Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky Study questions

Crime and Punishment

Facts about Fyodor Dostoyevsky

➾ Despite being a well-known author, Dostoyevsky lived in near-poverty and was plagued by compulsive gambling debts.

➾ His father, a doctor who ruled the family strictly, was murdered by his own serfs who poured vodka down his throat.

➾ Although he loved literature, his father forced him to train in engineering at the military academy in St. Petersburg.

➾ Dostoyevsky was arrested for treason after joining the Petrashevsky Circle, a group of radical intellectuals who advocated government reform.

➾ He was taken before a firing squad and stood waiting for execution before a messenger arrived to announce that the tsar had commuted his death sentence.

➾ Authorities are believed to have intended the execution to be a mock execution all along, designed for psychological punishment.

➾ His prison experiences and near-death moment converted him from pro-Western liberal-socialist ideas to an intense spirituality and a specific Russian brand of Christianity.

➾ He had to spend several years after his prison camp term in Siberia as an army private before he could return to St. Petersburg.

➾ Dostoyevsky suffered from epilepsy, a condition little understood at the time, which began during his incarceration in the labor camp.

➾ Saddled with massive debts, he wrote the novella The Gambler in just one month by dictating it to a stenographer to avoid losing all rights to his past and future works.

➾ He subsequently married that stenographer, Anna Snitkina, who helped reform his life, managed his career, and nursed him through his depression and epilepsy.

Fyodor Dostoevsky MCQs

1. In what city was Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky born in 1821?

A. St. Petersburg
B. Moscow
C. Omsk
D. London

B. Moscow
He was born in Moscow, where his father worked as a doctor at a hospital for the póor.

2. What was the profession of Dostoyevsky’s father?

A. A writer and critic
B. A teacher
C. A doctor/former army surgeon
D. An engineer

C. A doctor/former army surgeon
His father was a staff doctor at the Mariinsky Hospital for the Póor in Moscow.

3. How old was Dostoyevsky when his mother died?

A. Twelve
B. Sixteen
C. Twenty-one
D. Thirty

B. Sixteen
His mother’s death in 1837 was a significant emotional blow during his formative teenage years.

4. Despite his love of books, what subject did Dostoyevsky’s father insist that he study?

A. Medicine
B. Law
C. Philosophy
D. Engineering

D. Engineering
His father sent him to a military engineering academy, a practical career path Dostoyevsky disliked.

5. Where did Dostoyevsky train in engineering from 1838 to 1843?

A. Moscow University
B. The St. Petersburg Literary Academy
C. The military engineering academy in St. Petersburg
D. The Siberian Military Outpost

C. The military engineering academy in St. Petersburg
He was sent to St. Petersburg for a military engineering education, which he found uninspiring.

6. How did Dostoyevsky’s father die, an incident that had a profound impact on Fyodor?

A. He died in a duel.
B. He died during a cholera epidemic.
C. He was murdered by one of his serfs.
D. He committed suícide due to debt.

C. He was murdered by one of his serfs.
The violent death of his father, reportedly by his own serfs, deeply influenced Dostoyevsky.

7. What rank did Dostoyevsky graduate with from the Academy of Military Engineers in 1843?

A. Colonel
B. Lieutenant/Sublieutenant
C. Captain
D. Private

B. Lieutenant/Sublieutenant
He graduated as a sublieutenant but his heart was not in a military career.

8. What reason is given for Dostoyevsky quickly abandoning his military career after graduating?

A. He was medically discharged.
B. He was forced out by debt collectors.
C. He preferred writing to serving in the army.
D. He immediately moved abroad.

C. He preferred writing to serving in the army.
His passion was always for literature, and he resigned his commission to become a full-time writer.

9. How many children eventually consisted of Dostoyevsky’s family (including him)?

A. Four
B. Five
C. Six
D. Seven

D. Seven
Fyodor was the second of seven children born to Dr. Mikhail and Maria Dostoyevsky.

10. What types of novels did young Dostoyevsky enthusiastically read?

A. Only Russian novels
B. Only German novels
C. English and Spanish novels
D. Russian, French, and German novels

D. Russian, French, and German novels
He was well-read in European literature, which influenced his complex philosophical novels.

11. What was the title of the translation of Balzac’s work that Dostoyevsky published in 1844?

A. Póor Folk
B. The Double
C. Crime and Punishment
D. Eugenie Grandet

D. Eugenie Grandet
His first published work was a translation of this French novel, which had little success.

12. What was Dostoyevsky’s first original published work (a short novel) in 1846, which was widely acclaimed?

A. The Double
B. Notes from Underground
C. Póor Folk
D. The Gambler

C. Póor Folk
This sentimental novel was a huge critical success and made him famous in literary circles.

13. Who was the influential critic who championed Dostoyevsky’s first original published work?

A. Mikhail Petrashevsky
B. Vissarion Belinsky
C. Leo Tolstoy
D. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

B. Vissarion Belinsky
Belinsky, the leading critic of the day, praised Póor Folk and hailed Dostoyevsky as a new talent.

14. What group of radical intellectuals did Dostoyevsky join in 1848, named after its leader?

A. The Nihilist Front
B. The Sons of Russia
C. The Petrashevsky Circle
D. The St. Petersburg Critics

C. The Petrashevsky Circle
He joined this group of radical thinkers who discussed utopian socialism and political reform.

15. What political view did the Petrashevsky Circle advocate for?

A. Isolationism
B. Absolute monarchy
C. Reforming the autocratic tsarist government
D. Complete separation from Western Europe

C. Reforming the autocratic tsarist government
The group discussed Western philosophies and social reforms, which was seen as a threat by the Tsar.

16. On what charge was Dostoyevsky arrested in 1849?

A. Gambling fraud
B. Sedition against the Church
C. Murder
D. Treason

D. Treason
He and other members of the Petrashevsky Circle were arrested for treason against the Tsar.

17. What was Dostoyevsky’s initial sentence for his crime?

A. Four years of military service
B. Life in prison
C. Death
D. Exile to Moscow

C. Death
He was sentenced to death by firing squad, a sentence that was commuted at the last possible second.

18. Where was Dostoyevsky placed in solitary confinement for eight months following his arrest?

A. Moscow’s Hospital for the Póor
B. The Siberian Labor Camp
C. The Petropavlovsky Fortress
D. His family home in St. Petersburg

C. The Petropavlovsky Fortress
He was held in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg during the investigation.

19. What happened to Dostoyevsky’s death sentence?

A. It was carried out immediately.
B. He escaped before the execution.
C. It was commuted to a term of hard labor in Siberia.
D. He convinced the Tsar to grant him amnesty.

C. It was commuted to a term of hard labor in Siberia.
The mock execution was a cruel ploy; his sentence was changed to four years of hard labor in Siberia.

20. What duration of hard labor in a Siberian prison was Dostoyevsky’s sentence reduced to?

A. One year
B. Two years
C. Four years
D. Eight years

C. Four years
His death sentence was commuted to four years of hard labor in a Siberian katorga.

21. Through his dealings with ordinary inmates in prison, Dostoyevsky developed an understanding of the criminal mentality and what else?

A. Engineering principles
B. French literature
C. Western politics
D. The Russian soul

D. The Russian soul
His time in Siberia gave him what he considered a profound insight into the common Russian people.

22. During his time in prison, Dostoyevsky rejected his earlier pro-Western ideas and instead embraced:

A. Nihilism
B. A specifically Russian brand of Christianity
C. Materialist atheism
D. Utilitarianism

B. A specifically Russian brand of Christianity
His prison experience led to a profound spiritual conversion to Russian Orthodox Christianity.

23. After his release from the prison camp, Dostoyevsky spent several more years in Siberia doing what?

A. Teaching literature
B. Serving as an army private
C. Working as a civilian doctor
D. Traveling abroad

B. Serving as an army private
His sentence included a period of forced military service in Siberia after his labor camp term ended.

24. In what year did Dostoyevsky return to St. Petersburg?

A. 1849
B. 1854
C. 1859
D. 1864

C. 1859
After his prison term and mandatory military service, he was finally allowed to return to St. Petersburg.

25. What affliction was Dostoyevsky troubled by throughout his later life?

A. Severe chronic asthma
B. Tuberculosis
C. Epilepsy
D. Paralysis

C. Epilepsy
He suffered from epilepsy, and his seizures are described in several of his major novels.

26. What was the name of Dostoyevsky’s first wife, whom he married during his military service?

A. Anna Snitkina
B. Apollinaria Suslova
C. Iris Murdoch
D. Marya Dmitrievna Isaeva

D. Marya Dmitrievna Isaeva
He married Marya, a widow, while still in Siberia. Their marriage was unhappy and turbulent.

27. Who was the student with whom Dostoyevsky had an affair during his first trip abroad in 1862?

A. Mariya Isaeva
B. Anna Snitkina
C. Apollinaria Suslova
D. Iris Murdoch

C. Apollinaria Suslova
His turbulent affair with Suslova was a source of great emotional distress and financial ruin from gambling.

28. What personal misfortune did Dostoyevsky experience in the mid-1860s?

A. The burning of his manuscripts.
B. The death of his wife and his brother, Mikhail.
C. The loss of his inheritance.
D. A second arrest and exile.

B. The death of his wife and his brother, Mikhail.
These deaths, along with his gambling debts, left him financially and emotionally devastated.

29. What compulsive habit often forced Dostoyevsky to write intensely?

A. Compulsive spending on clothing
B. Compulsive drinking
C. Compulsive gambling
D. Compulsive collecting of art

C. Compulsive gambling
His severe gambling addiction repeatedly plunged him into debt, forcing him to write for advances.

30. Who did Dostoyevsky marry in 1867, who had served as his stenographer?

A. Marya Dmitrievna Isaeva
B. Apollinaria Suslova
C. Anna Grigorievna Snitkin
D. Iris Murdoch

C. Anna Grigorievna Snitkin
Anna Snitkina, his second wife, brought stability to his life and managed his finances.

31. In the mid-1840s, which work introduced the concept of the “double”?

A. Póor Folk
B. Notes from Underground
C. The Double
D. The Idiot

C. “The Double”
This early novella explored the psychological breakdown of a man haunted by his doppelgänger.

32. The concept of the “double” suggests that a person may have what?

A. Physical illness
B. Financial ruin
C. A psychological breakdown
D. A good or evil “twin”

D. A good or evil “twin”
This concept explores the divided self and the psychological breakdown of the protagonist.

33. Which book, based on his years in prison, did Dostoyevsky publish in 1861?

A. Crime and Punishment
B. Notes from Underground
C. The Idiot
D. The House of the Dead

D. The House of the Dead
This novel was a fictionalized account of his brutal experiences in the Siberian prison camp.

34. Which complex work, considered the preface to his great novels, was published in 1864?

A. The Double
B. The Gambler
C. Notes from Underground
D. The Idio

C. Notes from Underground
This work introduced the “underground man” and the existentialist themes of his later masterpieces.

35. Which novel is widely regarded as Dostoyevsky’s first true masterpiece?

A. The Brothers Karamazov
B. The Idiot
C. Crime and Punishment
D. Demons

C. Crime and Punishment
Published in 1866, this novel about Raskolnikov’s crime is one of the most famous in world literature.

36. Why did Dostoyevsky write the novella The Gambler in just one month?

A. To fulfill a request from his first wife.
B. To chronicle his experiences in Siberia.
C. To pay his debts and meet a contract deadline.
D. To detail the life of his brother Mikhail.

C. To pay his debts and meet a contract deadline.
He wrote it under extreme pressure from a publisher, dictating it to Anna Snitkina.

37. Which of the following is NOT listed among Dostoyevsky’s foremost later novels?

A. The Idiot
B. The Possessed
C. Poor Folk
D. The Brothers Karamazov

C. Póor Folk
Póor Folk was his acclaimed first novel, not part of his later, great masterpieces.

38. Which of Dostoyevsky’s novels is regarded by many as the apex of his career?

A. Crime and Punishment
B. Notes from Underground
C. The Gambler
D. The Brothers Karamazov

D. The Brothers Karamazov
Published in 1880, this was his final and most ambitious novel, exploring deep philosophical questions.

39. With which contemporary is Dostoyevsky regarded as one of the two greatest nineteenth-century Russian novelists?

A. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
B. Leo Tolstoy
C. Franz Kafka
D. Mikhail Petrashevsky

B. Leo Tolstoy
Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy are considered the two giants of 19th-century Russian literature.

40. In his final years, what three things did Dostoyevsky finally gain?

A. Health, a divorce, and property
B. Political power, freedom, and notoriety
C. Critical acclaim, social prestige, and financial security
D. A government pension, a military rank, and critical rejection

C. Critical acclaim, social prestige, and financial security
After a life of struggle, his final years brought him the stability and recognition he had long lacked.

41. What ideas did Dostoevsky write about in his books?

A. Scientific and technical issues
B. Agricultural and engineering issues
C. Deep political, social, and religious issues
D. Economic theory

C. Deep political, social, and religious issues
His novels are famous for their profound engagement with psychology, philosophy, and spirituality.

42. Dostoyevsky’s insights into human psychology anticipated the theories of which influential figure?

A. Carl Rogers
B. Ivan Pavlov
C. Sigmund Freud
D. Jean-Paul Sartre

C. Sigmund Freud
His exploration of the “underground,” guilt, and irrational motives prefigured Freudian psychoanalysis.

43. Dostoyevsky’s rejection of leftist political thought is evident through characters like Raskolnikov, Luzhin, and whom?

A. Marmeladov
B. Razumikhin
C. Svidrigailov
D. Lebezyatnikov

D. Lebezyatnikov
Lebezyatnikov in Crime and Punishment is a caricature of the superficial, “progressive” thinkers Dostoyevsky mocked.

44. Which major 20th-century philosophical movement looked to Dostoyevsky for his insights?

A. Liberal-Socialism
B. Nihilism
C. Existentialism
D. Utilitarianism

C. Existentialism
Thinkers like Camus and Sartre saw Dostoyevsky as a forerunner of existentialist ideas about freedom and absurdity.

45. Dostoyevsky’s experiences traveling abroad fueled his rejection of what?

A. Russian literary journals
B. Western philosophies/Western society
C. Orthodox Christianity
D. Russian military traditions

B. Western philosophies/Western society
His trips to Europe solidified his belief that Western materialism and atheism were corrupting.

46. What did some scholars claim Dostoyevsky’s view of the Russian character prophesied?

A. The golden age of Tsarist reform.
B. The expansion of the Russian railway system.
C. The Russian Revolution and deprivations under Soviet rule.
D. The dissolution of military academies.

C. The Russian Revolution and deprivations under Soviet rule.
His insights into radicalism (Demons) and suffering were seen as prophetic of Russia’s future.

47. What did Dostoyevsky’s great later novels form the basis for?

A. His early radical political views.
B. The philosophy of nihilism.
C. His lifelong intense spirituality and beliefs.
D. The theories of engineering.

C. His lifelong intense spirituality and beliefs.
His major novels were the vehicles for his deeply-held spiritual and philosophical convictions.

48. Dostoyevsky’s novels were major influences on which fields in the twentieth century?

A. Architecture and mathematics.
B. Literature and philosophy.
C. Engineering and medicine.
D. Economics and law.

B. Literature and philosophy.
His work profoundly influenced 20th-century literature and philosophical movements like existentialism.

49. Which of these later novelists drew inspiration from Dostoyevsky?

A. Jane Austen
B. James Joyce
C. Albert Camus
D. Ernest Hemingway

C. Albert Camus
Albert Camus and other existentialists drew heavily on the themes found in Dostoyevsky’s work.

50. What is the epitaph inscribed on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s tomb?

A. Truth is beauty, beauty truth.
B. The memory of a life well spent is eternal.
C. A man who cannot change his mind cannot change anything.
D. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…

D. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…
This Bible verse (John 12:24) reflects his deep Christian faith and themes of resurrection.

The Landlady MCQs

1. Why did Ordynov first need to change his rooms unexpectedly?

A. Lease expired
B. Landlady departed
C. Rent was too high
D. Landlady’s sickness

B. Landlady departed.
His landlady, a widow of a civil service official, unexpectedly left St. Petersburg to travel to her parents’ country house.

2. What kind of buildings did Ordynov select while searching for new lodgings?

A. New, clean flats
B. Rich mansions
C. Dilapidated, large ones
D. Shops and taverns

C. Dilapidated, large ones.
He chose the most dilapidated, largest, and most crowded buildings hoping to find poor, similar tenants.

3. What emotion did Ordynov first feel outside in the streets after his isolation?

A. Deep depression
B. Anger and confusion
C. Calm cheerfulness
D. Great weariness

C. Calm cheerfulness.
The daily material of existence, often prosaic, evoked in Ordynov a sensation of calm, bright cheerfulness.

4. How did Ordynov calculate that he could survive financially by careful stinting?

A. Two years
B. Three years
C. Four years
D. Ten years

C. Four years.
He calculated that the small sum received as a legacy would allow him to subsist for four years.

5. What single deep passion consumed Ordynov’s vital forces without rest?

A. Love of women
B. Passion for writing
C. Love of learning
D. Political activism

C. Love of learning.
His deepest and most insatiable passion was the love of learning, which acted like a slow poison.

6. How did Ordynov’s devotion to science function, according to the narrator?

A. Gained him fame
B. A weapon against himself
C. Secured his wealth
D. Helped him sleep well

B. A weapon against himself.
While useful for others, Ordynov’s scientific devotion was a weapon he was unintentionally turning against himself.

7. Ordynov’s two years of self-confinement after college resulted in him becoming, essentially, what?

A. A scholar
B. A successful artist
C. A sàvage
D. A refined gentleman

C. A sàvage.
He had shut himself up like a monk, and before two years passed, he had become, essentially, a sàvage.

8. What did Ordynov, for the first time, feel vexed about during his wandering walk?

A. His low funds
B. His solitude in a cell
C. The cold weather
D. The crowded streets

B. His solitude in a cell.
He felt vexed, realising he had foolishly buried himself alive in his solitary cell away from life.

9. Which emotion concerning love troubled Ordynov, who always felt alone in the world?

A. He had no love
B. He hated all women
C. Love was fleeting
D. He lost his true love

A. He had no love.
A thought that particularly troubled him was the circumstance that he had been alone without love or its prospect.

10. What type of structures dominated the prospect where Ordynov wandered before approaching the church?

A. Rich mansions
B. Towers and factories
C. Clean, new houses
D. A quiet forest

B. Towers and factories.
He saw towering, monstrous, blackened, reddish buildings, often cheek by jowl with factories.

11. What building did Ordynov enter where he first saw the mysterious couple?

A. A café
B. A church
C. A shabby restaurant
D. The fortifications

B. A church.
Traversing an alley, Ordynov issued into a square and, hardly knowing why, entered the church.

12. How was the old man, Ilia Murin, primarily dressed when Ordynov first saw him in the church?

A. A simple grey tunic
B. A military uniform
C. A long black fur coat
D. Modern European clothes

C. A long black fur coat.
The tall, vigorous old man was clad in a long coat of black fur which remained unfastened.

13. What object did the old man place over the girl’s head as she knelt to pray?

A. A white scarf
B. A heavy veil
C. A church napkin
D. A velvet hood

C. A church napkin.
The old man took a church napkin and respectfully covered Katerina’s head with it before she sobbed.

14. What emotion defined the girl’s face as she clung to the old man’s arm when leaving the church?

A. Open joy
B. Childish, mysterious fear
C. Calculating cunning
D. Deep resentment

B. Childish, mysterious fear.
Her face bore traces of a sort of childish, mysterious fear as she trembled and clung to the old man.

15. What was the girl’s face wet with when she left the church and encountered Ordynov outside?

A. Rainwater
B. Hot tears
C. Sweat from fear
D. Wine

B. Hot tears.
Hot tears were welling from her dark-blue eyes and running over her pale cheeks as she departed.

16. What kind of business occupied the ground floor of the tenement wing where Murin lived?

A. Cobbler shop
B. Money-lender
C. Coffin-maker
D. Blacksmith shop

C. Coffin-maker.
Ordynov noticed that the ground floor of the tenement wing was tenanted by a coffin-maker.

17. What did Murin loudly state his identity as when Ordynov inquired about his passport?

A. Gentleman
B. Merchant
C. Burgher
D. Civil service official

C. Burgher.
Murin answered with a rude voice, stating, “I am Ilia Murin—burgher. Is that all you want?”.

18. What did Murin tell Ordynov to stop doing after taking the passport through the door chink?

A. Stop eating
B. Stop reading
C. Stop troubling him
D. Stop sleeping

C. Stop troubling him.
Murin took the document through the chink and said, “Very well. Do not trouble me any more”.

19. What did the Dvornik indicate was occasionally wrong with the gentleman, Murin?

A. He drinks too much
B. He is wealthy
C. His head leaves him
D. He is a bad man

C. His head leaves him.
The Tartar dvornik stated that Murin’s head “leaves him sometimes” and he falls ill.

20. Before his misfortunes, what kind of business did Murin reportedly run on the Volga river?

A. Banking
B. Logging
C. Farming
D. Ship ownership

D. Ship ownership.
The Dvornik and Yaroslav Ilyitch both spoke of Murin having ships and sailing them on the Volga.

21. What kind of punishment did Murin inflict on a young merchant, leading to his own subsequent melancholy?

A. Robbery
B. Grave injury
C. Slander
D. Financial ruin

B. Grave injury.
Murin, in a paroxysm of madness, inflicted a grave injury upon a young merchant he loved.

22. What action led to Murin being regarded with great suspicion previously, according to Yaroslav?

A. Stealing from the poor
B. Exercised strong influence
C. Beating his servants
D. Smuggling goods

B. Exercised a strong influence.
He was previously regarded with great suspicion because he used to exercise so strong an influence over those who consulted him.

23. What specific object was nailed to the wall above Murin’s bed in his room?

A. A holy picture
B. A portrait
C. A revolver
D. A whip

C. A revolver.
When Ordynov burst in, he saw Murin seize a revolver from the wall, where it was nailed.

24. When did Ordynov, surprisingly, find himself installed and living in Murin’s rooms?

A. Next week
B. Three days later
C. An hour later
D. That evening

C. An hour later.
An hour after Ordynov’s brief conversation and agreement with Katerina, he found himself installed.

25. What did the Major, a little man in grey, who Ordynov bumped into on the stairs, ask forgiveness for?

A. Being late
B. Having hurried
C. Hurting Ordynov
D. Being the proprietor

C. Hurting Ordynov.
The little man rebounded against the wall and cried, “Oh no!—though I humbly thank you for your attention”.

26. What was the old hunchbacked maid-of-all-work doing when Ordynov first saw her in his room?

A. Cleaning the stove
B. Cooking at the stove
C. Muttering prayers
D. Sewing clothing

B. Cooking at the stove.
Ordynov found the dirty, hunchbacked old woman engaged in cooking dinner at the stove in his room.

27. Katerina told the sick Ordynov that what was “better than bread” and beautiful like the sun?

A. True learning
B. Liberty
C. True love
D. God’s forgiveness

B. Liberty.
Katerina gently encouraged Ordynov to rise, saying that “Liberty is better than bread, and more beautiful even than the sun”.

28. What name did Katerina give when Ordynov finally asked her what her name was?

A. Tinchen
B. Savishna
C. Katerina
D. Luisa

C. Katerina.
When Ordynov asked, she looked straight into his clear blue eyes and replied, “My name is Katerina”.

29. What relationship did Katerina propose that Ordynov and she should maintain?

A. Master and servant
B. Sister and brother
C. Sweethearts
D. Friends and colleagues

B. Sister and brother.
Katerina proposed that when Ordynov recovered, they would become brother and sister to one another.

30. What sound, heard from behind the partition wall, made Ordynov lose consciousness the first night?

A. Katerina weeping
B. A gunshot
C. The squeak of a bolt
D. Murin shouting

C. The squeak of a bolt.
A knock was followed by the squeak of a bolt, signaling Murin’s presence, causing Ordynov to faint.

31. What childhood figure, appearing in his dreams, did Ordynov fear was destined to overshadow his future?

A. His guardian
B. The Dvornik
C. A mysterious old man
D. The coffin-maker

C. A mysterious old man.
A mysterious old man haunted his childhood, filling him with terror and a sense of a foreboding future.

32. What was the old hunchbacked woman doing while Ordynov lay sick in the dark room at night?

A. Singing a hymn
B. Reciting a long story
C. Praying constantly
D. Cleaning the furniture

B. Reciting a long story.
In the darkness, the old hunchbacked woman began to recite a long, interminable story in a low, familiar voice.

33. What did Katerina sometimes seek from Murin to comfort her when consumed by fear?

A. Money
B. A new dress
C. An incantation
D. A glass of wine

C. An incantation.
Katerina said Murin sometimes recites an incantation to comfort her, or takes his book to read.

34. What was Murin reading to Katerina from his largest book, causing her fear?

A. Love stories
B. Gloomy, terrible things
C. History lessons
D. Financial accounts

B. Gloomy, terrible things.
Murin would read from his largest book, which was about gloomy, terrible things, causing Katerina fear.

35. What did Ordynov believe Katerina’s terror meant concerning her relationship with Murin?

A. She had been cured
B. She was innocent
C. She was bewitched
D. She was pregnant

C. She was bewitched.
Katerina moaned that she had been bewitched, crying that the wicked man had cast a spell over her.

36. Katerina’s mother, when weeping bitterly, cried out that Katerina was not her daughter, but what?

A. A wicked soul
B. A serpent
C. A madwoman
D. A wicked girl

B. A serpent.
Her mother cried: “You are no daughter of mine! You are a serpent! You are accursed!”.

37. What did Murin confess to Katerina that he had done that left his hands covered with blood?

A. Killed her father
B. Cut the dogs’ throats
C. Stabbed Alesha
D. Robbed a merchant

B. Cut the dogs’ throats.
Murin told Katerina he had been forced to cut the throats of her father’s dogs that were pursuing them.

38. What object did Katerina throw back at Murin when she re-entered the house after their first encounter?

A. His fur coat
B. A glass of wine
C. A little box of diamonds
D. Her father’s knife

C. A little box of diamonds.
Out of bravado and fixed intention, she laid the little box of gleaming diamonds before her mother.

39. What was the dilemma Murin presented to Katerina in the boat on the stormy river?

A. Whether to marry him
B. Which of the two men must die
C. Whether to call for help
D. Whether she hated him

B. Which of the two men must die.
Murin stated the boat was top-heavy and asked Katerina to decide which man was to “hear that hour sound”.

40. What was Alesha’s relationship to Katerina when he encountered her in the city?

A. Her uncle
B. Her old betrothed
C. Murin’s friend
D. A powerful general

B. Her old betrothed.
Alesha, the young merchant, reminded Katerina that they had been betrothed as children, her former fiancé.

41. What did Katerina confess was her greatest misery, torturing her soul?

A. Losing her father
B. Murin’s violence
C. Being a slave to her shame
D. Being bewitched

C. Being a slave to her shame.
Her greatest misery was being a slave to her own shame and loving her infamy as a blessed recollection.

42. What did Murin claim was Katerina’s primary failing as a woman, despite being told the truth?

A. Lack of virtue
B. Lack of beauty
C. Lack of sagacity
D. Too much strength

C. Lack of sagacity.
Murin claimed one could tell a woman the truth, but never impart to her “intelligence and sagacity”.

43. What did Murin declare sorrow was reserved for, rather than for a “feeble heart” like Katerina’s?

A. For wicked men
B. For the heart of strength
C. For the rich
D. For the poor

B. For the heart of strength.
He stated sorrow is not for the feeble heart; it is for the heart of strength that can silently suffer.

44. What object did Ordynov seize from the wall in the final confrontation with Murin?

A. The revolver
B. A book
C. An ancient dagger
D. A small sword

C. An ancient dagger.
Driven by an evil thought, Ordynov unhooked an ancient dagger from the wall near the bed.

45. What sight caused Ordynov to drop the dagger onto the floor with a clatter?

A. Katerina’s scream
B. Murin laughing hysterically
C. Murin’s eye-opening mockingly
D. Katerina suddenly fainted

C. Murin’s eye opened mockingly.
Ordynov saw one of the old man’s eyes slowly open and gaze into his face with a mocking smile.

46. What word did Katerina cry out when the dagger fell to the floor, awakening from her trance?

A. Murin!
B. Alesha!
C. Brother!
D. Help!

B. Alesha!.
When the dagger fell, Katerina awakened from her nightmare-like trance, crying “Alesha, Alesha!”.

47. What did Murin claim was the official reason Katerina behaved strangely and often felt fearful?

A. She had been cursed
B. She was a little wanting in the head
C. She was too religious
D. She hated gentlemen

B. She was a little wanting in the head.
Murin stated a board had examined her and “was pronounced a little wanting” in the head.

48. What object did Murin give Ordynov as a final parting gift from Katerina, taken from his room?

A. A silver cup
B. Her book of prayers
C. An embroidered tablecloth
D. The box of diamonds

C. An embroidered tablecloth.
Murin returned with the richly embroidered tablecloth, saying Katerina sent it to the young man.

49. What disturbing discovery did Yaroslav Ilyitch inform Ordynov was made in Korschmarov’s Buildings?

A. A murder
B. A counterfeiting ring
C. A band of criminals
D. A huge fire

C. A band of criminals.
Yaroslav excitedly told Ordynov that authorities had unearthed a “band of criminals” or felôns in the buildings.

50. What historical work had Ordynov been fanatically engaged in writing before his overwhelming illness?

A. History of Russia
B. History of Love
C. History of the Church
D. History of Science

C. History of the Church.
The work upon which Ordynov had been engaged with burning fanaticism was a History of the Church.

Brief Overview

The Landlady is a novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky, published in 1847. This work is a departure from his usual style, noted for its strong Gothic elements and psychological intensity.

The story follows Ordynov, a solitary young scholar in St. Petersburg. His intense devotion to learning has made him seem strange and isolated. He pursues a beautiful young woman and an old man, Ilia Murin, to rent a room in their decaying building.

Ordynov falls instantly in love with the young woman, Katerina. She tells him she is bewitched and bound to Murin, whom she calls her “implacable foe” and “murderer.” Katerina shares a confusing story about her father’s death and a fire, suggesting a dark past.

Ordynov becomes convinced that Murin is mentally torturing Katerina with his tyrannical influence. Ordynov attempts to attack Murin with a dagger while drunk, but Murin is unfazed. Murin later forces Ordynov to leave, claiming Katerina is insáne. Murin and Katerina then leave town together, leaving Ordynov in deep despair.