1. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment

2. Themes REASON IS LIMITED IN REACH AND SCOPE Irony Suffering Resurrection Discover of Existentialism Alienation of Roskolnikov Individual Isolation within a Corrupt Society Prostitution Nihilism/Redemption

3. Fydor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky Born Oct. 30, 1821 in Moscow 1838-military school run by Czars Money was always an issue/he overspent 1846 “Poor Folk” Serious illness both mentally and physically around 1848 He alienated himself from everyone Born Oct. 30, 1821 in Moscow 1838-military school run by Czars Money was always an issue/he overspent 1846 “Poor Folk” Serious illness both mentally and physically around 1848 He alienated himself from everyone

4. Dostoyevsky (Early Years) He was laughed at, jeered, and mocked. Dostoyevsky was reckoned among the most promising young writers of the day. His literary career was suddenly interrupted by a remarkable incident that was the direct consequence of his political involvement.

5. SENTENCED TO DEATH

6. Petrashevsky Circle Decembrist Revolt (1825) Fashionable for men of learning to promote social reform Revolutionary manifestoes were printed abroad and smuggled into the country. Czar Nicholas I: “There will be no revolution under my rule.” Censorship was severe/foreign authors banned. Decembrist Revolt (1825) Fashionable for men of learning to promote social reform Revolutionary manifestoes were printed abroad and smuggled into the country. Czar Nicholas I: “There will be no revolution under my rule.” Censorship was severe/foreign authors banned.

7. Government Suspicions All in the Petrashevsky Circle were arrested. Brought to trial Dostoyevsky along with several others were sentenced to death. Tied to stakes, they faced the firing squad. Amazingly, as the soldiers aimed, a horseman suddenly appeared. He had a letter from the Czar commuting all death sentences. A planned technique by the Czar to frighten them into submission to the Czarist regime.

8. The Theme of the Condemned Man Roskilnikov: “Someone condemned to death thinks an hour before his death that if he had to live on a steep pinnacle or on a rock or on a cliff edge so narrow that there was only room to stand, and around him there were abysses, the ocean, and everlasting darkness, eternal solitude, eternal tempests- if he had to remain standing on a few square inches of space for a thousand years or all eternity- live, live, no matter how.”

9. Crime and Punishment An odyssey through the human psyche. Robert Louis Stevenson: “All I can say is, it nearly finished me. It was like having an illness.” A key concept lost in translation: Prestuplenie is the Russian word for “crime.” It comes from pre which means “across” or “trans” and stuplenie= “a stepping.” Thus= “stepping across.” In English the etymology of “crime” has a far different meaning.