Vanya, an indigent young author, is hopelessly in love with Natasha Ikhmenev, the daughter of a ruined landowner. They were together in childhood when Vanya, an orphan, was taken into the Ikhmenev family. At seventeen he left for St Petersburg. Natasha was then fifteen. Two years later the Ikhmenevs also move to St Petersburg, ostensibly for Ikmenev Senior to pursue a longstanding lawsuit against his bitter foe, Prince Valkovsky. In the meantime Natasha falls hopelessly in love with his son Alyosha, a handsome, frivolous, happy-go-lucky young man. One evening a girl of about thirteen unexpectedly wanders into Vanya’s lodgings. He comforts and befriends the girl, whose name is Nelly, and she stays on. She turns out to be terminally ill, and an epileptic. Meanwhile Natasha, who has left…
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Citation: Avsey, Ignat Igor. "Unizhennye i oskorblennye". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 July 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11266, accessed 21 November 2024.]
