Who is Luzhin's Wife from The Defense and what is their importance?

Luzhin's wife, whose name is never given, is a twenty-five-year-old émigré Russian debutante. She is compassionate to a fault, unable to abide pain in a world that she sees as being so conducive to happiness. She's pretty, but not beautiful, smart, but not brilliant. Luzhin's wife is educated, well-read and loves poetry. She's also independent and, while she respects her parents, she doesn't allow them to run her life.