Sonya

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova

Pronunciation

Daughter of Marmeladov by his late first wife. Step-daughter to Katerina Ivanovna, Marmeladov’s second wife. Aged around 18.

Description: A gentle girl, with such a meek, unassuming voice… fair hair, such a pale thin little face. 
“..marvelous blue eyes…”, “..her light-blue eyes were so clear..”, “…these meek, pale-blue eyes..”
“Sonia was a short, thin, rather pretty fair-haired girl, about eighteen years old, with striking light-blue eyes.” (2-7)
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She had a thin – extremely thin - pale little face with somewhat irregular, angular features, a sharp little nose and chin. She couldn't really be called “pretty”, but she had such strikingly clear blue eyes, and when they lit up her expression became so kind and good-natured, that it was impossible not to be attracted to her. Her face and, indeed, her whole body possessed one other characteristic: in spite of her eighteen years, she still had the air of a very young girl, much younger than that, almost childlike, meaning that some of her movements appeared a little comical. (Cockrell, p226 (3-4))

Part One

Chapter 2

She’s on a ‘yellow ticket’ or a prostitute’s passport.

She never received any education besides having borrowed Lewes’s Physiology from Lebezyatnikov.

She tried to make an honest living, but even state councillor Ivan Ivanovich Klopstock refused to pay her for the shirts she made for him.

She goes out on her first job as a prostitute after Katerina Ivanovna has a go at her for being a freeloader and brings home 30 roubles.

Part Two

Chapter 7

She arrives at Marmeladov’s apartment as he’s dying, having been fetched from the street by her sister Polyenka. We get a description of her clothing, dressed as she is for her work as a prostitute.

Part Three

Chapter 4

She shows up at Raskolnikov’s to invite him to Marmeladov’s funeral.

Part Four

Chapter 4

Raskolnikov calls round to her room. She reads him the portion of scripture about the raising of Lazarus. Rodion kisses her foot and tells her that, when he returns, he’ll tell her who killed Lizaveta.

Part Five

Chapter 1

She is invited to talk to Luzhin on her return from the cemetery on the day of her father’s funeral feast. Luzhin gives her ten roubles and apologises for skipping the feast.

Part Five

Chapter 2

Sonya’s at the funeral feast for her father but doesn’t have much to do other than looking after her step-siblings.