The Theme of Threshold in Dostoevsky’s Novel “Crime and Punishment”

Abstract

This article examines the theme of threshold in F.M. Dostoevsky`s novel «Crime and Punishment». The threshold is represented in an unusual sense and plays the role of a metaphorical and multi-valued image that helps to find some new sides of the characters and new key moments in the plot. It can be an edge separating two different spaces, times, dreams and reality, life and death – each of these «thresholds» is represented in the work and plays an important role in the development of both the plot and the personalities of the characters. A threshold implies the need to overstep it, and the purpose of the article is to show how this overcoming takes place, and how this decision affects the lives of the heroes in the future. Rodion Raskolnikov, Dunya, Svidrigailov, and, of course, Sonya Marmeladova were forced to face different «thresholds». A major role in the study of this theme was played by the work of Konstantin Mochulsky – a famous Russian critic, who published an important work about Dostoevsky’s life and literary work in 1947. He studied the writer’s biography deeply and thoroughly, as well as his works, and dedicated to them some the chapters of his work. Chapter 13 is dedicated to the novel “Crime and Punishment” in which the critic not only operates with facts from the writer's life during the creation of the novel, but also gives an original interpretation of its hidden meaning. Mochulsky does not refer to the theme of threshold in his work. As a matter of fact, the theme has not yet been practically developed by researchers, and hopefully the ideas expressed in the article could be used as a foundation or starting point for further searches.

Keywords

• threshold
• quotes
• interpretation
• dostoyevsky
• «crime and punishment»
• mochulsky