In Crime and Punishment, women in Russia were not the equivalent of men and had stereotype gender roles that they had to play out. The women in the novel represented both western and Slovak ideas. Sonya and Dunya were very traditional whereas Alyona and Katerina represented western ideas. There is a huge turmoil in the novel between westernization and traditional roles which the women were recognized for. Dostoevsky illustrates Sonya and Dunya as self sacrificing women, who give up either their morality or self-esteem in order to provide for their family. Dunya's mother sends Raskolnikov a letter explaining Dunya's decision to marry a man of high standings and Raskolnikov thinks, "[dunya] would not sell herself but for another she
