How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"I'll tell you what!" cried Rogozhin, and his eyes flashed fire. "I can't understand your yielding her to me like this; I don't understand it. Have you given up loving her altogether? At first you suffered badly—I know it—I saw it. Besides, why did you come post-haste after us? Out of pity, eh? Ha, ha, ha!" His mouth curved in a mocking smile.
"Do you think I am deceiving you?" asked the prince.
"No! I trust you—but I can't understand. It seems to me that your pity is greater than my love." A hungry longing to speak his mind out seemed to flash in the man's eyes, combined with an intense anger.
"Your love is mingled with hatred, and therefore, when your love passes, there will be the greater misery," said the prince. "I tell you this, Parfyon—"
"What! that I'll cut her throat, you mean?"
The prince shuddered. "You'll hate her afterwards for all your present love, and for all the torment you are suffering on her account now." (2.3.93-99)
Nice. We get right to the crux of their love triangle here. Myshkin = pity + love, but really mostly huge, soul-crushing pity. Rogozhin = passion + love + hatred + rage, which can't help but turn violent. It's a lose/lose proposition for Nastasya, isn't it? No wonder she keeps running away from both of them.
Quote #5
"Lev Nicolaevich!" cried Parfyon, before he had reached the next landing. "Have you got that cross you bought from the soldier with you?"
"Yes, I have," and the prince stopped again. […] "Give it to me," said Parfyon.
"Why? do you—"
The prince would rather have kept this particular cross.
"I'll wear it; and you shall have mine. I'll take it off at once."
"You wish to exchange crosses? Very well, Parfyon, if that's the case, I'm glad enough—that makes us brothers, you know."
The prince took off his tin cross, Parfyon his gold one, and the exchange was made.
Parfyon was silent. With sad surprise the prince observed that the look of distrust, the bitter, ironical smile, had still not altogether left his newly-adopted brother's face. At moments, at all events, it showed itself but too plainly. (2.4.28-36)
Why does Rogozhin want to be cross-brothers with Myshkin? Why do they hang out together as much as they do? Do you think, in a different situation without a woman to fight over, they would've been friends?
Quote #6
"Many people recall his extreme fondness for you as a little boy. Your mother confirms this, and agrees with others in thinking that he loved you the more because you were a sickly child, stammering in your speech, and almost deformed—for it is known that all his life Nikolai Andreevitch had a partiality for unfortunates of every kind, especially children. In my opinion this is most important. I may add that I discovered yet another fact, the last on which I employed my detective powers. Seeing how fond Pavlichev was of you,—it was thanks to him you went to school, and also had the advantage of special teachers—his relations and servants grew to believe that you were his son, and that your father had been betrayed by his wife." (2.9.14)
Um, this might be another little glimpse into good old Dostoevsky here, with his tale of the man who loved to dote on sick kids. Shmoop just wants to point out how this story tries to make sense of the idea that pity or compassion can inspire love. And here it really does seem way more normal than in Myshkin's case. Does the problem lie in trying to mix romantic and compassionate love? Does compassionate love mix with other kinds of love?