The Idiot, Part 2, Chapter 12 summary
Part 2, Chapter 12 of 50 · 10 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 12, Mrs. Epanchin questions the prince about his feelings for Aglaya and reports troubling claims about her secret contacts, which he struggles to believe. When he reveals Aglaya’s note discouraging his visits, Mrs. Epanchin decides that he takes it too literally and immediately drags him toward her house.
What happens
- Mrs. Epanchin questions the prince about his letter to Aglaya, and he describes friendship and hope rather than romantic love.
- She rejects him as Aglaya’s husband but calls him a needed friend and also rules out Evgenie Pavlovitch.
- She reports secret contact involving Aglaya, Gavrila Ardalionovitch, and Nastasia Philipovna, provoking the prince’s disbelief.
- The prince shows Antip Burdovsky’s letter and defends its admission of error against Mrs. Epanchin’s scorn.
- After she forbids him to visit, he reveals that Aglaya has already sent him a discouraging note.
- Mrs. Epanchin reads the note, interprets it as annoyance at his absence, and pulls him toward her house.
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What makes Mrs. Epanchin insist that the prince accompany her home?
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