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Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladov is a hard-working woman who lives in poverty with her husband Semyon Marmeladov, stepdaughter Sonya, and three young children. Years of suffering due to her husband’s destructive alcoholism have made her erratic and stressed, but she does have moments of strong, pure love for her family. Katerina Ivanovna comes from an aristocratic lineage that has since sunk into destitution, like many of Russia’s noble families at the time. Plagued by the marked difference between her past and present lives, she clings to the memories of her monied upbringing and her aristocratic father, and often acts as if she still holds the sway of an upper-class woman even though she has been disconnected from her aristocratic family for decades.
This behavior is both darkly comedic and deeply tragic. On the one hand, Katerina Ivanovna’s insistence on proving her noble heritage and her rude treatment of those she perceives as beneath her are pathetic and ridiculous; on the other, that she is actively going mad and dying from consumption due to her horrific circumstances suggests that much of her unbecoming behavior stems from her desperation and inner torment. Katerina Ivanovna shares similarities with Raskolnikov, as they both seem to suffer from mental illness which stems from their desperate need to see themselves as special. In Katerina Ivanovna, this need manifests in an obsession with class, while Raskolnikov’s manifests in an obsession with intellect and greatness.
