‘The Idiot’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a seminal work in Russian literature, offering a profound examination of human nature, ethics, and the intricate interplay of individuals within a morally complex society. Published in 1869, this novel stands as one of Dostoevsky’s most ambitious and thought-provoking creations, known for its intricate character development, philosophical depth, and intricate narrative structure.
At its core, the novel introduces us to Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, the central character and the eponymous “idiot” of the story. Myshkin is a unique and enigmatic figure, embodying Christ-like innocence and compassion. His arrival in the heart of St. Petersburg’s high society disrupts the lives of those around him, sparking introspection and self-examination. Dostoevsky employs Myshkin as a lens through which to explore themes of purity, goodness, and the pervasive corrupting influence of a decadent society.
Style of Prose
‘The Idiot’ is a literary masterpiece that unfolds with intricate precision. At its core lies a third-person omniscient narrator, granting readers profound insight into the minds and hearts of the characters. This narrative style becomes a conduit for the exploration of the human psyche, emphasizing the novel’s psychological depth.
Central to the prose style is the exploration of human nature. Dostoevsky’s characters are multi-dimensional, grappling with profound internal struggles, and the prose serves as a vehicle for dissecting their motivations, desires, and moral quandaries. The primary character, Prince Myshkin, embodies the archetype of the “holy fool” or “Christ figure,” challenging societal norms and personifying purity and innocence. In contrast, characters like Rogózhin, Nastasya Filippovna, and Agláya represent different facets of the human condition, from moral depravity to idealism, and serve as foils for Myshkin.
Symbolism in The Idiot
Holbein’s “The Dead Christ”
The Dead Christ, a painting by Hans Holbein, is a representation of atheism and the battle of Christians to hold onto their religion. The entire title of the genuine artwork, which was finished in the 1520s or 1520s, is The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb. When Myshkin visits Rogózhin’s dark and foreboding home, he notices a replica of the painting and remarks that it might cause someone to abandon their faith in Christianity. Rogózhin responds that this has happened, showing that he is an atheist like many other characters in the book. Later, Ippolít, another atheist, speaks in length on the significance of Rogózhin’s replica of the picture as part of his “Necessary Explanation” after describing viewing it.
He makes the observation that, even if they also show his wounds and suffering, painters typically attempt to make the dead Christ appear somewhat attractive. Christ, however, appears skeletal and decaying in the Holbein painting, just like a real corpse would. If this is what Jesus’ supporters saw after he was taken down from the cross, according to Ippolít, they would not be able to believe in the resurrection.
Material Wealth
In the perverted world of ‘The Idiot,’ almost everyone has given in to greed, except for the Prince and Nastasya Filippovna. Money is one of the greatest temptations for men. In his fervent pursuit of wealth, Gánya is prepared to do virtually anything, including marry someone he despises and whom his family finds abhorrent. In addition to needing money to maintain his drinking habit, General Ívolgin also wants it so he can spend more time with his mistress, Madame Teréntyev. Lébedyev is prepared to reach into the fire to grab the parcel containing 100,000 rubles that Nastasya Filippovna threw away.
Myshkin is ignored by everyone at Nastasya Filippovna’s until he announces his inheritance; at that point, he is swarmed by people vying for his money. People like Burdóvsky and his group will even lie to obtain some of the prince’s money. In the world of ‘The Idiot,’ wealth not only brings about one’s fortune—Ptitsyn’s, for instance—but also helps one find a wife. Nastasya Filippovna has received “bids” ranging from 75,000 rubles to more than a million. The distortion of human values in the story is thus clearly represented by money.
Epilepsy
In ‘The Idiot,’ Prince Myshkin’s epilepsy serves as a symbol of both his stupidity and his status as a holy idiot. Myshkin’s epilepsy serves as a metaphor for his Christlike persona and role as the face of compassion. The narrator claims that Prince Myshkin experiences heightened self-awareness before having an epileptic fit, during which his mind is illuminated by “an extraordinary light” and all of his worries, doubts, and fears vanish with the assurance that everything will be OK. Myshkin agrees that one may devote their entire life to this moment because Dostoevsky wrote that such “illumination” moments immediately before a fit were “worth a whole life” about his epilepsy. Due to his epilepsy, Myshkin is both a fool and a saint.
He is a Christlike figure when he returns to Russia, able to read people and recognize their pain right away. The reader can infer that the auras that precede his epileptic fits are related to his spiritual gifts. Myshkin makes a sincere effort to lessen people’s misery. At the book’s conclusion, when his capacity for compassion expires, he reverts to the semi-conscious state that his epilepsy had first created.
Critical Reception of The Idiot
The critical reception of The Idiot at the time of its publication in Russia was almost uniformly negative. This was partly because a majority of the reviewers considered themselves to be opposed to Dostoevsky’s ‘conservatism’, and wished to discredit the book’s supposed political intentions. However, the chief criticism, among both reviewers and general readers, was the “fantasticality” of the characters. The radical critic D.I. Minaev wrote: “People meet, fall in love, slap each other’s face—and all at the author’s first whim, without any artistic truth.” V.P. Burenin, a liberal, described the novel’s presentation of the younger generation as “the purest fruit of the writer’s subjective fancy” and the novel as a whole as “a belletristic compilation, concocted from a multitude of absurd personages and events, without any concern for any kind of artistic objectivity.”
The novel’s apparent structural flaws are acknowledged by prominent contemporary reviewers, who also point out that the author was aware of them and that they may have been an inevitable result of the experimental approach taken to the main premise. Joseph Frank has praised ‘The Idiot’ as “perhaps the most original of Dostoevsky’s great novels and certainly the most artistically uneven of them all,” but he has also questioned how the book “triumphed so effortlessly over the inconsistencies and awkwardnesses of its structure.” According to Gary Saul Morson, “The Idiot reminds me of the old saw about how bumblebees should not be able to fly according to the laws of physics, but bumblebees, not knowing physics, go on flying anyhow.”
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky: A Profound Clash of Innocence and Corruption
Book Title: The Idiot
Book Description: 'The Idiot' by Dostoevsky follows Prince Myshkin, whose pure-heartedness clashes with the cynicism of Russian high society, revealing the stark contrast between sincerity and social corruption.
Book Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
Book Edition: 1st Edition
Book Format: Paperback
Publisher - Organization: Everyman's Library
Date published: November 1, 1869
ISBN: 978-0307459692
Number Of Pages: 672
- Story
- Characters
- Setting
- Writing Style
- Dialogue
- Lasting Effect on the Reader
Summary
‘The Idiot’ is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky that explores the life of Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, a kind and compassionate man who returns to Russia after being treated for epilepsy in Switzerland. The novel delves into the complexities of human nature, morality, and society as Myshkin navigates the treacherous waters of 19th-century Russian aristocracy, ultimately highlighting the tension between his genuine, Christ-like goodness and the moral decay and selfishness of the society around him.
Pros
- The writing style is unorthodox.
- The story is straightforward.
- The protagonist is intriguing.
Cons
- The style may be too experimental for many.
- There are philosophical holes in Dostoevsky’s characters.
