The Idiot · Character

Parfyon Semyonovich Rogozhin

A feverish, dark-eyed merchant's son who arrives from the provinces with a million roubles and one consuming obsession: Nastasya Filippovna.

major

Also known as Rogojin, Parfen Rogojin, Parfen, Mrs. Rogojin, the Parfen Rogojin, this Rogojin, old Mrs. Rogojin, Parfen Semionovitch, Parfen Semeonovitch

First appearance: part i ii

As a major figure in The Idiot, Parfyon Semyonovich Rogozhin is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Heir to a fortune, recounts his obsession with Nastasya Filippovna and his conflict with his father.

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Rogozhin meets Myshkin on the train and tells him, without shame, that he ran from his father and nearly died of fever, and that he would have been murdered if he'd stayed. Newly rich and utterly without polish, he pursues Nastasya with a passion that is part worship and part violence, bidding for her in public and brooding over her in private. His raw, unmediated intensity stands as the dark mirror to Myshkin's gentleness, and their strange bond becomes one of the book's most unsettling threads.

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See Parfyon Semyonovich Rogozhin in part i ii

Character Web

43 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Central characters in love triangle
Minor and background characters

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

The narrative climax occurs here because Varvara Ardalionovna’s return home in a state of “considerable mental…

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In the story

Parfyon Semyonovich Rogozhin appears across 20 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

I
Heir to a fortune, recounts his obsession with Nastasya Filippovna and his conflict with his father.
III
Mentioned as a passionate millionaire in love with Nastasia, capable of scandal.
Chapter X
Arrives with his gang, offers Nastasia money, and boasts of buying Gania off.
Chapter XV
Arrives with a drunken gang, offering 100,000 rubles for Nastasia, and watches the confrontation with intense interest.
Chapter XVI
Triumphantly claims Nastasia after she decides to leave with him.
I
Departed for Moscow with his gang, pursuing Nastasia Philipovna; reported to have nearly married her before she fled again.
II
Referenced as the man Nastasya Filippovna fears and whose name she forbids; his followers include the ex-lieutenant who beat Lebedev's nephew.
Chapter III
Reveals his violent history with Nastasia, his jealousy of Myshkin, and his conviction that she loves the prince and will be destroyed by their marriage.
IV
Shows Myshkin a Holbein painting, questions him about God, exchanges crosses, and ultimately surrenders Nastasya to him.
V
Observes Myshkin from a distance, lurks in the hotel staircase, and meets Myshkin's gaze with a mad smile.
III
Confronts Myshkin in the park, reveals Nastasya's plan to marry Myshkin to Aglaya, and discusses his own jealousy and impending marriage.
Chapter IV
Rogojin sits motionless, head bent, absorbed in reflection, having decided to wait for something important.
Chapter VI
Hippolyte visits his house, which he describes as like a burial-ground, and sees a disturbing painting of Christ.
VII
Observes that Hippolyte led up to the scene on purpose; comments on the length of the gathering.
Chapter X: The Nightmare Letters and the Midnight Encounter
Mentioned in Nastasya's letters as a menacing presence who loves and hates her, and whom she believes will kill her.
VII
Mentioned by Myshkin as someone with whom he read Pushkin in Moscow.
VIII
Lets the visitors in, observes the confrontation silently, leaves after Nastasya's outburst.
Chapter X
Mentioned as a lurking threat; Nastasia imagines him in the garden, and Hippolyte warns he may harm Aglaya.
Chapter XI
Appears suddenly at his house, leads the prince to the study, and reveals Nastasia's dead body behind a curtain.
XII
Suffered brain fever for two months after the murder, then was tried, convicted with extenuating circumstances, and sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor in Siberia.

Chapter companion notes

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See Parfyon Semyonovich Rogozhin in part i ii

See Parfyon Semyonovich Rogozhin in I