Patrick Yang

Eldridge

AP Language and Composition

19 May 2021

Svidrigailov and Nihilism

Russia in the early and mid nineteenth century was in a constant state of turmoil. Rapid

industrialization led to increasing wealth disparity, leaving many to live on the edge of

subsistence. Wars with other European nations impeded badly-needed internal reform. Political

tensions soared after many new philosophies emerged and spread but conflicted with the Russian

Orthodox Church, which had systemic control over the government. Some of these philosophies

were utilitarianism, Marxism, and especially nihilism. As nihilism gained traction with the

Russian people, society began to stray away from the Russian Orthodox Church as the teachings

of nihilism defy the teachings of the church. Nihilism deems life as meaningless and rejects all

moral principles while many essential teachings of Orthodox Christianity are built on living a life

centered on God and Christian morality. The effect of these rising and conflicting philosophies

against the church influenced Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. To examine the extent of

this influence, a character's motive and reason must be distinguished. Dr. Fredric Wertham best

explained the difference between the two as: “Reason is the conscious explanation a man makes

for himself or an outsider before, during and after a deed” while, “Motive is the real driving

force which is at least partly unconscious and which can be understood only as a part of a

continually developing process” (Beebe 594). These definitions can be used to analyze the

actions of Arkady Svidrigailov in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Arkady

Svidrigailov represents the popularization of Nihilism in Russia through his lack of morality.
Throughout the novel, Svidrigailov commits atrocity after atrocity. Whether it's being unfaithful

to his wife, exploiting the weak and poor, or molesting children; he will do anything to fulfill his

sexual desires. When analyzing Svidrigailov’s suicide through a cultural lens, nihilistic

influences are seen in both his reason and motive; while his suicide was a seemingly result of

Dunya’s rejection, the crippling realization of his own depravity, coupled with his self disgust,

all drive him towards the events of taking his own life

By committing adultery and raping those in a vulnerable position, Svidrigailov

establishes himself as a nihilist. His adultery is openly made clear as he explains his relationship

with his wife in a conversation with Raskolnikov. “After many tears an unwritten contract was

drawn up between us: first, that I would never leave Marfa Petrovna and would always be her

husband; secondly, that I would never absent myself without her permission; thirdly, that I would

never set up a permanent mistress; fourthly, in return for this, Marfa Petrovna gave me a free

hand with the maidservants, but only with her secret knowledge; fifthly, God forbid my falling in

love with a woman of our class; sixthly, in case I—which God forbid—should be visited by a

great serious passion I was bound to reveal it to Marfa Petrovna” (Dostoevsky 1144). Through

Svidrigailov’s shameless explanation of his adultery, he exhibits a complete lack of morality as

he does not feel remorse for any of his actions. Svidrigailov has countless extramarital affairs

while one of the Ten Commandments prohibits adultery, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”

(Exodus 20:14). The Ten Commandments are one of, if not the most important rules in

Christianity and by blatantly disregarding them, Svidrigailov demonstrates the lack of power the

church has over him. Svidrigailov’s lack of morality and defiance of the church prove his

nihilism. Nihilists have no moral obligations due to their belief that life is meaningless which

perfectly describes Svidrigailov’s behavior as he does whatever he wants without any internal
conflict or guilt. Another example that more clearly demonstrates Svidrigailov’s nihilistic

behavior is when he rapes a mute and deaf teenager which quickly leads to her suicide: “ One

day the girl was found hanging in the garret. At the inquest the verdict was suicide. After the

usual proceedings the matter ended, but, later on, information was given that the child had been...

cruelly outraged by Svidrigaïlov” (Dostoevsky 729). While the crime itself already demonstrates

Svidrigailov's lack of morality, his remorselessness truly depicts his nihilism. Other characters,

such as Raskolnikov, have also committed heinous acts as Raskolnikov committed a double

homicide. However Raskolnikov differs from him in that he is driven to the edge of insanity by

guilt and suffers countless internal conflicts while Svidrigailov has no second thought and

continues to attempt to sexually coerce others, including Dunya. While Svidrigailov’s nihilism

benefits now as he can fulfill his sexual desires, his nihilistic behaviors would prove to be

extremely detrimental to his pursuit of Dunya.

Because of his desire for Dunya, Svidrigailov’s reason for committing suicide was

Dunya’s final rejection. Svidrigailov, a married man, makes countless advances for Dunya

throughout the novel. However, Dunya is a woman of strong faith and morals which leads her to

constantly reject him. Her unwillingness to take part in any adultery or sin can be seen in a letter

by Dunya’s mom, “In this letter she reproached him, in the most ardent manner and with the

fullest indignation, precisely for his ignoble behavior with respect to Marfa Petrovna, reminding

him that he was a father and family man, and, finally, that it was vile on his part to torment and

make unhappy a girl who was already unhappy and defenseless as it was” (Dostoevsky 69).

Dunya understands how immoral Svidrigailov’s actions are and refuses to take part in any of

those actions as that would make her immoral too. Dunya stands firm with her beliefs and even

publicly exposes him even though she works for him thus putting her livelihood at risk, showing
her moral character. By publicly exposing the truth about Svidrigailov, Dunya hopes to shame

Svidrigailov to change his actions and help him live a more ethical life. Even though

Svidrigailov constantly harrasses Dunya, she still wants to help him improve as a person.

Unfortunately, rather than changing his ways, Svidrigailov continues with his immoral pursuit of

Dunya. He offers her money at first which doesn’t work as a woman with Dunya’s principles

does not hold much value to money relationship-wise. Dunya’s principles lead her to constantly

reject him yet it only intensifies Svidrigailov’s desire for Dunya. Svidrigailov becomes

increasingly desperate as he resorts to blackmail and even threatening to rape her. He is so

desperate for Dunya as his love for her is the only thing humanizing him. However when all his

attempts inevitably failed, Svidrigailov realized he could never be with Dunya in a conversation

between the two, “‘Then you don’t love me?’ he asked softly. Dounia shook her head. ‘And...

and you can’t? Never?’ he whispered in despair. ‘Never!’” (Dostoevsky 1201). Svidrigailov is

used to getting everything he desired. As a wealthy male in the late 1800s in Russia, he is at the

absolute top of the social hierarchy. It was common practice for men to use women to fulfill their

desires as Russia at the time was a very patriarchal society. Coupled with his wealth,

Svidrigailov could fulfill any of sexual desires as he also could financially coerce his victims due

to many of them depending on Svidrigailov for survival due to the huge wealth disparity gap

created by the Czar and Russian Empire. When Svidrigalov finally can't get what he desires,

Dunya’s companionship, he is lost on what to do as all his usual methods of coercion fail. In the

past, Svidrigailov would take whatever he wanted with ease, but he could never coerce Dunya

which leads him to obsess over what he doesn’t have. Not being able to stand not fulfilling his

strongest desire he has ever had, he commits suicide. However failing to obtain Dunya’s love
was the mere reason for his suicide, Dunya’s final rejection led to him to realize the state of his

depravity.

Through Dunya's rejection, Svidrigailov is forced to acknowledge his own destructive

depravity, which becomes the driving, emotional motive of his suicide. After Dunya’s final

rejection, Svidrigailov solemnly evaluates his life. “Svidrigaïlov remained three minutes standing

at the window. At last he slowly turned, looked about him and passed his hand over his forehead.

A strange smile contorted his face, a pitiful, sad, weak smile, a smile of despair” (Dostoevsky

1203). From previous interactions, Svidrigailov regards Dunya as representing the virtuous parts

of society. She sacrifices herself by arranging a marriage with the despicable Luzhin to

financially aid her family, rejects offers of adultery offered by Svidrigailov, and refuses to kill

him even after he attempts to rape her. His love for Dunya represents his last hope of achieving a

moral life due to his high regard for her. But once Svidrigailov understands he will never have a

relationship with Dunya, he realizes his depravity has gone to the point of no return and that he

will never be able to achieve a moral life. Later that night, Svidrigailov has nightmares of victims

of his past moral transgressions spurred by Dunya’s rejection. In this specific episode, he dreams

of a little girl he raped, “Her lips parted in a smile. The corners of her mouth quivered, as though

she were trying to control them. But now she quite gave up all effort, now it was a grin, a broad

grin; there was something shameless, provocative in that quite unchildish face; it was depravity,

it was the face of a harlot, the shameless face of a French harlot. Now both eyes opened wide;

they turned a glowing, shameless glance upon him; they laughed, invited him.... There was

something infinitely hideous and shocking in that laugh, in those eyes, in such nastiness in the

face of a child. ‘What, at five years old?’ Svidrigaïlov muttered in genuine horror. ‘What does it

mean?’ And now she turned to him, her little face all aglow, holding out her arms.... ‘Accursed
child!’ Svidrigaïlov cried, raising his hand to strike her, but at that moment he woke up”

(Dostoevsky 1232). Svidrigailov is sickened by the depravity in the girl as he even tries to hit the

little girl. However, the anger is not actually directed at the girl, it’s directed at himself.

Svidrigailov has a deep sense of self-hatred as he is the reason the girl is depraved. He realizes

everyone he touches loses innocence and falls into the depth of depravity. Svidrigailov realises

he cannot have Dunya simply because of her rejection but also because if he forcefully asserted

himself on her like with his other victims, he would drive her to the depths of depravity which he

couldn’t bear. Even he becomes horrified at his own actions after a lifetime of willingly ignoring

the consequences of his actions. Svidrigailov has long delayed the guilt of his own actions

because of his self absorption but he is no longer able to deceive himself after a chain of events

led by Dunya’s rejection. Due to the nihilistic movement that Russia underwent in the late 19th

century, Svidrigailov became heavily influenced by nihilistic ideals. This explains his

exploitation of others, especially young girls, as he believes nothing truly matters so he just

follows his impulses, no matter how disgusting. The reason for his self absorption is because of

nihilism. Nihilistic influences in Russia caused Svidrigailov to lack empathy which led him to

become so depraved. After living this nihilistic lifestyle for countless years, Svidrigailov realizes

no matter how hard he tries, he will always fall back to his nihilistic tendencies. Svidrigailov

knows he is too weak to resolve his depravity by himself, but thinks being with Dunya will

satiate his desires and finally give him purpose. Unfortunately for him, Dunya will never love

him, leaving the only other way to rid his depravity as suicide.

Throughout most of the novel, Svidrigailov is described as a self-centered sensualist and

rightfully so. He is the human representation of nihilism. However, Dostoevsky shows even the

most depraved beings cannot sustain a nihilist lifestyle. Once Svidrigailov realized his chance of
escaping his nihistic desires was hopeless, he committed suicide. While heartbreak appeared to

be the cause of Svidrigailov’s suicide, his depravity from nihilistic influences was the true

motive.
 Works Cited

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Norton, 1989. 592-603. Print.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, et al. Crime and Punishment. Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.

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link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11212-019-09319-4.

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