The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Idiot is Fyodor Dostoevsky’s profound exploration of a kind-hearted man trying to navigate a world filled with moral corruption. The novel follows Prince Myshkin, who returns to St. Petersburg after spending several years in a Swiss sanatorium for epilepsy treatment. His innocence and selflessness earn him the label of “idiot” in a society ruled by greed, vanity, and cruelty. Through the Prince’s entanglements with the manipulative Nastasya Filippovna and the passionate Rogozhin, Dostoevsky probes deep questions of morality, love, and human nature.
Set against the backdrop of 19th-century Russian aristocracy, The Idiot intertwines tragic love, psychological complexity, and philosophical reflection, offering readers a powerful depiction of the challenges faced by an idealistic individual in a cynical world.
