The Idiot Study Guide

In a third class carriage from Warsaw to St. Petersburg, three men partake in a lively discussion. One of the men is Prince Myshkin. He is in his early twenties and so honest and open, he comes across as an innocent. He tells his two companions, Rogozhin and Lebedev, he suffers from epilepsy and has spent the last few years in a hospital in Switzerland. The other two men laugh at his openness, but Myshkin takes no offense and laughs along with them. As the conversation continues, Myshkin mentions that he is a Prince. The statement raises the interest of Lebedev, who has heard of the Myshkin family. Myshkin says he is the one of the last remaining, and he is going to Russia to find Madame Yephanchin, a distant relation. (read more)