Crime and Punishment is the most famous novel by F.M. Dostoevsky, who made a powerful revolution in public consciousness. Writing a novel symbolizes the discovery of a higher, new stage in the work of a genius writer. In the novel, with the psychologism inherent in Dostoevsky, the path of the restless human soul through the thorns of suffering to the comprehension of the Truth is shown.

History of creation

The way of creating the work was very difficult. The idea of ​​the novel with the underlying theory of the "superman" began to emerge while the writer was in hard labor, it matured for many years, but the very idea of ​​revealing the essence of "ordinary" and "extraordinary" people crystallized during Dostoevsky's stay in Italy ...

The beginning of work on the novel was marked by the merger of two drafts - the unfinished novel "Drunken" and the outline of the novel, the plot of which is based on the confession of one of the convicts. Subsequently, the plot was based on the story of a poor student Rodion Raskolnikov, who killed an old money-lender for the good of his family. The life of the big city, full of drama and conflict, became one of the main characters of the novel.

Fyodor Mikhailovich worked on the novel in 1865-1866, and almost immediately after graduation in 1866 it was published in the journal "Russian Bulletin". The response among reviewers and the literary community at that time was very stormy - from wild admiration to outright rejection. The novel has undergone repeated dramatization and was subsequently filmed. The first theatrical performance in Russia took place in 1899 (it is noteworthy that it was staged abroad 11 years earlier).

Description of the work

The action takes place in a poor area of ​​St. Petersburg in the 1860s. Rodion Raskolnikov, a former student, pawns the last valuable thing to the old woman-usurper. Filled with hatred for her, he is plotting a terrible murder. On the way home, he looks into one of the drinking establishments, where he meets the completely degraded official Marmeladov. Rodion listens to painful revelations about the unfortunate fate of his daughter, Sonya Marmeladova, who, at the suggestion of her stepmother, was forced to earn a living for her family by prostitution.

Soon Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mother and is horrified by the moral violence against his younger sister Dunya, which was perpetrated on her by the cruel and depraved landowner Svidrigailov. Raskolnikov's mother hopes to arrange the fate of her children by marrying her daughter to Pyotr Luzhin, a very wealthy man, but at the same time everyone understands that there will be no love in this marriage and the girl will again be doomed to suffering. Rodion's heart breaks with pity for Sonya and Duna, and the thought of killing the hated old woman is firmly entrenched in his mind. He is going to spend the money of the pawnbroker, earned in an unrighteous way, on a good cause - the deliverance of suffering girls and boys from humiliating poverty.

Despite the aversion to bloody violence rising in his soul, Raskolnikov nevertheless commits a grave sin. In addition, in addition to the old woman, he kills her meek sister Lizaveta, an unwitting witness to a serious crime. Rodion barely manages to escape from the scene of the crime, while he hides the old woman's wealth in a random place, without even assessing their real value.

Raskolnikov's mental suffering causes social alienation between him and those around him, and Rodion falls ill from his experiences. Soon he learns that another person is accused of the crime he committed - a simple village boy Mikolka. Painful reactions to the conversations of others about the crime become too visible and suspicious.

Further, the novel describes the grievous ordeals of the soul of a student-murderer, trying to find peace of mind, to find at least some moral justification for the crime committed. A bright thread runs through the novel Rodion's communication with the unfortunate, but at the same time kind and highly spiritual girl Sonya Marmeladova. Her soul is troubled by the inconsistency of inner purity with a sinful lifestyle, and Raskolnikov finds a kindred spirit in this girl. Lonely Sonya and university friend Razumikhin become a support for a former student Rodion, exhausted by suffering.

Over time, the investigator in the murder case, Porfiry Petrovich, finds out the detailed circumstances of the crime and Raskolnikov, after long moral torment, recognizes himself as a murderer and goes to hard labor. Selfless Sonya does not leave her closest friend and goes after him, thanks to the girl, the spiritual transformation of the main character of the novel takes place.

The main characters of the novel

(Illustration by I. Glazunov Raskolnikov in his closet)

The duality of emotional impulses lies in the surname of the protagonist of the novel. His whole life is permeated with the question - will violations of the law be justified if they are committed in the name of love for neighbors? Under the pressure of external circumstances, Raskolnikov, in practice, goes through all circles of moral hell associated with murder for the sake of helping loved ones. Catharsis comes thanks to the most dear person - Sonya Marmeladova, who helps the soul of a restless murderer student to find peace, despite the difficult conditions of a convict existence.

Wisdom and humility bears the image of this amazing, tragic, and at the same time sublime heroine. For the sake of the well-being of her neighbors, she trampled on the most precious thing she has - her female honor. Despite her way of earning money, Sonya does not arouse the slightest contempt; her pure soul, adherence to the ideals of Christian morality delights the readers of the novel. Being a faithful and loving friend of Rodion, she goes with him to the very end.

The mysteriousness and ambiguity of this character makes you once again think about the versatility of human nature. A cunning and vicious person on the one hand, by the end of the novel he shows his care and concern for his orphaned children and helps Sonya Marmeladova restore her damaged reputation.

A successful entrepreneur, a person with a respectable appearance, makes a deceptive impression. Luzhin is cold, greedy, does not shun slander, he wants from his wife not love, but exclusively servility and obedience.

Analysis of the work

The compositional construction of the novel is a polyphonic form, where the line of each of the main characters is multifaceted, self-sufficient, and at the same time actively interacts with the themes of the other characters. Also, the peculiarities of the novel are the amazing concentration of events - the time frame of the novel is limited to two weeks, which, with such a significant volume, is a rather rare phenomenon in world literature of that time.

The structural composition of the novel is quite simple - 6 parts, each of them, in turn, is divided into 6-7 chapters. A feature is the lack of synchronization of Raskolnikov's days with the clear and laconic structure of the novel, which emphasizes the confusion of the inner state of the protagonist. The first part describes three days of Raskolnikov's life, and from the second - the number of events increases with each chapter, reaching an amazing concentration.

Another feature of the novel is the hopeless doom and tragic fate of most of its heroes. Until the end of the novel, only young characters will remain with the reader - Rodion and Dunya Raskolnikovs, Sonya Marmeladova, Dmitry Razumikhin.

Dostoevsky himself considered his novel "a psychological account of one crime," he is sure that mental anguish prevails over legal punishment. The main character departs from God and is carried away by the ideas of nihilism, popular at that time, and only towards the end of the novel there is a return to Christian morality, the author leaves the hero with a hypothetical possibility of repentance.

Final conclusion

Throughout the novel "Crime and Punishment", Rodion Raskolnikov's worldview is transformed from one close to Nietzsche, who was obsessed with the idea of ​​a "superman", to a Christian one with his teaching of Divine love, humility and mercy. The social concept of the novel is closely intertwined with the evangelical teaching of love and forgiveness. The entire novel is imbued with the true Christian spirit and makes us perceive all the events and actions of people taking place in life through the prism of the possibility of spiritual transformation of mankind.

Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment became the main literary event in the second half of the 60s. XIX century. At first glance, an ordinary detective story about the murder of an old woman borrower with the aim of an easy and quick profit turned into a very deep philosophical reflection about the boundaries of human freedom and living conditions in the contemporary author of the capital Petersburg.

Concept and idea of ​​the novel

Dostoevsky was thinking about the novel during his stay in Siberian penal servitude. For participation in the Petrashevsky riot, the writer was sentenced to death, but at the last moment, by order of the emperor, the execution was replaced by exile and hard labor. Unable to write, Dostoevsky had enough time to form an idea and outline an approximate plan for the development of the plot.

"Crime and Punishment" is a description of the history of the moral transformation of a strong personality, indifferent to social conventions and devoid of self-reflection. Characteristic is the frequent mention of the great people of the past, especially Napoleon, with whom Raskolnikov openly compares himself. "Crime and Punishment", in addition, raises another topic: this strong person commits a crime not only to prove your self-sufficiency, but also for the sake of the possibility of instant enrichment. These two aspects formed the basis of Dostoevsky's idea.

Sources when writing

When writing the novel, the author used both his previous experience in the genre of the novel and real events. The following components can be noted that made up the work:

• The unfinished novel "The Drunken Ones". It was his characters and storylines that served as the basis for describing the life of the Marmeladov family.
• The crime of the Old Believer, in other words, the schismatic Gerasim Chistov, a resident of Moscow. With the aim of robbery, Chistov entered the apartment of two elderly women and, faced with them, hacked them both with an ax.

The structure of the work and its content

The novel consists of six chapters and an epilogue. The multitude of storylines and the wide range of issues raised discourage attempts to summarize the content of the work. Analysis of psychology and behavior characters in a given situation became Dostoevsky's calling card, as can be seen from the first novel from his Pentateuch - "Crime and Punishment".

Part 1: the plot and characteristics of the heroes

Since the first parts are the plot of the plot and the exposition of the main characters of the novel, it is advisable to cite their content by chapters:

Part 2: development of events

The events described in the second part have especially important to understand the essence of the novel:

Part 3: detective component

The further content of the work "Crime and Punishment" is entirely devoted to the detective component.

Raskolnikov demands that his sister cancel the wedding, but she refuses. After a tense conversation, mother and Dunya return to the hotel, where Razumikhin visits them the next morning. They discuss the current situation, in particular, Pulcheria Alexandrovna asks for advice on what to do with Luzhin's request to visit them in the absence of Raskolnikov. Dunya believes that his brother must attend the meeting.

Sonya comes to Raskolnikov's apartment to invite him to the funeral. The mother and sister already know that the young man gave all his money for Marmeladov's funeral, and they are aware of Sonya's position in society. Despite this, Raskolnikov officially introduces them to each other, and Dunya even bows to Sonya.

After that, Raskolnikov goes to the police to find out how he can get the pledged things. During the conversation, it becomes clear that he is also a suspect. Investigator Porfiry Petrovich recalls that earlier Raskolnikov published an article on the division of people into ordinary and extraordinary, including those who have the right to murder.

Upon his return, Raskolnikov confronts a man at his home who calls him a murderer. The young man's nerves are at their limit, he has a third nightmare in which he beats the old woman with an ax, but she does not die, but laughs incessantly. Raskolnikov tries to escape, but the crowd surrounding him prevents this. Waking up, he finds Svidrigailov in his room.

Part 4: the resurrection of Lazarus

Svidrigailov's goal is to meet with Dunya, and Raskolnikov must help him. Rodion refuses and a little later, together with Razumikhin, goes to his mother, where Luzhin is already. He is annoyed at the violation of his wishes, arranges a scandal, after which Dunya chases the groom away.

After that, Raskolnikov visits Sonya. Finding the Gospel opened on a page that tells about the resurrection of Lazarus, he asks the girl to read this story to him. When Sonya fulfills her request, Raskolnikov bows to her and promises to tell the next day who killed the pawnbroker and her sister. But before the story, he again comes to the police for things, and is faced with attempts by the investigator to trick him into admitting guilt. In the hearts of Raskolnikov, he already demands to openly call him guilty, but Porfiry Petrovich does not. An earlier arrested dyer is accidentally brought into the office, who confesses to the murder.

Part 5: Luzhin's revenge and Raskolnikov's confession

Luzhin wants to take revenge on Raskolnikov for the disrupted wedding and throws 100 rubles into Sonya's pocket. The Marmeladovs arrange a funeral that no one attended. Gradually, a quarrel boils over between Katerina Ivanovna and the landlady over the invitees, and Luzhin appears in the midst of it. He accuses Sonya of stealing, and the money, of course, is found in the girl's pocket. Lebezyatnikov, a neighbor of Luzhin, says that he personally saw how he threw money into his pocket, but the landlady does not care kicks out the whole family.

Raskolnikov stays with Sonya and lets her know that he is the killer. The girl understands this and promises to go to hard labor with him if he confesses. The conversation is interrupted by the news that Katerina Ivanovna has gone mad and is begging along the streets with the children. Sonya and Raskolnikov try to stop the woman, but she is overtaken by a fatal attack of consumption. Svidrigailov agreed to pay for the funeral, arguing that he had heard all the conversations between Sonya and Raskolnikov.

Part 6: denouement

The investigator comes to Raskolnikov's apartment and directly states that he considers him a murderer. Porfiry Petrovich offers to confess in two days. During this time, Rodion meets with Svidrigailov, from whom he learns that he is deeply in love with his sister, but there can be nothing between them.

After the conversation, Svidrigailov comes to Duna and says that her brother is a killer... He offers to organize an escape and help financially if she agrees to be his mistress. Dunya tries to leave, but the door is locked. Then the girl shoots at Svidrigailov, but does not hit. After that, he releases Dunya. Shocked by what happened, Svidrigailov gives Sonya the money that she and Raskolnikov will need in hard labor, rents a hotel room and shoots to death with Dunya's revolver.

Raskolnikov says goodbye to his mother, sister and Sonya, kisses the ground at the intersection and confesses to the murder. After that, he goes to the police, where he repeats his confession.

Epilogue

Raskolnikov is serving a sentence in a Siberian penal servitude. Sonya, as promised, followed him. Dunya and Razumikhin got married, and Pulcheria Alexandrovna soon died of longing for her son. Raskolnikov keeps aloof from the rest of the prisoners, spending all his free time thinking about how ineptly he disposed of his life.

The works of F.M. Dostoevsky is included in the golden fund of world literature, his novels are read all over the world, they still do not lose their relevance. "Crime and Punishment" is one of such eternal works, touching upon the themes of faith and unbelief, strength and weakness, humiliation and greatness. The author masterfully draws the setting, immerses the reader in the atmosphere of the novel, helping to better understand the characters and their actions, making them think.

In the center of the plot is Rodion Raskolnikov, a student who is mired in poverty. And this is not just a lack of money for some kind of pleasure, this is poverty that destroys, drives you crazy. This is a closet that looks like a coffin, rags and not knowing if you will sing tomorrow. The hero is forced to leave the university, but cannot improve his affairs in any way, he feels the injustice of his position, sees around the same disadvantaged and humiliated.

Raskolnikov is proud, sensitive and smart, the atmosphere of poverty and injustice presses on him, which is why a terrible and destructive theory is born in his head. It consists in the fact that people are divided into lower ("ordinary") and higher ("people proper"). The former are only needed to maintain a population of people, they are useless. But the latter move civilization forward, put forward completely new ideas and goals that can be achieved by any means. For example, the hero compares himself to Napoleon and comes to the conclusion that he is also capable of changing the world and setting a price for change. In this sense, he is no different from the old woman-pawnbroker who evaluated the things brought to her. Be that as it may, Rodion decided to test this theory on himself ("Am I trembling creature or do I have the right?"

Why did Raskolnikov still kill the old money-giver?

The hero hesitates for a long time and nevertheless confirms his decision after a meeting with the official Marmeladov, who drinks a little, leading himself, his wife Katerina Ivanovna, her children, and daughter Sonya into poverty (she is generally forced to work as a prostitute in order to help the family) ... Marmeladov understands his fall, but he cannot help himself. And when he was crushed drunk by a horse, the situation of the family was even more dire. It was these people who were ruined by poverty, and he decided to help. Comparing their plight with the unfair contentment of Alena Ivanovna, the hero came to the conclusion that his theory is correct: society can be saved, but this salvation will require human sacrifice. Having decided and committed a murder, Raskolnikov falls ill and feels lost to people (“I didn't kill an old woman ... I killed myself”). The hero cannot accept the love of Dunya's mother and sister, the care of Razumikhin's friend.

Raskolnikov's doubles: Luzhin and Svidrigailov

Svidrigailov is also a double, who tried to seduce Dunya. He is also a criminal, he is guided by the principle "a single evil is permissible" if the final goal is good. " It would seem that it is similar to Rodion's theory, but that was not the case: its goal should be good only from a hedonistic point of view and for Svidrigailov himself. If the hero did not see her as pleasure for himself, then he did not notice anything good. It turns out that he did evil for the good of himself, and, moreover, for the good of his depravity. If Luzhin wanted a caftan, that is, material well-being, then this hero longed to satisfy his base passions and nothing more.

Raskolnikov and Sonya Marmeladova

Tormented and languishing, Raskolnikov approaches Sonya, who also broke the law, like the hero. But the girl remained pure in her soul, she is more a martyr than a sinner. She sold her innocence for a symbolic 30 rubles, as Judas sold Christ for 30 pieces of silver. At this cost, she saved the family, but betrayed herself. The vicious environment did not prevent her from remaining a deeply religious girl and taking what was happening as a necessary sacrifice. Therefore, the author notes that the vice did not touch her spirit. With her timid demeanor, her incessant shame, the girl contradicted the vulgarity and insolence of the representatives of her profession.

Sonya reads to Rodion about the resurrection of Lazarus, and he confesses to the murder, believing in his own resurrection. He did not confess to the investigator Porfiry Petrovich, who already knew about his guilt, did not confess to his mother, sister, Razumikhin, but chose Sonya, feeling salvation in her. And this intuitive feeling was confirmed.

The meaning of the epilogue in the novel "Crime and Punishment"

However, Raskolnikov did not repent at all, he was only upset that he could not stand the moral torment and turned out to be an ordinary person. Because of this, he again experiences a spiritual crisis. Finding himself in hard labor, Rodion looks down on the prisoners and even at Sonya, who followed him. The convicts answer him with hatred, but Sonya is trying to make Raskolnikov's life easier, because she loves him with all her pure soul. The prisoners reacted sensitively to the affection and kindness of the heroine, they understood her silent feat without words. Sonya remained a martyr to the end, trying to atone for both her sin and the sin of her beloved.

In the end, the truth is revealed to the hero, he repents of the crime, his soul begins to revive, and he is imbued with "endless love" for Sonya. The hero's readiness for a new life is symbolically expressed by the author in the gesture when Rodion participates in the mysteries of the Bible. In Christianity, he finds the consolation and humility necessary for his proud character to restore inner harmony.

"Crime and Punishment": the history of the creation of the novel

F.M. Dostoevsky did not immediately come up with a title for his work, he had versions of "On trial", "The Tale of a Criminal," and the title we know appeared at the end of the work on the novel. The meaning of the title "Crime and Punishment" is revealed in the composition of the book. In the beginning, Raskolnikov, gripped by the delusions of his theory, kills an old money-lender, violating moral laws. Further, the author debunks the hero's delusions, Rodion himself suffers, then ends up in hard labor. This is his punishment for putting himself above everyone else. Only repentance gave him a chance to save his soul. The author also shows the inevitability of punishment for any crime. And this punishment is not only legal, but also moral.

In addition to the variability in the title, the novel originally had a different concept. While in hard labor, the writer conceived the novel as a confession of Raskolnikov, wishing to show the spiritual experience of the hero. Further, the scale of the work became larger, he could not be limited to the sensations of one hero, so F.M. Dostoevsky burned the almost finished novel. And he began anew, already as the modern reader knows him.

The subject of the work

The main themes of "Crime and Punishment" are the themes of poverty and oppression of the majority of society, which no one cares about, as well as the themes of rebellion and personal delusions under the yoke of social disorder and suffocating poverty. The writer wanted to convey to the readers his Christian ideas about life: for harmony in the soul, you need to live morally, according to the commandments, that is, not to yield to pride, selfishness and lust, but to do good to people, love them, sacrificing even your own interests for the good of society. That is why at the end of the epilogue Raskolnikov repents and comes to faith. The problem of false beliefs, raised in the novel, is still relevant today. The theory of the protagonist about permissiveness and the crime of morality for the sake of good goals leads to terror and arbitrariness. And if Raskolnikov overcame the split in his soul, repented and came to harmony, overcoming the problem, then in larger cases this is not the case. Wars began because some rulers decided that the lives of thousands of people for their goals could be easily sacrificed. That is why the novel, written in the 19th century, does not lose its sharpness of meaning to this day.

"Crime and Punishment" is one of the greatest works of world literature, imbued with humanism and faith in man. Despite the seeming depressiveness of the narrative, there is hope for the best, that you can always be saved and saved.

", Like all the works of Dostoevsky, is full of ideas" hovering in the air ", facts drawn from reality itself. The author wanted to "search through all the questions in this novel."

But the topic of the future work did not immediately become clear, the writer did not immediately stop at a certain plot. On June 8, 1865, Dostoevsky wrote to the editor of the magazine “ Domestic notes"A. A. Kraevsky:" My novel is called "Drunken" and will be in connection with the current question of drunkenness. Not only the question is sorted out, but all its ramifications are presented, mainly the pictures of families, the upbringing of children in this environment, and so on. and so on. There will be at least twenty sheets, but maybe more. "

Fedor Dostoevsky. Portrait by V. Perov, 1872

However, after some time, the idea of ​​the work, the central character of which was, obviously, Marmeladov, began to interest the writer less, since he had the idea to write a story about a representative of the younger generation. Dostoevsky sought to portray in the new work modern youth with its broad public interests, noisy disputes over burning ethical and political issues, with its materialistic and atheistic views, which he characterizes as "moral instability." In the first half of September 1865, Dostoevsky informs the editor of the Russkiy Vestnik, M. N. Katkov, that he has been working on a five-six-page story for two months, which he plans to finish in two weeks or a month. This letter sets out not only the main storyline, but also the ideological concept of the work. A draft of this letter is in one of those notebooks that contain the rough drafts of Crime and Punishment.

“The idea of ​​a story cannot ... contradict your magazine in anything; on the contrary, Dostoevsky informs Katkov. “This is a psychological record of one crime. The action is modern this year. A young man, expelled from university students, a philistine by birth and living in extreme poverty, out of frivolity, out of shakiness in concepts, succumbing to some strange "unfinished" ideas that are in the air, he decided to get out of his bad situation at once. He decided to kill an old woman, a titular counselor who gives money for interest. The old woman is stupid, deaf, sick, greedy, takes interest rates, is angry and seizes someone else's age, torturing her younger sister in her workers. "She's not good for anywhere", "what does she live for?", "Is she useful to at least someone?" etc. - These questions confuse the young man. He decides to kill her, rob her, in order to make his mother who lives in the district happy, to save his sister, who lives in companions with some landowners, from the voluptuous claims of the head of this landowner family - claims that threaten her with death, to complete the course, go abroad and then all my life to be honest, firm, unswerving in the fulfillment of the "humane duty to humanity", which, of course, will "obliterate the crime."

Crime and Punishment. Feature Film 1969 Episode 1

But after the murder, Dostoevsky writes, “the entire psychological process of crime unfolds. Unsolvable questions rise up before the murderer, unsuspecting and unexpected feelings torment his heart. God's righteousness, the earthly law takes its toll, and he ends up forced to convey to yourself. Compelled, though to perish in hard labor, but to join the people again; the feeling of being disconnected and disconnected from humanity, which he felt immediately after committing the crime, tortured him. The law of truth and human nature took their toll ... The criminal himself decides to accept the torment in order to atone for his work ...

In addition, my story hints at the idea that the imposed legal punishment for a crime is much less intimidating the criminal than the legislators think, in part because he himself his morally demands».

Dostoevsky in this letter emphasizes that under the influence of materialistic and atheistic views (this is what he had in mind when he spoke of "strange" unfinished "ideas that are in the air") Raskolnikov came to a crime. But at the same time, the author points here to extreme poverty, the hopelessness of the hero's position. In the early draft notes, there is also the idea that the difficult living conditions of NB pushed Raskolnikov to the crime. Let's see why I did it, how I decided, there is an evil spirit. NB (and this is where the analysis of the whole case, anger, poverty begins) the way out of necessity, and it turns out that he did it logically. "

Crime and Punishment. Feature Film 1969 Episode 2

Dostoevsky is enthusiastically working on the story, hoping that it will be "the best" that he wrote. By the end of November 1865, when much had already been written, Dostoevsky felt that the work had to be structured differently, and he destroyed the manuscript. “I burned everything ... I didn’t like it myself,” he wrote on February 18, 1866 to Baron A. Ye. Wrangel. - A new form, a new plan fascinated me, and I started all over again. I work day and night, and yet I work little ”(ibid., P. 430). The "new plan" is, obviously, the final plan of the novel, in which not only the theme of Marmeladov (the proposed novel "The Drunken") and the theme of Raskolnikov (the story of a "theoretical crime") are intertwined, but also Svidrigailov and especially Porfiry Petrovich, which is not mentioned at all in the earliest notebooks.

Dostoevsky initially intended to keep the story on behalf of the hero, to give a diary, confession or Raskolnikov's memories of the murder he committed. In notebooks there are fragments in which the narration is conducted in the first person - either in the form of a confession, or in the form of a diary. Drafts of Crime and Punishment also have first-person passages with first-person corrections to third. The writer was embarrassed that “confession in other paragraphs would be unchaste and difficult to imagine what it was written for”, and he refused this form. “The story is from myself, not from him. If confession, then too much to the last extreme, it is necessary to understand everything. So that every moment of the story is clear. " "You need to assume the author is a creature omniscient and infallible making everyone look like one of the members of the new generation. "

The novel "Crime and Punishment" was first published in the magazine "Russian Bulletin" for 1866 (January, February, April, June, July, August, November and December).

In 1867, the first separate edition was published: “Crime and Punishment. A novel in six parts with an epilogue by FM Dostoevsky. Revised edition ”. Numerous stylistic corrections and abbreviations were made in it (for example, Luzhin's monologue at the commemoration was significantly shortened, a whole page of Raskolnikov's reasoning about the reasons that prompted Luzhin to slander Sonya was thrown out). But this revision did not change either the ideological content of the novel or the main content of the images.

In 1870, the novel without additional corrections was included in the IV volume of the Collected Works of Dostoevsky. In 1877, the last lifetime edition of the novel was published with minor stylistic corrections and abbreviations.

The manuscript of the novel has not reached us in full. The Russian State Library contains small fragments of the manuscript "Crime and Punishment", among them there are both early and late versions, the text of which is close to the final edition.

Dostoevsky's notebooks are kept in TsGALI. Three of them contain notes about the idea and construction of "Crime and Punishment", sketches of individual scenes, monologues and lines of characters. Part of these materials were published by I. I. Glivenko in the journal "Red Archive", 1924, vol. VII, and then completely in 1931 in a separate book: "From the archive of F. M. Dostoevsky. "Crime and Punishment". Unpublished materials ". The earliest records date from the second half of 1865, the latest, including an auto-commentary on the novel, to the beginning of 1866, that is, at the time the novel was printed.

The creative history of the creation of the novel "Crime and Punishment"

Prehistory of the novel

"Crime and Punishment" created in 1865-1866. But at the same time it is also the result of many years of earlier reflections of Dostoevsky. From his letters to A.N. Maikov and M.M.Dostoevsky, we know that even at hard labor in the creative mind of the writer, "a great final ... story" was formed (letter to A.N. Maikov dated January 18, 1856). Its idea was replaced by a number of other romantic ideas that remained unfulfilled or realized according to the conditions of Dostoevsky's life and writing in the 1850s and early 1860s, only in a truncated form in comparison with the original, broader plans. As you might think, the plot of "Crime and Punishment" has absorbed many elements from these earlier, at one time unrealized plans.

The fact that one of the central ideas of the novel had already fully developed by 1863 is evidenced by the diary of A.P. Suslova. Here, on September 17, 1863, A.P. Suslova, who was at that time with Dostoevsky in Italy, in Turin, made the following entry: “When we were having lunch (at the hotel), he (Dostoevsky), looking at the girl who was taking lessons , said: "Well, imagine, such a girl with an old man, and suddenly some Napoleon says:" Destroy the whole city. "" It has always been like this in the world. "

This entry is the first documentary evidence that introduces us to the circle of the main philosophical ideas of the future "Crime and Punishment". However, Dostoevsky later turned to creative work on the novel and to pondering its plot. Murashova, O.A. The topic of sin and punishment, or "The psychological account of one crime." Literature at school. - 2006. - No. 9. - S. 25-28

An essential stage on the path that brought the author closer to Crime and Punishment was the work on Notes from the Underground. The tragedy of a thinking individualist hero, his proud ecstasy of his "idea" and defeat in the face of "living life", which is embodied in the "Notes" by the direct predecessor of Sonya Marmeladova, a girl from a brothel, whose image in "Notes", however, does not yet bear the deep philosophical and ethical load that the image of Sonya carries - these basic general outlines of the Notes directly prepare Crime and Punishment.

The next link known to us in the history of the development of the concept of "Crime and Punishment" is the plan of the novel "The Drunken", conceived in 1864. The only note to it that has come down to us is in the notebook of 1861-1864.

As early as 1847, in the Petersburg Chronicle, Dostoevsky wrote about the “thirst for activity” and the absence of preconditions for it as a painful phenomenon characteristic of Russian post-Petrine society. This theme was further developed in the articles of the Dostoevsky period of "Time", where the separation of the educated society and the people in Russia after the Peter's reform became for Dostoevsky the central tragic knot of Russian life. She was also supposed to appear as one of the main in the novel "Drunken". The outline in it says that the decline of "morality" in Russia is associated with the absence of "action" for 150 years, that is, since the time of Peter I.

In June 1865, Dostoevsky offered the conceived novel to the publisher of St. Petersburg Vedomosti V. F. Korsh and to A. Kraevsky in Otechestvennye zapiski. He wrote to Kraevsky on June 8: “I am asking 3000 rubles. now, forward for the novel, which I undertake to formally deliver to the editorial office of Otechestvennye zapiski no later than the first days of the beginning October this year. My novel is called "The Drunken" and will be in connection with the current question of drunkenness. Not only the question is sorted out, but all its ramifications are presented, mainly pictures of families, raising children in this environment, etc., etc. - There will be no less than 20 sheets , but maybe more. 150 rubles for the sheet ... (I received 250 rubles in the "Russian World" and in "Vremya" for the "Dead House"). "A. A. Kraevsky refused on June 11 - - due to the lack of money and a large stock of fiction in the editorial office. ”Korsch even earlier, on June 5, wrote two letters at once, personal and official, - also with an actual refusal.

There is no doubt that Dostoevsky proposed a work that had not yet been written, and hardly even begun. Almost simultaneously with his appeal to A.A. for these labors I did not have time to write almost a single line. I have now begun one job for which I can take money only in the fall. It is necessary to finish this work as soon as possible in order to start, having received money, paying off debts. "

Perhaps Dostoevsky, as usual, made notes for the novel in a notebook of the first half of 1865, which was subsequently lost. He reported this loss on May 9, 1866 to his friend AE Wrangel, asking him to recall the amount of last year's debt: "... I lost my notebook and remember my debt approximately, but not exactly."

On July 2, 1865, Dostoevsky, experiencing severe hardship, was forced to conclude an agreement with the publisher FT Stellovsky. For the same three thousand rubles, which Kraevsky refused to pay for the novel, Dostoevsky sold Stellovsky the right to publish the complete collection of his works in three volumes and, in addition, was obliged to write for him a new novel of at least ten sheets by November 1, 1866. The agreement was onerous, but it allowed them to pay off their primary debts and go abroad for the summer. Three months later, Dostoevsky noted in a letter to A. Ye. Wrangel that he "went abroad to improve his health and write something." He added: "I wrote to write, but my health became worse." S.V. Belov Roman F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment". M., Education, 1984, p. 237-245

Leaving "The Drunken", Dostoevsky abroad conceived a story, the idea of ​​which was the grain of the future "Crime and Punishment". In September 1865 he offered it to the publisher of the Russian Bulletin MN Katkov. Before that, the writer had never been published in Katkov's magazine. The very idea to turn now to the "Russian Bulletin" was, in all likelihood, submitted by Princess N. P. Shalikova, a writer (pseudonyms E. Narekaya and P. Gorka), a distant relative of Katkov. In a later letter to Dostoevsky (1873), she recalled “a meeting in Wiesbaden at Fr. Yanishev "(the local priest) and" a short, sincere conversation in the alleys of Wiesbaden. "

Dostoevsky did not immediately dare to contact the Russian Bulletin. In August 1865 he still hoped to receive an advance payment for the story and for the promised “Letters from Abroad” from the Library for Reading. August in Wiesbaden: “We cannot expect money from the editorial board of the Library for Reading before the end of Russian August. When I get it, I will hasten to send them to you, and I humbly ask you to make it easier for me either with your story, or with your letters, and even better with both. All this would be a gain for us, but for me personally it would still be a great joy ... In conclusion, I humbly ask you to allow me to send you at least one hundred francs, before August 26, if they had accumulated with us, for which, however, they are not very reliable " ... Having received no money from the Library for Reading, Dostoevsky wrote from Wiesbaden to his longtime acquaintance (from the time of the Petrashevsky circle) LP Milyukov at the beginning of September. The letter has not survived, but in his memoirs Miliukov recounts its content and quotes: “I am sitting in a hotel, I have to be around, and they threaten me; not a penny money "; the plot of the conceived story “expanded and got rich”. Then there was a request "to sell the story wherever it was, but only with the condition that 300 rubles be sent immediately." Milyukov walked around the editorial offices of the Library for Reading, Sovremennik, and Notes of the Fatherland; was refused everywhere. Almi I.L. About one of the sources of the concept of the novel "Crime and Punishment". Literature at school. - 2001. - No. 5. - S. 16-18.

The Belova text of Dostoevsky's letter to Katkov is unknown. But the letter was sent, because in October 1865 the requested money was sent to Dostoevsky by the editorial board of the Russian Bulletin. Later, in November - December, when in the course of work the idea was transformed and the story turned into a novel, complications arose due to the size of the fee, but at first 300 rubles in advance for the story were sent to the author immediately. True, Dostoevsky did not receive this money on time. They came to Wiesbaden when the writer had already left there, and were sent to him by I. L. Yanyshev in St. Petersburg.

Dostoevsky attached great importance to his letter to the publisher of the Russian Bulletin: in his notebook with preparatory materials for the novel, there is his draft. These few pages are of prime importance for dating the early stages of the work and for understanding its nature. Dostoevsky wrote to Katkov:

“May I hope to put my story in your journal P (Russian) V (estnik)”?

I have been writing it here in Wiesbaden for 2 months and now I am finishing it. It will contain five to six printed sheets. There is still work to be done for another two weeks, maybe even more. In any case, I can say for sure that in a month, and by no means later, it could have been delivered to the editorial office of R (usskiy) V (estni) ka. Altman M. S. Dostoevsky. 1975, p. 67-68

The idea of ​​the story cannot, as far as I can guess, contradict your journal in anything; even the opposite. This is a psychological record of one crime. The action is modern this year. A young man, expelled from university students, a philistine by birth and living in extreme poverty, out of frivolity, but vacillation in concepts, succumbing to some strange, "unfinished" ideas that are in the air, decided to get out of his bad situation at once. one old woman, a titular counselor who gives money for interest. The old woman is stupid, deaf, sick, greedy, takes Jewish interest, is angry and seizes someone else's age, torturing her younger sister in her workers. lives? "," is she useful to anyone? " and so on - these questions confuse the young man. He decides to kill her, rob her in order to make his mother, who lives in the district happy, to save his sister, who lives in companions with some landowners, from the voluptuous claims of the head of this landowner family - claims that threaten her with death - to finish the course, to go abroad and then all my life to be honest, firm, unswerving in the fulfillment of a "humane duty to humanity" - which, of course, will "ameliorate the crime", if one can call this act of a deaf, stupid, evil and sick old woman a crime. She herself does not know why she lives in the world, and in a month, perhaps, she would have died by itself. Kunarev, A.A. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, or the Secret of the “former student”. Russian language. - 2002. - No. 1. - S. 76-81

Despite the fact that such crimes are terribly difficult to commit - that is, almost always rudely expose the ends, evidence, etc. and an awful lot is left to chance, which almost always betrays the culprit; he - in a completely random way - manages to complete his enterprise both quickly and successfully.

He spends almost a month after that until the final catastrophe, there is no suspicion of him and cannot be. This is where the entire psychological process of crime unfolds. Unsolvable questions rise up before the murderer, unsuspecting and unexpected feelings torment his heart. God's righteousness, the earthly law takes its toll, and he ends up forced to convey to yourself. Compelled, though to perish in hard labor, but to join the people again; the feeling of being disconnected and disconnected from humanity, which he felt immediately after committing the crime, tortured him. The law of truth and human nature took their toll, killed beliefs, even without resistance). The offender himself decides to accept the torment in order to atone for his cause. However, it is difficult for me to fully explain my idea.

In addition, my story hints at the idea that the imposed legal penalty for a crime is much less intimidating the criminal than the legislators think, in part because he himself his morally demands.

I have seen this even in the most undeveloped people, in the grossest accident. I wanted to express this precisely on a developed person, on a new generation, so that the thought would be brighter and more tangible. Several recent incidents have convinced plot mine is not at all eccentric, namely that the killer of a developed and even good inclination (s) m (young) person. I was told last year in Moscow (that's right) about a student who was turned off from the university after the Moscow student (s) history - that he decided to break the mail and kill the postman. There are still many traces in your newspapers about the extraordinary vacillation of concepts that lead to terrible deeds. (The seminarian who killed the girl by agreement with her in the barn and who was taken an hour later for breakfast, etc.). In short, I am convinced that my plot partly justifies modernity.

It goes without saying that I have missed the whole plot in this present presentation of the idea of ​​my story. I vouch for the amusement, for the artistry of the performance - I don’t undertake to judge myself. I have happened to write too many very, very bad things, in a hurry, on time, and so on. However, I wrote this thing slowly and eagerly. I will try, at least for myself only, finish it as best you can. "

Without touching at all what constituted a particular difficulty in the work - the search for the desired tone, artistic form, Dostoevsky defined in detail the content and the main idea of ​​the story in his letter. A "psychological account" about a crime that was born under the influence of modern "unfinished ideas" and about the moral repentance of a criminal who was thus convinced of the inconsistency of these ideas — this is the main meaning of the story. Even at this stage of work, it did not envisage that huge social background that was present in the idea of ​​"The Drunken" and entered the novel "Crime as Punishment" with Marmeladov's line. There is no title for the story in the letter; since the record of its beginning in the notebook has been lost, it remains unknown to us. Perhaps it was not yet there at that time. Dostoevsky, F.M. Full collection op. in 30 volumes. L., 1972-1990, vol. 7, p. 387-399

In addition to the letter to Katkov, two September letters have survived To AE Wrangel with evidence of work on the story. On September 10 (22), talking about his plight and asking for a loan of 100 thalers, Dostoevsky wrote: “I was hoping for my story, which I am writing day and night. But instead of 3 sheets, it stretched out into 6, and the work is still not finished. True, I will have more money, but in any case, I will not receive it from Russia before a month. Until then? Here they are already threatening with the police. What should I do?" Six days later, in a letter dated September 28, 1865, Dostoevsky thanked Wrangel for the money sent, talked about the letter to Katkov and about his work: I wrote if they give me time to finish it. Oh my friend! You won't believe what kind of flour it is to write to order. "

This is the end of the epistolary and memoir evidence relating to the first - foreign - period of work. The most essential, inner, creative side of it is revealed by the author's manuscripts. Dostoevsky, F.M. Full collection op. in 30 volumes. L., 1972-1990, vol. 7, p. 410-412