Crime and Punishment Chapter 1 Summary

The Pawnbroker Visit

Raskolnikov wanders feverishly through hot Petersburg, pawns a watch to Alyona Ivanovna, scopes her flat and flees, ending in a tavern to steady himself.

A cramped cupboard beneath the roof: sloping rafters, cracked plaster, a narrow cot with a threadbare blanket and a single, battered Zimmerman hat hanging on a hook. A small grimy window admits a sliver of dusk, a tiny washstand and a crooked chest crowd the floor, the door opening onto a dim back staircase. The space feels stifling and sparsely furnished, every surface worn and closely contained.
A cramped cupboard beneath the roof: sloping rafters, cracked plaster, a narrow cot with a threadbare blanket and a single, battered Zimmerman hat hanging on a hook. A small grimy window admits a sliver of dusk, a tiny washstand and a crooked chest crowd the floor, the door opening onto a dim back staircase. The space feels stifling and sparsely furnished, every surface worn and closely contained.

Summary

A young student, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, leaves his garret on an oppressively hot July evening and walks toward a bridge in a state of anxious introspection. He avoids meeting his landlady on the stairs because of debt and a deep social withdrawal; his nervous self-talk reveals him wrestling with daring fantasies and self-reproach. The city’s heat, filth, and the sights and sounds of working-class Petersburg intensify his disgust and internal agitation. He worries over trivial details—especially his shabby, conspicuous hat—and counts the exact number of steps from his lodging to the pawnbroker’s house, showing an obsessive attention to small factors he thinks could ruin a larger plan.

Raskolnikov slips into an old tenement and rings at the flat of the pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna. The diminutive, suspicious old woman admits him into a neat, sunlit room spotless to the point of spitefulness. He attempts to pawn an old silver watch, sparring with Alyona over a paltry sum; she offers a rouble fifteen copecks and he accepts, despite anger. While she fetches the money, he studies her keys and the layout of the flat, noting a large notched key and imagining the presence of other chests or a strong-box. He leaves in a state of shame and nausea, railing against the filth of his own thoughts and shocked at what he has contemplated for a month. Overwhelmed, he stumbles into a tavern to drink beer; the first glass steadies him and he briefly dismisses his anxieties as mere physical derangement. The tavern scene closes the chapter with a few other drunk or uneasy patrons, emphasizing the social milieu he inhabits as he moves between private torment and public squalor.

Key events

  1. Raskolnikov leaves his garret in stifling Petersburg, avoiding his landlady
  2. He walks in a dazed, self-talking state, obsessed by trifles like his hat
  3. Arrives at the tenement and rings at Alyona Ivanovna’s flat
  4. Pawns a silver watch for a meager rouble fifteen copecks after haggling
  5. Notices the pawnbroker’s keys and the possibility of a strong-box
  6. Flees in disgust and drinks beer in a tavern to calm himself

Chapter 1 in pictures

A young man hesitates in the doorway of his tiny garret, the oppressive July heat radiating off the roof tiles; the cramped room behind him is a cupboard-like cell with a single narrow window. He pauses, furtively avoiding the open kitchen door below where his landlady might appear, a sick, ashamed expression on his face.
A young man hesitates in the doorway of his tiny garret, the oppressive July heat radiating off the roof tiles; the cramped room behind him is a cupboard-like cell with a single narrow window. He pauses, furtively avoiding the open kitchen door below where his landlady might appear, a sick, ashamed expression on his face.
On the sweltering, dust-choked street a drunken wagoner shouts and points at the young man's battered, absurd hat; the moment he clutches it there is a flash of terror and mortification across his refined face. The surrounding bustle — scaffolding, pot-houses, and sun-blinded passersby — presses in, making the trivial insult feel catastrophic.
On the sweltering, dust-choked street a drunken wagoner shouts and points at the young man's battered, absurd hat; the moment he clutches it there is a flash of terror and mortification across his refined face. The surrounding bustle — scaffolding, pot-houses, and sun-blinded passersby — presses in, making the trivial insult feel catastrophic.
At the dingy landing he rings a small tinny bell; an old, withered pawnbroker opens the door a crack, her glittering, mistrustful eyes visible in the dimness. The setting sun floods the little sitting-room with yellow light revealing polished yellow wood furniture, geraniums, muslin curtains and an ikon burning in the corner as the old woman steps aside to admit him.
At the dingy landing he rings a small tinny bell; an old, withered pawnbroker opens the door a crack, her glittering, mistrustful eyes visible in the dimness. The setting sun floods the little sitting-room with yellow light revealing polished yellow wood furniture, geraniums, muslin curtains and an ikon burning in the corner as the old woman steps aside to admit him.
The pawn negotiation crescendos: Raskolnikov produces a scratched silver watch while the old woman counts out a paltry sum, then slips behind the cotton curtain to fetch keys. He notices, with a sharp, calculating glance, the heavy notched key on her ring — an ominous hint of a hidden strong-box — while the room’s cleanliness feels like a mask for something sordid.
The pawn negotiation crescendos: Raskolnikov produces a scratched silver watch while the old woman counts out a paltry sum, then slips behind the cotton curtain to fetch keys. He notices, with a sharp, calculating glance, the heavy notched key on her ring — an ominous hint of a hidden strong-box — while the room’s cleanliness feels like a mask for something sordid.
He descends into a grimy basement tavern seeking relief: seated at a sticky table he drains a cold beer and visibly relaxes as the room’s smoky gloom and the low company wash over him. Nearby a huge drunken man hums and thrashes on a bench while other sullen patrons watch; Raskolnikov’s momentary cheerfulness looks fragile against the tavern’s squalor.
He descends into a grimy basement tavern seeking relief: seated at a sticky table he drains a cold beer and visibly relaxes as the room’s smoky gloom and the low company wash over him. Nearby a huge drunken man hums and thrashes on a bench while other sullen patrons watch; Raskolnikov’s momentary cheerfulness looks fragile against the tavern’s squalor.

Analysis

This opening chapter establishes Raskolnikov’s psychological state, the social environment of Petersburg, and the novel’s movement between mind and city. Dostoevsky uses sensory detail—the heat, stench, dust, and cramped stairs—to externalize Raskolnikov’s inner nausea and alienation. The protagonist’s compulsive internal monologue reveals his intellectual pride, hypochondria, and an emerging split between theory and action: he rehearses audacious plans but is debilitated by trifles. The pawnbroker’s spotless room and the small notched key function as tangible nodes of desire and anxiety; the flat’s cleanliness contrasts with Raskolnikov’s moral disarray and suggests the vulnerability and value concentrated in that household. Narrative focalization is tightly aligned with Raskolnikov’s perception—third-person narrator filters the world through his thoughts, producing unreliable hints rather than clear exposition. Foreshadowing appears in the obsessive counting of steps, the fixation on minor details that might 'ruin everything,' and the probing at the pawnbroker’s keys and drawers: these impulses frame both motive and method. The tavern interlude returns him to the public sphere and shows how alcohol temporarily quiets but does not resolve his turmoil. The chapter thereby sets tonal and thematic stakes—poverty, pride, isolation, and the tension between abstract ideas and concrete acts—while introducing Alyona Ivanovna as an immediate object of financial and psychological interest.

Important quotes

“On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge.”

NarratorOpens the chapter and frames the scene: a heat-soaked Petersburg evening and Raskolnikov’s hesitant departure from his garret.

““I want to attempt a thing like that and am frightened by these trifles,” he thought, with an odd smile.”

Rodion Romanovich RaskolnikovRaskolnikov’s internal conflict—he recognizes his fear of small details even as he contemplates a bolder, unnamed project.

““It must be the top drawer,” he reflected. “So she carries the keys in a pocket on the right. All in one bunch on a steel ring.... And there’s one key there, three times as big as all the others, with deep notches; that can’t be the key of the chest of drawers... then there must be some other chest or strong-box... that’s worth knowing.””

Rodion Romanovich RaskolnikovHe inspects the pawnbroker’s habits and belongings, revealing curious, calculating attention to possible valuables and access points.

Characters in Chapter 1

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