It is important to notice that all Dostoïveski's novels are peopled with " half-mads". There is a strong symbolism in the fact that the Prince arrives from Switzerland,( cf the ideal and clear image that we have of the country) his health restored and with a pure,clean state of mind, "unpoluted" by the unhealthy atmosphere in his home town. He also has an ideal ( cf the allusion to Don Quichotte). Back home, his thoughts soon collide with the reality and utter confusion of the world he enters and with the evil and depraved character of Rogogine. In this society, often described in a surrealistic way, the Prince is treated like a jester, a buffon although he is the only one who remains sane throughout the book. And it reminds me Shakespeare's quotation from Macbeth: " The world is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". The Idiot is the only one who thinks right.
Hemingway on Dostoyevsky: I almost never identify with anybody in Dostoyevsky, I have a thing abourt loosers. Flaws in yourself open you up to others with flaws. Not that Dostoyevsky´s characters don´t generate pathos, but they are flawed in ways that don´t come across as flaws.
It is important to notice that all Dostoïveski's novels are peopled with " half-mads".
ReplyDeleteThere is a strong symbolism in the fact that the Prince arrives from Switzerland,( cf the ideal and clear image that we have of the country) his health restored and with a pure,clean state of mind, "unpoluted" by the unhealthy atmosphere in his home town.
He also has an ideal ( cf the allusion to Don Quichotte).
Back home, his thoughts soon collide with the reality and utter confusion of the world he enters and with the evil and depraved character of Rogogine.
In this society, often described in a surrealistic way, the Prince is treated like a jester, a buffon although he is the only one who remains sane throughout the book. And it reminds me Shakespeare's quotation from Macbeth: " The world is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". The Idiot is the only one who thinks right.
Hemingway on Dostoyevsky:
ReplyDeleteI almost never identify with anybody in Dostoyevsky, I have a thing abourt loosers. Flaws in yourself open you up to others with flaws. Not that Dostoyevsky´s characters don´t generate pathos, but they are flawed in ways that don´t come across as flaws.