# Crime and Punishment — Character guide

> Key figures in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

- [Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/rodion_romanovich_raskolnikov.md): A destitute former student in Saint Petersburg who becomes obsessed with a radical theory that leads him to commit a crime. The novel's protagonist, whose psychological torment and moral struggle form the central narrati
- [Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/sofya_semyonovna_marmeladova.md): The meek and devout daughter of Semyon Marmeladov, forced into prostitution to support her family. She becomes a crucial source of spiritual redemption for Raskolnikov.
- [Dmitri Prokofych Razumikhin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/dmitri_prokofych_razumikhin.md): Raskolnikov's loyal, good-natured, and talkative university friend. He acts as a protector and helper for Raskolnikov's family during his illness.
- [Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/avdotya_romanovna_raskolnikova.md): Raskolnikov's strong-willed and devoted sister. Her engagement to Pyotr Luzhin and her experiences with Svidrigailov create major subplots.
- [Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/arkady_ivanovich_svidrigailov.md): A wealthy, depraved, and enigmatic landowner who arrives in Petersburg pursuing Dounia. He represents a cynical, nihilistic alternative to Raskolnikov's tortured idealism.
- [Porfiry Petrovich](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/porfiry_petrovich.md): The shrewd, psychologically astute magistrate investigating the pawnbroker's murder. He engages Raskolnikov in a tense cat-and-mouse game.
- [Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/pyotr_petrovich_luzhin.md): A self-important, miserly bureaucrat engaged to Dounia Raskolnikova. His petty vindictiveness and theories of rational self-interest make him a despised figure.
- [Pulcheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikova](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/pulcheria_alexandrovna_raskolnikova.md): Raskolnikov's loving, anxious, and somewhat naive mother, who arrives in Petersburg with Dounia.
- [Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/katerina_ivanovna_marmeladova.md): The proud, consumptive, and increasingly unstable widow of Semyon Marmeladov and stepmother to Sonia. Her tragic fate underscores the novel's social themes.
- [Semyon Zaharovich Marmeladov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/semyon_zaharovich_marmeladov.md): A drunken, self-pitying former civil servant whom Raskolnikov meets in a tavern. His monologue about his family's suffering introduces Sonia and Katerina Ivanovna.
- [Aliona Ivanovna](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/aliona_ivanovna.md): A harsh, elderly pawnbroker whom Raskolnikov murders. She is described as a miserly and exploitative figure.
- [Lizaveta Ivanovna](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/lizaveta_ivanovna.md): The pawnbroker's meek, simple-minded, and kind-hearted half-sister, who becomes an unintended victim of Raskolnikov's crime.
- [Zossimov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/zossimov.md): A young, self-assured doctor who attends to Raskolnikov during his illness. He is a friend of Razumikhin.
- [Andrey Semyonovich Lebezyatnikov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/andrey_semyonovich_lebezyatnikov.md): A naive and fervent follower of nihilist and utopian socialist ideas. He lives in the same building as Luzhin and Sonia.
- [Ilya Petrovich](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/ilya_petrovich.md): A loud, brusque, and sometimes violent police lieutenant at the local police station, involved in the investigation.
- [Nikodim Fomich](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/nikodim_fomich.md): The polite and good-natured police superintendent, often a calming counterpart to Ilya Petrovich.
- [Alexander Grigorievich Zamyotov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/alexander_grigorievich_zamyotov.md): A clerk at the police station who is suspicious of Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov engages him in a provocative conversation about the murder.
- [Nastasya](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/nastasya.md): The kind-hearted and talkative servant of Raskolnikov's landlady, who helps care for him during his illness.
- [Amalia Ivanovna](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/amalia_ivanovna.md): The German landlady of the Marmeladovs, with whom Katerina Ivanovna frequently quarrels.
- [Marfa Petrovna Svidrigailova](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/marfa_petrovna_svidrigailova.md): Svidrigailov's deceased wife, whose wealth he controlled. Her ghost is said to haunt him, and her treatment of Dounia is a subject of scandal.
- [Nikolay Dementyev](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/nikolay_dementyev.md): A house painter who is initially suspected of the pawnbroker's murder after he falsely confesses.
- [Polenka Marmeladova](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/polenka_marmeladova.md): One of Katerina Ivanovna's young daughters from her first marriage, and Sonia's half-sister.
- [Koch](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/koch.md): A man who comes to the pawnbroker's apartment shortly after the murder and finds the door locked, raising the alarm.
- [Pestryakov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/pestryakov.md): A student who accompanies Koch to the pawnbroker's apartment after the murder.
- [Dushkin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/dushkin.md): A tavern keeper to whom Nikolay the painter brings the pawnbroker's stolen goods, leading to his arrest.
- [Praskovya Pavlovna](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/praskovya_pavlovna.md): Raskolnikov's landlady, to whom he owes rent.
- [Kapernaumov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/kapernaumov.md): The family with whom Sonia Marmeladova rents a room.
- [Madame Resslich](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/resslich.md): A pawnbroker and Svidrigailov's landlady, who helps him in his schemes.
- [Mr. Tchebarov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/tchebarov.md): A shady businessman who tries to press a debt claim against Raskolnikov's mother.
- [Afanasy Ivanovich Vakhrushin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/afanasy_ivanovich_vakhrushin.md): A wealthy merchant, a distant relation of Raskolnikov's mother, who provides some financial assistance.
- [Mikolka](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters/mikolka.md): A peasant from a village near Petersburg, mentioned in a dream and later in connection with the murder investigation.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/crime_and_punishment/characters