Key qualities
Sonya Marmeladova is one of the key characters famous novel Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment.” Thanks to this image, readers think about the best human qualities ah: self-sacrifice, mercy, the ability of devoted love and sincere faith in God.
Ideas and image of Sonya
Sonya is a young girl about eighteen years old, thin, blue-eyed and fair-haired. She is the daughter of the former official Marmeladov. After losing his place in the service, he began to drink incessantly, which is why his wife Katerina and their children lead a miserable existence and starve. The girl sacrifices the purity of her body in order to provide food for her family, but she does not blame Katerina Ivanovna for this, who forced her to go to the panel, but simply resigns herself to her fate. Sonya commits sin for the sake of her family, but she is very ashamed of herself and of God, in whom she deeply believes. Due to the fact that she has transgressed moral laws, she is embarrassed to be around decent women - Raskolnikov’s mother and sister; Sonya cannot even sit down in their presence, fearing that it will offend them. Every act of a meek and modest girl is performed not for her own sake, but for the sake of someone; despite her occupation, Sonya appears before readers as a true Christian and righteous woman. All the girl’s actions are based on endless, Christian love for her neighbors: because of her love for her father, she gives him money for drinks, because of her love for Raskolnikov, she helps him cleanse his soul and goes with him to hard labor.
Sonya as a path to redemption
The image of Sonya Marmeladova and her ideas are a kind of opposite to the image of Rodion Raskolnikov and his theory. The girl is guided in everything by the law of God and therefore does not understand ideas young man; for her, all people are equal, and no one can rise above everyone else, much less take someone’s life. It is Sonya Raskolnikov who talks about committed crime, and thanks to the girl, he was able to repent and admit this and the investigation. Sonya is ready to go to hard labor with him, because she also transgressed the biblical commandments and believes that she must suffer for the sake of purification. “We are cursed together, we will go together,” Rodion Raskolnikov tells her. The young man’s fellow convicts felt the kindness and love for everything around him coming from Sonya, who treated everyone with respect, and therefore fell in love with her. Thanks to Sonya, Raskolnikov was subsequently able to truly repent of his actions, turn to God and begin new life with new beliefs.
Favorite hero of Dostoevsky
Sonya Marmeladova was one of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky's favorite heroines. Through the image and beliefs of the girl, the writer reveals his own thoughts and ideas regarding faith in goodness and God, love for people and justice.
Dostoevsky wrote his novel Crime and Punishment after hard labor. It was at this time that Fyodor Mikhailovich’s beliefs took on a religious overtone. The denunciation of an unjust social system, the search for truth, the dream of happiness for all mankind were combined during this period in his character with disbelief that the world could be remade by force. The writer was convinced that evil cannot be avoided under any social structure. He believed that it came from human soul. Fyodor Mikhailovich raised the question of the need for moral improvement of all people. Therefore, he decided to turn to religion.
Sonya is the writer's ideal
Sonya Marmeladova and Rodion Raskolnikov are the two main characters of the work. They seem to be two counter flows. The ideological part of “Crime and Punishment” is made up of their worldviews. Sonechka Marmeladova is a writer. It is the bearer of faith, hope, empathy, love, understanding and tenderness. According to Dostoevsky, this is exactly what every person should be. This girl is the personification of truth. She believed that all people have an equal right to life. Sonechka Marmeladova was firmly convinced that through crime one cannot achieve happiness - neither someone else's nor one's own. Sin always remains sin. It doesn’t matter who committed it and in the name of what.
Two worlds - Marmeladova and Raskolnikov
Rodion Raskolnikov and Sonya Marmeladova exist in different worlds. Like two opposite poles, these heroes cannot live without each other. The idea of rebellion is embodied in Rodion, while Sonechka Marmeladova personifies humility. This is a deeply religious, highly moral girl. She believes that life has a deep inner meaning. Rodion’s ideas that everything that exists is meaningless are incomprehensible to her. Sonechka Marmeladova sees divine predestination in everything. She believes that nothing depends on a person. The truth of this heroine is God, humility, love. For her, the meaning of life is great power empathy and compassion for people.
Raskolnikov mercilessly and passionately judges the world. He cannot tolerate injustice. It is from here that his crime and mental torment stems in the work “Crime and Punishment.” Sonechka Marmeladova, like Rodion, also steps over herself, but she does it completely differently than Raskolnikov. The heroine sacrifices herself to other people rather than killing them. In this, the author embodied the idea that a person has no right to personal, selfish happiness. You need to learn patience. True happiness can only be achieved through suffering.
Why does Sonya take Rodion’s crime to heart?
According to the thoughts of Fyodor Mikhailovich, a person needs to feel responsible not only for his actions, but also for any evil done in the world. That is why Sonya feels that the crime committed by Rodion is also her fault. She takes this hero’s action to heart and shares it hard fate. Raskolnikov decides to reveal his terrible secret to this heroine. Her love revives him. She resurrects Rodion to a new life.
High internal qualities of the heroine, attitude towards happiness
The image of Sonechka Marmeladova is the embodiment of the best human qualities: love, faith, sacrifice and chastity. Even being surrounded by vices, forced to sacrifice her own dignity, this girl maintains the purity of her soul. She does not lose faith that there is no happiness in comfort. Sonya says that “a person is not born to be happy.” It is bought through suffering, it must be earned. The fallen woman Sonya, who ruined her soul, turns out to be a “person of high spirit.” This heroine can be put in the same “category” with Rodion. However, she condemns Raskolnikov for his contempt for people. Sonya cannot accept his “rebellion”. But it seemed to the hero that his ax was raised in her name.
The clash between Sonya and Rodion
According to Fyodor Mikhailovich, this heroine embodies the Russian element, the national principle: humility and patience, and towards people. The clash between Sonya and Rodion, their opposing worldviews are a reflection of the writer’s internal contradictions that troubled his soul.
Sonya hopes for a miracle, for God. Rodion is convinced that there is no God, and there is no point in waiting for a miracle. This hero reveals to the girl the futility of her illusions. Raskolnikov says that her compassion is useless, and her sacrifices are ineffective. It is not because of her shameful profession that Sonechka Marmeladova is a sinner. The characterization of this heroine given by Raskolnikov during the clash does not stand up to criticism. He believes that her feat and sacrifices are in vain, but at the end of the work it is this heroine who revives him to life.
Sonya's ability to penetrate a person's soul
Driven by life into a hopeless situation, the girl tries to do something in the face of death. She, like Rodion, acts according to the law of free choice. However, unlike him, she did not lose faith in humanity, which Dostoevsky notes. Sonechka Marmeladova is a heroine who does not need examples to understand that people are kind by nature and deserve the brightest fate. It is she, and only she, who is able to sympathize with Rodion, since she is not embarrassed by either the ugliness of his social fate or his physical deformity. Sonya Marmeladova penetrates into the essence of the soul through its “scab”. She is in no hurry to judge anyone. The girl understands that behind external evil there are always incomprehensible or unknown reasons that led to the evil of Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov.
The heroine's attitude towards suicide
This girl stands outside the laws of the world that torments her. She's not interested in money. She, of her own free will, wanting to feed her family, went to the panel. And it was precisely because of her indestructible and strong will that she did not commit suicide. When the girl was faced with this question, she carefully thought about it and chose an answer. In her situation, suicide would be a selfish act. Thanks to him, she would be spared pain and shame. Suicide would get her out of the "fetid pit." However, the thought of family did not allow her to take this step. Marmeladova’s measure of determination and will is much higher than Raskolnikov expected. In order to refuse suicide, she needed more fortitude than in order to commit this act.
For this girl, debauchery was worse than death. However, humility excludes suicide. This reveals the full strength of character of this heroine.
Love Sonya
If you define this girl’s nature in one word, then this word is loving. Her love for her neighbor was active. Sonya knew how to respond to the pain of another person. This was especially evident in the episode of Rodion’s confession to murder. This quality makes her image “ideal”. The sentence in the novel is pronounced by the author from the standpoint of this ideal. Fyodor Dostoevsky, in the image of his heroine, presented an example of all-forgiving, all-encompassing love. She does not know envy, does not want anything in return. This love can even be called unspoken, because the girl never talks about it. However, this feeling overwhelms her. It comes out only in the form of actions, but never in the form of words. Silent love only becomes more beautiful from this. Even the desperate Marmeladov bows before her.
The crazy Katerina Ivanovna also prostrates herself in front of the girl. Even Svidrigailov, that eternal libertine, respects Sonya for her. Not to mention Rodion Raskolnikov. Her love healed and saved this hero.
The author of the work through reflection and moral quest came to the idea that any person who finds God looks at the world in a new way. He begins to rethink it. That is why in the epilogue, when the moral resurrection of Rodion is described, Fyodor Mikhailovich writes that “it begins new story"The love of Sonechka Marmeladova and Raskolnikov, described at the end of the work, is the brightest part of the novel.
The immortal meaning of the novel
Dostoevsky, having rightly condemned Rodion for his rebellion, leaves victory to Sonya. It is in her that he sees the highest truth. The author wants to show that suffering purifies, that it is better than violence. Most likely, in our time, Sonechka Marmeladova would be an outcast. The image of this heroine in the novel is too far from the norms of behavior accepted in society. And not every Rodion Raskolnikov will suffer and suffer today. However, as long as “the world stands,” the soul of a person and his conscience are always alive and will live. This is the immortal meaning of the novel by Dostoevsky, who is rightfully considered a great psychological writer.
Sonechka Marmeladova is a character in the novel “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. The book was written after hard labor. Therefore, it clearly shows a religious connotation of the author’s beliefs. He seeks the truth, exposes the injustice of the world, dreams of the happiness of humanity, but at the same time does not believe that the world can be remade by force. Dostoevsky is convinced that evil cannot be avoided under any social system as long as evil exists in the souls of people. Fyodor Mikhailovich rejected the revolution as a transformer of society; he turned towards religion, trying to solve exclusively the issue of improving the morality of each individual person. It is these ideas that the heroine Sonechka Marmeladova reflects in the novel.
Characteristics of the hero
The two main characters of the novel - Sonya Marmeladova and Rodion Raskolnikov - move through the plot like countercurrents. The ideological part of the work is presented to the reader through their worldview. Through Sonechka, Dostoevsky showed his moral ideal, which brings faith and love, hope and understanding, and warmth. According to the author, this is exactly how all people should be. Through Sonya, Fyodor Mikhailovich says that everyone, regardless of their position in society, has the right to live and be happy. The heroine is convinced that it is impossible to achieve happiness, both one’s own and that of others, through criminal means, and sin in any case remains a sin, in the name of whom or whatever it was committed.
If the image of Raskolnikov is rebellion, then Sonechka Marmeladova in the novel “Crime and Punishment” personifies humility. They are two opposite poles that cannot exist one without the other. However, literary scholars are still arguing about the deep meaning of this rebellion and humility.
Inner world
Sonechka Marmeladova deeply believes in God and has high moral qualities. She sees the deepest meaning in life and does not understand her antagonist’s ideas about the meaninglessness of existence, believing that behind every event there is a predestination from God. Sonya is sure that a person cannot influence anything, and his main task is to show humility and love. For her, things like empathy and compassion are both the meaning of life and great strength.
Raskolnikov judges the world only from the position of reason, with rebellious fervor. He does not want to come to terms with injustice. This becomes the cause of his mental anguish and crime. Sonechka Marmeladova in Dostoevsky’s novel also oversteps herself, but not in the same way as Rodion. She does not want to destroy other people and cause them suffering, but sacrifices herself. This reflects the writer’s idea that what should be more important for a person is not selfish personal happiness, but suffering for the benefit of others. This is the only way, in his opinion, to achieve true happiness.
Moral of the storyline
Sonechka Marmeladova, characteristics and inner world which are so carefully worked out in the novel, reflects the author’s idea that everyone should be aware of responsibility not only for their actions, but also for all the evil happening in the world. Sonya feels guilty for the crime Raskolnikov committed, so she takes everything to heart and tries to revive it with her compassion. Sonya shares Rodion's fate after he reveals his secret to her.
In the novel, this happens symbolically: when Sonya reads to him the scene of the resurrection of Lazarus from the New Testament, the man correlates the plot with own life, and then, coming to her the next time, he himself talks about what he did and tries to explain the reasons, after which he asks for her help. Sonya mentors Rodion. She calls on him to go to the square to repent of his crime before the people. The author himself here reflects the idea of bringing the criminal to suffering so that through him he can atone for his guilt.
Moral qualities
Sonya Marmeladova in the novel embodies the best that can be in a person: faith, love, chastity, willingness to sacrifice oneself. She had to engage in prostitution, but, surrounded by vice, she kept her soul pure and continued to believe in people and in the fact that happiness is achieved only at the cost of suffering. Sonya, like Raskolnikov, who transgressed the gospel commandments, nevertheless condemns Rodion for his contempt for people and does not share his rebellious sentiments.
The author tried to reflect through it the whole essence of the people's origin and the Russian soul, to show natural humility and patience, love for one's neighbor and God. The worldviews of the two heroes of the novel are opposed to each other and, constantly colliding, show the contradictions in Dostoevsky’s soul.
Faith
Sonya believes in God, believes in miracles. Rodion, on the contrary, believes that there is no Almighty and miracles also do not happen. He tries to reveal to the girl how ridiculous and illusory her ideas are, proves that her suffering is useless and her sacrifices are ineffective. Raskolnikov judges her from his point of view, says that it is not her profession that makes her sinful, but her vain sacrifices and exploits. However, Sonya's worldview is unshakable, even when driven into a corner, she tries to do something in the face of death. The girl, even after all the humiliation and suffering, did not lose faith in people, in the kindness of their souls. She doesn't need examples, she just believes that everyone deserves a fair share.
Sonya is not embarrassed by either physical deformities or deformities of fate, she is capable of compassion, can penetrate into the essence of the human soul and does not want to judge, because she feels that any evil is committed by a person for some unknown, internal and incomprehensible reason to others.
Inner strength
Many of the author’s thoughts are reflected by Sonechka Marmeladova in the novel “Crime and Punishment.” Its characterization is supplemented by questions about suicide. The girl, forced to go to the panel so that her family would stop starving, at some point thought about committing suicide and with one jerk getting rid of the shame, getting out of the fetid pit.
She was stopped by the thought of what would happen to her loved ones, even if not exactly relatives. In order to keep from committing suicide in such life situation, much more is required inner strength. But the religious Sonya was not held back by the thought of mortal sin. She was worried “about them, her own.” And although there was debauchery for the girl worse than death, she chose him.
Love and humility
Another feature that permeates Sonechka’s character is the ability to love. She responds to the suffering of others. She, like the wives of the Decembrists, follows Raskolnikov to hard labor. In her image, Dostoevsky presented an all-encompassing and all-consuming love that does not require anything in return. This feeling cannot be called fully expressed, because Sonya never says anything like that out loud, and silence makes her even more beautiful. For this, she is respected by her father, a drunken former official, and her stepmother Katerina Ivanovna, who has lost her mind, and even the libertine Svidrigailov. Raskolnikov is saved and healed by her love.
Author's Beliefs
Each hero has his own worldview and faith. Everyone remains true to their beliefs. But Raskolnikov and Sonechka come to the conclusion that God can show the path to everyone, you just have to feel his closeness. Dostoevsky, through his characters, talks about the fact that every person who comes to God through thorny path moral torment and research, will no longer be able to look at the world the same way as before. The process of renewal and rebirth of man will begin.
The image of the immaculate and at the same time sinful angel in the novel “Crime and Punishment” became a real sensation for the public. opened up a different side of life for readers. The personality of Sonya Marmeladova was different from the usual literary heroes. Her crime, humility and desire to atone have become moral guidelines for all those who are confused.
Crime and Punishment
Dostoevsky collected the basis for the novel during his own hard labor exile. In Siberia, the writer did not have the opportunity to write, but he had enough time to interview exiles and their loved ones. Therefore, the images of the main characters of the novel are collective in nature.
Initially, the author conceived the novel as a confession story. The narration was told in the first person, and main task for Dostoevsky it was to show the inner psychological truth of a confused person. The writer became interested in the idea, and the serious story grew into a novel.
Initially, her role in the novel “Crime and Punishment” was minor, but after several edits the image main character took an important place in the narrative. With the help of Sonya, Dostoevsky conveys to readers the important idea of the novel:
“The Orthodox view, what is Orthodoxy. There is no happiness in comfort; happiness is bought through suffering. Man is not born for happiness. A person deserves his happiness, and always through suffering.”
Analysis of the work proves that the author did an excellent job with the task. Sonya is the personification of suffering and redemption. The characterization of the heroine is revealed to the reader gradually. All quotes about a former prostitute are filled with love and care. Dostoevsky is equally worried about the fate of the girl:
“...Oh yes Sonya! What a well, however, they managed to dig! And they use it! That's why they use it! And we got used to it. We cried and got used to it. A scoundrel of a man gets used to everything!”
Biography and plot of the novel
Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova was born into the family of a minor official. The girl's father is an elderly man, earns little and likes to drink. Sonya's mother died long ago, the girl is being raised by her stepmother. New wife The father has a mixture of feelings for his stepdaughter. Katerina Ivanovna takes out all her dissatisfaction with her failed life on an innocent girl. At the same time, the woman does not feel hatred towards the younger Marmeladova and tries not to deprive the girl of attention.
Sonya did not receive an education, because, according to her father, she is not distinguished by intelligence and intelligence. The trusting and good-natured heroine blindly believes in God and meekly serves the interests of the Marmeladov spouses and the stepmother’s children from her first marriage.
The girl is already 18 years old, although the heroine’s appearance would be more suitable for a child: blond hair, Blue eyes, angular figure:
“She couldn’t even be called pretty, but her blue eyes were so clear, and when they came to life, the expression on her face became so kind and simple-minded that you involuntarily attracted people to her.”
The family lives in Russian outback, but after the loss of his father permanent income The Marmeladovs move to St. Petersburg. In the capital, Semyon Zakharovich quickly finds a job and just as quickly loses it. The bosses are not ready to put up with employee drunkenness. Providing for the family falls entirely on Sonya.
Left without a livelihood, the girl sees one way out - to quit her job as a seamstress, which brought in too little money, and get a job as a prostitute. For the shameful earnings, the girl was kicked out of the apartment. Sonya lives separately from her family, rents a room from a tailor she knows:
“...my daughter, Sofya Semyonovna, yellow ticket She was forced to receive it, and on this occasion she could not stay with us. Because the hostess, Amalia Fedorovna, didn’t want to allow that.”
A girl of easy virtue received from the government a “yellow ticket” - a document proving that the young lady was selling her body. Even shameful work does not save the Marmeladov family.
Semyon Zakharovich dies under the hooves of a carriage horse. In the bustle and commotion, the girl’s first acquaintance with Raskolnikov takes place. The man already knows the girl in absentia - difficult fate Sonya was told Rodion in all the details by the elder Marmeladov.
Financial assistance from outside stranger(Rodion Raskolnikov pays for his father’s funeral) touches the girl. Sonya goes to thank the man. This is how the difficult relationship between the main characters begins.
During the process of organizing a funeral, young people spend a lot of time talking. Both feel like outcasts from society, both are looking for consolation and support. The mask of a cold cynic that hides behind main character, falls, and the true Rodion appears before pure Sonya:
“He suddenly changed; his affectedly impudent and impotently defiant tone disappeared. Even my voice suddenly weakened..."
Marmeladov's death completely undermined the stepmother's health. Katerina Ivanovna dies of consumption, and Sonya falls on the shoulders of caring for the younger members of the family. Help for the girl comes unexpectedly - Mr. Svidrigailov arranges for the little ones to orphanage and provides the younger Marmeladovs with a comfortable future. This is how Sonya’s fate unfolded in a terrible way.
But the desire to make sacrifices pushes the girl to the other extreme. Now the heroine intends to devote herself to Raskolnikov and accompany the prisoner into exile. The girl is not afraid that her loved one killed the old woman to test a crazy theory. Marmeladova’s truth is that love, faith and selflessness will heal and guide Rodion on the right path.
In Siberia, where the main character is sent, Sonya gets a job as a seamstress. The shameful profession remains a thing of the past, and, despite the coldness of the young man, Sonya remains faithful to Rodion. The girl’s patience and faith bring results - Raskolnikov realizes how much he needs Marmeladova. The reward for the two wounded souls was the joint happiness that came after the atonement of sins.
Film adaptations
The first film dedicated to Raskolnikov's crime was filmed in 1909. The role of Rodion's faithful companion was played by actress Alexandra Goncharova. The film itself has long been lost; copies of the film do not exist. In 1935, American filmmakers filmed their version of the tragedy. The image of the immaculate sinner went to actress Marian Marsh.
In 1956, the French showed their own view of the drama of a confused man. She played the role of Sonya, but in the film adaptation the name of the main character was replaced with Lily Marcelin.
In the USSR, the first film about the fate of Raskolnikov was released in 1969. The director of the film is Lev Kulidzhanov. Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova was played by Tatyana Bedova. The film was included in the program of the Venice Film Festival.
In 2007, the series “Crime and Punishment” was released, in which the image of the main character was embodied.
The majority of film critics did not like the serial film. The main complaint is that Rodion Raskolnikov does not experience human feelings. The hero is obsessed with anger and hatred. Repentance never touches the hearts of the main characters.
- Dostoevsky's first child was named Sonya. The girl died a couple of months after birth.
- In St. Petersburg, the heroine lived in the building of the former state chamber. This is a real house. Sonya's exact address is Griboyedov Canal embankment, 63.
- The rap artist uses the name of the main character from Crime and Punishment as a pseudonym.
- In the first version of the novel, Sonya's biography looks different: the heroine comes into conflict with Dunya Raskolnikova and becomes the object of Luzhin's crazy but immaculate love.
Quotes
“You walked away from God, and God struck you down and handed you over to the devil!”
“To accept suffering and redeem yourself through it, that’s what you need...”
“...And tell everyone, out loud: “I killed!” Then God will send you life again. Will you go? Will you go?..”
“What are you doing, why did you do this to yourself! No, there is no one more unhappy than you in the whole world now!”
After the murder he committed, the main female character of “Crime and Punishment” Sonya Marmeladova played.
Daughter poor official, in order to save her stepmother and children from hunger, she leads the life of a fallen woman. Conscious of the horror of her situation, her shame, timid, driven, this girl kept her soul pure and was distinguished by her exceptional love for people and ardent religiosity. Resignedly, silently, without complaining, Sonya bears her cross, sacrificing her entire life, exposing herself to grave shame for the sake of her loved ones.
Sonya Marmeladova. Image of Gospel Love
This resigned suffering surprises Raskolnikov, he understands the soul of this girl, and for him she is, as it were, the personification of all human suffering. Shocked by everything experienced in last days, in some kind of enthusiastic impulse he bows at her feet. “I didn’t bow to you,” he says, “I bowed to all human suffering.”
But Sonya’s inner world is completely different from Raskolnikov’s; she categorically denies his theory of the rule of the strong; for her, everyone is valuable in itself human life, to which she has a religious attitude, and she cannot allow one person’s life to serve as a means for another. She professes the law of Christ's love, pities Raskolnikov, for he is a criminal for her, as well as for common people, - unhappy. She cries over him and sends him to accept suffering and atone for sin, for this is required by the highest laws of spiritual life.
“Go now, this very minute,” she tells him, “stand at the crossroads, bow down, first kiss the ground that you have desecrated, and then bow to the whole world, in all four directions, and tell everyone, out loud: I killed! Then God will send you life again.”
However, despite all the attempts and mental struggle, Raskolnikov cannot understand her attitude towards the crime and even leaves for hard labor, unreconciled and not feeling remorse. Raskolnikov’s isolation and pride cause the convicts to have a hostile attitude towards him, while they are imbued with love for Sonya, feeling her emotional attitude towards people, and call her: “you are our tender, sick mother.”
But Sonya’s influence still triumphed over the soul of Raskolnikov, who experienced a complete turning point in life, which is only hinted at in the epilogue of the novel. “Here begins a new story,” says Dostoevsky, “the story of the gradual renewal of man, the story of his gradual rebirth—a gradual transition from one world to another, acquaintance with a new, hitherto completely unknown reality.”