Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment is rife with allusions. From the very beginning, the reader is introduced to references to other works of literature, philosophy, and religion. These allusions serve to enhance the reading experience and add another layer of meaning to the text.
One of the most obvious allusions in Crime and Punishment is to Dante’s Inferno. The character of Svidrigailov is explicitly compared to Dante’s Satan, and Raskolnikov himself compares his crime to Dante’s concept of sin. This allusion adds a sense of gravity and seriousness to the novel, as it invites the reader to think about Crime and Punishment in terms of morality and eternal damnation.
The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment is one of the most renowned works. The story starts with the double murder of an elderly woman and her younger sister. Raskolnikoff was responsible for their deaths. While it appears that he murdered them due to his financial need, his aim seems to be whether he could get away with the crime as the tale continues. The question of whether or not the murderer will get away with it is a major theme in the novel.
Dostoevsky uses allusions throughout Crime and Punishment to a wide variety of sources. He draws from the Bible, Russian history, folklore, and literary works by other authors. Allusions can help the reader understand character motivation, foreshadow future events, or provide commentary on the action of the novel.
One of the most famous allusions in Crime and Punishment is to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from the Old Testament. This allusion is used to contrast Raskolnikoff’s actions with those of the villainous Svidrigailov. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, two wicked cities are destroyed by God because of their sinful ways. Svidrigailov, like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, is a wicked man. Raskolnikoff, on the other hand, is not evil. He has committed a crime, but he is not wicked.
Dostoevsky also alludes to the story of Lazarus in the Bible. Lazarus was a poor man who died and went to heaven. In contrast, Dostoevsky’s character Raskolnikoff is a rich man who goes to hell. The allusion serves to comment on the characters’ different fates.
Russian history is another source of allusions in Crime and Punishment. One example is the reference to Peter the Great. Peter the Great was a Russian tsar who is known for his reforms of the Russian government. He is also known for his cruel treatment of his enemies. The allusion to Peter the Great serves to foreshadow Raskolnikoff’s eventual downfall.
The text, on the other hand, is not a detective narrative. Rather, it’s a psychological study of the murderer and the changes that occur to him as a result of his actions and being investigated by police. Raskolnikoff’s mental stress becomes too much for him to handle over the course of the tale, and he cracks after confessing to murder. He is sentenced to prison for his crime and while there discovers that he had fallen in love with Sonia, a girl he spent a lot of time with while free.
Crime and Punishment is a story that looks at the darker side of human nature, and the motivations behind why someone might commit a crime. While Crime and Punishment is classified as a work of fiction, there are many allusions to real people and events throughout the text. Fydor Dostoevsky, the author, includes these allusions to provide context for the reader, and to add another layer of meaning to the story.
For example, Raskolnikoff’s name is an allusion to the Russian word for “split”, which could symbolize his own split personality. The character Sonia is based on a real person that Dostoevsky knew, and her story provides insight into how Raskolnikoff might have been feeling at the time of the murder.
Overall, allusions are used in Crime and Punishment to provide additional context and depth to the story. They also serve as a way for Dostoevsky to comment on real-world events and people, without directly referencing them. This allows the reader to make their own connections, and come to their own conclusions about the text.
Crime and Punishment is one of the world’s greatest novels, and it has tremendous literary value. Dostoevsky is a master at telling stories through the use of psychology, and his depiction of the murder makes the book a work of great literature. The many components of literature in the text are additional evidence that Crime and Punishment is a work with literary merit. There are several allusions in the novel, for example. An allusion is a literary device used by an author to encourage readers to consider or recall another piece of writing.
Allusions can also be used to add depth to a work, and this is certainly the case in Crime and Punishment.
Some of the allusions in Crime and Punishment include:
– Dostoevsky’s use of the word “scaffold” is an allusion to The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In The Scarlet Letter, scaffolds are used as a place of punishment, and this is clearly what Dostoevsky is referencing with his use of the word.
– Another allusion can be found in Raskolnikov’s dream about the mare. This dream is an allusion to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, specifically the part where Macbeth sees a dagger in front of him. Just as Macbeth is about to kill Duncan, Raskolnikov is about to kill the pawnbroker.
– There are also allusions to the Bible throughout Crime and Punishment. For example, when Svidrigaylov kills himself, he does so with a pistol, which is an allusion to Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus and then hanged himself.
These are just a few examples of the many allusions present in Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky’s use of allusions adds depth and richness to the novel, and helps solidify its place as a work of great literature.
Falstaff is a fat man who is claimed to be a knight but spends his time in the Boar’s Head Inn drinking. Falstaff has no money of his own, but he always receives cash to drink by asking for it or borrowing it. He’s considered a witty figure who constantly amuse s others at the tavern with his yarns, boasts, jokes, and flattery. Marmeladov serves as an allusion to Falstaff in several ways. First, he suggests that he was in “the service” (24). But it is his attitude and appearance that are really acting as an allusion.
He is constantly drunk, has no money and yet always manages to beg or borrow enough for alcohol. He is also funny, in a tragic sort of way, and tells longwinded stories to anyone who will listen. Crime and Punishment would be a much different book without allusions to Shakespeare’s Falstaff.
He is fat and around fifty years old, and his overall appearance makes him look both like a clown and a drunk, matching the appearance of Falstaff. However, even though he is intoxicated, there is still some noble quality within Marmeladov, as “there was something very strange about him; there was a light in his eyes as though of intense feeling-perhaps he had even thought and intellect” (Dostoevsky 23). The other tavern patrons also find Marmeladov’s stories amusing: “the funny fellow… clearly Marmeladov was a well-known figure here” (Dostoevsky 27).
In Shakespeare’s play, Falstaff is also known for his comical stories, which everyone enjoys. However, unlike Marmeladov, Falstaff is not a tragic figure. Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus is another allusion in Crime and Punishment. Raskolnikov tells Porfiry about how he “read yesterday evening a wonderful book… It was the story of a Crime and Punishment by some Marlowe” (Dostoevsky 163). This Crime and Punishment is likely a reference to Dr. Faustus, as the two works share several similarities. In both works, the protagonist makes a deal with the devil in order to gain knowledge and power.
Both protagonists also eventually realize the error of their ways, but it is too late to save themselves. Raskolnikov even mentions this similarity, saying that he “felt an extraordinary sense of relief, as though I had come out from under a heavy burden” after reading Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky 163). This suggests that Raskolnikov saw himself in the character of Marlowe’s protagonist, and was able to find some solace in the fact that he was not alone in his actions.