Russian Language Journal
Reviewed Work: The Perverted Ideal in Dostoevsky's "The Devils", Middlebury Studies in Russian Language and Literature, vol. 8 by Nancy K. Anderson
Keywords
The Devils, Dostoevshy, Russian literature
Abstract
At the beginning of her study, Nancy Anderson notes the relative schoarly neglect of Dostoevsky's third great novel, The Devils ( Besy ), as opposed to Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and the The Brothers Karamazov. The monograph under discussion is her attempt to provide a comprehensive treatment of The Devils. Its guiding theme is that the debasing of the Ideal leads to the chaos and bloodshed of the novel's world. Anderson stresses throughout that the spiritual nature of the person and the absolute value of art are fundamental truths in Dostoevsky's universe; thus any theory that regards the only important issue facing society as that of satisfying material needs becomes a sort of blasphemy, (p. 9) For Anderson, then, the Ideal includes both Stepan Verkhovensky's affirmation of the necessity of beauty and Tikhon's Christianity.
Recommended Citation
Ivanits, L. (2000). Reviewed Work: The Perverted Ideal in Dostoevsky's "The Devils", Middlebury Studies in Russian Language and Literature, vol. 8 by Nancy K. Anderson. Russian Language Journal, 54(1). https://doi.org/10.70163/2831-9737.1421
