Class 1
Part 1
chapters 1-5 pp. 7-206.
1. Who is
Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovenskii? Why does the novel start with the outline of
his life’s most important dates and events?
2. What do
we know about the novel’s narrator, the Chronicler? How long does the
Chronicler know Stepan Trofimovich?
3. Who are
Stepan Trofimovich’s pupils?
4. Most of
the characters of the novel Demons arrive to the provincial town where the
drama is staged from a variety of places. Who are the new (and not exactly new)
arrivals? What brings them to this provincial and by no means outstanding town?
What brings them all together in the drawing room of Varvara Petrovna?
5. Everyone
is surprised to see Nikolai Vsevolodovich at the gathering. Apparently, he
arrived much earlier than expected. Why did he arrive?
6. What
questions are raised in Varvara Petrovna’s drawing room? What answers are offered?
7. Is Maria
Lebiadkina’s meeting with Varvara Petrovna a coincidence?
8. How do
Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovenskii and his son Petrusha, or Petr Stepanovich
Verkhovenskii relate to each other? What are their differences and
similarities?
Class 2
Part 2, Chapters 1-5 pp. 209-342
1. What do
we know about Petr Verkhovenskii? What is the reason for his visit to his
father’s town? What kind of reputation does he have? Why is he so well received
at the governor’s? What qualities assured his position of a much-favored young
man?
2. What is
Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovenskii’s opinion about his son’s ideals, aspirations
and ambitions?
3. Why does
Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovenskii exclaim that Russians “ought to be
exterminated for the good of mankind, like harmful parasites”? (Part II, Ch.
1:2, p. 210) What is his argument?
4. What
does Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovenskii mean when he is talking about “the end”?
(… in this world things usually end with nothing, but here there will be an
end, most certainly, most certainly!) (Part II, Ch. 1:2, p. 217)
5. What do
Nikolai Stavrogin and Ivan Shatov think about Petr Verkhovenskii?
6. What
kind of man is Nikolai Stavrogin? What do we learn about his convictions and
teachings? How is he viewed by Petr Verkhovenskii, Shatov, Kirillov, Lebiadkin?
7.When
Nikolai Stavrogin visits Marya Timofeevna (Lebiadkina), she is upset and
concerned. What is she concerned about?
8. Marya
Timofeevna refuses to go with Nikolai Stavrogin to Switzerland. Moreover, she
accuses him of being an impostor, not her Prince. Why is she resentful? Why is she afraid of
him?
9. How did
Andrei Antonovich von Lembke become a governor? Was he well suited for such a
high post? What does he think about his post, his duties and responsibilities?
10. What
are Yulia Mikhailovna’s ambitions?
Class 3
Part 2,
chapters 6-8, 343-423
1. What
ideas/ideals (if any at all) does von Lembke share with Petr Stepanovich?
2. When
Nikolai Stavrogin tells Darya Pavlovna (Dasha) that he is afraid of ruining
her, she says “nothing you do can ever ruin me.” (Part 2, Ch. 3: IV, 292) What
does she mean?
3. How do
noble young people, including Lise and Nikolai Stavrogin, entertain themselves?
What do they seek as they visit a blessed man and prophet Semyon Yakovlevich?
Why do people come to see Semyon Yakovlevich? Why is he considered a holy man?
4. Dostoevsky’s
characters continuously ask crucial questions about happiness. What makes one
happy? Can a man know himself what makes him/her happy? Or will he readily
submit his/her will to anyone who would affirm, “I know what you want”? How
would we categorize the characters found in Demons
if we look at them from the perspective of this perennial quest?
5. What is
Petr Verkhovenskii’s plan? Why does he need Stavrogin?
6. Who are ‘ours’?
How does Petr Verkhovenskii describe them to Stavrogin? What do the words and
actions of “ours” tell us about their minds, aspirations, convictions and
outlooks? Where do these people come from? Are the ‘ours’ typical
revolutionaries?
7. At
Virginskii’s gathering Shigalev describes his own utopian theory of “Paradise
on Earth.” What are its foundational concepts? What values does he promote?
What difficulties does he experience as the mastermind of the brave new world?
What is Shigalev’s concept of ‘equality’? What does Petr Verkhovenskii
appreciate in Shigalev’s theory?