Turgenev's shy hero, Tchulkaturin, is a representative example of a Russian archetype - the "superfluous man," a sort of Hamlet not necessarily dignified with the title Prince: an individual of comfortable means leading a dreary existence, without purpose and led on by events which may, as in this story, engulf him. Other stories included are; "Three Portraits," "Three Meetings," "Mumu," "The Inn."