The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) mixed social, Gothic, and sentimental elements with psychological irrationalism and visionary religion. The form of the novel vastly increased in sco...
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Russian writer Fedor Dostoevsky represents many things to many people. There is Dostoevsky the existentialist, Dostoevsky the psychologist, Dostoevsky the arch conservative who foretold the repression...
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Among European writers of the nineteenth century Fyodor Dostoevsky is the preeminent novelist of modernity. He explored the far-ranging moral, religious, psychological, social, political, and artistic...
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In the following essay, Lesser examines Myshkin's inner struggle in The Idiot, claiming that Dostoevsky's intention was to demonstrate the stupidity and shortcomings of his character and...
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In the following essay, Straus examines Dostoevsky's conception of femininity and feminism by comparing the principal female characters in The Idiot with the female characters in the author�...
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In the following essay, Slattery surveys the impact that Dostoevsky's epilepsy had on his literary career, particularly as seen in The Idiot.
Few of us are not in some way infirm, or even di...
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In the following essay, Hollander argues that critics who have commented on the aesthetic failure of The Idiot have not considered that a thematic interpretation of the novel based on the Book of Reve...
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In the following essay, Guerard analyzes Dostoevsky's Notebooks, evaluating the changes that the writer chose to make in developing the final published version of The Idiot.
Why scrutinize t...
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In the following essay, Miller discusses how Dostoevsky intended The Idiot to influence the reader and identifies the various levels on which the novel can be read.
Recently, a number of literary c...
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In the following essay, Woodward maintains that the character and conduct of Prince Myshkin, while baffling at times, “reflect a deliberately contrived method of characterization” by the...
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In the following essay, Burgin analyzes the ambivalent nature of Myshkin's love for Nastasya Filippovna, arguing that it is not so much a character defect as it is “a problem of Dostoevs...
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In the following essay, Slattery considers the spatio-temporal imagery of The Idiot to demonstrate how Dostoevsky mixes fantasy with reality in his novel.
If the reader approaches The Idiot as an o...
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In the following essay, Tucker discusses the character of Prince Myshkin in The Idiot, asserting that he is much more complex than most critics have defined him.
The Idiot is not only the least deb...
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In the following essay, Knapp presents a general survey of The Idiot, discussing the significance of the major characters' names, the work's artistic and literary sources, and the novel&...
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Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Idiot"
Dostoevsky's comment in a letter to his publisher "My idea was to portray the perfect man. It seems to me that nothing could be more difficult, especially in these ti...
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Teaching The Idiot
All teaching products sold separately.
The Idiot Lesson Plans contain 123 pages of teaching material, including:
Question 1 of 10:Arising in the 18th Century, the Industrial Revolution was kickstarted by which burgeoning British industry?Coal
Cotton
OilSilkQuestion 2 of 10:Which world-changing inventor patent...
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Ed O'Neill's bank account just got a lot bigger, thanks to a co-worker who told him some "idiot" hasn't claimed an $800,000 Powerball lottery prize.O'Neill, 58, who works for the Clinton Chamber of...
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Question 1 of 10:Though he had no interest in it,
Dostoevsky
was pushed by his stern and domineering father into becoming...?A doctorAn accountant
An engineer
An architectQuestion 2 of 10:He woul...
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At a time when Iran's government is locked in a standoff with the West over its nuclear program, the director of "Persepolis" says her film is a reminder that Iranians are just like everyone else."...
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Washington (dpa) - Former CIA chief George Tenet angrily attacked
the Bush administration for using his "slam dunk" comment to justify
the now-discredited case for weapons o...
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In her 1993 high school yearbook, Christie Prody wrote that her future plans included "moving somewhere tropical" and buying a luxury car. She's living at least part of her dream as O.J. Simpson's ...
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Lou Dobbs is sorry about calling Gov. Eliot Spitzer an idiot.Sincerely. As for ripping the New York Democrat as arrogant, spineless and "a spoiled rich kid brat," the host of CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonig...
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Lou Dobbs is sorry about calling Gov. Eliot Spitzer an idiot.Sincerely.As for ripping the New York Democrat as arrogant, spineless and "a spoiled rich kid brat," the host of CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonigh...
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Take heed, ye red-blooded American males. The police are operating a new sting designed to destroy your life.The police are planting attractive women half-naked in parks. They entice passing males,...
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Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fedor Dostoevsky
Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
Critical Essay by Simon O. Lesser
Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot
An Industrial Revolution Quiz
