Short Fiction · Chapter
IV explained
Nadejda Nicolaievna receives a letter from Ivan Nikitin, who invites her to his name-day celebration.
What happens
Nadejda Nicolaievna receives a letter from Ivan Nikitin, who invites her to his name-day celebration. She decides to go, dressing plainly and modestly. At his apartment, Ivan Nikitin reveals that it is not his name-day and that he is going away. He becomes emotionally overwhelmed, kisses her passionately, then sends her away. As she leaves, she fears he may shoot himself and rushes back, only to hear a gunshot as she reaches his door.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This excerpt is the narrative climax because it marks the psychological breaking point of Bezsonow, where his…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Love and Sacrifice
Ivan Nikitin's desperate love for Nadejda leads him to both a passionate embrace and a potential suicidal act.
- Psychological Turmoil and Madness
Nadejda experiences intense inner conflict, depression, and a frantic fear that drives her to rush back to Ivan's apartment.
- Death and Mortality
The chapter culminates in a gunshot, suggesting Ivan Nikitin's suicide and Nadejda's collapse.
Characters to notice
- Nadejda Nicolaievna
Receives a letter from Ivan Nikitin, dresses modestly, visits him, and later rushes back fearing he has shot himself.
- Ivan Nikitin
Writes a letter inviting Nadejda to his supposed name-day, reveals he is leaving, becomes emotionally distraught, and apparently shoots himself.
- Evgenia
Nadejda reflects on her former self, the berouged cocotte, as distinct from her current appearance.
Key passages
“All is the same as before. It is not possible to be one minute alone without being seized with melancholy.”
Nothing has changed; I cannot be alone for even a moment without feeling overcome by sadness.
Nadejda describes her persistent depression.
“I almost cried out at seeing in it a woman not at all like the Evgenia who performs indecent dances so well at various cafés.”
I was startled to see a woman in the mirror who was completely different from the Evgenia who dances lewdly in cafés.
Nadejda confronts her dual identity.
“But if he means to shoot himself now! suddenly something cried out within me.”
A sudden inner voice cried out that he might be about to shoot himself.
Nadejda's premonition of Ivan's suicide.
