Goodness enters society
Prince Myshkin returns to Russia and encounters a world of money, pride, desire, and social calculation. His openness unsettles the people around him.
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The Idiot
ABOUT THE BOOK
Prince Myshkin’s openness and compassion meet a world of rivalry, pride, and social calculation.
A CLOSER LOOK
The story behind it.
Prince Myshkin’s openness and compassion meet a world of rivalry, pride, and social calculation.
An ideal tested through relationships
The novel places Myshkin’s compassion within relationships that do not yield simple outcomes. The dramatic situations give the attempt to portray goodness its difficulty.
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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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PersonFyodor Dostoevsky
Selected work associated with Fyodor Dostoevsky.
START WITHThe Brothers Karamazov
LiteraturePhilosophy
CharacterBishop Myriel
A route between two literary explorations of goodness and the difficulty of responding with mercy.
EXPLORE THIS WORKVictor Hugo
LiteratureCompassion
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
BookNotes from Underground
Another selected work from Fyodor Dostoevsky: An unnamed narrator argues, confesses, and repeatedly undermines his own account of himself.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFyodor Dostoevsky
LiteratureReflection
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
BookCrime and Punishment
Another selected work from Fyodor Dostoevsky: A novel of crime, rationalization, conscience, and the possibility of renewal.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFyodor Dostoevsky
LiteratureReflection
PassageMarmeladov’s Tavern Confession
Another selected work from Fyodor Dostoevsky: Early in the novel, Marmeladov tells Raskolnikov about drink, poverty, shame, and his family.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFyodor Dostoevsky
LiteratureCompassion