The Great Sinner

A writer who becomes obsessed with gambling after meeting Pauline, Fedja travels from Moscow toward Paris and settles in Wiesbaden to study addicts. He experiences a winning streak that funds his pursuit, followed by ruin as luck falters. His fixation culminates in mounting debt, dizzy spells, and a desperate bid to redeem what he has lost. He also writes a manuscript that meditates on gambling's hold over the mind.

A reformed gambling addict and daughter of General Ostrovsky, she is drawn to Fedja but is entangled in an arranged engagement with Armand to satisfy her father’s debts. Her loyalty to family clashes with her feelings for Fedja and her own sense of autonomy. She embodies conflict between love and obligation, ultimately seeking forgiveness and a path to redemption.

Wealthy, ruthless owner of the casino who wields financial power to pressure Pauline’s family. He exploits Pauline’s betrothal as a ticket to control her, using debt as a tool to maintain dominance. Armand’s character embodies the corrupting influence of money and the cold calculus of prestige.

An old thief and gambler who initially seems to help Fedja, then becomes a catalyst for the crisis by wagering and losing the money Fedja lends him. Pitard’s death by suicide after losing everything marks a turning point, illustrating gambling’s fatal consequences and the human cost behind every debt.

A pawnbroker who refuses to buy Pauline’s religious medal, she embodies a pragmatic, morally ambiguous stance toward objects of value. Her reluctance underscores the fragility of symbolic possessions in a world ruled by debt and desperation.

Pauline’s father, a wealthy but debt-ridden patriarch whose fortunes and demands drive much of the plot. He leverages his daughter’s engagement to Armand to secure funds, showing how familial duty can intersect with merciless money power. He embodies the strain between social status and moral responsibility.

An elderly gambler who loses a fortune at the Baccarat table, her downfall reflects the dangers of gambling across generations. Her decline and death at the table intensify Pauline’s stakes and foreshadow the ultimate costs of the family’s gambling debts.