Idiot

Prince Lef Mikolayevitch Muishkin is one of the greatest characters in Russian literature. Is he a saint? Or is he just naive, an idealist, or as many in General Yepanchin’s society feel, an idiot? Certainly, his return to St. Petersburg after years in a Swiss clinic has a dramatic effect on the beautiful Aglaya—youngest of the Yepanchin daughters—and on the charismatic but willful Nastasio Phillipovna. The prince finds himself a stranger in a society obsessed with money, power, and manipulation.

As he paints a vivid picture of Russian society, Dostoyevsky shows how principles conflict with emotions—with tragic results.