blog
media download page
Essay / Violence, hatred and pain in The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky "There was a look of boundless pride and contempt, almost hatred, on that face and at the same time something confident, something wonderfully simple. " This is where Prince Myshkin's curiosity and infatuation with the complex Nastasya Filippovna began as he sat in awe in front of the photo of this woman in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. This story, set in Russia in the late 1860s, is one of continuing romantic rivalries that describes the life of the Russian aristocracy during that era. Prince Myshkin is described as the "ideal" man because of his compassion for everyone and his strong conviction. that there is a good side to everyone. The story begins as Myshkin returns to St. Petersburg after a stay in a Swiss psychiatric hospital for his epilepsy. Upon his arrival in Russia, he visited distant relatives who were quite receptive to him and ended up staying there for some time. There, he believes he has fallen in love with Nastasya Filippovna and proposes to her prematurely. She first accepts him, then rejects him. Nastasya is the driving force of the novel and carries the reader, as well as the characters, from scene to scene. The duration of the book consists of Myshkin's quest for happiness and love through which he encounters jealousy for his love and for the love of those who love him. Unfortunately, the tragic ending of this book, including Nastasya's intended death, causes Myshkin to regress to his former epileptic state. The period immediately following Myshkin's first proposal to Nastasya stands out as an extremely memorable moment in the book. At Nastasya's birthday party, several men bring money and start bidding on her hand in marriage. Eventually, she announces to everyone that she wants to change her lifestyle and start over as a poor woman. Any man who can't accept her as she is, she decides, is not the man for her. She feels that all men are motivated by greed and that men will not want her out of love, only out of greed. Myshkin feels that he can love Nastasya for who she is and not for her money and so he proposes to her. She immediately agrees and shocks the rest of the group. One of the other suitors, Rogozhin, offers to give up everything he has for Nastasya and Myshkin encourages him to accept his offer because this sacrifice shows that he truly loves Nastasya..
Navigation
« Prev
1
2
3
4
5
Next »
Get In Touch