Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, published in 1866 in installments in the journal The Russian Messenger. It follows Rodion Raskolnikov, a poor former student in St. Petersburg who murders a pawnbroker, convinced that an exceptional person can transgress ordinary morality for a higher purpose. The rest of the book is a psychological study of his guilt, fear and isolation as he is pursued by the investigator Porfiry Petrovich. His meeting with the devout Sonya, a young woman forced into prostitution, leads him toward confession and exile in Siberia. The novel explores poverty, ideas and redemption and is among the most influential works of world literature.
Before and after
- 2 November 1865Birth of Warren G. Harding
- 26 November 1865Publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- 8 December 1865Birth of Jean Sibelius
- 1866Founding of Nestlé
- 1866Publication of Crime and Punishment
- from 1866 to 1868Red Cloud's War
- 1866Origins of Christian Science
- 1866Gregor Mendel publishes his experiments on plant hybrids
- 29 January 1866Birth of Romain Rolland
More in Art, literature & culture
- 1792Publication of Dream of the Red Chamber
- 21 February 1848Publication of The Communist Manifesto
- 18 September 1851Founding of The New York Times
- 1857Rise of Symbolism
- 28 December 1895The Lumiere brothers hold the first public film screening
- 1909Rise of Futurism
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.