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Representation of Romance and Love in ‘White Nights’

‘White Nights’ by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a short sentimental romantic novella. The book covers the encounter between the narrator and a young girl named Nastenka over the span of four nights in the city of St Petersburg. ‘White Nights’ does not present the idea of love and romance as a simple emotion but as a mixture of loneliness, idealisation and hope.

The novella begins with an introduction to the protagonist, a Dreamer. The Dreamer is a lonely individual who is withdrawn from society. The Dreamer has no real friends or even people to speak with. He has imaginary friends and considers random objects, like buildings, to be his friends. This was until he met a girl crying on the embankment of the river. This girl was Nastenta. Their conversations quickly take off as they rattle on and on about their vulnerabilities and their past. The Dreamer explains about his lonely past and his opinions on emotions, life and existence itself. This connection is where the emotions grow and the feelings come forward.

I believe that the projection of love in "White Nights" is mostly based on idealisation. The Dreamer was a lonely individual with no one to interact with. When he met Nastenka, he suddenly felt a sense of joy and happiness that there was someone willing to listen to him. This is what ignited his idea of love. Nastenka's interest in him now filled the pit of loneliness that had been growing inside of him. He projects his ideas, his dreams and his desires onto her. Rather than loving her for what she was, he loved her for what she could become for him. A hope to escape his endless isolation. Hence, he fell in love not with her but the idea of loving her. He fell in love with the future he saw with her.

As previously mentioned, the Dreamer was a lonely character. He had not felt happiness, joy or enjoyment from many things or places around him. Hence, their first meeting ended on mutual terms. The narrator romanticised this mutual relationship as well. But what if it was never love? What if "White Nights" was never a love story? What if the narrator was only emotionally dependent on Nastenka? And what if Nastenka developed a feeling of guilt from her sympathy for the narrator? This analysis is another perspective on the book. When Nastenka was content, so was the narrator; when she was sad, so was the narrator. As per Nastanka, she felt guilty. She felt guilty for not being able to love the narrator. This guilt originated from her sympathy for the concept of love. However, that love was entirely fabricated. She could have never loved him.

‘White Nights’ has an ambiguous view of love. The book portrays love or romance in general as a feeling or expression of hope, idealisation and trust. But at the same time, it also compares love to emotional dependency and guilt. Dostoyevsky explores the idea that loneliness amplifies feelings and emotions. The book uses the emotion of love as a coping mechanism for loneliness as well. The book ends with the line:

“My God! A whole minute of bliss! Is such a moment so little for the whole of a man’s life?"

This line emphasises that the narrator remembers something that he can value. A memory that he could cherish. Though he returned to the same loneliness afterwards, that temporary happiness he experienced was something he could cherish for the rest of his life.