Discharged from a Swiss sanatorium, Prince Myshkin finds himself thrust into the wild St. Petersburg social scene immediately upon his arrival in Russia. He, who is “obsessed” with charity, cannot bear to see Nastasya—the former mistress of a wealthy man—now being “auctioned off” like an object. Myshkin wants to save her and asks for her hand himself, even though he has since fallen in love with the young Aglaya.