The Double (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- First Published: 1846
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy
- Time of Work: The 1840’s
- Setting: St. Petersburg
- Genres: Long fiction, Fantasy
- Subjects: Self-discovery, Nineteenth century, Mental illness, Russia or Russian people, Paranoia
- Locales: St. Petersburg, Russia
Characters Discussed
Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, Sr. (YAH-kov peh-TROH-vihch gol-YAD- kihn), the assistant to the chief clerk in a government office in St. Petersburg. From the outset, Yakov Petrovich reveals himself to be an insecure and mentally unstable individual who longs to be a success in his personal and professional life but who fails in both. After he makes a fool of himself as an uninvited guest at the birthday party of the woman he desires, Klara Olsufievna, he rushes into the street in a state of distress. There he repeatedly encounters a mysterious individual who,...
[The entire page is 622 words long]
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