Critical Comparison of Sonia from from Crime and Punishment, and Gretchen from Faust
Dostoevsky
Sonia in Crime and Punishment and Gretchen in Faust
Critical Comparison
Sonia from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (C & P) and Margaret (Gretchen) from Goethe’s Faust are the leading female characters in the works they are portrayed in. Aside from this obvious connection, Sonia and Gretchen have a variety of characteristics in common. Both girls are portrayed in ways that serve as representations of innocence, purity, and faithfulness. Parallels can also be seen in Sonia and Gretchen’s love for Raskolnikov and Faust, respectively, and the way their relationships develop. Similarities between the two characters can be found in their socio-economic statuses, their personalities, certain physical characteristics, their faith, and their sins.
Sonia and Gretchen are both peasants. Their families have no affluence, trade, or sustainable business - both girls come from economically unfavorable situations. A relevant similarity between the girls that highlights this fact lies in Sonia and Gretchen’s living quarters. Both girls have plain and simple rooms, lacking in much furniture or decoration (D 28, 278), (G VIII).
As a result of their low statuses, both Sonia and Gretchen have to work hard to contribute to their households. However, Sonia’s situation is more drastic then Gretchen’s and requires ‘dishonest’ labor. Marmeladov, Sonia’s father, asks Raskolnikov, “Do you suppose that a respectable poor girl can earn much by honest work”…“[Sonia] has had no education” (D 26). Sonia’s father is useless and pathetic, leaving his wife and children un-provided for. As Marmeladov wastes the last of Sonia’s earnings on a beer, he wonders if his children have been fed, “for if Sonia has not taken them food... I don't know what's happened!” (D 26-8). In order to sustain her emaciated family, Sonia has no choice but to resort to prostitution. Lebeziatnikov logically defends Sonia’s actions, "she was quite right…that was her asset, so to speak, her capital
Sonia in Crime and Punishment and Gretchen in Faust
Critical Comparison
Sonia from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (C & P) and Margaret (Gretchen) from Goethe’s Faust are the leading female characters in the works they are portrayed in. Aside from this obvious connection, Sonia and Gretchen have a variety of characteristics in common. Both girls are portrayed in ways that serve as representations of innocence, purity, and faithfulness. Parallels can also be seen in Sonia and Gretchen’s love for Raskolnikov and Faust, respectively, and the way their relationships develop. Similarities between the two characters can be found in their socio-economic statuses, their personalities, certain physical characteristics, their faith, and their sins.
Sonia and Gretchen are both peasants. Their families have no affluence, trade, or sustainable business - both girls come from economically unfavorable situations. A relevant similarity between the girls that highlights this fact lies in Sonia and Gretchen’s living quarters. Both girls have plain and simple rooms, lacking in much furniture or decoration (D 28, 278), (G VIII).
As a result of their low statuses, both Sonia and Gretchen have to work hard to contribute to their households. However, Sonia’s situation is more drastic then Gretchen’s and requires ‘dishonest’ labor. Marmeladov, Sonia’s father, asks Raskolnikov, “Do you suppose that a respectable poor girl can earn much by honest work”…“[Sonia] has had no education” (D 26). Sonia’s father is useless and pathetic, leaving his wife and children un-provided for. As Marmeladov wastes the last of Sonia’s earnings on a beer, he wonders if his children have been fed, “for if Sonia has not taken them food... I don't know what's happened!” (D 26-8). In order to sustain her emaciated family, Sonia has no choice but to resort to prostitution. Lebeziatnikov logically defends Sonia’s actions, "she was quite right…that was her asset, so to speak, her capital
Citations: I used an electronic version of Faust for gathering my quotes and ideas; since this version is contained in a simple online webpage, it has no real page numbers that I can cite in my in-text citations. Therefore, the numbers in the Goethe in-text citations refer to chapter numbers (as listed by the Gutenberg Project), not page numbers