One of the most infuriating things about this novel was seeing Katerina Ivanovna try to remain with Mitya despite the latter's constant disrespect to her. The mere fact that he chose Grushenka over her should have given Katerina enough reason to go immediately to the public procurator with Mitya's "mathematically" incriminating letter. But instead she waited until Ivan's reputation was in jeopardy to finally cut ties with "that monster and murderer" (881).
This woman's silly mind games puts her at number 2 on my list of exasperating and obnoxious characters (Mrs. Khokhlakova, of course, occupies the number 1 spot). But I cannot understand just what she was thinking! Obviously, her affections proved more loyal to Ivan, or else she would not have condemned Mitya to save him. But why bother protecting Mitya in the first place? She claims that she "wanted to save him, because he hated me so much and despised me so much" (880). Is Katerina a masochist who enjoys be tormented, or does she feel that being a victim gives her some form of moral superiority, the way Christ was spit on by the crowd? Perhaps she wanted Mitya to feel that he owed her one.
Remember her earlier monologue in the "Crack-up in the Drawing Room" chapter. It was here that Katerina announced her plan to "shadow him relentlessly" until he became disillusioned with Grushenka and crawled back to her. "I shall be his god, to whom he will say his prayers....And may he perceive all his life that I shall be faithful to him and to the promise I gave him, even though he was unfaithful and false to me." (248) In other words, it was Katya's intention to kill Mitya with kindness.
When she took his money and bowed to him, Katerina was humiliated by Dmitry's charity. Like Snape who was saved from werewolf/Lupin by his archenemy James, she hated being in his debt. And after Grushenka reminded her of her debt to Mitya, she resolved to place Mitya in an equally inferior position by turning the other cheek and giving him her cloak in addition to her tunic. Some think that Christ's admonition against revenge is an invitation to be weak, but when it is directed towards a person who truly feels regret, it can be a very painful revenge. Nothing hurts a remorseful criminal worse than being forgiven by someone who has every right to hate him. In Katerina's mind, Mitya would have to live his life out knowing that he owed his salvation to her silence, and that would be enough for her - to have him spend everyday silently praising the goddess who delivered him from his just death.
Movie: When reading the book, I did not envision it snowing; but then again it is Russia.I remember Isham telling us that when he was translating a novel, Dostoevsky had to change the amount of snow being described, because what would seem like much snow in the author's native country would seem like a slight frost to a Russian.
And about the miniseries, did you notice that as Dmitry is being led to the prison, Katerina is standing with Ivan and Grushenka with Alyosha? What does this symbolize? Grushenka and Alyosha both believe in Mitya's innocence, but then again so does Ivan. Do you think that Ivan's close encounter with Mitya is meant to be taken as a subtle apology for having uttered the philosophical theory which (according to Smerdyakov) placed his brother in the situation he is in?
If Mrs. Khokhlakova is on your list of exasperating characters, I wonder where you would place Lise. I feel that she is a sort of combination of her mother and Katerina. From her mother she gets her craziness and from Katerina she has the weird love scheme going on with Alyosha (as Katerina goes back and forth with her feelings towards Mitya).
ReplyDeleteNice Harry Potter reference. I don't think the postition of Grushenka and Katerina in the movie meant much other than I think Katerina ends up with Ivan. As for Katerina in the novel, I just think she is that self-sacrificing sort as she demonstrated by offering herself to Dmitry for the money to save her father. Maybe she thinks she still owes him for that act of kindness. I do think she needs to give up any romantic ideas with him though.
ReplyDeletePulling in another famous book series. In the Hunger Games, the main character Katniss feels a guilt to Peeta over the gift of two loafs of bread which saved her family from starvation. Katerina could feel something similar. Dmitry in giving her the money created a debt of gratitude she would be hard pressed to repay.
DeleteYeah! I think Lise is the most exasperating character, but when she leaves the "screen" I tend--blessedly--to forget about her existence. I completely agree with what you say in your blog about Katerina, Graham. I find her obsequious attitude completely infuriating!!!!! Now, I understand that her thoughts are modeled off of a semi-Christian ideal of constant unconditional love, but I'm wondering if they really are Christian at all. She says she wants to be Dmitry's God. Does that sound very humble to you? I think she's acting the slave in order to have Mitya come back to her and then he will be her slave for the rest of her life--a selfish kind of devotion. This to me is intersting given that Mitya claims to be Grushenka's slave. Without a doubt there is some serious psychological manipulation going on here and Katya's moves are not innocent.
ReplyDeleteUpon reflecting on Katerina's first testimony, I believe that she is doing as she expressed during the crack-up in the drawing room chapter. I think she is determined, even at this point, to be the one to save Mitya. Perhaps she believes that if she is the one to save him, he will come back to her. I think a little bit of her wants to come out the winner, and that means not only having Mitya in her debt, but also to triumph over Grushenka, and have Mitya come back to her, realizing that she alone can be his savior. I believe her actions are not Christian at all, but purely selfish.
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