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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This is a 5 page paper discussing the function of dreams in Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”. Russia author Fyodor Dostoevsky’s (1821-1881) novel “Crime and Punishment” (1866) tells a story of a St. Petersburg student Raskolnikov whose slow realization that he will be punished for the murder of a pawnbroker slowly leads him to lose touch with reality. While Dostoevsky focuses on many themes within the novel such as family, charity and the Russian revolution aspects among others, Dostoevsky uses a great many dreams and daydreams throughout the book as a means of escapism for his characters from the oppressive city in which they live. In addition, rather than applying psychological and political theories to his text, Dostoevsky instead shows how the psychological turmoil of dreams can show the stability, or instability, of his characters in their futile attempts live within the real world. Often times as well, the dreams of the characters, especially those of Raskolnikov, are more vividly portrayed than the images from real life.
Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_TJdream1.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
be punished for the murder of a pawnbroker slowly leads him to lose touch with reality. While Dostoevsky focuses on many themes within the novel such as family, charity and
the Russian revolution aspects among others, Dostoevsky uses a great many dreams and daydreams throughout the book as a means of escapism for his characters from the oppressive city in
which they live. In addition, rather than applying psychological and political theories to his text, Dostoevsky instead shows how the psychological turmoil of dreams can show the stability, or instability,
of his characters in their futile attempts live within the real world. Often times as well, the dreams of the characters, especially those of Raskolnikov, are more vividly portrayed than
the images from real life. Throughout literature, there has been a "persistence of idealistic dreams" which try to overcome the "hypocrisy, inhumanity, greed
and savagery of our age" according to critic Walter Poznar. Dreams are especially relevant in works in which "hopes and aspirations and the need for selfhood are almost casually destroyed"
and at times when human experiences seems out of balance, often dreams are used in literature to emphasize and often contrast the reality of the human condition (Poznar 320). Writers
such as George Eliot and Fyodor Dostoevsky constantly show the "complexity of the individual consciousness" and reduce it often to "despair and anxiety". In addition, the "angst of isolation is
repeatedly presented as something of momentous importance in our time" and which is often explored within the dream world as well (Poznar 320). Dostoevskys novel "Crime and Punishment" (1866) is
a good example of how the oppressive environment of the city, in this case St. Petersburg, can add to the mental stability within its inhabitants which may use dreams as
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