An Analysis of the Nature of Freedom in Dostoevsky's Three Major Novels

Abstract

<p>An analysis of the dialectic of freedom in three of Dostoevsky's major novels.</p> <p>The thesis contains a preface and five chapters. Chapter I attempts to define the several types of freedom, its dimensions and problems. Chapter II discusses the novel "Crime and Punishment" (1866) with particular reference to the possibility of total freedom. Chapter III deals with "The Devils", sometimes translated as "The Possessed" (1871), and Stavrogin's confrontation with the 'abyss beneath'. Chapter IV is concerned with Dostoevsky's last novel "The Brothers Karama zov" (1880), in which Father Zosima reveals the 'abyss above'. Chapter V is a summing-up and critique of Dostoevsky's ethic of freedom.</p>