The Idiot

Credits and rights

Original writer

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Publisher of this edition

BoingyBooks Classics

Original publisher

Project Gutenberg

Adaptation credits

John Shoufler / BoingyBooks Classics — digital edition

Original source / edition

The Idiot (1869)

License

Public Domain

License link

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

Rights and adaptation notice

This work is in the public domain. John Shoufler published this digital edition through BoingyBooks Classics. The original work remains public domain and may be copied, adapted, and shared.

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1869)

Prince Myshkin, a genuinely good man — innocent, compassionate, and epileptic — returns to Russia from a Swiss sanatorium and is destroyed by a society that cannot comprehend or tolerate his goodness.

Historical Significance:
Dostoyevsky set himself an impossible challenge with The Idiot: "to portray a perfectly beautiful man." He modeled Myshkin partly on Christ and partly on Don Quixote — a pure soul in a corrupt world. Published serially in 1868-69, the novel explores whether genuine goodness is sustainable in human society. Dostoyevsky's answer is devastating: Myshkin's compassion for everyone ultimately helps no one and destroys himself. Akira Kurosawa's 1951 film adaptation transposed the story to post-war Japan. The novel remains Dostoyevsky's most debated work — simultaneously his most heartfelt and most troubling.

This public domain classic was originally published in 1869. Free to read and share.