The Role of Svidrigaylov

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how Svidrigaylov Arkady Ivanovich is the primary antagonist and a foil to Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment". The paper compares and contrasts the character of Svidrigaylov with that of Raskolnikov in order to illustrate how Svidrigaylov is not just a simple character but an important duel in Raskolnikov's life.

From the Paper:

"Svidrigaylov Arkady Ivanovich is the primary antagonist and a foil to Raskolnikov; this is one of the egos of Raskolnikov. In The Three Motives of Raskolnikov, Maurice Beebe suggests that Raskolnikov has a triple ego; one of them is Svidrigaylov representing the soul of Raskolnikov; while the others are Sonya, who shows "spirit" and Luzhin, who implies the "intellect" of the protagonist (Beebe 1989). Svidrigaylov lives by "sense" and feeling alone but he disproves Raskolnikov's theory that it is impossible to live by instinct or conscience alone. Svidrigaylov's role of foil in the novel Crime and Punishment serves as a crooked mirror to Raskolnikov so that the two can sketch each other's ideas. In Dostoevsky's Descriptions: Characters and City, Grossman points out the essential role of Svidrigaylov in understanding not only the main character Raskolnikov but also the whole novel. Further, he said Svidrigaylov's character does not function independently, but that the character helps represent what Raskolnikov's fate was (Grossman 1989)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bakhtin, Mikhail. "From Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics" in Crime and Punishment, Feodor Dostoevsky, ed. George Gibian. New York: Norton & Co., 1989, pp. 643-656.
• Beebe, Maurice. "The Three Motives of Raskolnikov: A Reinterpretation of Crime and Punishment," in Crime and Punishment, Feodor Dostoevsky, ed. George Gibian. New York: Norton & Co., 1989, pp. 592-603.
• Chulkov, Georgy. "Dostoevsky's Technique of Writing," in Crime and Punishment, Feodor Dostoevsky, ed. George Gibian. New York: Norton & Co., 1989, pp. 494-500.
• Evnin, F.I. "Plot Structure and Raskolnikov's Oscillations" in Crime and Punishment, Feodor Dostoevsky, ed. George Gibian. New York: Norton & Co., 1989, pp. 635-643.
• Gibian, George, ed. Crime and Punishment, Feodor Dostoevsky, Norton Critical Edition, 3rd. ed., trans. Jessie Coulson. New York: Norton & Co., 1989.

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