Madame Katerina Osipovna Khokhlakov in The Brothers Karamazov

Madame Katerina Osipovna Khokhlakov

Madame Khokhlakov is a somewhat silly, meddlesome, wealthy widow who is also Katerina's confidante. Like Katerina, Khokhlakov often has hysterical fits when she becomes frustrated or confused, which is to say quite often. Khokhlakov is also the mother of Lise, Alyosha's sometime fiancée. Khokhlakov is wooed by Rakitin but is then ruthlessly parodied by him in a newspaper article when she favors the attentions of Perkhotin, a local official.