The Double: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Double" is a novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky that explores the psychological turmoil of its main character, Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, Sr., an insecure and mentally unstable government clerk in St. Petersburg. Striving for success in life, Golyadkin becomes increasingly distressed after an embarrassing incident at a party, which leads to the unsettling appearance of his identical double, Golyadkin, Jr. This doppelgänger embodies Golyadkin's fears and insecurities, skillfully undermining him at work and in social situations. As Golyadkin, Sr. grapples with his deteriorating mental state and the threat posed by his double, he becomes fixated on revealing the perceived conspiracies against him.
Other key characters include Klara Olsufievna, the object of Golyadkin's unrequited affection, and her romantic interest, Vladimir Semyonovich, who is related to Golyadkin's superior, Andrei Filipovich. The narrative also features Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenspitz, Golyadkin's doctor, who ultimately escorts him to a mental asylum, and Karolina Ivanovna, a former tenant of Golyadkin's who represents past failures. Through these characters, "The Double" intricately examines themes of identity, social anxiety, and the struggle for self-acceptance.
The Double: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Fyodor Dostoevski
First published: Dvoynik, 1846; revised, 1866 (English translation, 1917)
Genre: Novel
Locale: St. Petersburg
Plot: Fantasy
Time: The 1840's
Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, Sr. (YAH-kov peh-TROHvihch gol-YAD-kihn), the assistant to the chief clerk in a government office in St. Petersburg. From the outset, Yakov Petrovich reveals himself to be an insecure and mentally unstable individual who longs to be a success in his personal and professional life but who fails in both. After he makes a fool of himself as an uninvited guest at the birthday party of the woman he desires, Klara Olsufievna, he rushes into the street in a state of distress. There he repeatedly encounters a mysterious individual who, he realizes to his dismay, is his identical physical double. After quelling his anxiety about the appearance of this double, Yakov Petrovich allows the man to spend the night in his apartment. The next day, however, he begins to perceive that the double, labeled by the narrator as Golyadkin, Jr., has begun to worm his way into Yakov Petrovich's office and threatens to take over Yakov Petrovich's place there. Increasingly horrified at the skill of Golyadkin, Jr., in currying favor with Yakov Petrovich's superiors and at the man's continued disdain for Yakov Petrovich's own attempts to make friends with him, Yakov Petrovich launches into a frantic, confused campaign of spying and letter writing to try to protect his own position and to uncover the motives of those he believes are plotting against him. After he conceives of a wild scheme to aid Klara Olsufievna in escaping from her family, he is taken into custody and whisked off to a mental asylum.
Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, Jr., the cunning and treacherous double of Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, Sr. A gregarious figure who knows how to combine poses of concerned sincerity with genial good humor, he displays an unerring ability to gain the favor of Yakov Petrovich's superiors while casting Yakov Petrovich himself into situations of public humiliation. His appearance in the novel reflects both Yakov Petrovich's insecurity over his position in society and his unresolvable internal conflicts over what kind of image he should present to the outside world.
Klara Olsufievna Berendeyeva (KLAH-rah ohl-SEWfyehv-nah beh-rehn-DEH-yeh-vah), the daughter of a man who had once been Yakov Petrovich's benefactor. Although she is the object of Yakov Petrovich's affections, her own romantic interests are directed toward another official, Vladimir Semyonovich.
Andrei Filipovich (fee-LEE-poh-vihch), the head of the government office in which Yakov Petrovich works and the uncle of Vladimir Semyonovich.
Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenspitz (chrehst-YAN ee-VAHnoh-vihch rew-tehn-spihtz), Yakov Petrovich's doctor. It is Yakov Petrovich's visit to this doctor at the beginning of the story that reveals Yakov Petrovich's mental instability, and it is this doctor who conducts the deranged man to the mental asylum at the end.
Karolina Ivanovna (kah-roh-LEE-nah ee-VAH-nov-nah), a German woman in whose apartment Yakov Petrovich once lived and whom he once courted, perhaps with dishonorable motives. Yakov Petrovich denies that he promised to marry her to avoid paying the rent that he owed her.
Petrushka (peh-TREW-shkah), Yakov Petrovich's servant. He is a taciturn man whose drunkenness only compounds Yakov Petrovich's confusion over what intrigues may be transpiring around him.