Marmeladov 1

Dr. Anupama Mohan

ENGL1001

Madhurima Saha 14110322017,

Sushruto Chattopadhay 14110311005,

Anwesha Ghosh 14110321006,

Budhaditya Ghosh 14110315010

12th March 2019

Alcoholism in 19th Century Russia

Alcohol as a problem has been used by Dostoevsky to criticize the city of

St.Petersburg. Dostoevsky penned down a novel named The Drunkards which would deal

with the problem of alcohol. However, with the change of the title Dostoevsky has thrown

light upon the problems that alcohol brought with itself among the city dwellers. This essay

will accentuate the problems of alcoholism and also try to present alcohol as a device to

measure the politics of class, gender and crime. The ancestral critics who have worked on the

famous episodes from the Crime and Punishment dealing with alcohol have certain fissures

that this paper will like to investigate upon. The insufficient criticism will be given new

dimensions and the paper will like to raise a few questions that will bring forth the social

problem of alcoholism.

According to Pearce, one of the primary reasons behind consuming alcohol was the

introduction of the Excise System that made it a commodity that was widely consumed by all

the classes of society. Gradually alcohol became a source of refreshment and an escape from

reality for men belonging to different class when burdened with societal responsibilities.

Marmeladov, Razumikihin, Raskolnikov, a drunken soldier whom Raskolnikov notices

outside on the Sadovaya street and a “dead drunk man lying across the pavement”
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(Dostoevsky 151) represents men in St. Petersburg who did not find drinking to be only a

traditional ritual but a modern obsession to disassociate from consciousness.

Herlihy asserted that Russian consumers in 19th century had an obsessive necessity for

alcohol. Raskolnikov, Razumikhin, Marmeladov, Zametov, and prostitutes are the consumers

who purchased alcohol to fulfil their needs. Alcohol as a material showcases the consumerist

culture of 19th century Russian society. Thus, alcohol became an item to gauge the degree of

consumerism in the city. The lower stratum such as the peasants used to strive on cheap

vodka and beer. The clerks such as Marmeladov purchased better quality of vodka and beer.

Zametov who was a chief police clerk purchased beer. Katrina Ivanovna purchased cheap

vodka for Marmeladov’s funeral marks her social class. It can be inferred that with the

purchase of vodka/ beer the class difference highlighted in the novel.

Marmeladov was conceived by Dostoevsky as the chief character in a work which was to

be called The Drunkards (P’ianen’kie) to highlight the social problems of drunkenness in the

19th century Russia, particularly, St. Petersburg. Marmeladov states the reason behind his

addiction to Raskolnikov that his sudden dismissal from service (due to the reorganisation in

service) without any fault on his part in addition to his conjugal misery drove him towards

consuming alcohol Marmeladov was unable to cope up with reality that pushed him to

alcohol.

Dostoevsky employs In Vino Veritas for Razumikhin which also stands true for

Marmeladov, for he draws a commentary upon the ugly truth about the urban poverty that

pushes young girls to become prostitution. Marmeladov in brief narrates Sonya Semenovna’s

reluctance to her profession, rather empathizing with her suffering and self destruction and at

the end of it, Marmeladov “lay there tipsy” (Dostoevsky 16). Eastman in his essay ‘Idea and

Method in a Scene by Dostoevsky’ remarks: “Marmeladov is merely a scrap of social refuse,

a zero” (145). Wasiolek and Ivantis share the similar opinion that it was Marmeladov’s
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wilful choice to become a destitute. In ‘the introduction’ to the casebook of Crime and

Punishment, Peace expounds that sentimentalism can be detected in the “treatment of the

various members of the Marmeladov family” (4). Gainsaying, the critics mentioned above

have not demonstrated that over consumption of alcohol is a disease as Powell has defined,

making drunkards unable to leave alcohol.

According to J.E.D Esquirol’s idea of ‘Instinctive Monomaniac’ the failure in the volition

of a drunkard hastens his addiction to alcohol. Such behaviour can justify Marmeladov’s

case. The idea of instinctive monomania suggests: “The patient is drawn away from

commission of acts, to which neither reason nor science rebukes, and which the will has no

longer the power to restrain” (164). According to William F. Bynum the advent of 19th

century Russia witnessed the chronic effects of alcohol consumption that led to an increase in

the mortality rate and its disastrous effect on the drunkard’s nervous system. Marmeladov’s

description itself suggested that he was suffering physically. His weak nerves are the reason

of getting knocked down by a trivial horse-carriage. It can also be questioned whether it was

a suicide or an accident. Thus, Dostoevsky unfolds the vice of avid consumption and its lethal

effects. A similar episode of suicide is narrated in the novel. Afrosinyushka, a respectable

woman attempts to commit suicide but was rescued by the police and a woman from the

crowd said: “She’s drunk herself to ruination, friends, to ruination” (Dostoevsky 164). Hence,

furthering Bynum’s demonstration that intoxicated individuals was sick from over indulgence

in alcohol. Raskolnikov visits “Crystal Palace” and reads the newspaper: “Vodka causes

Workman’s death” (Dostoevsky 153).

Alcohol granted men license to violate innocent women. In the very first part of the

novel, Raskolnikov encounters a nasty gentleman who hustled a woman who was under the

influence of alcohol. Louisa’s scandal is also a mention of physical abuse on a prostitute by a

man. Later in the novel, a singer’s songs echo such physical violence: “Oh, my darling
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bobby, / Do not beat me so unjustly!-” (Dostoevsky 151). Therefore in other words, ‘the joy

of the Rus’ enabled men to enjoy sexual liberty by physically abusing women or sexually

violating them.

According to Herlihy’s demonstration prostitution was a (by) product of the increased

sale of alcohol in the 19th century Russia. Sonya’s forceful indulgence in prostitution because

of her father’s careless behaviour, other strumpets who are mentioned in the novel have no

background. However, Herlihy demonstrates in her article on ‘Joy of the Rus': Rites Rituals

of Russian Drinking’ and Fangler in Apogee: ‘Crime and Punishment’ mentions that Russian

women were addicted to alcohol akin to men. Thus, Alcoholism stands as a strong source for

women prostitution in the St. Petersburg.

Peace demonstrates that as a result of proliferation in the sale of alcohol, institutionalised

spaces were constructed such as public houses, taverns, pubs like Crystal Palace, and

“buildings that were established for all sorts of drinking and eating” (Dostoevsky 150) in the

map of the city. These spaces serve as an open invitation for the drunkards to escape their

banal life and render agencies to drunkards to voice their opinions. Marmeladov, Zametov,

and Raskolnikov receive an agency from these spaces that also accumulates a variety of voice

or as Bakhtin calls it the ‘polyphony’. The voices of the landlord, other visitors, Marmeladov

and Raskolnikov in the tavern, the voice of the Zametov, Raskolnikov and waiter are the

polyphonic voices in the taverns and pubs. Thus, Bakhtinian polyphony is perfectly voiced in

these spaces. Ostracized from society the tavern becomes the only space where Marmeladov,

Zametov finds a voice under the influence of alcohol. Predominantly masculine, the space of

the tavern serves as an appropriate space for their rendezvous.

The way in which chronic alcoholism reflects the beast in man is portrayed in

Raskolnikov’s first dream where a drunken peasant named Mikolka beats a weak mare to
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death. It could be argued that the traditional Russian notion of the customary consumption of

alcohol during religious ceremonies has been subverted in Crime and Punishment to portray

how alcohol was misused in the nineteenth century Russia. It was the same alcohol which

was originally meant to be drunk in exaltation of the Lord (Herlihy 134) now acts as a

stimulant for Mikolka’s bloodthirsty sadistic action of brutally whipping the puny mare to

death. The inseparable element of religious ceremonies was now reduced to a means of

torture. Rather than praising God, Mikolka himself assumes the role of God in the life of the

puny mare. One is reminded of how God allows Satan to inflict misfortunes upon the

‘perfect’, ‘upright’ and ‘God fearing’ Job (KJV Bible, Job 1:8) one after the other. The

rhetoric used by both the Old Testament God and Mikolka are quite similar in the sense that

both of them assert complete ownership over the beings inferior to them— God describes Job

as his “servant” (KJV Bible, Job 1:8) to Satan; Mikolka too, repeatedly harps on how the

mare is his own “property” (Dostoevsky 55, 56) while whipping her. The perverse

pleasure/satisfaction that both God and Mikolka derive by claiming complete ownership over

their ‘servant/property’ allows them to test the limits of the capability of Job and the mare to

such a brutal extent that is even worse than death. In spite of knowing that it would be

impossible to tolerate so much of suffering by their subject, both God and Mikolka go on

torturing their subjects. More than putting Job’s faithfulness to test, it is important for God to

show what his colossal capabilities are, take pride in his superiority, and to show how no

mortal can never come anywhere close to him (KJV Bible, Job 40:8-41:34).

Similarly, Mikolka does not want to finish off the weak mare just because of her

incapability to be in service any longer. Just like God, it becomes important for Mikolka to

show what monstrous brutality is intoxicated self capable of. The two incidents might have

completely different endings, but the intent of both was similar. The first dream sequence has

invited comments from various scholars and most of them agree that Raskolnikov’s first
 Marmeladov 6

dream foreshadows the actual murder of Alyona Ivanovna, the pawnbroker. Shaw argues that

the “vividness of the dream in its detailed sequential occurrences and in the experiences

anticipates the murder itself” (134); Marchant asserts that the dream “prognosticates the

crime Raskolnikov is about to commit” (7); Snodgrass claims that the dream is “another

prediction and rehearsal of the future, where he [Raskolnikov] hopes to see himself filled

with great and injurious power” (233). But, does the dream not have any function other than

just foreshadowing Raskolnikov’s murder of the pawnbroker?

For instance, Snodgrass has already argued how Raskolnikov could be identified with

Mikolka. His interpretation is based only on the process of the murder and the nature of both

the victims. One could also argue that the essential idea of Raskolnikov and Mikolka behind

their respective murders is the same. Mikolka plans to kill the mare because he does not

consider her worth the feed—“she’s only eating her head off” (Dostoevsky 53). Similarly,

Raskolnikov too, decides to murder Alyona Ivanovna because he thinks her to be “a useless,

vile, pernicious louse” (Dostoevsky 399). This is not to suggest that Raskolnikov’s

conception about Alyona Ivanovna was wrong or that Mikolka misjudged his mare. But, what

both Raskolnikov and Mikolka fail to realise is that one just cannot murder a living being just

because one is convinced of her/his impotence/uselessness. Both want to show their

superiority and it is this self-proclaimed superiority of Raskolnikov that leads him to

formulate his theory of the distinction between the ordinary and the extraordinary. It is not

just the brutal murder of Alyona Ivanovna or the mare which are important, but also the

intent behind those.

The paper will like to enquire that after consuming the vodka Raskolnikov had the

dream of the mare which acts as a pivot to his plan of murder. Hence, is alcohol acting as a

catalyst to the murder or is it the dream? However, the effect of alcohol wears off as there is a

considerable amount of time gap in between the dream and the act of murder, hence, is the
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alcohol acting as a catalyst? If he had not consumed the vodka, would he still dream?

Although, he had been rehearsing the murder for a while but would he commit it? Hence, the

argument will like to maintain the ambivalence in whether to make the dream or the vodka as

the catalyst.

Bakhtin points out in Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics the dream of the mare as a perfect

example of carnivalesque. However, the paper will use a different episode of women who

were out on the roads of the Sadovaya Street. It showcases the lower stratum of the society

under the influence of alcohol starts a jovial jabbering among the themselves, singing songs,

“dancing recklessly” (Dostoevsky 151), playing musical instruments when the peasant man

comments that they attempt to look like general’s daughters is suggestive of the reversal of

class hierarchy and the prostitutes not indulging with the peasant man physically, and

Duklida asking for a glass of drink from Raskolnikov is a classic example of reversal of

hierarchy. In aristocratic parties ladies were asked by gentlemen for a drink, followed by a

dance. Hence Bakhtin championed term, carnivalesque is easily elucidated.

The episode at the police station is a critique on inefficiency of St. Petersburg’s

disciplinary measures. Drunkards fighting with each other portray the loss of civility and the

barbaric attitude of drunken men outside brothels that gave birth to a “skandal” (Dostoevsky

94). The policeman warns Louisa not to repeat her “scandalous scenes” (Dostoevsky 95) and

threatens her that he will include the scandalous scenes in the Newspaper. Tipplers going to

the brothels and asking for “three bottles” (Dostoevsky 94), playing the piano with their feet,

fighting like the ragamuffins abusing each other in the Sadovaya street. Such minor episodes

testify that the state was yet to discipline the drunken mass of St. Petersburg. The inebriated

citizen acts as a dissenting voice which resists the disciplining impulse of the state making it

a classic Foucauldian paradox: wherever there is power there will be resistance.

The language of the drunkards has myriad flavours in the novel. Marmeladov’s language

has an element of humour in his entire narration. The presence of “ye also, ye drunkards, ye

weaklings, ye infamous, come forth!” (Dostoevsky 21), “Plea-ea-sure” and “my-y-y”

(Dostoevsky 24) invokes laughter. Very similarly, intoxicated Razumikhin says: “See, you…

you… you understand me, because you are an angel!” (Dostoevsky 192) Such examples of

humour stem from the problem of chronic alcoholism. Recurring broken language and

ellipsis accentuates the struggle with consciousness of the drunkards. “Toothsome dainties”

(Dostoevsky 151), “He’ll crush her!” “He’ll kill her” “Lash her, lash her!” (Dostoevsky 55)

there is an ample amount of verbal violence on the part of drunken peasants and the

intoxicated lower class folk in the dream of the mare. Thereby, the language used by the

intoxicated characters evinces the class difference.

Maguire asserts that Crime and Punishment “most creatively draws on tradition to

create a haunting picture of nineteenth-century Petersburg” (36). It can be argued that

Maguire is giving a general viewpoint on tradition. Traditionally, alcohol was consumed in

fairs by the Russians as emphatically stated by Burges in his work. Hence alcohol in

abundance had always been a problem for the St. Petersburg that Dostoevsky criticizes. The

inefficiency of the state policies and the resistance by the dwellers had given birth to

numerous serious problems like murder, suicide, prostitution and destitution. Was alcohol a

vice disguised in ritualistic virtue? The paper did not fetch any solution for the problem, as

years later there were policies introduced to curb the alcohol consumption. However, alcohol

did set up new problematic avenues for the class and gender of the Russians that is discussed

in Dostoevsky’s oeuvre.
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