Crime and Punishment (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- First Published: 1866
- Type of Work: Realistic/Psychological Novel
- 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
Raskolnikov, an impoverished law student, plans to commit the perfect crime by murdering an old female pawnbroker. He hopes to gain money for himself and others and to demonstrate that he belongs to the portion of mankind not subject to conventional morality. Having studied the careers of men such as Napoleon Bonaparte, he embraces the theory that an elitist few are justified in pursuing their objectives through any means.
No sooner is the murder committed than events begin to call his theory into question. When the pawnbroker’s half sister arrives unexpectedly, Raskolnikov...
[The entire page is 525 words long]
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