Silent, cunning. Smerdyakov is the son of an idiot woman named “Stinking Lizaveta,” which is where his name comes from. He was brought up by the servants, Martha and Gregory, and later became Fyodor Karamazov’s cook. He has epilepsy and is very mean, sometimes showing his evil openly, and sometimes pretending to be very humble and afraid. He sometimes plays the guitar to Maria, the landlady’s daughter. He has great respect for Ivan, and Ivan’s beliefs strongly influence his murder of Mr. Karamazov. He is Ivan's "shadow", and puts into action all Ivan's secret thoughts and wishes. He hangs himself later.