CRITICISM

Arbery, Glenn. “The Violated Ikon: Dostoevsky and the Riddle of Beauty.” Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 36, no. 4 (summer 1984): 182-202.

Explores how Dostoevsky handled the concept of beauty in his writings, including The Idiot.

Comer, William J. “Rogozhin and the ‘Castrates’: Russian Religious Traditions in Dostoevsky's The Idiot.” The Slavic and East European Journal 40, no. 1 (spring 1996): 85-99.

Examines how Dostoevsky's interest in non-orthodox Russian religious movements influenced the development of The Idiot.

Kimmey, John. “James and Dostoevsky: The Heiress and the Idiot.” The Henry James Review 13, no. 1 (winter 1992): 67-77.

Compares the attributes of the main characters of Dostoevsky's The Idiot and James's The Wings of the Dove.

Kovacs, Arpad. “The Poetics of The Idiot: On the Problem of Dostoevsky's Thinking about Genre (1978).” In Critical Essays on Dostoevsky, edited by Robin Feuer Miller, pp. 116-25. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1986.

Discusses how Dostoevsky employs theme, structure, and characterization in The Idiot to teach the reader about the “ideal” life.

MacPike, Loralee. “Dickens and Dostoyevsky: The Technique of Reverse Influence.” In The Changing World of Dickens, edited by Robert Giddings, pp. 196-215. Old Woking, Surrey: Vision and Barnes & Noble, 1983.

Surveys Charles Dickens's influence on Dostoevsky's works.

Mairs, Tanya E. “Rousseau and Dostoevsky: The Hidden Polemic.” Ulbandus Review: A Journal of Slavic Languages and Literatures 2, no. 1 (fall 1979): 146-59.

Analyzes parallels between Prince Myshkin in The Idiot and the figure of French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Malenko, Zinaida and James J. Gebhard. “The Artistic Use of Portraits in Dostoevskij's Idiot.” The Slavic and East European Journal, n.s., 5, no. 19 (1961): 243-54.

Demonstrates how Dostoevsky used pictorial images in The Idiot to add thematic depth to the work.

Meerson, Olga. “Ivolgin and Holbein: Non-Christ Risen vs. Christ Non-Risen.” The Slavic and East European Journal 39, no. 2 (summer 1995): 200-13.

Examines the role of General Ivolgin and his Christian influence—or lack thereof—in The Idiot.

Tyrras, Nicholas. “Whence Came the Innocent Perfection of Prince Myshkin?” The Slavic and East European Journal 33, no. 4 (winter 1989): 530-38.

Evaluates the influence of an earlier sketch entitled “The Emperor” on the development of Dostoevsky's The Idiot.

Vladiv, Slobodanka M. “Religious Imagery in Dostoevsky's Works.” Australian Slavonic and East European Studies 2, no. 2 (1988): 95-110.

Discusses Dostoevsky's use of religious images and inclusion of religious topics in his works.

Additional coverage of Dostoevsky's life and career is contained in the following sources published by the Gale Group: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 238; DISCovering Authors; DISCovering Authors: British; DISCovering Authors: Canadian; DISCovering Authors Modules: Most-studied Authors and Novelists; DISCovering Authors 3.0; Novels for Students Vols. 3, 8; Short Story Criticism, Vols. 2, 33, 44; Short Stories for Students, Vol. 8; and World Literature Criticism.