026> would not have existed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Thus, the author begins by conjoining the themes of \u201ctime\u201d and \u201cwriting.\u201d Let us first focus on \u201ctime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The narrative opens with a major\u00a0temporal shift<\/i>: the outcome of the plot faces the protagonist and the reader from the start. It is after that that the chain of events leading up to it is reconstructed — gradually brought up to date. This prehistory, in its turn, contains several smaller time loops:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Before<\/i>\u00a0proposing to the heroine, the protagonist collects information about\u00a0her past<\/i>;<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Once<\/i>\u00a0they are married, she finds out about\u00a0his past<\/i>: his dishonorable discharge, poverty, receiving an inheritance, becoming a pawnbroker;<\/p>\n

–\u00a0After<\/i>\u00a0the heroine\u2019s\u00a0suicide<\/i>, the maidservant describes to the protagonist the way it happened.<\/p>\n

The suicide itself comes heralded by the catchy chapter title: “I Was Only Five Minutes Late.” This casts an ironic light on everything that had happened previously, as the protagonist had in every possible way kept relegating to the future the happy life he planned to have with the heroine. The narrative concludes with his groaning over her body in a vain hope to turn time back:<\/p>\n

\n

Oh <\u2026> if only she would open her eyes just once! For one instant, only one! If she would look at me as she did\u00a0a little while ago<\/i>\u00a0[\u0434\u0430\u0432\u0435\u0447\u0430<\/i>], when she stood before me and made a vow to be a faithful wife! Oh, in one glance she would understand it all!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The relevance of \u201ctiming\u201d is evident from the narrator-protagonist\u2019s obsession with the chronology of events and the temporal vocabulary, beginning with:<\/p>\n

\u043f\u043e\u043a\u0430 \u043e\u043d\u0430 \u0437\u0434\u0435\u0441\u044c<\/i>\u00a0(while she is here),\u00a0\u043f\u043e\u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442\u043d\u043e<\/i>\u00a0(every minute),\u00a0\u0437\u0430\u0432\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/i>\u00a0(tomorrow),\u00a0\u0443\u0436\u0435 \u0448\u0435\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0447\u0430\u0441\u043e\u0432<\/i>\u00a0(it\u2019s already six o\u2019clock)<\/div>\n

and all the way to the end:<\/p>\n

\n

\u0432\u0441\u0435\u0433\u043e \u0442\u043e\u043b\u044c\u043a\u043e \u043f\u044f\u0442\u044c \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442 \u043e\u043f\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0430\u043b<\/i>\u00a0(I was only five minutes late),\u00a0\u043c\u0433\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0435\u0441\u043b\u043e\u0441\u044c \u0431\u044b \u043c\u0438\u043c\u043e<\/i>\u00a0(the instant would have rushed by),\u00a0\u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0433\u0434\u0430 \u043f\u043e\u0442\u043e\u043c<\/i>\u00a0(never again),\u00a0\u043c\u0430\u044f\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a \u0441\u0442\u0443\u0447\u0438\u0442<\/i>\u00a0(the pendulum is ticking),\u00a0\u0434\u0432\u0430 \u0447\u0430\u0441\u0430 \u043d\u043e\u0447\u0438<\/i>\u00a0(two at night).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

To be sure, the order and duration of events are important for the delivery of any plot, but such a strong emphasis on temporal parameters is hardly accidental. The extent of their relevance will become clear if we correlate them with the narrative\u2019s other aspects, especially the financial-commercial ones.<\/p>\n

2. Money, usury, numerals, order<\/strong><\/p>\n

The financial vocabulary of \u201cGentle Spirit\u201d is no less rich that the temporal, given that what happens is largely determined by the characters\u2019 economic relationships. Remarkably, the pawnbroker\u2019s speech is saturated with numerals, which predominate even when his subject is not money, but, say, time:<\/p>\n

\n

\u0448\u0435\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0447\u0430\u0441\u043e\u0432<\/i>\u00a0(six o\u2019clock),\u00a0\u0442\u0440\u0435\u0442\u0438\u0439 \u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/i>\u00a0(third day),\u00a0\u0442\u0440\u0438 \u0433\u043e\u0434\u0430<\/i>\u00a0(three years),\u00a0\u0441\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043a \u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d \u0433\u043e\u0434<\/i>\u00a0(forty-one years),\u00a0\u043f\u044f\u0442\u044c\u0434\u0435\u0441\u044f\u0442 \u043b\u0435\u0442<\/i>\u00a0(fifty years),\u00a0\u0448\u0435\u0441\u0442\u043d\u0430\u0434\u0446\u0430\u0442\u0438\u043b\u0435\u0442\u043d\u044f\u044f<\/i>\u00a0(sixteen years old),\u00a0\u0447\u0430\u0441\u043e\u0432 \u0432 \u043f\u044f\u0442\u044c<\/i>\u00a0(at about five o\u2019clock),\u00a0\u0448\u0435\u0441\u0442\u044c \u043d\u0435\u0434\u0435\u043b\u044c<\/i>\u00a0(six weeks),\u00a0\u043f\u044f\u0442\u044c \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442<\/i>\u00a0(five minutes),\u00a0\u0434\u0432\u0435 \u043d\u0435\u0434\u0435\u043b\u0438<\/i>\u00a0(two weeks),\u00a0\u0434\u0435\u0441\u044f\u0442\u044c \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442<\/i>\u00a0(ten minutes).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Mentions of sums of money pervade the speech of the narrator\u00a0not only<\/i>\u00a0in the context of his pawn-broking activity. He scrupulously gathers and itemizes information about<\/p>\n

the fortune squandered by his brother; the inheritance he gets; his plans of accumulation of money; the heroine\u2019s expenditures on ads in newspapers; his bribes to her aunts; the purchase of a separate bed for her (“for three rubles”); the costs of the doctor and the nurse; the\u00a0\u0434\u0432\u0443\u0433\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/i>\u00a0(twenty kopeck coin) paid to the cab driver; the tickets to Boulogne; the plans of renouncing his fortune (in order \u201cto give everything away to the poor\u201d); and so on.<\/div>\n

Consistent with his accountant\u2019s mindset, the protagonist sees the world strictly in terms of figures and categories of property:<\/p>\n

\n

I suddenly asked myself whether my triumph over her was\u00a0worth two roubles<\/i>;<\/p>\n

That evening the shopkeeper came, bringing with him\u00a0a pound of sweets<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> Luker\u2019ia ran after me <\u2026> and said, breathlessly: “God will\u00a0reward<\/i>\u00a0you [\u0437\u0430\u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0442<\/i>], sir, for taking our dear young lady;<\/p>\n

You see, for instance, young people despise\u00a0money<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> the heroism of youth was charming, but —\u00a0not worth a farthing<\/i>. Why not? Because it\u00a0costs them so little<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026>\u00a0Cheap<\/i>\u00a0heroism is always easy;<\/p>\n

[S]he will\u00a0prize me ten times more<\/i>\u00a0and will abase herself in the dust and fold her hands in homage\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

At the core of this discourse is, of course, the hero\u2019s usurious nature, intent on (i) imposing exorbitant rates on the customers and (ii) charging them for the very passage of time. Both of these defining features of usury are central to the structure of the tale: the first, for developing Dostoevsky\u2019s favorite theme of a young female victimized by a wealthy older man, the second, for fusing the motifs of \u201ctime\u201d and \u201cmoney\u201d in a convincing way, based on the ready-made, stereotypical figure of the pawnbroker.<\/p>\n

A series of loan transactions between, at first, the pawnbroker and the heroine as his customer and, later, between himself as the owner, her as a generous cashier and several needy people as customers sets up the format of relationships premised on timely redemption of pawned items under the threat of transfer of ownership to the lender. In this way the story\u2019s central trope, the equation: “time = money = ownership” is emplotted. The twists of this plot involve the pawnbroker\u2019s attempts to appropriate the heroine, turning her into an object he owns, her struggle for liberation, and the dramatic transformation of the heroine\u2019s would-be owner into\u00a0her property<\/i>:<\/p>\n

\n

It ended by their [the aunts\u2019] scheming\u00a0to sell her<\/i>\u00a0[to the grocer];<\/p>\n

And above all, I\u00a0looked upon her then as mine<\/i>;<\/p>\n

I kept repeating, “do not answer me, take no notice of me, only let me watch you from my corner,\u00a0treat me as<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026>\u00a0your thing…\u00a0<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The protagonist\u2019s designs fail consistently throughout the narrative. On the “usury” level, this is the point of the “only-five-minutes-late” motif, which paradoxically inverts the standard situation of the customer\u2019s dispossession because of delayed payment. The archetypal metamorphosis of pursuer into victim takes here the shape of a fatal belatedness of the lender (rather than the borrower), resulting in his losing his most valuable possession.<\/p>\n

As a usurer type, the protagonist insists on “order” \u2013 on maintaining his stern control over words, things, money and people:<\/p>\n

\n

I will\u00a0simply<\/i>\u00a0tell it in\u00a0order<\/i>. (Order<\/i>!)<\/p>\n

I keep up a gentlemanly tone with my clients:\u00a0few words<\/i>, politeness and\u00a0severity. “Severity, severity!”\u00a0<\/i>[\u0421\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c!].
\n<\/a>
\nQuarrels began from her suddenly beginning to pay out loans on her own account, to price things above their worth <\u2026> Discovering it the same day, I spoke mildly but\u00a0firmly<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0reasonably<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> I explained\u00a0calmly<\/i>\u00a0that the money was\u00a0mine<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A graphic manifestation of the protagonist\u2019s power is the control he tries \u2013 and fails — to exercise in the territorial sphere: the heroine is forbidden to leave the house, but then rebels, first by stealing away to meet the protagonist\u2019s former fellow officer and in the end by jumping out of a window\u00a0[4]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

She laughed in my face, and\u00a0walked out of the house<\/i>. The fact is, she\u00a0had not the right to walk out of the house<\/i>. Nowhere without me, such was the agreement before she was married.<\/p>\n

\u2026she had already\u00a0appointed to see him<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026.> arranged by a <\u2026> widow of a colonel <\u2026.>. “It’s\u00a0to her<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026.> your wife\u00a0goes now<\/i>.”<\/p>\n

Efimovitch leapt up. I\u00a0took her by the hand<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0suggested she should go home with me <\u2026> I led her by the arm and she did not resist.<\/i><\/p>\n

She had got on the window and was\u00a0standing there, her full height, in the open window<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026.> holding the icon in her hand <\u2026.> She <\u2026.> took a step forward <\u2026.> and\u00a0flung herself out of window<\/i>.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Usurers appear in many of Dostoyevsky’s, but \u201cKrotkaia\u201d is the only one entirely narrated by such a character. Thus it is a unique experiment of as it were combining, in the narrator-protagonist, a Raskolnikov with an Alena Ivanovna the old moneylender.<\/p>\n

3. Metatextuality, authorship, performance, zhiznetvorchestvo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Problems of narration concern not only the author but also his main character. The narrator-protagonist\u2019s monologue is part a defendant\u2019s self-exculpating speech before the court, part an inner dialogue with himself, and part a series of metaliterary references. Let us focus on this metatextual strand of his discourse and on his corresponding \u201clife-into-art\u201d strategies (zhiznetvorchestvo<\/i>).<\/p>\n

The protagonist is clearly obsessed with aesthetic issues.<\/p>\n

\n

Gentlemen, I am far from being a\u00a0literary man<\/i>\u00a0and you will see that; but no matter,\u00a0I’ll tell it as I understand it<\/i>\u00a0myself.<\/p>\n

Have you read\u00a0Faust?\u00a0<\/i><…> You\u00a0must read<\/i>\u00a0it <…> Please don’t imagine that I’ve so little\u00a0taste<\/i>\u00a0as to try to use\u00a0Mephistopheles<\/i>\u00a0to commend myself to you and\u00a0grace<\/i>\u00a0the role of pawnbroker.<\/p>\n

I almost spoke\u00a0without words,\u00a0<\/i>and I am\u00a0masterly at speaking without words<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> I have passed through whole\u00a0tragedies <…> without words<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0wittiest author of a society comedy\u00a0<\/i>could not have created such a\u00a0scene<\/i>\u00a0of mockery, of naive\u00a0laughter<\/i>, and of the holy contempt of virtue for vice.<\/p>\n

I ‘ll cut this story [\u043a\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0438\u043d\u0443<\/i>, lit.\u00a0picture<\/i>] short.<\/p>\n

[W]hen we were\u00a0talking of reading<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> she told me, recalling\u00a0the scene of Gil Blas and the Archbishop of Granada<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> I was awfully\u00a0struck<\/i>, though, by\u00a0the story of the Archbishop<\/i>; so she had found peace of mind <\u2026> enough to\u00a0laugh<\/i>\u00a0at that literary masterpiece.<\/p>\n

Consider one thing: she did not even\u00a0leave a note<\/i>\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But the matter is not limited to mere metatextuality. The protagonist sees himself and acts as a fully blown\u00a0author<\/i>: creator of a real-life show that he composes and directs and in which he stars in a role written for himself. Dostoevsky\u2019s characters are in general quite verbal, engaged in textual activities, prone to script their own and others\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

In \u201cKrotkaia,\u201d the protagonist\u2019s authorial performance is conceived as a skillful refutation of his usurious essence. In the course of the play performed before the heroine she is supposed gradually but inexorably to understand and therefore appreciate the true merits of the protagonist. Concerned with the success of his play, he pays constant attention to the reactions of the audience, i. e. his wife.<\/p>\n

As a result, the narrative becomes a multi-layered superposition of the protagonist\u2019s playacting, the heroine\u2019s reactions and their interpretation by the protagonist. His strategy is to not spell out to her the meaning of the performance but rather to dictate covertly her would-be free reader response. By presenting her with riddles, “speaking to her without words”, he rigorously follows the mimetic principle of art: show, do not tell.<\/p>\n

However, like his other manipulative strategies, this one fails too: the heroine reads his “text” differently, not the way he intended her to, all the more so as he often bungles his role-playing. As a result, his \u201csmug author\u2019s” interest in her reactions gradually gives way to his unsuccessful “readerly” attempts to solve\u00a0her<\/i>\u00a0riddle. The poser of riddles turns into their hapless solver.<\/p>\n

\n

But by\u00a0indirect hints<\/i>, by\u00a0dropping mysterious phrases<\/i>, it appeared that it was possible to\u00a0work upon<\/i>\u00a0[lit.\u00a0<\/i>bribe] her imagination.\u2026<\/p>\n

Indeed, I\u00a0said as much<\/i>\u00a0– I\u00a0couldn’t resist saying it\u00a0<\/i>– and it sounded\u00a0stupid<\/i>, perhaps, for I\u00a0noticed<\/i>\u00a0a shade flit across her face.<\/p>\n

And her little face was so serious, so serious that even then I might have\u00a0read<\/i>\u00a0it!<\/p>\n

I was proud. I wanted her to\u00a0find out for herself, without my help<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> I wanted her to\u00a0divine of herself<\/i>\u00a0what manner of man I was and to\u00a0understand<\/i>\u00a0him!<\/p>\n

And was I a\u00a0villain<\/i>\u00a0in the pawnbroker’s shop? Did not she\u00a0see<\/i>\u00a0how I acted? Did I extort too much?<\/p>\n

[I]t was fearfully\u00a0interesting<\/i>\u00a0for me to\u00a0guess<\/i>\u00a0what she was\u00a0thinking\u00a0<\/i>about to herself then.<\/p>\n

I quickly closed my eyes and\u00a0pretended<\/i>\u00a0to be still asleep <…> [S]she certainly\u00a0might have supposed<\/i>\u00a0that I really was asleep <\u2026> But she\u00a0might guess the truth<\/i>\u00a0all the same — that thought\u00a0flashed upon my mind<\/i>\u00a0at once.<\/p>\n

[S]he\u00a0said nothing<\/i>. But\u00a0I read it all, I read it all<\/i>.<\/p>\n

It is awfully\u00a0interesting to know<\/i>: did she respect me or not? I\u00a0don’t know whether\u00a0<\/i>she despised me or not?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The protagonist, so to speak, transfers the missed duel, one that in the past led to his shameful discharge from the army, into his psychological relationship with his wife. Here the weapon is the art of communication: words, silences, mindreading, play-acting, posing and solving riddles.<\/p>\n

4. (Anti-)utopia, deferred gratification, manipulation<\/strong><\/p>\n

The motif of the \u201cunfinished duel,\u201d reminiscent of Pushkin’s “The Shot,” plays an important role in the temporal and narrative design of “Krotkaia.\u201d Revenge on society by a disgraced officer, in the guise of first ruining some of its members, and then of sadistic control over the one chosen individual, the heroine, means, by definition, postponing retaliation until a later date. Indeed, in \u201cThe Shot,” the first duel is separated from the second by “six years”, during which “not a single day passed without [Silvio\u2019s] thinking of revenge.”<\/p>\n

Such postponement of the plot\u2019s denouement sometimes delegates the organization of the narrative to one of the characters. In our story, the protagonist says: “I purposely\u00a0deferredthe climax<\/i>\u00a0[\u0440\u0430\u0437\u0432\u044f\u0437\u043a\u0443<\/i>].\u201d However, Silvio only awaits the right moment, without ever trying himself to arrange the life of his opponent in such a way as to create an opportunity for revenge. The protagonist of “Krotkaia,\u201d on the contrary, consistently manipulates the heroine. This distinguishes his aggressive\u00a0zhiznetvorchestvo<\/i>, shaped \u2013 overdetermined — by the motifs of sadomasochism, financial control, usurer\u2019s skills in dealing with deadlines, claims to authorship, and utopian plans for remaking reality.<\/p>\n

His plans are based on the temporal triad: “shameful past — disciplined present — bright future,\u201d characteristic of the capitalistic principles of primary accumulation of wealth, deferred gratification and investment of profits in production, as well as of the Marxist idea of transition from the exploitative pre-history of mankind via socialist revolution and subsequent selfless labor to a happy communist to-morrow. From the perspective of the mature Dostoevsky, both of these westernizing projects were wrong in their lethal hostility to\u00a0\u0436\u0438\u0432\u0430\u044f \u0436\u0438\u0437\u043d\u044c<\/i>, the living and breathing life as such.<\/p>\n

In \u201dKrotkaia\u201d, the utopian element is seamlessly combined with the protagonist\u2019s usurious nature: he is a man of order and procedure, good at counting time and money, accustomed to setting himself clear-cut tasks, unflinching, to the point of cruelty, in their implementation. As a result, the domestic theater he directs aims not just at an emotional seduction of the heroine, but also at her drastic and systematic re-education, carried out under the conditions of strictness, silence and repression. However, in this respect, as in others, there occurs a reversal unforeseen by the scheming protagonist: she rebels and his plans fall through. One of the ironic twists of this storyline involves the heroine\u2019s preempting and taking over, appropriating, the protagonist\u2019s famed \u201csternness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

As it was the day after her “mutiny<\/i>“, I received her\u00a0sternly<\/i>.<\/p>\n

But I poured\u00a0cold water<\/i>\u00a0upon all that at once. That was my\u00a0idea<\/i>. I met her\u00a0enthusiasm<\/i>\u00a0with\u00a0silence<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> The first thing was\u00a0sternness<\/i>. In fact <\u2026> I\u00a0framed a complete system<\/i>.<\/p>\n

She had suddenly shown herself a\u00a0mutinous, aggressive<\/i>\u00a0creature <\u2026>\u00a0regardless of decorum and eager for trouble<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0made up my mind to defer our future<\/i>\u00a0as long as possible.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0determined<\/i>\u00a0on setting up as a pawnbroker <…>: money,\u00a0then<\/i>\u00a0a home,\u00a0a new life as far as possible from memories of the past<\/i>, that was my\u00a0plan<\/i>. Nevertheless, the\u00a0gloomy past<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> fretted me every day.<\/p>\n

I needed a friend so much. But I saw clearly that the friend must be\u00a0trained, schooled<\/i>, even\u00a0conquered<\/i>.<\/p>\n

She was everything for me, all the\u00a0hope of the future<\/i>\u00a0that I cherished in my dreams! She was the one person I had been\u00a0preparing<\/i>\u00a0for myself.<\/p>\n

But suddenly there was an expression of\u00a0stern surprise\u00a0<\/i>in her eyes. Yes,\u00a0surprise and stern<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> That\u00a0sternness<\/i>, that\u00a0stern surprise shattered me<\/i>\u00a0at once.<\/p>\n

There would be\u00a0sunshine<\/i>, there\u00a0our new sunshine<\/i>,”<\u2026> I suddenly suggested to her\u00a0giving all our money to the poor<\/i>\u00a0except the three thousand <\u2026> and then we would come back and\u00a0begin a new life of real work<\/i>.<\/p>\n

[W]hy did it never once enter my head <\u2026> that she despised me? I was convinced of the contrary up to that moment when she looked at me with\u00a0stern surprise<\/i>.<\/p>\n

5. Biography: debts, usurers, deadlines, stenography<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Money was a constant problem for Dostoevsky. He was perennially in debt and often dreamed of instant enrichment. One manifestation of this was his passion for gambling. He developed his own “failsafe system,” which he repeatedly failed to follow, he could never stop gambling at the right moment, he gambled again and again, then pawned his wife\u2019s valuables, asked to be sent more money, which he in turn promptly lost. He regularly dealt with usurers and creditors, rarely repaid them on time, and the debts grew.<\/p>\n

Occasionally, Dostoevsky also tried to act if not as a lender, then at least as an owner and financial manager — vis-\u00e0-vis his relatives and the staff of his magazine. However, despite his resulting partial empathy for moneylenders, they remained for him an embodiment of evil. This perception was aggravated by his susceptibility to the mythologized anti-Semitic stereotype of \u201cthe usurer Jew.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither the protagonist of \u201dKrotkaia,\u201d a former officer and gentleman, nor\u00a0Crime and Punishment<\/i>\u2019s off-putting old moneylender, nor the title protagonist of\u00a0The Adolescent<\/i>, hatching out plans of becoming a Rothschild are Jews. However, they exude an unmistakable “Jewish” halo. Thus, Rothschild is a classic image of a Jewish banker who made it, while about Alena Ivanovna the money-lender Raskolnikov overhears that she<\/p>\n

is as rich\u00a0as a Jew<\/i>, she can give you give thousand rubles and is not above taking a pledge for a ruble <\u2026> But she is an awful old harpy <\u2026> spiteful and uncertain <\u2026> if you were only a day late with your interest the pledge was lost <\u2026> she gave a quarter of the value of an article and took five and even seven per cent. a month and so on\u2026 (Crime and Punishment<\/i>; I, 6).<\/div>\n

In Dostoevsky\u2019s\u00a0The House of the Dead<\/i>, there is a usurer who is Jewish: the author\u2019s prison companion, a slightly comic character,<\/p>\n

\n

A\u00a0Jew<\/i>\u00a0named Isaiah Bumstein was at the same time a\u00a0jeweller<\/i>\u00a0and a\u00a0usurer<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> As a matter of course, he\u00a0lent money on pledges<\/i>\u00a0to the convicts, who paid him\u00a0heavy interest<\/i>. <\u2026> He wanted nothing <\u2026> without spending all that he gained, for he\u00a0saved money<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0lent it out<\/i>\u00a0to the other convicts\u00a0at interest<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026><\/p>\n

[H]e began to examine the rags carefully <\u2026><\/p>\n

“A silver ruble! no; but I will give you seven kopecks <\u2026> With three kopecks for interest; that will make ten kopecks you will owe me,” said the\u00a0Jew<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There follows then a cartoon-like scene of the Jew\u2019s Sabbath prayer.<\/p>\n

However, as has been established by Dostoevsky scholars,<\/p>\n

Isai Bumshtein, a tradesman of Jewish origin, was of Russian Orthodox faith <\u2026> But Dostoevsky turns him into a Judaic Jew, who goes to his prayer house on Saturdays and celebrates “his Sabbath coven.” This afforded the writer an opportunity to create a lively, humorous scene with Isai Fomich performing his prayer ritual (see V. A. Tunimanov\u2019s commentary to\u00a0The House of the Dead<\/i>).<\/div>\n

The quality of Dostoevsky\u2019s humor and the degree of his anti-Semitism are, of course, debatable, but the emphasis on the ethnic stereotype of the moneylender is beyond doubt.<\/p>\n

Dostoevsky\u2019s failure to meet his debt deadlines directly affected his creative process: he had to write against the clock. As a result, his relations with creditors, money, time, deadlines and writing entwined in a painful knot. The situation became especially critical in 1866, when having signed a disadvantageous contract with the publisher F.T. Stellovsky, he had either to produce the promised novel in an extremely short time or to find himself in a sort of writer\u2019s bondage for good. The way-out turned out to be the hiring of a helpful stenographer, to whom he managed to dictate, within less than four weeks,\u00a0The Gambler<\/i>. In terms of the parameters we have been looking at, this means that to the set: “money-debt-deadlines-contracts-writing” a crucial new component must be added: \u201cstenographer.” The resulting motif cluster is clearly what underlies the author\u2019s prefatory disquisition about the lack of time and a \u201cfantastic\u201d reference to stenography.<\/p>\n

The stenographer who rescued Dostoevsky, one Anna Grigor\u2019evna Snitkina, was to become his wife and set in good order his domestic, financial and literary economy. But this would not happen at once: for quite a long time the family life was troubled by conflicts. The parallels with \u201cKrotkaia\u201d are many. In particular, compare:<\/p>\n

– Dostoevsky’s marriage proposal, preceded by his literary improvisation about a young girl and a middle-aged artist, with questions asked about Anna Grigor\u2019evna\u2019s possible reaction
\nwith<\/p>\n

the literary overtones of the matchmaking episodes in \u201cKrotkaia\u201d (in particular, the references to Faust and Margarita);<\/p>\n

– Anna Grigor\u2019evna\u2019s sympathy for Dostoevsky’s stories about his past hardships
\nwith<\/p>\n

the calculated attempts by the protagonist of \u201cKrotkaia\u201d to earn the respect of the heroine by letting her learn about his past and especially his present behavior;<\/p>\n

– the letter Dostoevsky received from a \u201cwell-wisher\u201d about the unfaithfulness of his young wife, which was written by Anna Grigor\u2019evna as a hoax and led to a real scene of jealousy,
\nwith<\/p>\n

the quasi-adultery episode involving Yefimovich in \u201cKrotkaia.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

The age difference between Dostoevsky and Anna Grigor\u2019evna was about the same as between the main characters in \u201cKrotkaia,\u201d so that the venerable author felt he was entitled to engage in educating his young wife. In fact, both women, the real and the fictional one, corresponded to Dostoevsky\u2019s favorite type of a defenseless damsel in distress subjected to the courtship\/harassment by an older male. And at first, Anna Grigor\u2019evna perceived herself, in her relationship with Dostoevsky, as a “shy girl,” while he called her\u00a0kiddie<\/i>\u00a0[\u0434\u0435\u0442\u043e\u0447\u043a\u0430<\/i>]. In \u201cKrotkaia,\u201d the protagonist talks about the heroine in almost pedophile tones:<\/p>\n

She was such a\u00a0slender<\/i>\u00a0[\u0442\u043e\u043d\u0435\u043d\u044c\u043a\u0430\u044f<\/i>],\u00a0fair little<\/i>\u00a0[\u0431\u0435\u043b\u043e\u043a\u0443\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c\u043a\u0430\u044f<\/i>] thing <\u2026>\u00a0terribly young, so young<\/i>\u00a0that she\u00a0looked just fourteen<\/i>. And yet she was within three months of sixteen.<\/div>\n

6. Biography: two verbal\u00a0leitmotifs<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to the thematic and storyline parallels between the real author and the protagonist of \u201cKrotkaia,\u201d two verbal affinities are worth noting. The narrative begins with the protagonist\u2019s words about the body of his wife that is lying on the table in front of him, and they are repeated a few more times:<\/p>\n

\n

Imagine a husband whose wife\u2019s\u00a0body lies on the table before him<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026><\/p>\n

Oh, while she\u00a0is still here<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> I go up and look at her every minute <\u2026> Now she\u00a0is on the table<\/i>\u00a0in the drawing-room <\u2026><\/p>\n

[T]he answer is\u00a0lying on the table<\/i>\u00a0and you call it a question!<\/p>\n

What does it prove that\u00a0she is lying there<\/i>\u00a0in the outer room?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

These reflections over the corpse end up directing the narrator\u2019s thoughts, involuntary and so far unconscious, towards Christ:<\/p>\n

“Men,\u00a0love one another<\/i>” – who said that? Whose\u00a0commandment<\/i>\u00a0is that? <\u2026> No, seriously, when they take her away tomorrow,\u00a0what will become of me<\/i>?\u201d<\/div>\n

Something similar is found in the diary note, written by Dostoevsky after the death of his first wife, Mariia Dmitrievna:<\/p>\n

16 April [1864].\u041casha\u00a0is lying on the table. Will I see<\/i>\u00a0Masha\u00a0again?<\/i><\/p>\n

To love another as oneself, according to Christ\u2019s commandment, is impossible <\u2026>\u00a0The \u201cI\u201d is an obstacle\u201d\u00a0<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Another\u00a0leitmotif<\/i>\u00a0line of \u201cKrotkaia\u201d is the much quoted \u201cI was only five minutes late.\u201d In Dostoevsky\u2019s own life, it calls to mind not only his missing repeatedly (as debtor and as writer) the various deadlines, but also the words he had to hear from the lips of his unfaithful beloved, the\u00a0femme fatale<\/i>\u00a0Apollinariia Suslova:<\/p>\n

She stabs [or reproaches,\u00a0\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0435\u0442<\/i>] me with <\u2026> my not having been worthy of her love <\u2026> and she herself meets me in 1863 in Paris with the words: “You came\u00a0a little late”<\/i>\u00a0<\u2026> whereas\u00a0two weeks ago<\/i>\u00a0she still hotly wrote that she loved me. It is not for the love of another that I reproach her, but for these four lines <\u2026> “You came\u00a0a little late<\/i>.”<\/div>\n

As we can see, the two sentences that frame the death of the heroine of \u201cKrotkaia,\u201d go back to two dramatic moments in Dostoevsky\u2019s relations with the women he loved.<\/p>\n

***<\/h3>\n

<\/a>
\nIn the above, I proposed to highlight some of the key motifs of \u201cKrotkaia\u201d — temporal, financial, anti-utopian, meta-narrative,\u00a0zhiznetvorcheskii<\/i>, autobiographical \u2013 and trace their ingenious linkages. I hope this will prove helpful in elucidating the artistic secrets of Dostoevsky\u2019s novella and, in particular, the enigma of its successfully drawn main character, so utterly repulsive and yet so understandable and identifiable with.<\/p>\n

[1].<\/a>\u00a0In quoting, I rely, with emendations, on the Constance Garnett version, \u201cA Gentle Spirit.\u00a0A Fantastic Story\u201d\u00a0<\/i>, available online at http:\/\/fiction.eserver.org\/novels\/a_gentle_spirit.html.<\/p>\n

[2].<\/a>\u00a0For the purposes of this paper two studies stand out:
\nMochizuki, Tetsuo 2000<\/i>. The Pendulum is Swinging Insensibly and Disgustingly: Time in \u00abKrotkaia\u00bb \/\/ Dostoevsky Studies (New Series), 4 (2000): 71-82;
\nM\u00f8rch, Audun J.\u00a0<\/i>1997. Dostoevskii’s\u00a0Krotkaia<\/i>: A Sacrificial Suicide Celebrating Creativity: Essays in Honour of Jostein B\u00f8rtnes \/ Eds. Knut Andreas Grimstad & Ingunn Lunde. Bergen: University of Bergen, 1997. P. 227-236.
\nFor detailed references see the full Russian version of this paper:
\n\u0416\u043e\u043b\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0410. \u041a.\u00a0<\/i>\u0412\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f, \u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c\u0433\u0438 \u0438 \u0441\u0435\u043a\u0440\u0435\u0442\u044b \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430 \u0432 \u00ab\u041a\u0440\u043e\u0442\u043a\u043e\u0439\u00bb \u0414\u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0435\u0432\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e \/\/\u00a0Toronto Slavic Quarterly (TSQ)\u00a0<\/i>, 40: 23-56.<\/p>\n

[3].<\/a>\u00a0The italics in quotations are mine. \u2013\u00a0A. Z.<\/i><\/p>\n

[4].<\/a>\u00a0As far as territorial boundaries and their crossing are concerned, \u201dKrotkaia\u201d offers relevant parallels to Shakespeare\u2019s\u00a0The Merchant of Venice<\/i>, a classic instance of the \u201cusury\u201d topos; this is a vast topic, in part touched upon in the full version of this paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":355,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-612","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTIME, MONEY, AND AUTHORSHIP IN DOSTOEVSKY\u2019S "A GENTLE SPIRIT" - Alexander Zholkovsky<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TIME, MONEY, AND AUTHORSHIP IN DOSTOEVSKY\u2019S "A GENTLE SPIRIT" - Alexander Zholkovsky\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alexander Zholkovsky\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-10T00:32:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\\\/\",\"name\":\"TIME, MONEY, AND AUTHORSHIP IN DOSTOEVSKY\u2019S \\\"A GENTLE SPIRIT\\\" - Alexander Zholkovsky\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-18T18:36:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-10T00:32:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TIME, MONEY, AND AUTHORSHIP IN DOSTOEVSKY\u2019S “A GENTLE SPIRIT”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/\",\"name\":\"Alexander Zholkovsky\",\"description\":\"USC Dornsife Alexander Zholkovsky Professional Site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/alexander-zholkovsky\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TIME, MONEY, AND AUTHORSHIP IN DOSTOEVSKY\u2019S \"A GENTLE SPIRIT\" - Alexander Zholkovsky","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TIME, MONEY, AND AUTHORSHIP IN DOSTOEVSKY\u2019S \"A GENTLE SPIRIT\" - Alexander Zholkovsky","og_url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/","og_site_name":"Alexander Zholkovsky","article_modified_time":"2024-04-10T00:32:12+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/","name":"TIME, MONEY, AND AUTHORSHIP IN DOSTOEVSKY\u2019S \"A GENTLE SPIRIT\" - Alexander Zholkovsky","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-07-18T18:36:53+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-10T00:32:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/time-money-authorship-dostoevsky\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TIME, MONEY, AND AUTHORSHIP IN DOSTOEVSKY\u2019S “A GENTLE SPIRIT”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/","name":"Alexander Zholkovsky","description":"USC Dornsife Alexander Zholkovsky Professional Site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10359,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/612\/revisions\/10359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/alexander-zholkovsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}