Crime and Punishment (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- First Published: 1866
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: Mid-nineteenth century
- Setting: Russia
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Prisoners, Crime or criminals, Murder or homicide, Nineteenth century, Prostitution or prostitutes, Detectives, Ethics, Students or student life, Russia or Russian people, Paranoia
- Locales: St. Petersburg, Russia
Characters Discussed
Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov (ROH-dyon roh-MAH-noh-vihch ras- KOL-nih-kov), called Rodya, a psychologically complex young law student who murders not for wealth but as an experiment, to see if he is one of those who can circumvent society’s restrictions. Impoverished and weakened by illness and hunger, he decides to rid society of a worthless person in order to preserve his genius for posterity, to relieve his devoted mother and sister from compromising themselves, and to prove that he is above conscience. He kills Alonya Ivanovna, a miserly old crone,...
[The entire page is 994 words long]
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