The Idiot Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary

  • So who was ringing the doorbell? Rogozhin. And his new buddy Lebedev. And a whole tag-along posse of drunken idiots. Okay, the poop is really about to hit the fan now, kids.
  • Rogozhin marches in, yelling at Ganya, but is shocked to see Nastasya and Myshkin at the house.
  • Everyone is as angry and wound-up and as itching to fight as they've ever been—veins popping out of foreheads everywhere.
  • Ganya asks if he and Rogozhin have met before—apparently they have, when Ganya set Rogozhin up to lose some money to a card sharp. Ptitsyn (who is a loan shark apparently) was there too. Ok then.
  • Rogozhin can't take his eyes off Nastasya, and just busts out with the burning question of the hour—is she going to marry Ganya or no?
  • She immediately says no.
  • Rogozhin is relieved, but still crazed to hear this. Ganya is obviously pretty pissed off and tries to throw Rogozhin and his crew out.
  • But there's no stopping Rogozhin, who now whips out a bunch of cash and starts bidding against himself for Nastasya. It's not clear whether he is trying to buy Ganya off, or to determine a price for Nastasya's favors, or both—but in any case, he promises to deliver 100 grand to her that very night. At her birthday party. And here you thought your B-Day bash at Chucky Cheese's was awesome.
  • Nastasya seems to be getting a kick out of egging Rogozhin on, getting him to keep setting higher and higher prices on her. This makes her sound like a prostitute, which confirms Varya's worst suspicions about this potential sister-in-law. Varya demands that she leave.
  • At this Ganya grabs his sister and starts yelling at her. She spits in his face. He raises his hand and is about to hit her when Myshkin blocks his arm, and gets a punch in the face for his trouble.
  • Myshkin responds by smiling a really weird smile and saying that Ganya is really going to regret all this in the morning. Aww, he's Mr. Turn-the-Other-Cheek.
  • Myshkin then gets upset at Nastasya, asking her to think about how she is acting. Surely she's not a really a totally gross ho-bag?
  • No, she is not. She quickly whispers this to Nina Alexandrovna—and Varya overhears her.
  • Nastasya runs off, telling Ganya to make sure to come to the party that night.
  • Rogozhin's crew takes off also, with Ptitsyn in tow.