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The Idiot
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The Idiot (1869) (edit title/settings)

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author) (edit contributors)

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The Idiot (Russian: Идиот, Idiot) is a novel written by 19th century Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published serially in Russkiy Vestnik between 1868 and 1869. The Idiot is ranked beside some of Dostoevsky's other works as one of the most brilliant literary achievements of... read more

Summary edit see section history

Twenty-six-year-old Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin returns to Russia after spending several years at a Swiss sanatorium. Scorned by the society of St. Petersburgh for his idiocy, generosity and innocence, he finds himself at the centre of a struggle between a beautiful kept woman and a... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Twenty-six-year-old Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin returns to Russia after spending several years at a Swiss sanatorium. Scorned by the society of St. Petersburgh for his idiocy, generosity and innocence, he finds himself at the centre of a struggle between a beautiful kept woman and a gorgeous, virtuous girl, both of whom win his affection. Unfortunately, Myshkin's very goodness seems to precipitate disaster, leaving the impression that, in a world obsessed with money, power, and sexual conquest, a sanatorium may be the only place for a saint.

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  • “"His mind and heart were flooded with extraordinary light; all torment, all doubt, all anxieties were relieved at once, resolved in a kind of lofty calm, full of serene, harmonious joy and hope, full of understanding and the knowledge of the ultimate cause of things."”
    In Part II, Chapter 5, Prince Myshkin describes an epileptic fit.
  • “"Full of pure love and always true To his one exquisite dream, N.F.B.—these letters he drew In blood upon his shield."”
    In Part II, Chapter 7, Aglaya Yepanchin recites Pushkin's poem "The Poor Knight" in front of her family, Myshkin, and a few other people.
  • “"I don't understand how one can walk by a tree and not be happy at the sight of it! Or to speak with a man and not be happy in loving him?… There are so many things at every step so beautiful."”
    During the engagement party at the Yepanchins' in Part IV, Chapter 7, Prince Myshkin speaks about his feelings on life and religion.
  • “"What is in all this beauty for me when every minute, every second I am obliged, forced to know that even this tiny gnat, buzzing near me in the sunlight now, is taking part in all this banquet and chorus, knows its place in it, loves it, and is happy, and I alone am an outcast"”
    In Part III, Chapter 7, Hippolite speaks of his feelings toward nature, which he says has excluded him from its happy "banquet."
  • “"There's more wealth, but there's less strength; the binding idea doesn't exist anymore; everything has turned soft, everything is rotten, and people are rotten."”
    In Part III, Chapter 4, Lebedev gives several verbose speeches on diverse subjects such as religion and moral corruption.
  • “For an 'ordinary' man of limited intelligence, for instance, nothing is easier to imagine himself to be quite an extraordinary and original man and to rejoice in that belief without any misgivings. Some of our young women had only to cut their hair short, put on blue spectacles, and call themselves nihilists, to persuade themselves at once that, having put on their spectacles, they have immediately acquired 'convictions' of their own. Some of our men had only to perceive some faint glimmer of humanitarian feelings in their hearts, to persuade themselves at once that no one felt as they did and that they formed the avant-garde of civilization. It was quite enough for someone else to accept without asking any questions an idea he had heard about, or to read a page at random in some book, to imagine at once that it was 'his own idea' and that it was conceived in his own brain. The arrogance of the simple-minded, if one may use such an expression, assumes quite amazing proportions...”
  • “'It is not from vanity alone, it is not from bad, vain feelings that Russians have become atheists and Jesuits, but from spiritual agony, from spiritual thirst, from a yearning for higher ideals, for the firm shore, for the mother country in which they have ceased to believe because they have never even known it! And it is so easy for a Russian to become an atheist, much easier than for anyone else in the whole world! And Russians do not simply become atheists, but actually believe in atheism, as though it were a new religion, without noticing that they believe in a negation.'”
    Prince Myshkin, In Part IV, Chapter 7, during the engagement party at the Yepanchins'.
  • “'The law of destruction and the law of self-preservation are equally strong in humanity! The devil holds equal dominion over humanity until a date in the far-off future still unknown to us. You're laughing? You don't believe in the devil? Disbelief in the devil is a French idea. It is a flippant idea. Do you know who the devil is? Do you know what his name is? Not even knowing his name, you laugh at his exterior form, following the example of Voltaire, at his hoofs, his tail, and horns, which you have invented yourselves, for the evil spirit is a great and ruthless spirit, but he has not the hoofs and horns you have invented for him.'”
    Lebedev in Part III, Chapter 4
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • It’s life that matters, nothing but life—the process of discovering, the everlasting and perpetual process, not the discovery itself, at all.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • The essence of religious feeling does not come under any sort of reasoning or atheism, and has nothing to do with any crimes or misdemeanours. There is something else here, and there will always be something else—something that the atheists will for ever slur over; they will always be talking of something else.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • his need of conversation seemed rather physical than mental, arising more from preoccupation than frankness, from agitation and excitement, for the sake of looking at some one and exercising his tongue.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • There is, indeed, nothing more annoying than to be, for instance, wealthy, of good family, nice-looking, fairly intelligent, and even good-natured, and yet to have no talents, no special faculty, no peculiarity even, not one idea of one’s own, to be precisely “like other people.”
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • Those who live according to rational egotism act solely in their own self-interest as a matter of principle.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • to have a decent education, but to have no idea what use to make of it; to have intelligence, but no ideas of one’s own; to have a good heart, but without any greatness of soul; and so on and so on. There is an extraordinary multitude of such people in the world, far more than appears.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • They may, like all other people, be divided into two classes: some of limited intelligence; others much cleverer. The first are happier. Nothing is easier for “ordinary” people of limited intelligence than to imagine themselves exceptional and original and to revel in that delusion without the slightest misgiving.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • it’s just laziness that makes people classify themselves according to appearances, and fail to find anything in common. . . .
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • Some have only to meet with some idea by hearsay, or to read some stray page, to believe at once that it is their own opinion and has sprung spontaneously from their own brain. The impudence of simplicity, if one may so express it, is amazing in such cases. It is almost incredible, but yet often to be met with.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • Ippolit Terentyev [eighteen-year-old radical, dying of consumption; son of General Ivolgin’s mistress]
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

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First Sentence edit see section history

About nine o'clock on a late November morning during a thaw, the train from Warsaw was nearing Petersburg at full speed. It was so wet and foggy that there was still hardly any light, and from the train windows it was difficult to distinguish anything ten yards on either side of the tracks.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Russian Christianity and Redemption: Prince Myshkin is a Christ figure, though Dostoevsky adds what he believes to be a Russian element to this messiah. Myshkin describes religion as an immensely strong feeling similar to the joy God feels for his creation—a feeling he recognizes when he sees a young mother joyously nursing her baby. Much like the idea that religion is a feeling rather than a set of rules that one follows, Myshkin Christ-like character can also be reduced to a feeling: his immense compassion and love for others. Dostoevsky explores the idea of redemption in a series of characters who are condemned. Myshkin, during his first meeting with the Yepanchins, tries to imagine the feelings of a condemned man prior to his execution. Later on, the novel unravels characters who—much like the man standing near the scaffold and awaiting his execution—stand on the brink of ruin. Such characters include the Swiss woman Marie, Nastassya Filippovna, Hippolite, Rogozhin, General Ivolgin, and even Aglaya. Myshkin offers some sort of hope—if not the complete reversal of the death sentence, then at least the softening of the psychological suffering it inflicts upon the condemned. The Idiot is also full of sinners, from harmless drunkards like General Ivolgin to habitual liars and rogues like Ferdyshchenko, Lebedev, Keller, Doktorenko and even murderers like Rogozhin. Prince Myshkin spends a considerable amount of time with all of these sinners, even after many of them have committed offenses against him. They need the prince morally and spiritually; his attempts at assisting them even after their affronts represent the ultimate in selfless compassion.
  • The Ideal Human Being: In The Idiot Dostoevsky attempts to portray the ideal man—a "positively beautiful individual." Prince Myshkin represents all the qualities Dostoevsky deems the best aspects of a human being. First, he is frank and open; unlike other members of high society such as Ganya and General Yepanchin, Myshkin does not hide his true feelings behind a veneer of friendliness in order to gain something or to merely maintain appearances. The prince always says what is on his mind, regardless of whether it is perfectly appropriate for the social setting. Prince Myshkin is also very meek. In contrast to other characters—Ganya, who considers his self and reputation more important than anything else in life; Nastassya Filippovna, who cares more about her own shame than Myshkin's or Aglaya's happiness; Hippolite, who cannot accept death without making some sort of memorable statement—Myshkin does not think about himself at all. Unlike the other characters, many of whom constantly try to assert themselves, Myshkin is very altruistic. Not only is he humble, but he is also very giving and compassionate. These seemingly perfect traits of man come into headlong collision with a corrupt world.
  • The Clash Between Good and the Real World: What happens when the ideal human being comes into the real world? In Dostoevsky's view, the ideal man does not bring good, but rather his own goodness is inverted and manipulated, leading to the destruction of both himself and his ideal. The world that Prince Myshkin enters is one of moral corruption and decay, with money as the object of principal importance. In this world, money not only makes one a better human being (Ganya, for example, believes it can cure his mediocrity), but it can also obtain one a beautiful bride (the various men bid for Nastassya Filippovna). No one deems Prince Myshkin a good husband for Aglaya, while nearly everyone considers Ptitsyn—an emblem of mediocrity who has enriched himself through usury—la most respectable match. Beautiful, intelligent women such as Nastassya Filippovna, are dishonored and consequently destroyed. The world of the novel is also full of drunks (Lebedev, General Ivolgin, Ferdyshchenko, Rogozhin and his company) and rogues (Lebedev, Doktorenko, Keller, Ferdyshchenko and others). Practically everyone else, such as the Ptitsns and the Ivolgins, is ordinary. High society is full of superficial nothings along with others—such as General Yepanchin—who have behaved in an obsequious manner to these nothings in order to gain a high position. Though Myshkin is infinitely morally superior to the world he enters, his effect on this world is ultimately zero—a mix of positive and negative. Though Myshkin attempts to help those around him, he drives several of them—General Ivolgin, Nastassya Filippovna, Aglaya—to destruction. The failure of Myshkin's compassion to save those about whom he cares most, especially Nastassya Filippovna, drives him to insanity.
  • Love: Dostoevsky gives examples of many types of love: love out of vanity, passion, romantic love, and pity. Ganya's affection for Aglaya is vain love; he is not willing to sacrifice all for it, as we see in Part I when he asks Aglaya for some kind of insurance before he is willing to break off his engagement with Nastassya Filippovna. Rogozhin's feelings toward Nastassya Filippovna exemplify all-devouring passion; this kind of love approaches hate and is very destructive, both to the lover and the object of love. Both Nastassya Filippovna and Aglaya exemplify romantic love in their feelings toward Prince Myshkin, who in return loves Aglaya with romantic love. Finally, the strongest love of all in the novel is compassionate love, or pity, embodied in Myshkin and directed particularly strongly toward Nastassya Filippovna.
  • Beauty: Beauty surfaces in various forms in the novel. Everyone marvels at Nastassya Filippovna's beauty. Aglaya is renowned for her beauty. The Yepanchin girls mention that beauty is power. Myshkin remarks that beauty is an enigma. During the engagement party at the Yepanchins the Prince exclaims that beauty can be found in all of God's creation. Pervading the novel is a sort of spiritual beauty to the character of Prince Myshkin and to the love he displays toward all the other characters. Indeed, such beauty is an enigma because it is a feeling and, therefore, impossible to define. Significantly, by the end of The Idiot, all the examples of beauty in the novel, including Nastassya Filippovna, Aglaya, and Myshkin, are ruined.
  • Light and Dark: Dostoevsky strikes a contrast between light and dark from the outset, juxtaposing descriptions of Rogozhin's dark hair and eyes with Myshkin's light hair. Practically everything that involves Rogozhin is dark—his appearance, his house, the hall in which he tries to kill Myshkin, and the study in which he kills Nastassya Filippovna. Darkness is also frequently associated with Nastassya Filippovna: she wears a dark dress at the evening party, and thinking of her makes Myshkin think of darkness. Myshkin, on the other hand, writes the letter to Aglaya as to his "light." Aglaya's name itself also means "light." The contrast between light and dark emphasizes the contrast between the goodness of the prince and the corruption of the world around him. This contrast also underlines the different effects Nastassya Filippovna and Aglaya have on Myshkin: while the former fills his soul with darkness, the latter fills it with light.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 76 of 96 in The Art of Manliness' Essential Man’s Library. (authoritative list)

Preceded by King Solomon's Mines, and followed by A River Runs Through It.

This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 861 of 1271 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Les Chants de Maldoror, and followed by Crime and Punishment.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. David Fishelson (Translator)
  2. Simon Gray (Translator)
  3. Nicolae Gane (Translator)
  4. Henry and Olga Carlisle (Translator) - Edition: published in 2002 by Signet Classics, ISBN: 0451528387
  5. Harold Rosenberg (Introduction) - Edition: published in 2002 by Signet Classics, ISBN: 0451528387
  6. Gary Rosenshield (Afterword) - Edition: published in 2002 by Signet Classics, ISBN: 0451528387

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: Russian
Publisher: Katkov
Country: Russia
Publication Date: 1869
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 693

Classification edit see section history

Movie Connections edit see section history

  • The Idiot: release: 4 (17) January 1910 (Russia). Silent movie directed by Peter Chardynin. This is a short, black-and-white screen adaptation. The film shows only the key scenes of the novel
  • The Idiot (IMDb): release: 1951 (Japan). Original title: Hakuchi. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Adaption set in Japan.
  • The Idiot (IMDb): release: 21 July 1960 (USA)
  • Down House (IMDb): release: 2001 (Russia) Directed by Roman Kachanov. A parody set in modern-day Russia.

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