A theory meets an act
Raskolnikov’s ideas about exceptional people precede the murder. The novel then follows the psychological and human consequences that his theory cannot contain.
Book · A CLOSER LOOK
Crime and Punishment
ABOUT THE BOOK
A novel of crime, rationalization, conscience, and the possibility of renewal.
A CLOSER LOOK
The story behind it.
A novel of crime, rationalization, conscience, and the possibility of renewal.
Other people keep entering
Sonia, Porfiry, Marmeladov, and Raskolnikov’s family prevent the story from remaining a private intellectual contest. Relationships change the terms of his struggle.
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Sources & credits
Introductions are grounded in the sources below. Collection notes and reading prompts provide an editorial starting point; personal opinions are identified in the collection’s content.
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Discover the person. Follow the work.
PersonFyodor Dostoevsky
Selected work associated with Fyodor Dostoevsky.
START WITHThe Brothers Karamazov
LiteraturePhilosophy
PassageMarmeladov’s Tavern Confession
This passage is contained in Crime and Punishment, Part I, chapter 2.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFyodor Dostoevsky
LiteratureCompassion
BookNotes from Underground
Read the narrator’s self-justification beside Raskolnikov’s theories and encounters.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFyodor Dostoevsky
LiteratureReflection
BookThe Brothers Karamazov
Another selected work from Fyodor Dostoevsky: A family novel about faith, doubt, responsibility, and the difficulty of judging another person.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFyodor Dostoevsky
LiteraturePhilosophy
ChapterThe Grand Inquisitor
Another selected work from Fyodor Dostoevsky: Ivan’s imagined encounter between Christ and an inquisitor, told to Alyosha.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFyodor Dostoevsky
LiteratureFaithPolitical thought
BookThe Idiot
Another selected work from Fyodor Dostoevsky: Prince Myshkin’s openness and compassion meet a world of rivalry, pride, and social calculation.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFyodor Dostoevsky
LiteratureReflection