Rating
Blurb
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 the Russian "Golden Age" of Literature. It was not published in English until the 20th century
My thought
- 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.
- 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.
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 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.
- 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.
The core of the novel is the idea of a truly beautiful man, a Christlike man but entirely without divinity. And the idea itself is moving, but there is something very uneven about the way the story is written. Some of the most crucial plot points are omitted and we hear about them later (such as the gap between Part 1 and Part 2), and while this may be intentional it made this book less compulsively readable than some of Dostoyevsky’s more frequently read works. The other odd part of this novel is how its main characters (aside for the protagonist) disappear altogether for large parts of the novel. Nastassya Filippovna is arguably the heroine but most of what we know about her is second-hand. Rogozhin and Ippolit, similarly, disappear for large portions of the story or (in the latter case) don’t even appear until part-way through the book.
You might compare this novel to a flawed and uneven necklace with a few truly flawless gems on it. In particular, the scene at the end of Part 1 and the ending are unforgettable.
You might compare this novel to a flawed and uneven necklace with a few truly flawless gems on it. In particular, the scene at the end of Part 1 and the ending are unforgettable.
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