Katerina Akhmakova in Dostoevsky’s “Teenager”

To the unearthly friend of his, Sofia Andreevna, the main character of the “Teenager” Versilov faces a bright face. Dark, he turned to the earth of his love – Katerina Nikolaevna Akhmakova. Throughout the first two parts of the novel, the truth of this love is closed from us by a thick veil of gossip, slander, and vile suspicion. Versilov’s son, Arkady, heard that his father abroad had some kind of suspicious history with this woman and that they were shared by an old feud. He is prejudiced against Akhmakova and, having met her for the first time at Prince Sokolsky, sees him as an enemy. “She somehow raised her face, looked at me badly and. smiled cheekily. And yet its beauty strikes him. The author repeats the technique he used in “Idiot” to portray Nastasya Filippovna: the hero first sees a portrait of a beautiful woman, and then her own. Continue reading →