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The Idiot is a novel written by the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1869.
After a long absence from Russia, Prince Lyov Nikolaievich Myshkin returns to the country. His mental condition is unclear: when younger he had blackouts and learning difficulties which were treated with some success in Switzerland, but much of what Russian society views as idiocy is simply honesty and trustfulness. The Myshkin family line is said to end with him and his cousin.
On the train to Saint Petersburg, Myshkin meets and befriends the dark and impassioned Rogozhin. The latter tells the prince about his passion for Nastassya Filipovna, a beautiful woman with a bad reputation. Myshkin arrives at the house of General Yepantchin, who is married to the only other living member of the Myshkin line. Myshkin learns that Ganya, a young go-getter and secretary of the General, wants to marry Nastassya for her dowry. The prince feels an irresistible desire to meet her.
At Nastassya's name-day party, Myshkin sees Rogozhin arrive drunk and offer the young woman a large amount of money to follow him. The prince perceives the despair of Nastassya and proposes to her in order to save her. She, believing the prince only pities her, flees with Rogozhin. The two men, formerly bound by friendship, become rivals. Rogozhin even tries to kill his friend.
Over the course of the novel, Myshkin grows closer to the General's daughter, Aglaya, but he eventually gives her up to save Nastassya. On the day of the marriage, however, Nastassya again flees with Rogozhin, who then kills her. The novel ends with Myshkin and Rogozhin lying together by the body of Nastassya: Myshkin sinks into total insanity, Rogozhin is sentanced to labor in Siberia, and Aglaya rushes into an unhappy marriage.
By making of Myshkin a kind of ideal incarnation of kindness and humility, Dostoyevsky shows what can happen when such a man is confronted by society.
Several film makers have filmed the novel, among them Akira Kurosawa.
Television adaptation
In 2003 Russian State Television produced a 10 hour TV-series of the work, which had very high ratings. Some critics said it was a good sign that an ideal of a positively beautiful person found such acclaim from the Russian public. See The Idiot (TV series).
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