ELIZABETH DALTON
in n er
li ght. The moment lasted perh a ps half a second , yet h e clearl y
and con sciou sly remembered th e beginnin g, th e first sound of th e
fearful scream whi ch broke of itself from hi s breast and whi ch he
could no t h a ve ch ecked by an y effon . Then hi s consciousn ess was
instantl y extingui sh ed a nd compl ete darkn ess foll owed.
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The confusion and mo unting pani c of th e day , the sensa ti on of a
fri ghtful tho ug ht hovering a t the back of consciousness, th e peculi a r
a ttenti on to th e eyes, th e knife, and the pa inting of the dead Chri st, a ll
ga ther and burst here in a vi o lent revela ti on of in stin ctu al fur y. In the
conversa ti on earli er in the day , Myshkin and Rogozhin have, as it were,
verba ll y passed Nas tasya back and fo rth between them . Myshkin ,
imagining wha t Rogozhin will do to her, has sa id , " I won't hinder
you ." However, a t pa rting Rogozhin has sa id, "Take her then . .. I
g ive in to you !" It is as if thi s strange transaction , in whi ch each man
has somehow g iven the o ther permi ss ion to do as he will with
Nas tasya , evo kes in Myshkin a fantasy of intercourse in whi ch th e act
ta kes th e peculi a r fo rm di cta ted by certa in repressed infantil e wishes
and fea rs. At the lit era l level , o f course, the scene " rea ll y happens." But
a t the level of unconscious meanin g, the sequence embodi es a fantasy
o f parenta l intercourse in whi ch th e childi sh wishes to see and to
parti cipate a re bo th g ra tifi ed . T he primal scene here ta kes th e sado–
masochi sti c form of a violent a ttack, in whi ch Myshkin 's identifi ca tion
is no t with the sadi sti c fa ther, but with the sadi sticall y viol a ted mo ther.
T he intense emo ti on and ha llucin a tory vividn ess are sig na ls o f an
unusua ll y direct and concentra ted express ion of the un conscious
compa rabl e to tha t in a dream .
T he topographi cal deta il s of the scene, presented with unu sua l
cl arity, sugges t famili ar symbo li c meanings; th ey a re dream language
for th e bod y, and fo r the gra tifi ca ti on and punishment of des ire. In
dreams, ga teways and doors often represent the opening of th e fema le
genita ls: th e ho tel ga teway is a sort of covered a rch , and within it is a
man. The ga teway leads to a staircase, whi ch is dark and na rrow, like
the ascending passages of the body. Mo reover, the sta irs wind a round a
" thi ck stone column "; the sta ircase encl osing the column is a strik–
ing ly graphi c representati on of the vagin a encl os ing the peni s. But
within this representa ti on is a second one: on the landing is a ni che in
the column; like the sta ircase itself, the ni che is very narrow, " yet there
was room fo r a man to stand there." This peculi arl y detail ed topogra–
phy emphasizes aga in the apparent smallness of the opening within
whi ch there is non etheless " room for a man to stand"; the emphasis
