Tool · Flashcards
Card 1 of 57 · 0 of 57 marked known
Every card
Characters · 8
Apollon
Apollon is the Underground Man's live-in manservant in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, mainly featuring in Part II ("Apropos of the Wet Snow").
character
Ferfichkin
Ferfichkin is a minor yet vividly portrayed antagonist in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, appearing only in Part II during the dinner party scene at the Hotel de Paris.
character
Liza
Liza is a young prostitute working at a brothel in St. Petersburg, and she appears in Part II ("Apropos of the Wet Snow") of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground.
character
Simonov
Simonov is a former classmate of the Underground Man and the most socially adept member of the dinner-party group in Part II of Notes from Underground.
character
The Officer
The Officer is a minor yet symbolically significant character in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground.
character
The Underground Man (Narrator)
The Underground Man is the first-person narrator and sole consciousness of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864).
character
Trudolyubov
Trudolyubov is a minor yet symbolically important character in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, mainly appearing in Part II during a gathering to celebrate Zverkov's military promotion with his former schoolmates.
character
Zverkov
Zverkov is a secondary yet crucial character in Part II of Notes from Underground, acting as a social contrast that highlights the Underground Man's feelings of resentment and inadequacy.
character
Key quotes · 10
“Two times two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, two times two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too.”
This striking line comes from the Underground Man, the unnamed narrator-protagonist of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864), specifically in Part One ("Underground"), which features a philosophical monologue.
The Underground Man (unnamed narrator) · Part One: Underground, Chapter 9
“I want now to tell you, whether you wish it or not, why I could not even become an insect.”
This line is delivered by the unnamed Underground Man, a bitter and hyper-aware narrator in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864), right at the beginning of Part One ("Underground").
The Underground Man (unnamed narrator) · Part One: Underground, Chapter 1
“What is to be done with the millions of facts that bear witness that men, knowingly, that is fully understanding their real interests, have left them in the background and have rushed headlong on another path?”
This line comes from the Underground Man, the bitter, hyper-aware narrator created by Dostoevsky, in Part One ("Underground") of Notes from Underground (1864).
The Underground Man · Part One: Underground, Chapter VII
“I could not even make an insect of myself.”
This line is spoken by the unnamed Underground Man, the bitter and hyper-aware narrator in Part One ("Underground") of Notes from Underground (1864).
The Underground Man (unnamed narrator) · Part One: Underground
“Shower upon him every earthly blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness... and even then out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you such a trick.”
This striking statement originates from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864), delivered by the unnamed Underground Man — a disillusioned, overly aware former civil servant — in Part One ("Underground"), which features a philosophical monologue.
The Underground Man (unnamed narrator) · Part One: Underground, Chapter 7
“I am a sick man... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man.”
These gripping opening lines from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864) are delivered by the unnamed narrator, widely referred to as the Underground Man.
The Underground Man (unnamed narrator) · Part I, Chapter 1
“The more conscious I was of goodness and of all that was 'sublime and beautiful,' the more deeply I sank into my mire.”
This line is spoken by the unnamed Underground Man, Dostoevsky's cynical and hyper-aware narrator, in Part One ("Underground") of Notes from Underground (1864).
The Underground Man (narrator) · Part One: Underground
“We are oppressed above all by the burden of being men with a real individual body and blood; we are ashamed of it, we think it a disgrace.”
This line is delivered by the Underground Man, the bitter and hyper-aware narrator of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864), in the first part of the novella called "Underground."
The Underground Man (narrator) · Part I: Underground
“To love is to suffer, and there can be no love otherwise.”
This line is delivered by the Underground Man, the unnamed and deeply introspective narrator of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864).
The Underground Man (unnamed narrator) · Part One: Underground
“Every man has reminiscences which he would not tell to everyone, but only to his friends. He has other matters in his mind which he would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself, and that in secret. But there are other things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself.”
This quote comes from the Underground Man, the bitter and hyper-aware narrator of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground (1864), in the opening section of Part II ("Apropos of the Wet Snow").
The Underground Man (narrator) · Part II – Apropos of the Wet Snow, opening section
Symbols · 5
Liza's Letter
In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, Liza's letter—the note she sends to the Underground Man after their meeting—highlights the potential for real human connection and redemption that the protagonist struggles to accept.
The Crystal Palace
In Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground, the Crystal Palace represents the ideal of rational, scientific progress and a neatly ordered society.
The Underground
In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, the Underground serves as a powerful symbol of deep psychological and social alienation.
The Wall
In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864), the Wall represents the unchangeable laws of nature, logic, and necessity that the Underground Man finds both unavoidable and maddening.
The Wet Snow
In Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground, wet snow reflects the Underground Man's painful and humiliating clash with the social world above him.
Literary devices · 9
Aporia
In Notes from Underground, Dostoevsky uses aporia — a way of expressing unresolved doubt — to shape the Underground Man's unique way of presenting himself.
Stream of Consciousness
In Notes from Underground, Dostoevsky introduces an early form of stream-of-consciousness writing by completely relinquishing narrative control to the Underground Man's continuously self-interrupting monologue.
Soliloquy
In Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, soliloquy serves as more than just a theatrical device; it forms the very backbone of the novel.
Unreliable Narrator
In Notes from Underground, Dostoevsky creates an unreliable narrator who is so contradictory that readers can’t trust any of his claims.
Motif
In Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, the motif of the wall emerges as the Underground Man's primary obsession and a key symbol of his stagnation.
Rhetorical Question
In Notes from Underground, Dostoevsky's Underground Man uses rhetorical questions as a form of self-entrapment, reflecting back on himself with each assertion.
Irony
In Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, irony serves as the main way the Underground Man presents himself while also undermining his own efforts.
Paradox
In Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, paradox isn't just decorative — it defines the Underground Man's existence.
Antithesis
In Notes from Underground, Dostoevsky uses antithesis as the Underground Man's main way of presenting himself, immediately turning every assertion back on itself.
Vocabulary · 25
acutely conscious
Painfully and intensely aware of oneself and one's own thoughts and feelings, to a degree that becomes paralyzing rather than useful.
phrase · Chapter 1
spite
A deliberate desire to irritate, wound, or defy others, used here as the narrator's chief motive for his own perverse behavior.
noun · Chapter 1
inertia
The state of doing nothing and being unable to act, caused here by over-thinking every possible course of action until all will to move is paralyzed.
noun · Chapter 1
spontaneity
The ability to act naturally and directly, without reflection; the narrator envies those who act with this quality because he himself cannot.
noun · Chapter 1
lofty
Elevated and noble in a way that is self-consciously grand, often used ironically to mock the narrator's inflated sense of his own ideals.
adjective · Chapter 1
sublime
Of the highest moral or aesthetic elevation; used here with irony, as the narrator pairs it with the ridiculous to expose the gap between his ideals and his conduct.
adjective · Chapter 1
vexation
A feeling of irritation and frustration, especially at one's own helplessness or at the indifference of others.
noun · Chapter 1
lucid interval
A brief period of clear, rational thinking that interrupts a longer stretch of confusion or obsessive brooding.
phrase · Chapter 1
two times two makes four
A symbol for cold, inescapable logical necessity; the narrator uses it to represent the deterministic laws of nature that crush human free will.
phrase · Chapter 1
wall
Used figuratively for any law of nature or logical necessity that cannot be argued with or overcome, against which the narrator beats himself in futile protest.
noun · Chapter 1
Crystal Palace
A symbol for the utopian rational society promised by progressive thinkers of the era; the narrator rejects it as a soulless cage that destroys human freedom and individuality.
noun · Chapter 1
rectilinear
Moving or arranged in straight lines; used to mock the idea that human history or behavior follows a neat, predictable, rational path.
adjective · Chapter 1
ennui
A deep, listless boredom and dissatisfaction with life, here presented as an almost inevitable condition of the over-educated, over-reflective man.
noun · Chapter 1
flunkey
A servile, fawning person who flatters those above him; a lackey. The narrator uses it contemptuously for those who submit willingly to authority or convention.
noun · Chapter 1
titular councillor
A low-ranking civil servant in the Russian imperial bureaucracy, the ninth rank in the Table of Ranks, associated with social insignificance and humiliation.
noun · Chapter 2
epaulettes
Ornamental shoulder badges worn on a military or official uniform, used here as a symbol of rank, status, and the social power the narrator envies and resents.
noun · Chapter 2
seconds
Persons who act as official assistants and witnesses for each party in a formal duel, responsible for arranging the terms and ensuring the rules are followed.
noun · Chapter 2
affected
Behaving in an unnatural, artificially refined way designed to impress others rather than expressing genuine feeling.
adjective · Chapter 2
billiards
A cue-and-ball table game; mentioned here as a pastime of the officer class and a social arena in which the narrator feels slighted and humiliated.
noun · Chapter 2
sycophant
A person who uses excessive flattery and servile behavior to gain favor with those who are more powerful or popular.
noun · Chapter 2
redemption
The saving of a person from a degraded or sinful life; the narrator offers this to Liza in a romanticized, literary way that he himself does not fully believe in.
noun · Chapter 3
fallen woman
A 19th-century term for a woman who has lost her social respectability, especially one working as a prostitute; used here both literally and with sentimental irony.
phrase · Chapter 3
IOUs
Written acknowledgments of a debt; used here to represent the cold, commercial transaction that underlies the narrator's relationship with Liza at a key moment.
noun · Chapter 3
consumptive
Suffering from tuberculosis (then called consumption), a disease associated in 19th-century literature with a slow, wasting death, often romanticized.
adjective · Chapter 3
lackey
A servile follower who does whatever he is told without dignity or independent will; used as a term of contempt for those who submit to others.
noun · Chapter 3