Date of Award

12-4-2001

Document Type

Thesis

Department

English

First Advisor

Dr. Paul Nisly

Abstract

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" is "a work whose timeliness increases rather than diminishes with the years, and whose artistic power has scarcely been matched since it was first published in 1866" ("Crime" vi). The novel evolved from the original title of "The Drunkards" into a seven-part story depicting the decline of a murderer in the days following his crime. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov struggles with the mental implications of killing an old, heartless pawnbroker and her innocent sister who stumbles into the murder scene. The heinous axe-murder results from Raskolnikov's philosophy he created while lazily despising his poverty. His theory destines some men (himself included) to be free from the moral laws of humanity.

Download

Share

COinS