Every Woman Loves a Nihilist: Stavrogin and Women in Dostoevsky's "The Possessed"

Author(s): Nina Pelikan Straus

Source: NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Spring, 1994), pp. 271-286
Published by: Duke University Press
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EveryWomanLovesa Nihilist:Stavrogin
and Womenin Dostoevsky's
The Possessed
NINA PELIKAN STRAUS
Dostoevsky'stitle(Besy),translatedThe Possessedor TheDevils,suggeststhat
idetheinhabitants
ofSkvoresniki
are "possessed"by a modernrevolutionary
ology dedicated to violence and separatism fromordinary community.
Dostoevsky'sattitudetowardsmodernsocial problems,to his characters'discussionsof "theincidenceof robberyand violence... doubled" (326), to the
to "the
"unrestrained
attitude[that]was the fashion"(303), and particularly
conserwoman question,"is frequently
read as evidence of his Slavophile
vatism.Yet, as the philosopherCharles Taylorhas recentlynoted,what is
with
about ThePossessed"is theway in whichthemodernidentity,
significant
in Dostoevsky'svision,even
its transforming
powers,has becomeincorporated
whilehe opposes it" (452).
feminism
In what sense is Dostoevsky'spolemicagainstsocialist/terrorist
and whatis thatpolemic'ssubtext?Whatdoes theauthormeanby
modernist,
surroundinghis nihilistheroStavroginwithseveralwomenwithwhomhe is
and who successively
exposehis weakness?A womanreading
sexuallyintimate
the textin 1995may seek different
answersto thisquestionthan the mostly
male traditional
The traditionnow includesan incorporaoffers.
commentary
tionof Bahktinian
thatDostoevsky'spolemicagainstmodthe
notion
poetics:
ernistwomenis disturbed,
and confusedby a "double-voiceddisundermined,
course"and "hiddenpolemic"(Problems
196).Does thispolyphonyeffectsymof themasfor
the
forces
and
an
satirized
exposure,throughStavrogin,
pathy
culinisttyrannyfromwhich feminismsprings?1ThePossessedsuggestshow
how in writingagainstit
deeplythequestionofwomendisturbedDostoevsky,
in theonce suppressedchaphe would be compelledto exploreit,particularly
ter, "At Tikhon's," in which Stavroginconfesses to his rape of the girl
Matryosha.Dostoevsky'sassociationof violence with demonic possession,
coded as the "great physical strength"of Stavrogin(44) and the phallic
tongue"(172),inscribesbiblicalallusions
"flickering
tip of [Verkhovensky's]
that,whilelosingonlysome of theiroriginalforce,can now be re-contextualized withina late twentieth-century
readinghorizonof modernist/feminist
beween
and
of
culture.Surprisingintersections
masculinist
questions
critiques
to
references
the
and
from
feminism
novel's
emerge
Dostoevsky
contemporary
Dostoevksy's affairwith the feministAppolinaria Suslova, the factthat feministwords were the air he breathed and the
evidence that a perverse, willful revisionism might be an important part of his own writing tendency, indicate that
"
Dostoevsky's relationto "the feminine was anythingbut simple. Female heroismduring the Crimean war had persuaded
him that women deserved "full equality of rightswith the male in the fields of education, professions,tenure of office,she
in whom at present we place all our hopes ... Of her own accord, she strode over those steps which until now had set the
limitto her rights. She has proved what heightsshe can ascend, and what she is able to achieve" (Diary ofa MWiter,
846).

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272

NOVEL

SPRING1994

theabuse and rape of girls(224-25),"the[terrible]

lot of theRussianwoman"
relationswithfemi(285), and "women'srights"(25). The novelist'sdifficult
nists (particularlyA. Suslova),informedby his readingof Chernyshevsky,
leave deep tracesin Dostoevsky'sdiscourse-so deep,on occasion,thatfemale
voices and gesturesmay occasionally"shout down the author,"as Jacques
Catteausuggests(3): particularly
in Besy.
theauthor'sgossipynarrator
This essay glancesbrieflyat thequestionof whether1860sRussiansocialnihilistwomencan be profitably
comparedwithone strandofU.S. femaleterrorismthatarose in anti-establishment
groupsof the 1960s-groupslike the
Weathermenand Charles Manson's. Manson's orderingof the Tate and
LaBianca murders,like Stavrogin'sorderingof the Lebyatkins'deaths,involvesa masculinistcomplexand a perverse"Nietzschean"self-identification.
Attheend ofthisessay,I willsuggestsomeconnections
betweentheconstruction
of femininity
in ThePossessed's
and Manson's"family,"
based on Manson'sremark that"women ... were only a reflectionof theirmen, ... an accumulationof

all themen[they]had beenclose to."2

In recentre-theorizings
of Dostoevsky'sdiscourse,the traditional
idea that
of a
idea
women
"mirror"
the
the
hero
is
transformed
Dostoevsky's
by
ofalterity"
"structure
and theargumentthatDostoevsky's"narrator
rejectsan
essentialistconceptionof man and an objectivevision of ideas." Tzvetan
Todorovarguesthat"we haveto transcend
theidea oftheautonomoustextseen
as an authenticexpressionofa subject,ratherthanas a reflection
ofothertexts,
as play among interlocutors"(89). In The Possessed,one of these textsis
Chernyshevsky'sand some of these interlocutorsare women. Following
Todorov'snotionthatin NotesfromUnderground
Lisa "rejectsboththemaster's
role and the slave's" (90), we become aware that Liza Tushina, Maria
Lebyatkina,and Matryoshaattemptto free themselvesof possession by
Stavrogin's masculinistpower. Rather than reflectingStavroginhimself,
womenreflect
bitsof new consciousness,
tracesofalienviewswhichStavrogin
mustpainfully
confront.'
The challengeofre-reading
to crueltiesexperienced
Dostoevsky'sreferences
females
in
men
the
novel-to
and
murder-involvesa
by
through
beating,rape,
resistanceto reducingthemto symptoms
viewsor
of Dostoevsky'sessentialist
his pornographicand misogynist
As
Louis
tended
to
do.
as
Freud
impulses,
to
as
central
of
the
maternal
are
Bregernotes,Dostoevsky'sdepictions
complex
his fictionas his oedipal and parricide themes. Dostoevsky's maternal
metaphorsare associatedwiththe idea of the femininecomponentsof faith,
withearthand Russiaas a mother,
and withJesusas themother'sson incorpoof
traits
and compassionatelove oftenassociself-sacrifice,
rating
suffering,
ated with femininity.
This sentimental,
and as ElizabethDalton notes,dis2
3

Vincent Bugliosi, in HelterSkelter,quotes these remarksof Manson's along with his Nietzschean belief in "the masterrace"
and in the necessityof surroundingthe StrongMan withwomen lovers (225).
Dostoevsky's letterfrom1865 (see SelectedLtters, 212-131indicates that Apollonaria Suslova's fierycriticismsof him had
their effect.These criticismswere related to her feministideas in regard to sex (she found Dostoevsky an inadequate
lover), and to marriage(he treatedSuslova like a bourgeois mistressand refusedto divorce). Dostoevsky's interactionwith
socialist feminismresonates throughouthis work. See Nina Pelikan Straus's Dostoevskyand the WomanQuestion:Rereadings
at theEnd ofa Century(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994).

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NINAPELIKANSTRAUS I STAVROGIN'SREVISIONISTWOMEN

273

nevertheless
turbingview of femininity
mergeswitha powerfulvisionof female destructiveness,
with men in The
rebelliousness,and disenchantment
Possessed.The novel shareswithlate twentieth-century
feminismvariousexplorationsof femalevictimageand critiquesof masculinefantasy.Dostoevsky
does forthepurposesofliberating
exploresthefeminine
subject,notas feminism
of
theevilsofthesoul/body
women,butforthedifferent
purposes representing
schismhe associateswitha westernizedCartesianmetaphysics;4
forthepurof
the
breakdown
of
the
sacred
the
of
pose exposing
through image sexualviolation; and forthe purpose of throwinginto symbolicreliefthe pictureof
MotherRussia rapedby hernihilist-terrorist
sons.
involvements
with
Liza,
Maria,and Maryappear in
Stavrogin's
Matryosha,
relationto the politicalactivitieshe inspires.In The Possessedthereare no
withouterotics.Stavrogin'sGod-defiance
takestheformof raping
metaphysics
and
his
in therevolutionary
as
involvement
Matryosha
ruiningMaryShatov,
cause takes the form of allowing Peter Verkhovenskyto order Maria
Lebyatkinamurderedso thatStavrogincan runaway withLiza. In whichever
directionthe readerturnsto interpret
thenovel,a violatedfemaleappears,a
monstrous
of
image masculinity
emerges.
The temptation
to idolize Stavroginis nevertheless
a majorstumbling
block
in attempting
a feminist
focused
on
the
woman
novel's
approach
question.This
is
not
confined
to
characters
within
the
but
is
text,
temptation
partof thetext's
criticalreception.Stavrogin'scrimeshave been describedin termsof a masculinistsublimethatthestructure
ofthetextundermines.
ThePossessed
includes
scenesofmalecrueltyand self-empowerment
at woman'sexpensewhichcritics
as RussianDon Juanism(Mochulsky434), associatewithNietzsche's
identify
terms
Supermanphilosophy(Slonim),and describein heroicand metaphysical
(Wasiolek).Mochulskynotesthat"fourwomenare groupedaroundthehero"
and that"all of them,like mirrors,
reflectvariousimagesof thecharmingdemon."Feministideas maybe moreofa problemforDostoevsky'snarrator
and
less forcriticswho subsumeDostoevsky'swomanquestionunderthestereotype
of the"'eternalfeminine'
in respectof which,"Mochulskyargues,"[Stavrogin]
commitshis greatestcrime(Matryosha)and his loftiest
action(his marriageto
the cripple)"(434-35).Dostoevskyhintsthatthe secretsourceof Stavrogin's
politicalcharismais his sexual activitywithwomen-his name indicatesthe
phallicstaghorn,afterall-and thata cruelsexualitywill producea perverse
male following and a cruel politics. A focus on this cruelty suggests
contributions
togenderdiscourse.
Dostoevsky'sprovocative
A negativeand de-romanticized
versionof Stavroginslowly emergesas
womenclose in on him,deconstructing
bothhis "lofty"and profaneactivities
throughtheirdifferentvoices and perspectives.Justas the womanizing
Nachaev (upon whom Dostoevskybased his character)seems to close in on
Dostoevsky's attack on modern dualism associated with Descartes and masculinist aggressiveness resonates with some
recent feministcharacterizationsof Cartesian philosophy as "the pure masculinisationof thought" and a "flightfromthe
feminine" (Bordo 441). Dostoevsky shares with feministslike Bordo but also with philosophers of postmodernism like
Borgmann,a "doubt whetherthe ego has the indubitable soliditythat Descartes claimed forit and ... whetherit could serve
as the beginningforthe rationalreconstructionof reality....The modern projectis not
simplythe advancement of an age-old
human strivingformore comfortand securitybut the mobilizationof a peculiarmasculineaggressivenessthatbreaksthrough
and reserves"(Borgmann50-51[my italics]).
ancientrestraints

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274

NOVELI SPRING1994

as he constructed
and Stavroginin his
Dostoevsky'simagination
Verkhovensky
notebooksforthenovel,so womenperform
in thecomfunction
thatrevisionist
novel's
structure.
Readers
remain
chaotic
relationof
about
the
pleted
puzzled
theNotebooks
forThePossessedto thenovel,as well as therelationof thenovWasiolek
el's two centersto each other.In his introduction
to theNotebooks,
that
the
reader
will
of
be
suggests
"skeptical Dostoevsky's appraisal of
Nachaevas naiveand ignorant"(19),butitis preciselymen'signoranceand hatredof womenthatDostoevsky'snovelexposes.Stavroginlives in a worldof
narcissisticdelusionuntilDostoevskydramatizesthe way womenmock,unmask,and repudiatehim.
Yet the novel also containsscenes in whichwomen,particularly
socialist
satireon Virginsky's
women,are sadisticallymocked.No doubtthenarrator's
"studentsister"who has a "frightful
row" withheruncleover "his views on
theemancipation
ofwomen"(375)confirms
thatDostoevskyfindswomenas socialistrevolutionaries
no less misguidedand fanaticalthanmen.Dostoevsky's
attackis directedmainlytowardswomenwho mouthcrudesocialistdismissals
of familyties and marriage.In the scene wherethenihilistgirlstudentcalls
herunclea "moron"and arguesthathis views"explainthebehaviorofall your
generation"(379), we see a mirrorof the "generationgap" violence that
hauntedthe American1960s.Dostoevskysatirizesgirlswho savagelyattack
theoldergeneration,
whileon theotherhand he exposestheconsequencesof
violentmale sexismthroughStavrogin'srelationswith the proud Liza, the
child Matryosha,the crippledMaria,and the submissiveDasha. Whetheror
notDostoevskyexplicitly
betweenhis own repeated
recognizedtheconnection
ofsexuallyviolatedand oppressedfemalesand theneed forrerepresentations
formand protestagainstwomen'sconditionarticulated
his novel
by feminists,
createsa continuum
betweentheschoolgirl's
her
to
elders,
revolutionary
cruelty
ideology'scrueltiesto ordinarypeople,and Stavrogin'ssexualcrueltiesto individualwomen.
of
hisconsecration
Dostoevsky'sparodyofwomen'ssearchfornewidentities,
saintlybut "mad" femalefigureslike Maria,and his inabilityto inventa female heroinewho is notalso a victimof male cruelty,
as
has been interpreted
evidenceof his male chauvinism(Heldt37). Yet thequestionof reformulating
femaleidentityaccordingto strictly
inmodelshas recently?
westernfeminist
vited rethinking
withinfeminismthatparallelssome modernethicists'embraceof Dostoevsky'scritiqueof modernism.
SilviaTandeciarz,in herreading
of GayatriSpivak, notes some feminists'tendenciesto "mechanicallyapply
the same dictumsregardlessof contextand an evidentneed to reexaminethe
presuppositionswhich inform'the feministvanguard'" (Tandeciarz 88).
Dostoevskydirecteda similarcriticismtowardthe feministvanguardof his

own time which appeared to be "unparalleled elsewhere in the nineteenthcenturyWesternworld" in its dedication "to destroyingthe administrativecore of
the Empire throughassassination" (Stites 125). The Possessedindicates how the
"oversaturat[ion]with ideas about a new movement"(22) offersto somewomen
an excitingopportunityforcriticismsof the statusquo but also forcruel self-empowermentsat otherwomen's expense.

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NINAPELIKANSTRAUS I STAVROGIN'SREVISIONISTWOMEN

275

Mrs.Stavroginand Mrs.Von Lembke"use" Maria Lebyatkinto show how

progressive they are. The crippled woman whom Stavrogin marries to
"lacerate"himselfbecomes the temporarymascotof radical feministchic,a
group supportedby inheritedmonies,suggestingDostoevsky'sidea that"the
structures
ofmoneylay at theheartof socialistthought,
althoughit claimedto
to theeconomic
If
our
attention
them"
draws
dominate
(Catteau157). Catteau
contradictions
withinsocialistrevolutionary
structures,
JoannaHubbs illumiof
nates the political-religious
complexities Dostoevsky'swoman questionin
her commentabout Maria. She is "theicon of MotherRussia abandonedand
who claimto be herchampionsand
intellectuals
martyred
by thoseself-willed
yet,like pettyautocrats,despise her" (Hubbs 229). Dostoevsky'sportraitsof
question:"If
presidingwomen,exaggeratedand sadistic,stimulatea difficult
thepsychological
powercompulsionofmenoriginated[maledominance],what
originatedthat-and what can supersede it, other than the psychological
ofwomen?"(Mitchell178-79).
power-compulsion
The addictionto crueltyand to the charismaof a cruelmale leader is the
novel'scentraltheme.Ifone partofDostoevsky'sattackon socialistnihilismis
configuredby male violationof femalesand femalerage at theiroppressors,
anotherinvolveshis description
of theway womenare influencedto remodel
theirpersonalities
on masculinetypesthatresult,in Liza's case, in "Amazon"
(104-5)."Accordingto
challenges"toour society"and a conquerer'spsychology
Mrs. Drozdov,"thenarratorstates,"it had all startedwithLiza's 'headstrong,
sarcasticattitude,'whichNikolai[Stavrogin],
proudas he was ... couldn'ttake
and returnedin kind" (64). Underthepressureof nihilistideas, therelations
betweenStavroginand Liza signal thebreakdownsbetweenmarriedcouples
liketheVirginskys
breakdownsof life-conand theShatovs,leadingto further
on
and
Mrs.
violence.
restraints
contemptfor
Stavrogin's
firming
sexuality
Lembke's
Mrs.
Von
like
old-fashioned
liberalism,
Stepan Verkhovensky's
befuddled
husband's
her
of
revolutionaries
championship political
against
indicatesthatdestroyingtraditionmay duplicatewhatradicalconservatism,
ismseeksto change.
WithLiza and Stavrogin'srelationshipas a paradigm,Dostoevskyreveals
the sado-masochistic
componentsin male chauvinism,couples thesewiththe
as oppresimpulsesofbothsexes,and thenexposescontradictions
revolutionary
sor and victimshiftpositions.One resultis theexposureof masculinenaivete,
theresultof sexistegotism.Like Nachaev's,Stavrogin'sstupiditymay consist
in hisignoranceoflove's power,his resistance
to Dostoevsky'sidea,as he putit
in TheDiaryofa Writer,
that"in womenresidesour onlygreathope,one of the
pledges of our revival"(Diary846). By dramatizingthe connectionbetween
and theviolationofwomen'sbodiesand minds,thewriteralbloodyrevolution
legorizes the fitbetween male terroristrape and impositionof Westernideas on
Mother Russia.
Dostoevsky's explorationof masculine violence has engaged readers, particularly afterFreud's argumentthat Dostoevsky's "sympathyfor the criminalis
boundless" (Dostoevsky
and Parricide177).The Possessedsuggests a turnin sympafor
the
second
sex,
however, dramatized through female characters' gesthy

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276

NOVEL

I SPRING1994

turesofrebellionagainstmenwhichreaderssaturatedin Freudhardlynoticed.
In scenes involvingStavroginwithLiza and Matryosha,Dostoevskyrepeatand
thatsignalsa linkbetweenfeminist
edly inscribesa gestureof fist-raising
Christianprotest.While Dostoevskymocksthe revolutionary
participantsat
the"cell" meetingwho "raisedtheirrighthands,"but then"afterraisingthem
at first,
at once put themdown again" (381),thegesturesignifiesa difference
whenwomenenactit. Liza's anguishedrelationswithStavroginculminateat
theirmeetingin FatherSemyon'sdoorwayand her raising"her hand to the
levelofhis face"to strikehim(318).The gestureforeshadows
herexposingand
him
couldn'tcontrol"
later.
The
of
that
"unconscious
fits
hatred
[Liza]
denying
... lit(317)also resonatewithMatryosha'sgestureof raisingher"threatening
tle fist"at Stavroginafterhe rapes her (430). The revolutionary's
fist-clench
a gesture
becomes,whenwomenenactit,a protestagainstmasculinist
cruelty,
Shatova's
a
beast!"
verbalizes.
After
(613)
Mary
"Stavrogin's
givingbirthto
of
men's
addiction
words
underscore
the
child,Mary's
Stavrogin's
consequences
to morepowerfulmen:"I bet ifI said I wantedto give himthatotherhorrible
name [i.e. Stavrogin's],
conyou'd have approved....Ah,you'rean ungrateful,
the
of
lot
(614).
bunch,
temptible
you!"
Whilethebravestwomenunmaskthemale-bonded"lot"whosegameis exploitation and radical posturing,the silliest women succumb to men's
"progressive"ideas with unbridledenthusiasmfollowed by indignation.
Womenplayan important
between
connections
partin thenovelbyestablishing
whatseveralcriticsdescribeas thenovel'sdual centersofgravity:itsone centerlike a politicalpamphletand the othera metaphysicaldrama (Wasiolek
and the
111);or its divisionintotwo plots,one involvingPeterVerkhovensky
otherNikolai Stravrogin(Guerard262). GordonLivermoresolves thenovel's
structure
seeminglyfractured
by emphasizingits "dialecticalunity"and the
tensionbetween"levelsofreality"represented
in itby theword "secret"(185).
But what is thatsecretand whose secretis it?The novel's two levels of discourserepresent
a genderedschism.The revolutionary
and religiousstrandsin
the novel-suggestedby Stavroginas theleaderwho will "bringus theNew
Truth"(404) and Stavroginas "a completeatheist[who] still stands on the
next-to-the-top
rungof the ladder of perfectfaith"(421)-cannotbe severed
fromStavrogin'sinvolvementin "sordid"love affairsdescribedas "whims"
(118)or fromthe factthatStavroginis unmaskedby the several women he
harms.Womenare theclues to thesecret'sdiscoveryand to thedifference
between Stavrogin'slevels of being (his appearance and his reality)as replicatedby thenovel'sstructure.
Stavrogin'ssecretwife,Maria,unmasksher"prince"as "thefalsetzar"and
"thepretender"in Chapter3 of PartTwo. The storyof Matryosha(Stavrogin's
confession)unmaskswhatStavroginhimselfcalls his "sickness"(418).Liza ex-

poses Stavrogin in Part Three, Chapter 3, as an impotent man in need of a

"nurse" (545). If "behind it all stood Peter Verkhovenskywith his ... mysterious network" (685), behind this is anothernetworkof exploited but eventually
courageous women who grow to hate Stavrogin afteronce being in love with
him.

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NINAPELIKANSTRAUS STAVROGIN'SREVISIONISTWOMEN

277

ThePossessed
canbe readas a deconstruction
theseexposures,
ofa
Considering
masculinist
sicknesswithrevolution,
particularkindofromanticized
rape,the
will to power, and emotionalanaesthesia coded as symptomsof a cruel
Nachaevianmodernism.As in Kafka'sworld,"it is womenwho ... offerthe
onlychanceof findinga way past thebarrierwhichseparatesthealien from
the world" (Anders 32). From Stavrogin's relations with Matryosha to
Shatov'sexperiencewithhis wifepregnantby Stavrogin,men's radical,roottearingideologiesare challengedby women'sgroundingsin bodilyvulnerabilityand theinsightsgained as a result.Even PeterVerkhovensky's
manipulationsofJulieVon Lembkebackfireupon himas "hereyesopened at last" just
momentsbeforetheannouncement
ofthefiresetbyrevolutionaries
butdestroythat
notes
(524).
ing only peasants
Dostoevsky"analyzed the
Mikhailovsky
sensationsofa wolfdevouringa sheepwithsuchthoroughness
... even love" (
but does not emphasizehow manyof thesesheep are female.In The
11-12),
Possessedthisdevouringis neverungendered.It is specifically
linkedto what
AlbertGuerardcalls the"paedophilicthemesin Dostoevsky'sworks"(93).
and Guerardmostfullydevelopthe
AmongDostoevskycritics,
Yarmolinksy
of
was
haunted
question whyDostoevsky
by theparticularcrimeof rapinga
and
he
underyounggirl
why punishedStavroginwithit. WhileYarmolinksy
but
does
not
dismiss
Strakhov's
that
this
secret
deplays,
entirely
allegation
sire was Dostoevsky's,he notes that "the theme is adumbrated" in "A
ChristmasTree and a Wedding",in TheInsultedand theInjured;thatit is exand that"thesame inplored throughSvidrigaylovin Crimeand Punishment,
clinationis vaguelyascribedto Versilovin A RawYouth"as well as to Dmitri
Karamazov(312).GuerardarguesthatDostoevsky'sdesireto committhiscrime
forcedthe novelistto repeatedlyredeemhimselfsymbolically
in confessional
fiction(101).Criticswho notethatBakhtin'sversionof Dostoevsky'sdiscourse
does nottakeenoughaccountof "thenegative,destructive
potentialofdialogic
discourse in a constantpower struggle"(Jones196),mightreturnagain to
and Guerard'sfocus.Powerstruggles
occurbetweenStavrogin
and
Yarmolinsky's
thewomenwho finallyrefuseto "mirror"
him.s
forrape and forfemaledeaths,throughsuicidal hanging,
Responsibilities
are partof Stavrogin'shistoryand significance.
His
murder,or afterchildbith,
crimesare particularly
masculinist.In the shifting
world
where
Mrs.
gender
Stavrogin can advise Dasha to marry Stepan Verkhovenskyfor his
"helplessness"(67), whereMayorVon Lembkegoes "down on his knees to
atone" forhis words to the perfectly
idioticMrs. Von Lembke(488), where
can
Lebyatkin comparehimselfto an amoeba in a love letterto Liza (126),and
where Liputincan thankStavroginforhumiliatinghim withhis wife(49)Stavroginalone plays the role of theessentialistmale. Dostoevskysurrounds
Stavrogin with those the narratorcalls "scum." At the center of what Maria
5

Dostoevsky's capacity for negative capability and writingagainst himselfis remarked frequentlyin the criticalliterature,
both by Bakhtiniansand by philosophers like Charles Taylor. Lunarcharsky,for example, noted that "Dostoevsky's split
personality,togetherwith the fragmentationof the capitalistsociety in Russian, awoke in him the obsessional need to hear
again and again the trial of the principles of socialism and reality,and to hear this trial in conditions as unfavourable as
possible to socialism" (219). Dostoevsky's compulsive need to put his ideas about women on trial is particularlyevident
in those novels in which rape figures.

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278

NOVEL

I SPRING1994

calls "thisthird-rate
crowd" (261),Stavroginlives out a machoadvertisement
forhimselfthatthrillshis radicalfollowers.The worshipof power,the idolizationof a man "who does not know what fearis," who "could kill in cold
(194)describesa worldof
blood,"who "retainedcompletecontroloverhimself"
masculinistvalues familiarto us. Stavroginembodiesthe absence of values
that feministslike AnneteBaier and Carol Gilligan associate with female
ethics:emotionalresponsiveness
thevalues of empathy,
as a partofcognition,
and thedesireto communicate.
As the strongsilenttypewho movingothers,
remainsunmoved himself,StavroginreceivesShatov's strikemerelyas an
totakecognizanceof[Stavrogin's]
ownimmensestrength"
(233).
"opportunity
A Lacanianmightfindin Shatov'simageofStavrogin'simmobility
thefanof
an
element
in
most
the
but
tasy
eternallyrigid phallus,
important
"What
fascinates
is
his
or
terror.
refusal
to
admit
Stavrogin'siconography
pity
"is overcomingtheirfear"
[Stavrogin'sdisciples],of course"says thenarrator,
The
sourceofthemale-bondfear
the
of
masculine
constitutes
(194).
overcoming
that
also
somemalereadersinto
seduces
not
followers
but
ing
onlyStavrogin's
themasculinistcircle.
Althoughno criticcan approveof Stavrogin'sactions,echoesbetweendisciples insideand outsideofthetextremainpartof thenovel'scriticalapparatus:
"You're the only one who could have raised thatbanner,"says Shatov to
soul theimpulseto crimeis paradoxicallythe
Stavrogin(240). "In [Stavrogin's]
to
writes
Wasiolek.
impulse freedom,"
Respondingto criticswho describe
...
as
the
of freedomwithoutGod"
embodiment
"mostcomplete
Stavrogin
the
feminist
reader
outside
of
the
circlenoteswhose free(Wasiolek131,136),
IfStavroginrepredom is violatedin orderforthatembodiment
tobe signified.
sentsthosewho "challengeGod and societyand theirown conscienceby willful
actions'beyondgood and evil"' (Slonim700),whymustStavroginexpresshis
metaphysicaldefiancethroughrape or harmingwomen?AmongStavrogin's
followers,only Kirilovasks the importantquestion:"What has Stavrogin's
sordidprivatelove affairto do withour movement?"
(564).The momentofthis
answerbeginswiththenarrator'scommentthatStavrogin's"viciousnesswas
cold and controlled
and ... reasonable-themostrepulsiveand dangerousthere
is" (195)and continueswiththe images of Liza and Matryosharaisingtheir
fiststo Stavrogin.The answer climaxesin Stavrogin'sconfessionand with
Liza's unmasking
is a negationof
as a diseasedmanwhosefreedom
ofStavrogin
othersthatdriveshimto sexualimpotenceand suicide.
One sentenceutteredby Shatov releases Stavroginfromhis silence and
driveshimto confessat Tikhon's:"Is it truethatyou enticechildrenand abuse
them?"Stavroginanswers Shatov witha lie: "I never harmedchildren,"a

statement which Richard Peace takes seriously in his reluctance to find

Stavrogin a rapist (211-13).Yet the narrator'scomment-"He said it aftera silence that had lasted too long. He had turned pale and his eyes glowed"
(240)-points to Stavrogin's guilty preoccupation with his rape of Matryosha.
The preoccupation appears even earlier when Stavrogin is discussing suicide
with Kirilov. "Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy," the theory-soaked Kirilov rants. "That stepdaughter will die, the little girl will re-

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NINAPELIKANSTRAUS I STAVROGIN'SREVISIONISTWOMEN

279

main-and everything
is good," he continues."So it's good," says Stavrogin,
"thatpeople die ofhungerand also thatsomeonemayabuse or rape thatlittle
girl" (224).
As a figureframedin masculineambivalencetowardsfemalesand "modern
a symbol
6-12),Stavroginis simultaneously
vacuityand sullenness"(Borgmann
of the GreatTradition'smachismo,the Charles Manson bad-boy inside rewhomquasiand thesymbolickillerofpatriarchy
pressedmale consciousness,
liberatedwomenhate to love. For men like PeterVerkhovensky,
Shatov,and
icon. As thenarrativedevelops,
Kirilov,Stavroginis initiallya revolutionary
however,Stavrogin'smeaningforthewomenundergoeschange.ForLiza, Mrs.
Stavrogin,
Mary,and Dasha, Stavroginat firstembodiesan absenceeach imagines can be filledwithherown presence-eitheras lover,mother,fellowradical, or nurse.His mask-likeface,upon whichwomenhungryforpowerpaint
theirfantasies;his politicalcharismaand muscularsexuality,presenta chala subversionofRussia'spatriarlengeto womenbecausethesequalitiessignifiy
chal orderthroughwhich "new" womenexperiencetheirrelease.Stavrogin
his mother's"newhopesand evena new daydreamofhers"(45). To
represents
Liza he embodiesa masculinearchetypeshe wishesto confront
withherown
and
will
As
a
model
of rebellion,
to
"dominate"
(105).
"uncannypower"
an
attitudes.
of
Stavroginrepresents inventory potentialfeminist/subversive
He is fearlessof and irreverant
is
fathers.
He
unconvento theestablishment
tionalin his sexual behavior,atheisticuntilconfessed,and supposedlydedicated to revolutionary
women"thrilled
change.Desperatemenand frustrated
by the thoughtthathe was a killer"(44), love the nihilistas Liza loves the
big male spidershe imaginesStavroginwillsomedayshow her(545).
But Stavrogincannotlive up to the expectationsimposedupon him.This
but clearlyrevealedby
"secret"is neverpreciselyarticulatedby thenarrator,
women he is involvedwith.Confronting
Dasha, Stavroginremarksthatshe
seemsto be attractedto himas a nurseis attractedto "a particularly
charming
corpse" (277). At varioustimesin thenovel Maria,Dasha, and Liza all imply
thathe needs a woman'snursingcare (261,545).Whatappearsas theweak tie
betweenthetwopartsofthenovel'sstructure
turnsout to occurupon a female
borderlinewhereStavrogin'sidentityas an eroticand politicalherocollapses.
In scenesinvolvingwomen,Stavroginis revealedtobe an amateuras a political
leader,as a lover,and even as a criminal,pickingon the mostvulnerableof
women,the "mad" Maria,and allowingothersto do his dirtyworkwiththe
Lebyatkins.If, as Catteau makes clear,Dostoevsky'srepudiationof revolufeminismwas part of his critiqueof
tionarysocialismand Chernyshevskian
Russian utopianism(380), the utopianismof masculinity,
associated with a
westernCartesianvisionof rationality
deconand control,is justas forcefully
structed
thenovel'sstrangebreedofwomen.
through
The unmaskingof Stavroginby women intensifiesin the novel's second half,
marked by Stavrogin's confessionat Tikhon's that Matryosha's gaze frightens
him. He also craves the experience of that informingfear: "I wish she would
look at me with her big feverisheyes, just as they were then, as if she could
see...." Stavrogin leaves this sentence unfinished,creditingMatryosha's view

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280

NOVELI SPRING1994

of himwitha powerand knowledgehe ambivalently

seeks.He writesthathe
could "keep Matryoshaaway if I chose to do so ... But that'sthe snag. I've
neverwantedto keepherout and I neverwill.And so itwillgo on untilI go insane" (430).Stavrogin'sextraordinary
confession
suggeststhelengthsmenwill
to
avoid
with
women's
go
identifying
experienceand the way theyare also
drawnbackto itas theybeginto understandtheterrorist
consequencesof their
masculineprerogatives.
The description
ofmale eyeswatchingfemaleeyesaccordswithan analysisof Dostoevsky'salterity,
thefemalesubject
dramatizing
as a forcethat,in penetrating
maleconsciousness,
is sometimes
capableoftransman's
alienation
from
For
himself.
forming
Stavrogin-a typeof nineteenththeorist-this
alienationis connectedto a
deconstructionist/nihilist
century
that
has
a
becomes
morality
slidingsignifier:"I formulatedto myselfin so
words
the
I
that
idea
neither
knewnor feelwhatevil is; ... thatit was
many
all a convention."Yet Stavroginalso understandsthe sexual-political
conseof
his
"I
self-deconstruction:
could
be
free
all
but
of
convention, ... ifI
quences
everattainedthatfreedomI'd be lost"(426).
Once Stavrogin'ssecretloses itsmysterious
statusto becomea sordidsymptom,it changestheway we read thenovel.Not onlydo Stavrogin'scrimesof
rape and complicityin the murderof women allegorizethe destructionof
MotherRussia,but theyalso illuminateDostoevsky'sresponseto allegoriesof
theromantic
secretpointstoa
rapistin modernnovelssinceClarissa.Stavrogin's
constructed
masculinist
discourse
that
cherishesas
even
rationalizes,
culturally
in
the
one
sex
what
it
would
"charmingdemon[ology]"
repudiatewithoutromanticexcuses in the other.The Tikhon chapterreveals that Stavrogin's
"sordid privatelove affair[s]"are the centralsecretthatreadershave been
seeking.The crimeof girlrape becomestheparadigmfora violentsexistsickness, delivered finallyof romanticassociations with aestheticizedrapes.
to "see" his/her
Stavrogin'sneed to "kill"thechildin Matryoshaand himself,
eyes watching,driveshim towardsa death whichreplicateshersuicide and
identifieshis pain with hers. In this chapterthe voice and image of the
"other"finallypenetratesas it dismantlesthehero'sheroism.
There are readerswho neverthelessfindDostoevsky'sdemystification
of
thenovelwe havea Stavroginofsilence
Stavrogindisappointing:
"Throughout
and self-containment,"
writesWasiolek,"a portraitthataccords powerfully
withthe silentwastelandthathis innerstrength
makesforhim.The analytic
Stavroginof the confessionalchaptermars this impassive,unattachedair"
(132). WhatDostoevskyalso marsis a romanticmasculinistideal of theunrestricted"will" as the grandestof humanattributes.
Dostoevsky'sdecisionto
connectStavrogin'sconfession
ofrape to his admissionthathe is "reallyno socialist,"but "has some sortofsickness"(418),suggeststhefitbetweeniibermensch sexismand politicalnihilism.RepudiatingSchiller'sromanticconception

of "man" as "most sublime when he resiststhe pressure of nature,when he exhibits 'moral independence of natural laws in a condition of emotional stress'"
(Berlin 84-85), Dostoevsky shows that Stavrogin's inability to love "nature"
and "women" produces a wasteland that leads to psychological, socio-political, and metaphysical terrorism.

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NINAPELIKANSTRAUS I STAVROGIN'SREVISIONISTWOMEN

281

Exploringhis own nihilism,Stavroginis intenselyinvolvedwithwomen

whom he can potentiallydestroy,withwhom he is partiallyidentified,
and
whose names begin withMa, implyingboth the prefixfortheearthlyword
"mother"in Russianand thespiritualnameof "Madonna":Matryosha,
Maria,
Mary.Stavroginhas sexual relationswithtwo of thesewomen,whilehis sexual performance
withLiza appearstobe a "completeflop"(550). As thesource
of Matryosha'ssuicide, Mary's death,and Maria's murder,Stavrogin'sinvolvements
withwomensuggestan unconscious
mother
complex,an addictionto
or
back
a
Louis
female
paying
destroying primal
image.
Bregersuggeststhat
thesewomenrepresent
of
own
mother,
splitfragments Stavrogin's
love-denying
Vavara, whom he has incorporatedas the deadened part of himself.If
oflove mustbe
Matryoshasymbolizesthevulnerablechildwhoseexpectations
in
annihilated
as
were
sadistically
Stavrogin's childhood,Stavroginsymbolizes forMatryoshathecripplingof love throughsexual violence.Dostoevsky
wrotethatthe "mostfearfulcrimeis to rape a child" because it "destroy[s]
faithin love's beauty" (cf. Kjetsaa 327), confirming
Tikhon's statementto
that
"there
is
not
and
thanwhatyou did to
cannot
be
worse
crime
Stavrogin
any
thatlittlegirl" (434).
In his relationto Maria Lebyatkina,
on theotherhand,Stavroginis unable
to destroyfaithin love's beauty,and it is ratherMaria who demolishes
will and pretensionsto metaphysiStavrogin'sfaithin his own impenetrable
cal sublimity.Beaten daily by her brutalbrotherand crippled physically,
Maria does not mirrorStavrogin'smasculinistpathologybut ratherbears its
markson herbody.StavrogindiscoversthatMariais notmad or docileenough
to be incapableofrecognizing
therevoluthathe is a "fraud... impersonating"
tion's"prince"whilebecomingitsJacktheRipper.The wordsof thecrippled
woman provokemore responsein StavroginthanShatov's slap in the face:
"'Whatare you talkingabout?'"he screamsat Maria,"pushingheroffso violentlythatshe banged herhead and shoulderspainfully."Withherwords in
his mindaboutthe"knife"he carriesbothas phallusand murderweapon(26364), he runsintothestreetshouting"a knife,a knife!"-onlyto meetthelowlifecriminalFedka who is his truemirror.Stavrogin'swill to represswhat
Maria knows about him is symbolizedin her deathby stabbingand fire-a
murderhis faithful
followersbelievehe ordered.
In ThePossessed
womendo notin factmirrormenbutbreakand shatterthe
masculinemirror.Throughthe threewomenwho becomedisillusionedwith
Stavroginand eventuallydie, Dostoevskyprogressivelydramatizesthe degrees and levels of Stavrogin'sruin. Liza's finaldestructionof Stavrogin's
fetishtakestheform,not of Maria's holyfoolChristianprotest,but of incipient feministprotest.When Stavroginadmitsto her thatshe has the rightto

tormenthim, that "I knew I didn't love you and I've ruined you," she responds
by exposing his "noble sincerity"as another formof narcissisticsexism. Her
words contain feministacid:

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282

NOVEL

I SPRING1994

"I havenottheslightest
nursetoyou.I mayendup
desiretobea sympathizing
as a hospitalnurseifI don'tmanagetodie conveniently
thisveryday,butI'll
as
not
nurse
course,
you're badlyoffas anypoor
certainly
of
you,although,
(545)
leglessorarmlesscreature."
Liza's descriptionof Stavroginas limblessputs a sexual twiston Maria's
idea thatStavroginis a fraudwhose onlypoweris theknife.Besidesa tit-fortatrevengeforhis impotenceand inabilityto love her,she engageshim in a
She imaginesthathe would takeher
challengeto his imageof herfemininity.
to "some place wheretherelived a huge,viciousman-sizedspiderand that
we'd spend therestof our lives staringat it in fear"(545). She wishesto confronttheheartofdarknessthedominantsex takesso muchpridein dramatizing.Her imageof insecthorrorassociatesherwithseveralof Dostoevskymale
sensualists:withthe rapistSvidrigaylovwho imaginesa hell fullof spiders,
with Ipollit's spider dream in TheIdiot,with DmitriKaramazov who finds
"riddles" in "spider" sensualitywhere "all contradictionslive together"
Karamazov
108).But spidersin ThePossessedare also associatedwith
(Brothers
and
with
oftheinsectimageupon herwhich
Matryosha,
Stavrogin'sprojection
createstheyoungfemaleas hishorror.
Thebigmale insectLiza wishesto see as
the symbolof the tragicriddleof humannatureis replicatedin miniaturein
thedreamStavroginexperiencesfollowingMatryosha'ssuicide.
In his confession,
Stavroginspeaksofa paradisaldreamworldthatis transformedto nightmare.
"In themiddleof thebrightlight"Stavroginsees a "tiny
dot" whichassumes the shape of a "tinyred spider" thatstabs him.In that
me withher
and threatening
lighthe sees Matryoshastanding"reprovingly
me ...
littlefist... thatimmaturecreaturewithherimmature
brainthreatening
but ... blamingonlyherself"(429-30).In Stavrogin'shallucination
he is stabbed
by the femalespider as he had stabbed her sexually,to be echoed later in
Liza's strangewords.IfforLiza thespideris largeand male,forStavroginitis
small,femaleand red,a condensationof his insectsensualityand shamewith
ofmaleand femalepenMatryosha's
virginblood.The fusionofgenderhorrors,
etrationsand stabbings,reaches its apotheosisin these two scenes. While
Matryosha'sresponseis to kill herself,Liza's is to articulatethe wish to castrateStavarogin,
to see themurderedvictims(in whosemurdershe knowsherself complicit),and to finallydestroythe phallocentricworshipStavrogin's
imageinspiredin her.
ofStavroginis notfinallydirectedonlytoothermen.
Dostoevsky'sreduction
He also mockswomen'saddictionsto iibermensch
cultureand hero-worshipping,
eitherof utopiansocialistideals or ofcharismatic
individuals.The exposureof
women's complicityin thecreationofpseudo-masculinistheroicsis confirmedin
Stavrogin's letterto Dasha in which he expresses "no respect" forher willingness to sacrificeherselfto him, a man who exhibits"negation without strength
and withoutgenerosity"(690-91).
Not through the submissive Dasha but through the resisting Maria,
Matryosha, Mary, and Liza, the answers to Dostoevsky's woman question
evolve throughthe exposure of contradictorythemeswith which contemporary
feminismstill struggles:women's seduction by the idea of power; the exhorta-

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NINA
STRAUS
REVISIONIST
PELIKAN
I STAVROGIN'S
WOMEN

283

tionto womento empowerthemselves

as mendo, and at thesametimethefemofwomenas
inistcritiqueofpoweras "patriarchal,"
alongwiththedescription
betternurturersor nurses.By representing
these unresolvedcontradictions
withinthe women's movement,Dostoevsky'sdiscoursein the The Possessed
and twentieth-cenbridgessomegaps betweenproblemssharedbynineteenthassociated
feminists.
The
warns
masculine
novelist
that
the
tury
aggressiveness
with radical politicsand violenttransformations
of traditionmay destroy
whatis bestaboutwoman'sdifference.
If Dostoevskyin any way prophesizedCharlesManson's "family,"thisis
because terrorist
utopian ideas carrywith themcertainmodernpatriarchal
Manson
not
impulses easilyseveredfromthewomanquestion.LikeStavrogin,
in thewomen."It was only
cannottranscendgood and evil withouttrafficking
throughthe women ... thatCharliecould attractthe men,"Manson'sbiographerwas told.LikeStavroginwho cannot"feelwhatevil is," Mansonbelieved
evil "was all in thehead,all subjective....[D]eathwas a fearthatwas bornin
man'shead and can be takenoutofman'shead,and thenitwould no longerexist."Dostoevsky'srepresentation
ofwomenfollowersworshiping"progress"in
Bernadine
the name of the murdererStavrogin,is echoed in "Weatherman,"
Dohrn'screationofMansonas a countercultural
hero.
More viciousthanDostoevsky'ssocialistgirlwho mockstheolder generain 1970thatthe
tion,Dohrntolda Studentsfora DemocraticSocietyconvention
Manson family's"offingthoserichpigs withtheirown forksand knivesand
theneatinga meal in thesame room"was "farout!" (Bugiosi224,221).The image of murderers' feasting while victims die is enacted both in the
Tate/LaBianca slaughterand "The End of the Festivities"chapterof The
Possessed.
The "true"murderofthepregnantSharonTate,whosearmsare held
the
"Manson
woman"Atkinswhile"Texdoes thekilling"(Bugliosi181),and
by
in theRussianmale terrorism
thatdestroysthe"mad"
thewomen'scomplicity
Maria Lebyatkina
as she hallucinatespregnancy,
suggestgrotesquereplications
of "art"and "life"in thehistory
betweenradicalpolofmisogyny.
Connections
link
our world with
female
and
male
sexism
sexual
itics,
vulnerability,
the
romantic
context:
one
historical
ideology
Dostoevsky'sthrough continuous
oftheSupermanwithitsaccompanying
mythofwomanas man's"mirror."
By exploringthemeaningsof Stavrogin'sviolationsof femalesand theirreto the politicsof
actionsto thatviolation,Dostoevskymakeshis contribution
as incorporated
rape. By exposingthemaimedaestheticsof super-masculinity
bybothmenand women,ThePossessed
exposestheparadoxesinspiredbythein6
of politicsand literature.
cipientfeminization

The"feminization
ofliterature"
hasbeenremarked
thatoccurred
duringnineteenth-century
byTerry
EagletonandRitaFelski
ofthemale
muchofthewriting
withthefeminine
identification
amongothers.Felskiwritesthat"an imaginary
permeates
and redefined
inthelatenineteenth
a periodin whichgendernormswerebeingprotested
Europeanavant-garde
century,
froma variety
ofstandpoints"
("Counterdiscourse"
1094).

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284

NOVELI SPRING1994

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