Welcome to the Presentation Ceremony Presentation

ForMM Shariful Karim Chairman & Associate Professor

Department of English Dean, Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Comilla University

Presented By: Monir Hossen – Id: 0900152

Hebjur Rahaman – Id: 0900153Muhammad Munir Uddin – 0900140

Presentation on Critical analysis and Justification of

the title of the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Introduction: Crime and Punishment is one of the most prominent novels of

Russian novelist as well as philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky. It is considered the first great novel of his "mature" period of writing. This novel focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in St. Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash. Raskolnikov, in attempts to defend his actions, argues that with the pawnbroker's money he can perform good deeds to counterbalance the crime, while ridding the world of a vermin. He also commits the murder to test a theory of his that dictates some people are naturally capable of such actions, and even have the right to perform them. Several times throughout the novel, Raskolnikov compares himself with Napoleon Bonaparte and shares his belief that murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose.

Biography of Fyodor Dostoyevsky Born : Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 11

November 1821, Moscow, Russian EmpireNationality: RussianEducation: Military Engineering-Technical

University, St. PetersburgPeriod : 1846–1881Genre : Novel, short story, journalismSubject : Psychology, philosophy, religionLiterary movement: RealismInfluenced by: Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol,

MoreTitle : Novelist, Essayist, Philosopher Died : 9 February 1881 (aged 59)

Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)

His Major Works

Other works : Novels and novellas (1846) Poor Folk (novella) (1846) The Double (novella) (1847) The Landlady(novella) (1849) Netochka

Nezvanova(unfinished) (1859) Uncle's Dream (novella) (1859) The Village of Stepanchikovo (1861) Humiliated and Insulted (1862) The House of the Dead (1864) Notes from Underground

(novella) (1866) Crime and Punishment (1867) The Gambler (novella) (1869) The Idiot (1870) The Eternal Husband(novella) (1872) Demons (1875) The Adolescent (1880) The Brothers Karamazov

Short stories (1846) "Mr. Prokharchin" (1847) "Novel in Nine Letters" (1848) "A Jealous Husband" (1848) "Another Man's Wife" (1848) "Another Man's Wife and a Husband

under the Bed" (merger between "Another Man's Wife" and "A Jealous Husband")

(1848) "A Weak Heart" (1848) "Polzunkov" (1848) "An Honest Thief" (1848) "A Christmas Tree and a Wedding" (1848) "White Nights" (1849) "A Little Hero" (1862) "A Nasty Story" (1865) "The Crocodile" (1873) "Bobok" (1876) "The Heavenly Christmas Tree" (1876) "A Gentle Creature” (1876) "The Peasant Marey" (1877) "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"

About the text Crime and Punishment Author : Fyodor DostoyevskyOriginal title : Преступление и наказаниеLanguage : RussianTranslated by : Constance GarnettGenre : Philosophical novel/Psychological novelPublisher: The Russian Messenger(series)Setting : Saint PetersburgPublication date: 1866Film adaptations: There have been over 25

film adaptations of Crime and Punishment.

Major Characters of the Novel Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov

(“Rodya,” “Rodka”) -  The protagonist of the novel. A former student, Raskolnikov is now destitute, living in a cramped garret at the top of an apartment building. The main drama of the novel centers on his interior conflict, first over whether to kill the pawnbroker and later over whether to confess and rejoin humanity. Raskolnikov is ill throughout the novel, overwhelmed by his feelings of alienation and self-loathing.

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladov (“Sonya,” “Sonechka”) -Raskolnikov’s love and Marmeladov’s daughter. Sonya is forced to prostitute herself to support herself and the rest of her family. She is meek and easily embarrassed, but she maintains a strong religious faith. She is the only person with whom Raskolnikov shares a meaningful relationship.

Major Characters of the Novel Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov -  Dunya’s

depraved former employer. Svidrigailov appears to believe, almost until the end of the novel, that he can make Dunya love him. The death of his wife, Marfa Petrovna, has made him generous, but he is generally a threatening presence to both Dunya and Raskolnikov.

Alyona Ivanovna -  An old, withered pawnbroker whom Raskolnikov kills. Raskolnikov calls Alyona Ivanovna a “louse” and despises her for cheating the poor out of their money and enslaving her own sister, Lizaveta.

Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladov -  The consumptive wife of Marmeladov. Katerina Ivanovna’s serious illness gives her flushed cheeks and a persistent, bloody cough. She is very proud and repeatedly declares her aristocratic heritage.

Plot Summary of Crime and Punishment

Raskolnikov, an impoverished student, conceives of himself as being an extraordinary young man and then formulates a theory whereby the extraordinary men of the world have a right to commit any crime if they have something of worth to offer humanity.

To prove his theory, he murders an old, despicable pawnbroker and her half-sister who happened to come upon him suddenly. Immediately after the crime, he becomes ill and lies in his room semi-conscious for several days. When he recovers, he finds that a friend, Razumihkin, had looked for him. While he is recovering, he receives a visit from Luzhin, who is engaged to Raskolnikov's sister, Dunya. Raskolnikov insults Luzhin and sends him away because he resents Luzhin's domineering attitude toward Dunya.

As soon as he can be about again, Raskolnikov goes out and reads about the crime in all the newspapers of the last few days. He meets an official from the police station and almost confesses the crime. He does go far enough in his ranting that the official becomes suspicious. Later, he witnesses the death of Marmeladov, a minor government official, who is struck by a carriage as he staggers across the street in a drunken stupor.

Raskolnikov assists the man and leaves all his money to the destitute widow. When he returns to his room, he finds his mother and sister who have just arrived to prepare for the wedding with Luzhin. He denounces Luzhin and refuses to allow his sister to marry such a mean and nasty man.

About the same time, Svidrigailov, Dunya's former employer, arrives in town and looks up Raskolnikov and asks for a meeting with Dunya. Previously Svidrigailov had attempted to seduce Dunya and when Raskolnikov had heard of it, he naturally formed a violent dislike for the man.

Raskolnikov hears that the police inspector, Porfiry, is interviewing all people who had ever had any business with the old pawnbroker. Therefore, he goes for an interview and leaves thinking that the police suspect him. Since he had met Sonya Marmeladov, the daughter of the dead man that he had helped, he goes to her and asks her to read to him from the Bible the story of Lazarus.

Plot Summary is Continued

He feels great sympathy with Sonya who had been forced into prostitution in order to support her family while her father drank constantly. In her suffering, she becomes a universal symbol for Raskolnikov. He promises to tell her who murdered the old pawnbroker and her sister who was a friend of Sonya's.

After another interview with Porfiry, Raskolnikov determines to confess to Sonya. He returns to her and during the confession, Svidrigailov is listening through the adjoining door. He uses this information to try to force Dunya to sleep with him. She refuses and he kills himself later in the night.

Porfiry informs Raskolnikov that he knows who murdered the pawnbroker. After talking with Sonya, Raskolnikov fully confesses to the murder and is sentenced to eight years in a Siberian prison. Sonya follows him, and with her help, Raskolnikov begins his regeneration.

Plot summary is Continued

Justification of the title Crime and Punishment The title of Crime and Punishment fits the narrative and the themes

because both the narrative and the themes are about crimes committed and punished or not punished. Let me clarify a little for you. Several characters commit crimes of varying sorts who are or are not punished for them.

An example of this is when Dounia shoots Svidrigailov for his attempted crimes against her. In so doing, she commits a crime. Yet she will not be punished for it because Svidrigailov will say nothing. Guilt from this incident and his other crimes weigh him down until he ends his life in shame and despair.

The title most significantly applies to Raskolnikov, of course since he is the one who commits the heinous crime against Alyona Ivanovna, "the old lady." And it is Raskolnikov whom the police pursue and catch. It is Raskolnikov who is punished in a Siberian prison camp for his crime.

Other characters commit moral crimes that are not legal crimes. Two of these are Marmeladov and Luzhin. Each brings shame and suffering on the woman they desire, Marmeladov against Katerina Ivanovna a great more severely than Luzhin against Dounia, though.

These characters may be "punished" by circumstances such as when Marmeladov dies so helplessly, yet this punishment leaves his victims in worse and more direful straits than before.

The title is perfectly suited to the narrative because in it Dostoevsky explores many forms and degrees of crimes committed against other persons and punishment meted or escaped for the crimes.

Conclusion: Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is both a philosophical novel

and a psychological one where we find a true picture of Russian Soceity. The protagonist, Raskolnikov, represents one of the St. Petersburg's desperate, poor, and hungry individuals who goes to great lengths to survive – and is tormented by his own conclusions about morality. The main title of the novel also gives us a clear impression of the subject matter as well as the whole theme of the novel. Moreover, Dostoevsky's literary output explores human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russian society. His works has been translated into so many languages in the world. This novel has become a matter of great reading books in world Literature.