The analysis of Dostoevsky’s “Idiot” helps to understand the features of this novel by a famous Russian writer, to understand what the author wanted to say in one of the main works in his career. In this article, we will provide a brief summary of the book, reader reviews, and focus on its main idea.
General information
The analysis of Dostoevsky’s “Idiot” is worth starting with the story of the creation of the novel. It is believed that the design of the book organically grew out of "Crime and Punishment."
The work was first published in 1868 in the journal "Russian Herald". Critics believe that at Dostoevsky it was one of the most beloved, as the author was able to fully express his philosophical and moral position, as well as the artistic principles formed at that time.
The writer considered the idea of the novel when he was abroad. In particular, in Switzerland and Germany. It is believed that the first chapters he began to write in Geneva in September 1867. I finished the novel in Florence.
Manuscripts of "Idiot" were not preserved. Only three notebooks with preparatory materials that were published by literary scholars in 1931 survived to our time.
Plot
A brief summary and analysis of Dostoevsky's “Idiot” allows us to figure out what the author wanted to say.
The novel begins with a meeting on the train of Parfen Rogozhin and Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin. The aristocrat says that he is returning to St. Petersburg from Switzerland, where he was in a hospital. A guardian sent him there for four years. About Rogozhin, the reader learns that the character is going to draw up an inheritance that his suddenly passed away father left him. At the same time, shortly before death, a conflict occurred between them, Parthen even left home.
Myshkin has no money at all, since his guardian has recently died. In St. Petersburg, he goes to his relatives, who previously did not even answer his letters, knowing that he was actually a pauper. Having become acquainted with the family of General Yepanchin, he immediately conquers his wife and three daughters (Alexander, Adelaide and Aglaya) by communication and his manners. Father agrees to get him a job and helps him find a place to live.
They plan to marry one of the three daughters of the Yepanchins as the rich Totsky, who seeks to get rid of his mistress Nastasya Filippovna Barashkova. Myshkin hears this name for the second time. Earlier, Rogozhin had already told him about the mysterious stranger on the train. Totsky wooed Nastasya Filippovna for Ganya Ivolgin, an official working for the Yepanchins. He is in love with Aglaya, but is ready to marry Barashkova. Totsky gives her a great dowry.
It soon turns out that Parfen is in love with Nastasya Filippovna. He gives her almost all his fortune so that she leaves with him. Myshkin is trying to intervene in this humiliating bargaining, offering Barashkova to marry him. Nastasya Filippovna refuses, claiming that she is not worthy of a prince.
Myshkin and Barashkova
The events of the next part of the novel unfold in six months. During this time, Myshkin receives an inheritance from his aunt. He is now a self-sufficient and wealthy aristocrat. He had an affair with Nastasya Filippovna, who never married either him or Rogozhin.
Against the background of nervous tension associated with problems in his personal life, Myshkin progresses mental illness and epilepsy. He is being treated. After rehabilitation, the prince arrives at the Epanchins' house . Aglaya is in love with him, Lev Ivanovich decides to marry her. Preparations are being made for the wedding, but Nastasya Filippovna suddenly appears, and Myshkin already doubts the correctness of his decision.
As a result, he again prefers his former mistress. The prince offers Barashkova to marry him. Nastasya Filippovna agrees. A new wedding is being prepared, but the bride doubts her decision. She asks Rogozhin for help, who comes to her and takes her to her.
Denouement
Myshkin goes to Petersburg in search of an escaped bride. On the street, he runs into Rogozhin, who leads him to the house where he lived with Barashkova. Nastasya Filippovna was killed by Parfen. Both men, for whom she became a fatal woman, sit by her body and begin to talk.
Myshkin has an attack, the next morning he no longer recognizes anyone and does not remember anything. The events of recent days completely destroy his psyche, turning into an idiot.
The main character
In the analysis of the work of "The Idiot" by Dostoevsky, the figure of the protagonist has great attention. Talking about Myshkin himself, the author, giving an assessment, claimed that he was a wonderful person, in which Christian morality and good were embodied. The character is very different from all the people around him, becoming the embodiment of honesty, humanity and disinterestedness. Most of the heroes of the novel are mired in greed and hypocrisy, attaching only money to this life. When analyzing the novel "The Idiot" by Dostoevsky, it is worth noting that one of the main thoughts is that it is because of this moral difference that the remaining heroes consider Myshkin to be inferior.
The lifestyle of Lev Ivanovich was as closed as possible. Returning to the high society from a Swiss clinic, he saw cruelty, inhumanity and many other human vices around him. Giving a brief analysis of the novel "The Idiot" by Dostoevsky about the most important thing, it is worth emphasizing that the writer associates his main character with Jesus Christ. First of all, for the purpose for which the Son of God descended to the earth. Like Jesus, Myshkin more than once "dies", demolishes betrayal and deceit, but each time forgives those who cause it.
Carrying out the analysis of “The Idiot” by F. M. Dostoevsky, it is worth noting that the prince is faced with the task of providing effective assistance to the surrounding society. Myshkin is trying to breathe a good start into the people he meets on his way, setting a personal example. Even with a brief analysis of Dostoevsky’s “Idiot,” it’s important not to miss this parallel, which is one of the fundamental ones in the novel.
Composition
In the center of the plot of the novel is the image of the protagonist, and all the other characters are closely intertwined with Myshkin. The composition is based on the confrontation of the prince’s virtues with the usual way of life of people of high society, which is based on self-interest, betrayal and selfishness.
In the analysis of Dostoevsky's Idiot, emphasis should be placed on the fact that the writer seeks to reflect the negative side of this contradiction, which is evident even to the heroes of the work itself. They understand how much they differ from Myshkin, but in their worldview the boundless kindness of the prince does not fit, which they categorically reject.
In the analysis of Dostoevsky's Idiot, symbolism occupies an important place. Lev Ivanovich becomes the personification of Christian love, Nastasya Filippovna - beauty. Special attention should be paid to the painting "Dead Christ". Myshkin himself states that if you look at her for a very long time, you can lose faith.
Finale Analysis
The ending of the work looks tragic. The lack of faith and the absolute lack of spirituality of most heroes leads to it. At the end of the novel, Dostoevsky makes a special emphasis on the mental and physical beauty, which are unable to survive amid the thirst for profit, self-interest and hypocrisy.
The author emphasizes that the ideology of "Napoleonism" and individualism is growing in society. In this he sees a serious problem. The writer stands for freedom, to which absolutely any person has the right. However, he is also convinced that even inhumane acts are committed due to uncontrolled and unlimited self-will.
According to Fyodor Mikhailovich, the crime is caused by an individual’s attempt to assert himself. It is believed that in this manner, Dostoevsky negatively assessed the revolutionary movement, which at that time was actively emerging, noting that it was becoming the most typical anarchist rebellion.
It is also important that the characters of all characters without exception, when interacting with Prince Myshkin, develop exclusively in a positive direction. This is due to the fact that Lev Ivanovich becomes the personification of a kind person who lives in full accordance with biblical traditions.
Relationship with 1860s Crime
Literary scholars note that the plot of the novel is closely related to the criminal processes of that time. The very idea of the novel arose with Dostoevsky under the impression of the Umecki case. This is the process of 1867. Parents were then accused of torturing their children, and their 15-year-old daughter Olga even tried to set fire to the estate. In the final version, no details of this family drama have been preserved. Embittered Olga Umetskaya became only a distant prototype of Nastasya Filippovna.
Also, the composition of the novel was determined by the criminal cases of Gorsky and Mazurin. Some researchers believe that for the sake of denouement, the entire novel was written. In it, the writer demonstrates the murder of the fallen world, which is realized in the violent death of the heroine, personifying beauty and independence.
Reviews
In the analysis of Dostoevsky’s “Idiot” and in reviews of this novel, many readers note that this is one of the author’s most significant works.
The novel leads to despair for some, because it remains only to be amazed, after so many years people have not learned how to cope with mental illnesses and internal shortcomings, they can not spare each other and support. Still, self-interest and money-loving, which for many determine life priorities, are at the forefront.