The Margin

Event

Katerina's Hysterics

Also known as Katerina Ivanovna's hysterics.

After Grushenka leaves the drawing room laughing, Katerina Ivanovna breaks into hysterics before Alyosha and her household. She sobs, shakes with convulsions, calls Grushenka a tigress, and lashes out at Dmitri for having told Grushenka the private story that can wound her most. The collapse makes visible how quickly her proud control can turn into bodily distress.

III-XI. Another Reputation Ruined

Dmitri repeats Katerina's phrases after Alyosha's report, responding to the breakdown with cruel delight before shame catches up with him.

IV-V. A Laceration In The Drawing-Room

The collapse after the drawing-room confrontation continues to hang over Katerina's house, where pride, illness, and injured love are now inseparable.

V-I. The Engagement

Her household treats the aftermath as a serious physical alarm, not merely a scene of offended pride.

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The Margin

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Katerina's Hysterics