The Idiot

Ganya is a man who understands his own mediocrity, possessing a "profound and continual awareness of his own talentlessness" (350). He still holds out hope that he might marry Aglaya one day. His sister Varya has assisted him, trying to put the relationship back together. However, she tells Ganya that his chances are very bleak: a week after their meeting in the park, Myshkin and Aglaya are now "formally" (353) engaged. Ganya is upset by the news, which will be announced at a dinner party that evening. Ganya blames his family. Their reputation has been diminished by the recent news that General Ivolgin, Ganya's father, stole a wallet. Ganya dismisses their father's behavior as a "drunken incident" (355). Varya believes that Ganya's failure to marry Aglaya is because her brother does not truly "understand" (355) Aglaya. He does not realize that he is simply too conventional, too mediocre to be attractive to her. She tells her brother that Ippolit has now moved in with the Ivolgin family. Ganya hates Ippolit, who he believes also loves Aglaya. Ippolit has been gossiping to anyone who will listen about the stolen money. He has told Nina Ivolgin, for example, that he was the real criminal and he planned to give the money to his mother (the former mistress of Nina's husband, General Ivolgin).