Lev Shestov (a Russian existential philosopher) said that if Dostoevsky’s great novels, such as Crime and Punishment, Idiot, Demons, Teen and Brothers Karamazov, were not born, it’s possible , the writer's early works would never reach the reader of the 20th century.
The focus is “White Nights”: a characteristic of Nastya and other characters. To what and proceed.
The main character
A young man of 26 years is a dreamer. He lives mainly with his own fantasies, rarely looks out in real life. Somehow, he went out of nothing to do wandering around the city, but was so carried away by the walk that he went out of town. There he enjoyed the free natural air. When already in the late evening the hero was returning home, he met a young slender girl who for some reason cried.
The young man did not dare to speak with her immediately. She meanwhile crossed to the other side of the street. The hero saw that there she was about to pester a drunk. The dreamer heroically saved the girl from trouble. True, there was no assault: it turned out that only the presence of a young man next to a beautiful stranger was enough.
The hero overcomes his embarrassment and escorts the girl home. Along the way, she tells her about herself, about her poverty, fantasies, secret hopes. Then the young people reach their destination and say goodbye, having agreed to meet tomorrow. At this point in White Nights, Nastenka’s characteristic is completely unclear to the reader. One thing is clear: this is a young and apparently unhappy girl.
History of Nastya. Characteristics of the main character
All the events of Dostoevsky’s work take place in white nights (hence the name) in St. Petersburg. For everything about all the classics, descriptions of four meetings of heroes are enough. Moreover, the first of them went to the prelude to the story of the girl, which is all the salt of the work. The question of what is the role of Nastya’s story in the White Nights story will disappear by itself after its description.
"Stitched" girl
For two years now, Nastya has not gone a step away from her grandmother in the morning and afternoon. She was almost blinded, and for some misconduct that was not reported, a relative literally attached the girl to herself so that she would not do anything else. Nastya is an orphan, her parents died, and she stayed with her granny. They have two rooms in the house: they live in one, and the grandmother rents the other - this is the only source of their existence, except for the old woman's pension.
And so a tenant called in - a young man. As a result of one awkward episode, he realized that Nastya was fastened with a safety pin to her grandmother. He felt sorry for the girl, began to give her books and take her to the theater. She, of course, fell in love with a benefactor, revealed herself to him, but he said that while he could not marry her, he did not have enough money at this moment for such a crucial step, and he needed to go to Moscow for a year in the near future. If during this time Nastya’s feelings for him do not change, then he will come exactly a year later and marry her.
On the same day that the heroes met, a year had passed and a little more from the time of the contract, but the young man did not appear in the appointed place, although he was already in the city, which the girl is well aware of. The dreamer opens the cause of Nastenka's tears. Now it should be clear to the reader what the role of Nastya’s story is in the White Nights story. And if not, we will helpfully tell him: the whole plot of Dostoevsky’s not too entertaining work is built on it.
But move on. Now we are ready to determine the very essence of the main character of the composition. Sentimental work of Dostoevsky ("White Nights"). Oddly enough, Nastenka’s characterization is reverse, lacking in sentiment. The girl is not too smart, but not too stupid. She has a taste for literature, or rather, she loves stories. The groom caught her by accident, but she grabbed hold of him like a straw to escape from a blind grandmother who was disgusted with her. Probably, as a conscientious girl, she also suffered guilt due to the fact that she does not love her elderly relative too much. And, nevertheless, she was on the verge of despair and, perhaps, madness, when the groom suddenly got off the hook, because he personified a way out of life's captivity. It is to this interpretation that the reader has the story "White Nights." The characteristic of Nastya is, of course, not too flattering and sentimental, but true. Fortunately for the heroine, not everything is still lost.
An infinitely reflecting dreamer wants to help the girl and offers her to compose a letter for the bridegroom, and he will take it where it should. Surprisingly, the necessary letter was already written by the girl, and the hero was given clear instructions to whom exactly he should be given. This is not to say that Nastya intentionally manipulates the dreamer, exploiting his love, it comes out involuntarily and innocently for her.
The meeting ends with Nastya and the dreamer singing songs. What she rejoices is understandable, but he apparently hopes to help her and achieve reciprocal feelings from the girl and, anticipating this event, sings.
Third and fourth nights. Final story
We are not interested in the characterization of the hero. Nastenka (“White Nights” we consider further) we also occupy a lot. It remains only to tell the story to the end.
The third meeting. The voltage rises. The girl’s friend does not respond to the transmitted letter, she is in an extreme degree of exaltation (to be honest, the heroes do not leave this state even for a minute during the whole story). The dreamer, on the contrary, was depressed. He realized that his chances of reciprocity were rapidly approaching zero. The girl is trying to somehow console him and assure him of her friendly disposition. Naturally, the dreamer from this is not easier.
Fourth night. The girl was almost plunged into the abyss of despair, the right moment came for the hero - he confesses his love. They tell each other all sorts of “sweets”, and Nastya is ready to forget the betrayer who betrayed her, but then he appears on his own, and Nastya, having forgotten her dreamer friend, rushes into the arms of an old love.
The next day, she writes a letter to the dreamer, in which she says that everything is in order with her, and that soon she and her lover will be married. The main character can only remember the adventure that happened to him under the pale light of white nights, and yearn for lost love. Characteristics of the heroes of White Nights are ready. We were left aside only by the groom for the reason that his nature cannot be determined in any way. This character is purely decorative and instrumental in the narration of the Russian classic.