Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

There are several books throughout history that accurately and poignantly capture the breadth of human experience and psychological motivations under an overarching proselytizing philosophy. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Visual Representation

The intellectual battle is a hard-fought one which the conservatives win, showing the clear supremacy of their position- and by extension, Dostoevsky’s thoughts. They are opposed by bastions of conservative thought like Porfiry, Sonia, Razumikhin, and Dunya. Dostoevsky sought to address what he perceived to be ridiculous and dangerous nihilist ideas by placing them in an extreme form within characters like Raskolnikov, Luzhin, and Svidrigailov. ‘Crime and Punishment’ is in large part Dostoevsky’s philosophical response to the radical ideas he encountered among the Russian intelligentsia dominating the Saint Petersburg cultural and intellectual scene when he returned from his imprisonment and forced exile in Siberia. This idea would however be combined with another work he was developing that was about a drunk, tying Raskolnikov’s storyline with the irresponsible Marmeladov and subsequently, Sonia. Dostoevsky had rough ideas for making a novel about the psyche of a criminal while in prison in Siberia. ‘Crime and Punishment’ is the first of Dostoevsky’s so-called major works.

Protagonists: Repentant Raskolnikov, Sonya, Razumikhin, Porfiry.įyodor Dostoevsky and Crime and Punishment.

Antagonists: Raskolnikov’s evil side, Luzhin, Svidrigailov, Nihilist ideas.

Climax: When Raskolnikov murders Alyona.

Genre: Philosophical novel, Crime novel, Detective novel.

Point of View: Third-person perspective.

Literary Period: Russian Imperial period.

Publication Date: Published serially in 1866 in The Russian Messenger.In ‘Crime and Punishment’ there are elements of the gothic, horror, comedy, and the psychological within its pages.