The Idiot

“Beauty will save the world.”

Part 1

Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, a young man with epilepsy and childlike innocence, returns to Russia after years in a Swiss sanatorium. On the train to St. Petersburg, he meets the cynical Rogozhin and merchant’s son Lebedev. Myshkin’s naive honesty immediately sets him apart in society.

Myshkin visits distant relatives, the Epanchins, where his sincerity intrigues General Epanchin’s wife and daughters. He becomes entangled with the beautiful, troubled Nastasya Filippovna, whose tragic past involves exploitation by her guardian Totsky. At her birthday party, Myshkin witnesses a dramatic confrontation between Rogozhin (who offers 100,000 rubles for her) and Ganya (who wants her for money). Myshkin unexpectedly proposes marriage to save her, but she flees with Rogozhin.

Part 2

Six months later, Myshkin inherits a fortune but remains unchanged in character. He befriends the young nihilist Ippolit, who writes a dramatic suicide note. Nastasya returns, torn between Myshkin’s purity and Rogozhin’s passion. At a society gathering, Myshkin delivers a speech about faith that ends with him smashing a priceless Chinese vase during an epileptic seizure.

Rogozhin’s jealousy intensifies as Nastasya wavers between the two men. She accepts Myshkin’s proposal but flees again at the altar, unable to believe herself worthy of redemption. The prince follows her to St. Petersburg, sensing impending tragedy.

Part 3

Myshkin searches desperately for Nastasya, while Rogozhin lurks in the shadows. The prince meets Rogozhin in a dark alley, where they exchange crosses like brothers. Later, Rogozhin lures Myshkin to his house to reveal Nastasya’s murdered body wrapped in a sheet. The two men keep vigil over her corpse until authorities arrive.

Myshkin’s mind collapses under the trauma, regressing to his former childlike state. Rogozhin is sentenced to Siberia. The novel ends with Myshkin returning to Switzerland, his brief attempt to bring goodness into the world ending in failure.

Key ideas

• The conflict between pure goodness and worldly corruption
• The destructive power of obsessive passion
• Christian ideals versus Russian society
• The redemptive potential of suffering
• The impossibility of perfection in an imperfect world

Notable Adaptations