Raskolnikov
Raskolnikov is the protagonist of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel *Crime and Punishment* (1866), a impoverished former student in St.
Petersburg who murders a pawnbroker to test his theory that extraordinary people stand above conventional morality.
His name, derived from the Russian word for "schism" or "split," reflects his tormented, divided psyche.
The character has become a literary archetype for intellectual pride, moral anguish, and the psychological burden of guilt.
He's gone full Raskolnikov, convinced the rules don't apply to him.
Story's central figure
- antiheroMorally ambiguous main character
- murdererOne who unlawfully kills
- studentOne formally enrolled somewhere
- pawnbrokerLender against personal property
axe · confession · Sonia · St Petersburg · poverty · fever · garret · redemption
Moral self-reproach
- paranoiaIrrational persecution fears
- deliriumAcute mental disorientation
- feverElevated body temperature
- alienationState of being isolated
split · duality · confession · torment · anxiety · madness · nightmare · conscience
19th-century Russian author
- RussianEastern Slavic language
- realismAccepting things as they are
- psychologicalOf the mind
- novelNew and unusual
Crime and Punishment · nineteenth-century · existentialism · modernism · unreliable · narrator · symbolism · foreshadowing
Beyond what's typical
- ordinaryStandard, unremarkable
- NapoleonFrench emperor, military genius
- übermenschIdeal transcendent human type
- transgressionViolation of law or code
utilitarian · nihilism · rationalism · conscience · justification · theory · louse · superman
protagonist
Story's central figure
- antiheroMorally ambiguous main character
- murdererOne who unlawfully kills
- studentOne formally enrolled somewhere
pawnbroker · axe · confession · Sonia · St Petersburg · poverty · fever · garret · redemption · guilt
guilt
Moral self-reproach
- paranoiaIrrational persecution fears
- deliriumAcute mental disorientation
- feverElevated body temperature
alienation · split · duality · confession · torment · anxiety · madness · nightmare · conscience · obsession
Dostoevsky
19th-century Russian author
- RussianEastern Slavic language
- realismAccepting things as they are
- psychologicalOf the mind
Crime and Punishment · novel · nineteenth-century · existentialism · modernism · unreliable · narrator · symbolism · foreshadowing · motif
extraordinary
Beyond what's typical
- ordinaryStandard, unremarkable
- NapoleonFrench emperor, military genius
- übermenschIdeal transcendent human type
transgression · utilitarian · nihilism · rationalism · conscience · justification · theory · louse · superman · morality
split
Separation into parts
name · symbolic · duality · religious · dissent · heresy · separation · rupture · cleave · torn