19th-Century Russian Literature
Classic Literature III: The Modern Era
Course 3 · Chapter 2 · 19th-Century Russian Literature
Fyodor Dostoevsky: Major Works
Fyodor Dostoevsky's major works include Notes from Underground (1864), Crime and Punishment (1866), and The Brothers Karamazov (serialized 1879–80, published 1880).
A Mock Execution That Shaped a Career
Dostoevsky was arrested for his involvement with the Petrashevsky Circle, a group of intellectuals discussing utopian socialism and banned literature, and condemned to death alongside twenty-one others on 16 November 1849. On 22 December 1849, he was taken to Semyonovsky Square, tied to a post, and blindfolded, prepared for execution by firing squad.
Epilepsy and Prince Myshkin
Dostoevsky had a real, documented epileptic condition, and drew directly on his own experience — including the transcendent, almost spiritual "auras" some patients report just before a seizure — in creating Prince Myshkin, the epileptic protagonist of The Idiot, whose condition is tied directly to his own heightened spiritual sensitivity and vulnerability.
Leo Tolstoy: War, Peace, and a Married Woman's Fall
Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (1869) is set primarily during the Napoleonic Wars, centered on the 1812 French invasion of Russia, blending real historical figures — Napoleon, Kutuzov — with fictional characters. Anna Karenina, serialized 1875–77, was published as a complete book in 1878.
A Spiritual Crisis That Rejected His Own Novels
Tolstoy underwent a genuine, profound spiritual and existential crisis later in life — including real suicidal despair — documented in A Confession, written 1879–80 and published in 1882. In it, he came to view his own earlier great novels as little more than a young man's vanity. The crisis led him toward a distinct moral philosophy sometimes called "Tolstoyanism" — a Christian-anarchist outlook centered on the Sermon on the Mount, pacifism, nonresistance to evil, and simple living.
A Real, Documented Influence on Gandhi
Tolstoy wrote A Letter to a Hindu on 14 December 1908, addressed to Tarak Nath Das, arguing for nonviolent moral resistance over armed rebellion against colonial rule. A young Mohandas Gandhi read it, sought Tolstoy's own permission to reprint it in his newspaper, Indian Opinion, and corresponded directly with him from October 1909 until Tolstoy's death in November 1910. Gandhi himself credited this exchange as a real influence on his own developing philosophy of nonviolent resistance, satyagraha.
A Death at a Railway Station He Never Meant to Reach
On the night of 28 October 1910, amid ongoing domestic conflict tied directly to his own ascetic beliefs — including real disputes with his wife Sophia over property and copyright — Tolstoy secretly left home, seeking anonymity and solitude. He fell ill with pneumonia and died on 20 November 1910 at Astapovo, a remote railway station he had never intended as any kind of destination, under intense national and press attention.
Two Russian Giants, Side by Side
| Fyodor Dostoevsky | Leo Tolstoy | |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | 1821–1881 | 1828–1910 |
| Defining crisis | A staged mock execution and Siberian exile | A late-life spiritual crisis rejecting his own great novels |
| Major works | Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, Notes from Underground | War and Peace, Anna Karenina |
| Lasting influence | Psychological realism; existential and religious themes | Christian-anarchist "Tolstoyanism"; direct influence on Gandhi |
Questions to Sit With
The Tsar's mock execution was a deliberately staged psychological cruelty, not a genuine reprieve granted at the last second. Does knowing this changes how you think about its effect on Dostoevsky's own later writing, compared to a scenario where the reprieve really was spontaneous?
Tolstoy came to regard War and Peace and Anna Karenina — now considered two of the greatest novels ever written — as vain, youthful ambition. Do you find that self-assessment credible, or does it say more about the crisis he was going through than about the actual worth of the books?
Tolstoy's own late-life philosophy directly shaped Gandhi's approach to nonviolent resistance, which in turn influenced movements around the world. How far do you think a writer's ideas can travel from their original context before the connection back to the source becomes essentially invisible?
Quick Reference — Chapter 2
- Dostoevsky (1821–1881) — Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov
- A deliberately staged 1849 mock execution, timed for psychological effect, commuted at the last moment to Siberian exile — profoundly shaped his later themes of mortality, redemption, and faith
- His own documented epilepsy directly shaped Prince Myshkin in The Idiot
- Tolstoy (1828–1910) — War and Peace (set during the 1812 French invasion of Russia) and Anna Karenina
- A genuine late-life spiritual crisis (A Confession, 1882) led to "Tolstoyanism" and a 1901 Holy Synod declaration, popularly but imprecisely called "excommunication"
- Real documented correspondence with a young Gandhi, directly influencing his own philosophy of satyagraha
- Died in 1910 at Astapovo, a railway station he never intended to reach, after secretly leaving home
What's Next
Chapter 3: Realism — Flaubert, Dickens, and George Eliot.