Madam Chalikova

Vasily Chalikov's wife, a small, very thin, sallow-faced, pregnant woman, described in the letter that brings her to Anna Akimovna's attention as consumptive. She tries to manage her husband's theatrical excesses in front of their unexpected visitor, apologizing for the state of the flat, and her thin, hen-claw-like hand closes over the money Anna Akimovna leaves for medicine.