Escape

Abstract

The interval of twenty months between Michael’s quarrel with Belinsky and his departure for Berlin contains no important landmark in his spiritual development. Despondency was his predominant mood. With Lyubov dead and Varvara abroad, Premukhino had lost half its appeal. He had exhausted the possibilities of philosophical philandering with the Beyer sisters. The circle of Stankevich was in dissolution. In Belinsky he had lost the only member of the circle (since the departure of Stankevich himself) whose companionship had power to stimulate and inspire him. He shed—it was the most striking symptom of all—his passion for teaching, and even his confidence in his power to teach.