Inside the story
Meet Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladov
Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladov is the consumptive, proud second wife of Marmeladov and Sonia’s stepmother. Once the educated daughter of an officer, she now struggles to preserve her dignity while living in severe poverty and squalor with her family.
On the page
A terribly wasted, consumptive woman of about thirty, tall and slim with once-fine chestnut hair, parched lips, and hectic flush spots on her cheeks; her feverishly glittering eyes fixed in a harsh, immovable stare.
