The Idiot

Fyodor Dostoevsky has influenced many a great thinkers and writers of the Western world through his quality works of literature. “The Idiot” is a masterpiece that he wrote during 1868-1869.

Prince Myshkin, the hero of the novel, though considered an ‘idiot’ by everyone and who rightly was so in his childhood, has not only charming persona, but also such an amicability that even his enemies would, perhaps unconsciously or otherwise, develop an irresistible fondness for him. On his journey from Switzerland to Petersburg, Russia, he meets Rogozhin. Rogozhin speaks to him of his passionate love for Nastasya Filippovna, a notoriously infamous woman and mistress of Totsky. The second chapter introduces several other characters, one of them being General Epanchin, whose wife, Madame Epanchin, actually Myshkin had come to meet. Then, there is a brief introduction of Adelaida, Alexandra and Aglaia, General’s three daughters. Myshkin also happens to meet Ganya, who works as a secretary of General Epanchin. Also, for the first time here Myshkin sees a portrait of Nastasya Filippovna, and instantly proclaims her to be ‘wonderfully beautiful.’ Myshkin soon discovers of Ganya’s plans to marry Nastasya Filippovna, but for a different reason, that of the huge amount (75000 roubles) of dowry he would receive from Totsky. Ganya awaits Nastasya Filippovna’s answer. Myshkin, in some way, ends up in a party thrown by Nastasya Filippovna (in fact, her swayamvar), where she intends to pronounce her final decision as to whom she would marry. To everyone’s surprise, Nastasya asks Myshkin if she should marry Ganya or not. Myshkin struggles to answer but finally asks Nastasya not to marry Ganya. Suddenly, Rogozhin, a thorough drunkard and another strong contender, arrives with his violent bunch of friends from nowhere. Rogozhin offers a hundred thousand roubles for marrying Nastasya. While everyone awaits the beautiful Nastasya’s final answer, in yet another strange gesture of his, Myshkin proposes the lady for marriage. He also declares of a letter that suggested Myshkin to very soon inherit an immense fortune. Despite the best of his efforts, Nastasya decides to go with Rogozhin. Myshkin goes back to Moscow to receive his fortune. During next six months, Nastasya Filippovna comes to Myshkin, but while they decide to marry, she runs away with Rogozhin. Strange as it may seem, soon she runs away from Rogozhin too. Myshkin comes back to Petersburg, looking for Nastasya, but meets Rogozhin instead. Here Myshkin discloses his true feelings for Nastasya Filippovna before Rogozhin, saying that he loves the lady, ‘not with love, but with pity.’ At Pavlovsk, Myshkin gets in touch with the Epanchins once again, and eventually falls in love with Aglaia Epanchin. Myshkin proposes to marry her, but Aglaia, very timely, reveals three letters written to her by Nastasya Filippovna. In each letter Nastasya had asked Aglaia to marry Myshkin, since he too loved Aglaia. However, Aglaia finds these letters confusing and wanting to clear every doubt that surround the strange relationship between Myshkin and Nastasya, she takes the risk of calling the notorious lady for a face-to-face meeting. Their meeting turns out to be full of blames and accusations and even violent after Nastasya, once again, goes wild. In her anger, she challenges that given an option Myshkin would, any day, choose her over young Aglaia. Aglaia runs out of the building, and quite contrary to our expectations, Myshkin stays with Nastasya, or at least stays back to catch her fainting flesh. Aglaia is broken. Myshkin wants to talk about ‘everything’ to Aglaia, but is allowed no opportunity to do so. Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna prepare for their marriage. And yet again, perhaps as expected at least by now, on their wedding day, Nastasya elopes with Rogozhin. Myshkin is shocked but remains disturbingly quiet. Looking for Nastasya Filippovna, Myshkin comes to Rogozhin’s house. In that dark, gloomy and graveyard like house, Rogozhin takes Myshkin to Nastasya Filippovna, lying in front of them, quiet and pale, no more wild. All the efforts of Myshkin to save that beautiful and infamous lady seem to have reached a dead-end as he stands in front of her murdered body. Rogozhin confesses his crime and is arrested, while prince Myshkin returns to his former state, that of being an ‘idiot’.

Having finished the novel at about 11:30 pm, I threw it on my sofa, greatly disappointed with the conclusion and perhaps quite angry with Myshkin for his decision to stick with Nastasya Filippovna. My resentment continued till I realized that Myshkin does not love Nastasya Filippovna as a passionate lover like Rogozhin does. He does not love her the way he loves Aglaia either. His love for her is beyond the confines of passion and romance. It is love out of ‘pity,’ or perhaps I should say ‘compassion.’ In this, Myshkin is presented as an idealistic figure, just like Jesus. It is strange that figures like Myskin and Jesus are often appreciated by everyone around them and yet they remain isolated beings and mere ideals because of the very idealism they are appreciated for. For some others, they are fools. Myshkin’s is a story of a struggle that an ideal person passes through when he lives in this perfectly imperfect world, the valley of the shadow of death. What happened to Myskin, they did to Jesus. As the novel ends, one just waits for Myshkin to rise again, just as Jesus did, but Myshkin is no God.

“The Idiot” is neither a mere love-story, nor just a thriller. It is both of it together. Yet more than anything else, it is about Dostoevsky’s efforts to search through human heart, to explore the intentions of it. He does explain mundane things, and yet goes beyond them to gauging motivations that lead them. Dostoevsky's courage to generously convey his Christian convictions, especially against atheism and nihilism, is also praiseworthy. One of the statement that I could remember is: "Friend of humanity with shaky moral principles is the devourer of humanity" -

One of the most fascinating passages in the book is Ippolit’s explanation of the picture of Jesus that he saw at Rogozhin’s house. It is certainly very well put. Well, at the end of it, I have become great fan of Dostoevsky and have started reading his famous ‘The Brothers Karamazov.’