Fyodor Dostoevsky, Brat'ia Karamazovy [The Brothers Karamazov]

Richard Peace (University of Bristol)

Ed. by Neil Cornwell, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 2.2.1.00: Slavic and Russian Writing and Culture: Old, Medieval and Tsarist, 700-1917.
Vol. editors: Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol), Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Andrei Rogatchevski (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1879 - 1880

Places

Russia (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Brat’ia Karamazovy [The Brothers Karamazov; or The Karamazov Brothers], published in serial form in 1879-80, is Dostoevsky’s last great novel – many consider it his greatest. The plot is more complicated than Prestuplenie i nakazanie [Crime and Punishment], in as much as a central hero, divided as he may be, has been replaced by three figures – brothers, who symbolically represent aspects of the human condition: Ivan – the intellect; Dmitrii – the emotions; Alësha [Alyosha] – spirituality.

Fëdor [Fyodor] Pavlovich, renowned for his debauchery, has fathered three legitimate sons by two wives, who are now dead, but also, as rumour has it, an illegitimate one, Smerdiakov, by a …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2859 words

Citation: Peace, Richard. "Brat'ia Karamazovy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 August 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1367, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Save this article