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Chapters
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The Brothers Karamazov has 61 chapters.
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Chapters61 items
A History of a Certain Family
The narrator introduces Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, a landowner whose defining trait is moral disorder. He is selfish, buffoonish, and a neglectful father.
He Gets Rid of His Eldest Son
This chapter follows what happens to Dmitri after his mother dies. Fyodor makes no effort to raise him.
The Second Marriage and the Second Family
Fyodor's second marriage produces Ivan and Alyosha. His second wife, Sofya, is a gentle, almost saintly woman who is completely unsuited to life with Fyodor.
The Third Son, Alyosha
The narrator introduces Alyosha directly and argues that he deserves to be the novel's hero despite being quiet and unassuming.
Elders
The chapter explains the institution of the elder in Russian Orthodox monasticism. An elder is a spiritual guide who takes on the sins and suffering of those who come to him.
Why Is Such a Man Alive?
Fyodor Karamazov arrives at the monastery and immediately embarrasses everyone with crude jokes and provocations. The meeting meant to resolve the dispute between Fyodor and Dmitr…
An Inappropriate Gathering
The meeting at the monastery continues to unravel. Fyodor keeps performing, Dmitri arrives late and adds tension, and the assembled group fails to accomplish anything resembling r…
The Scandal
The meeting at the monastery collapses into open scandal. Dmitri arrives in a fury over Grushenka and confronts his father directly.
The Sensualists
After the monastery disaster, Alyosha visits Katerina Ivanovna and then encounters Grushenka. The chapter pulls back to examine the three men in Grushenka's orbit: Fyodor, Dmitri,…
Both Together
Alyosha visits both Ivan and Dmitri in sequence, and the chapter shows how differently the two brothers relate to him.
One More Ruined Reputation
Alyosha arrives at the Khokhlakova house to deliver a message from Katerina Ivanovna to Grushenka. He expects to find a shameless seductress but instead meets a surprisingly warm…
The Confession of a Passionate Heart — In Verse
Alyosha visits Katerina Ivanovna and finds her in an emotionally charged state. She tells him the story of how Dmitri once saved her from disgrace by giving her money when her fat…
The Confession of a Passionate Heart — In Anecdote
The conversation at Katerina Ivanovna's continues. Ivan Karamazov is present, and the dynamic between him and Katerina becomes visible.
The Confession of a Passionate Heart — 'Heels Up'
Alyosha leaves Katerina's and runs into Dmitri, who is in a frantic, agitated state. Dmitri pulls Alyosha aside and delivers a chaotic, passionate confession about his own life.
The Schoolboys
Alyosha encounters a group of boys throwing rocks at another boy named Ilyusha. He tries to intervene and ends up getting bitten by Ilyusha, who is clearly in a state of rage and…
Smerdyakov
This chapter introduces Smerdyakov's backstory in detail. He is the illegitimate son of Fyodor Karamazov and a homeless woman called Stinking Lizaveta, raised in the Karamazov hou…
Over the Cognac
Fyodor and Ivan have a late-night conversation over drinks that turns into a revealing exchange about desire, morality, and what each man actually believes.
The Controversy
Ivan and Smerdyakov have a direct conversation in which Smerdyakov probes Ivan's beliefs and tests how far Ivan's logic actually goes.
The Grand Inquisitor
Ivan recites to Alyosha a prose poem he has composed, set in sixteenth-century Seville during the Inquisition. Christ returns and is immediately arrested by the Grand Inquisitor,…
For a While a Very Obscure One
This short chapter follows immediately after the Grand Inquisitor and shows the brothers parting. Ivan tells Alyosha that he loves life even though he cannot justify it logically,…
The Russian Monk
This chapter introduces the background and character of Elder Zosima through the eyes of Alyosha and others gathered around him.
Of the Life of the Elder Zosima
This chapter delivers Zosima's autobiography as recorded by Alyosha from memory after the elder's death. It covers Zosima's youth, his wild early life as a military officer, a due…
Conversations and Exhortations of Father Zosima
This chapter collects Zosima's teachings on love, suffering, humility, and the relationship between humans and the natural world.
Straining at Every Nerve
The narrative returns to Dmitri's frantic search for money. He is desperate to pay back Katerina's money so he can be free to pursue Grushenka without feeling like a thief.
Both Together Again
Dmitri finds Grushenka is not at her home and fears she has gone to Fyodor. He rushes to his father's house in a panic.
Mitya's Great Secret — Received with Hisses
Mitya is interrogated about the three thousand rubles he supposedly stole from Katerina. He insists he only spent half of it and kept the other half sewn into a pouch around his n…
The First and Rightful One
Grushenka is brought in for questioning. She confirms that she had summoned Mitya to Mokroye and that she chose him over her former lover, the Pole.
Delirium
Mitya is exhausted and emotionally wrecked after hours of questioning. He drifts in and out of a half-sleep and has a dream about a burned village and a starving baby.
A Hymn and a Secret
Mitya is formally charged. He accepts the charge with surprising calm and even a kind of joy.
The Corrupted One
Ivan visits Smerdyakov for the third time. Smerdyakov finally confesses that he killed Fyodor Karamazov.
Grushenka
Alyosha finally meets Grushenka, the woman both his father and Dmitri are obsessed with. He expects to find a seductress but instead encounters someone far more complicated.
A Sudden Resolution
Dmitri is in a frantic state, scrambling to find three thousand rubles so he can repay Katerina and feel free to pursue Grushenka without guilt.
Farewell to Fyodor Pavlovich
Alyosha visits his father one last time before leaving the monastery for good. Fyodor Pavlovich is in a strange mood, alternating between his usual buffoonery and something that l…
In the Dark
Dmitri is outside his father's house, watching and waiting. He is convinced Grushenka may be inside with Fyodor.
A Sudden Resolution Carried Out
Dmitri arrives at Mokroye, where Grushenka has gone to meet the Polish officer from her past. He walks in expecting a rival and a scene, but what he finds changes everything.
Mokroye
Mitya arrives at Mokroye and throws himself into a wild, desperate celebration with Grushenka, spending money freely and trying to act as if nothing is wrong.
The First Torment
The formal interrogation of Mitya begins. The prosecutor and investigator question him about his movements, the money, and his father's death.
The Second Torment
The interrogation continues and the investigators dig into the details of Mitya's night, his visit to his father's house, the pestle he carried, and the blood on his hands.
The Third Torment
The interrogation reaches its most exhausting phase. The investigators go over every detail again, looking for contradictions.
The Prosecutor Catches Mitya
This chapter focuses on the prosecutor Kirillovich's approach to the interrogation and his theory of the crime. He believes Mitya planned the murder to get money and acted on year…
The Fatal Day
This chapter covers the day everything falls apart for Ivan. He has been wrestling with guilt over his father's murder, knowing that his own departure from Skotoprigonyevsk gave S…
Smerdyakov with a Guitar
Ivan spots Smerdyakov sitting outside, playing a guitar and flirting with a young woman, looking entirely unbothered.
The First Interview with Smerdyakov
Ivan goes to see Smerdyakov properly for the first time since the murder. Smerdyakov is ill and bedridden, which changes the visual power balance somewhat, but he is still sharp.
The Second Visit to Smerdyakov
Ivan returns to Smerdyakov a second time, driven by the need to resolve what the first visit left open. Smerdyakov is more forthcoming this time, though still careful.
The Third and Last Interview with Smerdyakov
This is the chapter where Smerdyakov finally confesses. He tells Ivan plainly that he killed Fyodor Karamazov, and he produces the stolen money as proof.
The Devil — Ivan's Nightmare
Ivan, feverish and mentally unraveling, has a long hallucinatory conversation with a figure he takes to be the devil.
It Was He Who Said That
Ivan rushes to tell Alyosha what he has just learned from Smerdyakov: that Smerdyakov is confessing, at least implicitly, to the murder.
The Beginning of the Perlov Affair
The trial of Dmitri Karamazov begins. The chapter sets the scene: the packed courtroom, the atmosphere of public spectacle, and the lineup of witnesses.
The Injured Foot
Witness testimony continues. Katerina Ivanovna and Grushenka both appear, and their confrontation in the courtroom is one of the most dramatic moments in the trial.
Schoolboys
This chapter steps away from the trial entirely and returns to Kolya Krasotkin and the young boy Ilyusha, who is now dying.
Ilyusha
Ilyusha, the sick boy who had been at the center of Kolya's group of schoolboys, finally dies. Alyosha and the boys gather around his deathbed, and the grief is immediate and real.
At Father Zosima's
This chapter is actually Alyosha's speech at the stone outside Ilyusha's house, addressed to the gathered schoolboys.
The Preliminary Investigation
Dmitri is formally interrogated after his arrest at Mokroye. The investigators are methodical and Dmitri is chaotic, telling the truth in a way that sounds like lying.
The Trial Begins
The trial of Dmitri Karamazov opens and the town is packed. The prosecutor Kirillovich and the defense attorney Fetyukovich are both skilled and both have agendas beyond the facts.
Dangerous Witnesses
Key witnesses testify and several of them damage Dmitri's case badly. Katerina produces a letter Dmitri wrote in a drunken rage threatening to kill his father, which the prosecuto…
The Medical Experts and a Pound of Nuts
The trial continues with medical expert testimony about Mitya's mental state. The experts disagree sharply: some argue he was not in control of himself during the crime, while oth…
Fortune Smiles on Mitya
This chapter shifts the mood slightly. Mitya receives some unexpected support, and there are signs that public sympathy may be moving in his favor.
The Prosecutor's Speech — Sketches of Character
The prosecutor delivers a long, carefully constructed speech arguing for Mitya's guilt. He builds a psychological portrait of Mitya as a man ruled by passion and incapable of rest…
The Defense Attorney's Speech — A Stick with Two Ends
Mitya's defense attorney, Fetyukovich, delivers a speech that is in some ways even more impressive than the prosecutor's.
The Verdict
The jury finds Mitya guilty. Despite the defense's strong performance and the sympathy in the room, the verdict comes back against him.
Ilyusha's Funeral — The Speech at the Stone
Ilyusha is buried, and the boys who tormented him earlier gather to mourn him alongside his broken father Snegiryov. After the funeral, Alyosha gathers the boys at the stone where…
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