Crime and Punishment | Teaching Key Figures

Character Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major characters in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Characters

Pulkheria Aleksandrovna - She is forty-three years old, but her face "still retains traces of her former beauty." When she meets Raskolnikov for the first time in three years, she is deeply concerned about him.

Dunechka - See Dunya Avdotya Romanovna

Alyona Ivanovna - In Raskolnikov's eyes she is a suspicious, miserly old woman who preys on unfortunate people who are forced to pawn their few possessions. Raskolnikov reasons that she is a "vile, harmful louse" who is no good to anyone and who only causes pain and suffering to others.

Katerina Ivanovna...
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