Characters
- Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov — The dissolute, cruel father. His murder drives the plot.
- Dmitri (Mitya) Karamazov — The eldest son. Passionate, impulsive, and in constant conflict with his father over money and a woman.
- Ivan Karamazov — The intellectual middle son. Rationalist and atheist, he wrestles with the problem of evil and the existence of God.
- Alyosha (Alexei) Karamazov — The youngest son. Gentle and deeply spiritual, a novice monk under Elder Zosima.
- Smerdyakov — The illegitimate fourth son, servant in the Karamazov household. Cold and calculating.
- Elder Zosima — Alyosha's mentor, a revered monk whose teachings on love and humility anchor the novel's spiritual argument.
- Grushenka — The woman both Fyodor and Dmitri desire, and a far more complex figure than either treats her as.
- Katerina Ivanovna — Dmitri's fiancée, proud and conflicted in her feelings toward him.