The Idiot (Wordsworth Classics)

Translated by Constance Garnett, with an Introduction and Notes by Agnes Cardinal, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Kent.

Overview of the Story

Prince Myshkin returns to Russia from an asylum in Switzerland. As he becomes entangled in the frantic amatory and financial intrigues surrounding a cast of brilliantly realized characters, the narrative unfolds into a tale of tragedy.

Through Prince Myshkin, Dostoevsky presents:

• A unique combination of the Christian ideal of perfection and his own views, afflictions, and manners.
• A character whose serene selflessness sharply contrasts with the worldly qualities of everyone else in the novel.

Themes and Social Commentary

Dostoevsky delivers a harsh indictment of the Russian ruling class of his time. He portrays a society incapable of accommodating the goodness and purity embodied by "this idiot."