Svidrigailov, Arkady Ivanovich

Landlord. Dunya's former employer

Description: A short man with the air of a craftsman of some kind, wearing what could have been a dressing gown and a waistcoat, and from a distance looking remarkably like a woman. His head, in a greasy-looking cap, was drooping forward, giving him a hunchbacked appearance. He had a wrinkled, sagging face that put him on the far side of fifty. His small, bloated eyes looked sternly out onto the world with grim displeasure. 
Roger Cockrell, p256

Pronunciation

Part One

Chapter 3

He made course and jeering comments about Dunya at mealtimes. He had long had a passion for her but had concealed it by adopting a rude and contemptuous attitude towards her. He made advances towards her and put her in a difficult situation. His wife, Marfa Petrovna, overheard him coming onto her in the garden and blamed it on Dunya.

He repents and gives his wife proof of Dunya’s innocence by way of a letter that Dunya wrote to him, admonishing him for his inappropriate behaviour, towards both Dunya and Marfa Petrovna.

Part Three

Chapter 4

He follows Sonya home. He’s not named so we don’t know it’s him. He’s Sonya’s neighbour.

Chapter 6

He’s the stranger who beckons Raskolnikov and calls him a murderer. He shows up at his room at the end of the chapter.

Part Four

Chapter 1

A long discussion with Raskolnikov that makes up the whole of the chapter. He offers Dunya ten thousand roubles.

Part Four

Chapter 4

Eavesdrops on Rodion’s visit to Sonya’s room from behind the partition wall.