Crime and punishment russian
Crime and punishment - russianFyodor Dostoevsky’s novel, “Crime and Punishment, is a reflection of life in St. Petersburg, Russia, during the rule of Czars Nicholas I and Alexander III.” Though this topic only accounts for the reigns of Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander III, the reformative Alexander II also falls within the time period, 1800’s, so he will also be covered. Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander III showed no concern and elicited little progression for the condition of the poverty stricken in St. Petersburg. There are many parallels between the religious, political, and social aspects of Russian life during this period that directly correlate the setting and events of the novel.
Tsar Nicholas I (in full Nikolay Pavlovich), Russian emperor from 1825 to 1855, was often considered the personification of classic autocracy; for his reactionary policies, he has been called the emperor who froze Russia for 30 years. Autocracy meant the affirmation and maintenance of the absolute power of the sovereign, which was considered the indispensable foundation of the Russian state. His impulse was always to strike and keep striking until the object of his wrath was destroyed. Aggressiveness, however, was not the Emperor's only method of coping with the problems of life. He also used regimentation, orderliness, neatness, and precision, an enormous effort to have everything at all times in its proper place. His regime became preeminently one of militarism and bureaucracy Corruption and confusion, however, lay immediately behind this facade of discipline and smooth functioning.
Nicholas disliked serfdom (poverty), but there were political hazards in eliminating it. He was determined to avoid public discussion of reform, even within the upper class. The poverty stricken people of Russia, St. Petersburg in particular, did not progress during the reign of Nicholas I. It seems ironic that a character in the novel has his name, Nikolay, and be disliked, just like the Tsar was in real life. “’The prisoner Nikolay has been brought,’ some one answered. ‘He is not wanted! Take him away! Let him wait! What's he doing here? How irregular!’” Nicholas made a futile attempt to improve the conditions in St. Petersburg, but it was, after his reign, still horrible.
“The heat in the street was terrible: and the airlessness, the bustle and the plaster, scaffolding, bricks, and dust all about him, and that special Petersburg stench, so familiar to all who are unable to get out of town in summer--all worked painfully upon the young man's already overwrought nerves. The insufferable stench from the pot-houses, which are particularly numerous in that part of the town, and the drunken men whom he met continually, although it was a working day, completed the revolting misery of the picture. An expression of the profoundest disgust gleamed for a moment in the young man's refined face.”
“There are few places where there are so many gloomy, strong and queer influences on the soul of man as in Petersburg. The mere influences of...
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