In Our Time

Crime and Punishment

Nov 14, 2019

Guests Sarah Hudspith, Oliver Ready, and Sarah Young dive deep into the psyche of Raskolnikov, the troubled protagonist of Dostoevsky's classic. They discuss how Dostoevsky's harrowing experiences shaped the novel's exploration of morality, guilt, and the human condition. The intriguing characters, like the enigmatic Sonia and Svidrigailov, reveal complexities of good and evil. The conversation also contrasts Dostoevsky's themes with those of Tolstoy, shedding light on their literary rivalry and the depth of Dostoevsky's emotional narratives.

52:40

Creator website

Episode guests

Sarah Young

Oliver Ready

Sarah Hudspith

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Episode notes

Intro

2min

Transformative Trials: The Early Years of a Russian Literary Icon

9min

Raskolnikov's Descent: Crime and Conscience

15min

Exploring Morality and Isolation in Dostoevsky

15min

Contrasting Images: Dostoevsky and Tolstoy's Literary Rivalry

2min

Complex Morality in Dostoevsky's Characters

6min

The Turmoil of Creation

3min

Contrasting Literary Giants: Nabokov and Dostoevsky

2min

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the novel written by Dostoevsky and published in 1866, in which Raskolnikov, a struggling student, justifies his murder of two women, as his future is more valuable than their lives. He thinks himself superior, above the moral laws that apply to others. The police have little evidence against him but trust him to confess, once he cannot bear the mental torture of his crime - a fate he cannot avoid, any more than he can escape from life in St Petersburg and his personal failures.

The image above is from a portrait of Dostoevsky by Vasili Perov, 1872.

With

Sarah Hudspith Associate Professor in Russian at the University of Leeds

Oliver Ready Lecturer in Russian at the University of Oxford, Research Fellow at St Antony’s College and a translator of this novel

And

Sarah Young Associate Professor in Russian at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London

Producer: Simon Tillotson

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