How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"God knows, Aglaya, that to restore her peace of mind and make her happy I would willingly give up my life. But I cannot love her, and she knows that."
"Oh, make a sacrifice of yourself! That sort of thing becomes you well, you know. Why not do it? And don't call me 'Aglaya'; you have done it several times lately. You are bound, it is your duty to 'raise' her; you must go off somewhere again to soothe and pacify her. Why, you love her, you know!"
"I cannot sacrifice myself so, though I admit I did wish to do so once. Who knows, perhaps I still wish to! But I know for certain, that if she married me it would be her ruin; I know this and therefore I leave her alone. I ought to go to see her today; now I shall probably not go. She is proud, she would never forgive me the nature of the love I bear her, and we should both be ruined. This may be unnatural, I don't know; but everything seems unnatural. You say she loves me, as if this were love! As if she could love ME, after what I have been through! No, no, it is not love." (3.8.141-143)
Myshkin and Aglaya have several conversations like this, where she is just desperately trying to get to the bottom of his situation with Nastasya. The idea that he loves her out of pity, but not with romantic love, is so far out there that it sounds crazy and not really true. It's easy to see why Aglaya would be jealous, and harder to know what other possible emotion she could have in this situation.
Quote #8
"Why do I wish to unite you two? For your sakes or my own? For my own sake, naturally. All the problems of my life would thus be solved; I have thought so for a long time. I know that once when your sister Adelaida saw my portrait she said that such beauty could overthrow the world. But I have renounced the world. You think it strange that I should say so, for you saw me decked with lace and diamonds, in the company of drunkards and wastrels. Take no notice of that; I know that I have almost ceased to exist. God knows what it is dwelling within me now—it is not myself. I can see it every day in two dreadful eyes which are always looking at me, even when not present. These eyes are silent now, they say nothing; but I know their secret. His house is gloomy, and there is a secret in it. I am convinced that in some box he has a razor hidden, tied round with silk, just like the one that Moscow murderer had. This man also lived with his mother, and had a razor hidden away, tied round with white silk, and with this razor he intended to cut a throat." (3.10.15)
This is the first time that Nastasya completely seriously admits that going with Rogozhin would be pretty much suicide-by-psychopath. Because we already have independent confirmation (from Myshkin) that Rogozhin's eyes really can be seen whenever he is lurking around, none of this sounds crazy—just prescient.
Quote #9
"Never told either him or me?" cried Aglaya. "How about your letters? Who asked you to try to persuade me to marry him? Was not that a declaration from you? Why do you force yourself upon us in this way? I confess I thought at first that you were anxious to arouse an aversion for him in my heart by your meddling, in order that I might give him up; and it was only afterwards that I guessed the truth. You imagined that you were doing a heroic action! How could you spare any love for him, when you love your own vanity to such an extent? Why could you not simply go away from here, instead of writing me those absurd letters? Why do you not now marry that generous man who loves you, and has done you the honour of offering you his hand? It is plain enough why; if you marry Rogozhin you lose your grievance; you will have nothing more to complain of. You will be receiving too much honour. " (4.8.128)
What do you think about Aglaya's analysis of Nastasya? What is more in character—that she would write Aglaya letters to try to force herself between the two of them or to point out to everyone how great a sacrifice she is making by giving Myshkin up? How does this compare to Myshkin's own analysis of Nastasya's psychological state (quotation #9 in the "Suffering" section)?