Stavrogin's Confession and The Plan of The Life of a Great Sinner

Chapter IX. corresponds to the “serene” Stavrogin who does not appear in

the novel, and of whom a few hints are preserved in the rough draft which no doubt issue from the idea of _The Life_.

The hesitation and vacillation as to the plan of the novel spread over so long a time that, when he was finishing the second part of the novel (Chapter IX.), Dostoevsky was even nearer to ...