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Part I, Chapter 1

Raskolnikov, a broke ex-student in St. Petersburg, slips out of his cramped attic room and walks to a pawnbroker named Alyona Ivanovna to pawn a watch.

Part I, Chapter 2

In the tavern, Raskolnikov meets Marmeladov, a ruined civil servant who is drunk and eager to confess his life story to anyone who will listen.

Part I, Chapter 3

Raskolnikov wakes up in his room the next morning to find a letter from his mother, Pulcheria. She writes that his sister Dunya has left her position as a governess after being fa…

Part I, Chapter 4

Raskolnikov goes outside after reading the letter and his thoughts spiral. He sees a drunk teenage girl on the street being followed by a well-dressed man who clearly intends to t…

Part I, Chapter 5

Raskolnikov falls asleep in a park and has a vivid nightmare about a horse being beaten to death by a crowd while its owner whips it in a frenzy.

Part I, Chapter 6

Raskolnikov's backstory fills in here. We learn he once wrote a journal article arguing that extraordinary people have the right to step over moral laws if their goals are great e…

Part I, Chapter 7

Raskolnikov commits the murder. He kills Alyona with an axe, then discovers Lizaveta returning unexpectedly and kills her too.

Part II, Chapter 1

Raskolnikov wakes up the morning after the murder in a state of feverish confusion. He realizes he has not cleaned up properly and panics about evidence.

Part II, Chapter 2

Raskolnikov falls into a prolonged fever and loses several days. His friend Razumikhin finds him and takes charge of his care, bringing a doctor and staying close.

Part II, Chapter 3

Raskolnikov is well enough to receive visitors. Razumikhin brings the doctor Zosimov, and a stranger named Luzhin arrives.

Part II, Chapter 4

Raskolnikov wakes up at Razumikhin's place and finds himself cleaned up and better dressed, with his old friend having taken charge of his care.

Part II, Chapter 5

Raskolnikov goes out and ends up at a tavern where he runs into Porfiry Petrovich, the investigator handling the pawnbroker's murder case.

Part II, Chapter 6

Raskolnikov has a vivid, disturbing dream in which he relives the murder but finds he cannot kill the old woman. She laughs at him instead of dying.

Part II, Chapter 7

Raskolnikov wanders into the street and witnesses Marmeladov get run over by a carriage. He helps carry the dying man back to Katerina Ivanovna's apartment and even gives money to…

Part III, Chapter 1

Raskolnikov's mother Pulcheria and sister Dunya have arrived in St. Petersburg.

Part III, Chapter 2

Raskolnikov visits Razumikhin after his strange illness and erratic behavior, and the two men go together to see Porfiry Petrovich, the investigator handling the pawnbroker's murd…

Part III, Chapter 3

The conversation with Porfiry continues and deepens. Raskolnikov is pushed to explain his theory more fully: he argues that certain rare individuals have the moral right to step o…

Part III, Chapter 4

Raskolnikov returns home after the meeting with Porfiry and finds Sonya waiting for him. She has come at his request, and this is their first real private conversation.

Part III, Chapter 5

Raskolnikov and Sonya's conversation continues, and it becomes the emotional center of the first half of the novel. He asks her to read the story of Lazarus from the Bible, and sh…

Part III, Chapter 6

Raskolnikov is visited by a stranger named Svidrigailov, who introduces himself as the man who pursued Dunya and caused her to leave the Svidrigailov household under a cloud.

Part IV, Chapter 1

Svidrigailov shows up at Raskolnikov's apartment, introducing himself and asking for a meeting with Dunya. Raskolnikov is immediately hostile and suspicious.

Part IV, Chapter 2

Raskolnikov goes to see Razumikhin and Dunya, and the conversation turns to Luzhin's accusations against Sonya. Luzhin had claimed Sonya stole money from him, and the family is so…

Part IV, Chapter 3

The confrontation with Luzhin happens. Raskolnikov exposes Luzhin's lie about Sonya in front of his mother and Dunya, and Luzhin is humiliated and thrown out.

Part IV, Chapter 4

Raskolnikov visits Sonya. This is one of the most important chapters in the novel.

Part IV, Chapter 5

Svidrigailov has been listening through the wall during Raskolnikov and Sonya's conversation. This revelation resets the stakes immediately.

Part IV, Chapter 6

Svidrigailov corners Raskolnikov and reveals he knows about the murder. Rather than threatening him directly, he plays it cool, presenting himself as someone who simply wants to t…

Part V, Chapter 1

Luzhin, humiliated after Dunya broke off the engagement, plots his revenge. He has been staying near Sonya and decides to use her to strike back at Raskolnikov.

Part V, Chapter 2

Katerina Ivanovna, already sick and unraveling, reaches her breaking point after the scandal at the dinner. She takes her children into the street and forces them to beg and perfo…

Part V, Chapter 3

Svidrigailov steps in after Katerina's death and offers to pay for the children's care and placement in a good institution.

Part V, Chapter 4

Raskolnikov's psychological state worsens. He is increasingly unable to maintain the detachment that his theory required.

Part V, Chapter 5

Sonya receives the devastating news that Katerina Ivanovna has collapsed in the street and is dying. She rushes to her side, along with Raskolnikov and Polenka.

Part VI, Chapter 1

Raskolnikov is in a deteriorating mental state. He wanders the city feeling cut off from everyone around him, as if an invisible wall has gone up between him and ordinary life.

Part VI, Chapter 2

Porfiry visits Raskolnikov directly, without any official pretense, and the two have their most honest conversation yet.

Part VI, Chapter 3

Raskolnikov encounters Svidrigailov, and the two have a long, strange conversation. Svidrigailov is relaxed and candid in a way that unsettles Raskolnikov.

Part VI, Chapter 4

Svidrigailov lures Dunya to a private meeting under false pretenses, claiming he has information about her brother. Once she is inside his apartment, he locks the door.

Part VI, Chapter 5

Raskolnikov visits Svidrigailov again, and the two have a long, strange conversation. Svidrigailov reveals he knows about the murder and holds this knowledge over Raskolnikov, yet…

Part VI, Chapter 6

Svidrigailov lures Dunya to a private meeting under false pretenses, claiming he has information about her brother. Once she is inside his apartment, he locks the door.

Part VI, Chapter 7

Svidrigailov spends his last night alive doing a series of strange, generous things. He gives money to Sonya for Raskolnikov's family, arranges care for his young fiancée, and lea…

Part VI, Chapter 8

Raskolnikov says goodbye to his mother, though he can't tell her the truth about what he's about to do. He visits Dunya and they have a raw, honest exchange.

Epilogue, Chapter 1

Raskolnikov is sentenced to eight years of hard labor in Siberia. His mother dies before she fully understands what happened to him.

Epilogue, Chapter 2

Raskolnikov has been in Siberia for over a year, serving his sentence. He remains emotionally distant and proud, still not fully repentant.