The Idiot

Several days after the "strange adventure" (144) at Nastasya's party, Myshkin travels to Moscow to collect his inheritance. He is away from Saint Petersburg for six months and, during this time, rumors regarding the now-infamous party spread through Moscow high society. During this time, Ganya resigns from his job as General Epanchin's assistant and returns Nastasya's money to her. General Ivolgin is sent to debtors' prison while his daughter Varya marries Ptitsyn, who uses his money to take care of her family. Varya spends more time with the Epanchin daughters and is soon on "a very intimate footing with them" (146). Separately, her brother Kolya also befriends the family. Madame Epanchin, in particular, thinks highly of him. In Moscow, people take advantage of Myshkin's good nature. He stays with Princess Belokonsky, a friend of Madame Epanchin, and he is frequently asked for money by people who claim that they were owed money by his family or his benefactors. As such, Myshkin has already lost a significant portion of his large inheritance, which turns out to be "by no means as significant as had originally been spread about" (147). Though Nastasya chose Rogozhin and though she promises to marry him, she has occasionally run away from him, only to return some time later.