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Crime and Punishment

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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Crime and Punishment

In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov’s promise to marry his landlady’s daughter is significant because it underscores his desperation and his poverty.

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Crime and Punishment

In Crime and Punishment, yellow symbolizes decay, corruption, and moral degradation. Dostoyevsky uses yellow to describe aged, dilapidated items, such as old furniture and worn-out clothing, and...

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Crime and Punishment

The setting and historical background of Crime and Punishment significantly impact the plot, theme, and tone. The novel's St. Petersburg setting during a period of social upheaval highlights themes...

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Crime and Punishment

Madness in Crime and Punishment is depicted through Raskolnikov's fluctuating states of mind. He experiences bouts of insanity characterized by a loss of control and impulsive actions, yet he also...

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Crime and Punishment

Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment can be seen as a borderline tragic hero, fitting some but not all traditional criteria. While he experiences a downfall and great suffering, his lack...

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Crime and Punishment

Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment embody duality through their contrasting approaches to morality and self-perception. Raskolnikov is torn between his ambition to be an...

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Crime and Punishment

In Crime and Punishment, why does Raskolnikov decide to visit Porfiry?

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Crime and Punishment

In Crime and Punishment, both Razumikhin and Sonya Marmeladova serve as foils to Raskolnikov. Razumikhin's rationality, kindness, and remorse contrast with Raskolnikov's isolation, lack of guilt, and...

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Crime and Punishment

St. Petersburg serves as a crucial backdrop in Crime and Punishment, reflecting the squalid and oppressive conditions that influence Raskolnikov's actions and mindset. The city's slums, filled with...

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Crime and Punishment

Raskolnikov's redemption in Crime and Punishment is suggested but not fully realized by the novel's end. He experiences a profound change, gaining acceptance from fellow inmates and beginning to...

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Crime and Punishment

so, Raskolnikov is both cleansed of sin and saved from burning delirium and fever. "White Nights" by Fyodor Dostoevsky, trans. Andrew R.

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Crime and Punishment

Realism began in the 19th century during the Victorian era as a reaction to the sentimentality of Romanticism. Realism was dedicated to expressing detailed passages of accurate observation without...

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Crime and Punishment

Connotation and symbolism differ in their roles within literature. Connotation refers to the culturally-based secondary meanings of words, adding depth beyond their literal definitions. For example,...

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Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment is an incisive satire of the ever-present conflict between the individual and society, a conflict that results in Raskolnikov's moral downfall.

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Crime and Punishment

The novel explores themes of alienation through Raskolnikov, who is anti-social due to his pride and belief in his superiority. His name signifies "schism" or "split," reflecting his internal...

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Crime and Punishment

Dostoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment to explore the theme of redemption through suffering. Influenced by his own near-execution experience, he sought to convey the power of human resilience and...

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Crime and Punishment

The ghost of Martha appears to Svidrigalov in a dream and prompts him to come up with the idea of murdering Dunya so he can marry her. He believes this is an opportunity for him to be happy and that...

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Crime and Punishment

In "Crime and Punishment," Raskolnikov's sleeping patterns highlight the theme of guilt and its effects on the human conscience. His insomnia and illness reflect the physical and mental turmoil...

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Crime and Punishment

The motif of bridges and crossroads in Crime and Punishment symbolizes Raskolnikov's internal conflicts and decisions. The opening scene features him hesitating at a bridge, representing his moral...

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Crime and Punishment

In Crime and Punishment, religious symbols like the color yellow and hand washing play crucial roles. Yellow represents religious truth, purity, degradation, death, and sin, symbolizing both Alyona...

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Crime and Punishment

Raskolnikov's thoughts of suicide at the beginning of the novel are the result of his disgust with himself and the crime he has committed. His two reasons for committing murder were to prove to...

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Crime and Punishment

Raskolnikov feels temporarily pardoned by the death of Marmeladov because becoming a champion of the dead man's family allows him to feel heroic again. This is a desperate delusion he concocts to...

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Crime and Punishment

In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov's sense of his own superiority prevents him from repenting during the timeframe of the novel, but Dostoevsky strongly suggests in the final paragraph that, with...

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Crime and Punishment

In Crime and Punishment, dreams expose Raskolnikov's subconscious guilt and humanity, contradicting his desire to be a superman free from moral constraints. One significant dream involves his victim...

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Crime and Punishment

A tragic realist novel combines elements of tragedy and realism, depicting tragic events with a straightforward, unembellished style. "Tragic realism" portrays life’s hardships without romanticizing...

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Crime and Punishment

Rodion kills the pawnbroker because he perceives her as rude and unpleasant, and he plans to rob her. He knows she keeps pawned items in a trunk and wears the keys around her neck, making her an...

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Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's writing style in Crime and Punishment is characterized by "subjective uncertainty," immersing readers in Raskolnikov's psychological turmoil. The narrative blurs spatial and...

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Crime and Punishment

In the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the crime is the murder of a pawnbroker and her half-sister by a student named Raskolnikov. The punishment is Raskolnikov's psychological...

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Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment follows Rodion Raskolnikov, a former student living in poverty in St. Petersburg, who plans and executes the murder of a pawnbroker to steal her money. The initiating event is...

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Crime and Punishment

Yes, Dr. Pinel was a real person and a real influence, both in Russia and in France.

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