Фeдор Достоевский vs Фридрих Шиллер: от романтического разбойника к Федьке Каторжному

Abstract

The article raises the question why Dostoevsky entered European literature as the first among equals, despite his constant rejection of the West. The author bases his research on the fact of “borrowing” and processing plots in the history of literature as a methodological basis for his analysis, citing well-known examples from the works of Shakespeare, who took other people’s plots and created his masterpieces on their basis. Dostoevsky, in his great Pentateuch, also relied on various plots of European literature, rethinking them. The research focuses on a comparison of the texts of Schiller (“The Robbers”) and Dostoevsky (“The Landlady” and “The Karamazov Brothers”), not only in literary and intellectual contexts, but also in connection with significant changes in Russian culture in the second half of 19th century. The author draws attention to the reader’s perception of the images of Schiller and Dostoevsky and shows that Schiller’s hero — the ataman of robbers Karl Moor — was endowed with the qualities of a strong personality, like Robin Hood, which attracted the reading youth to imitate this hero. In “The Landlady”, old Murinis a robber, but also an old believer who reads books. His terrible past does not show nobility and cannot cause positive emotions in the reader. The article examines the internal connection between the actions of old man Murin and the future image and idea of the Grand Inquisitor. The author believes that the writer’s real convict experience allowed him to depict Murin and other characters as carrying the evil: Fedka the Convict in “Demons” does not distinguish between good and evil, has no conscience, easily kills and easily forgets about the death of the person he killed. The new emphasis in the article is the comparison of the idea of “returning the ticket” to the Lord by Schiller and Dostoevsky. In Schiller’s famous poem “Resignatio n”, the words about “returning the ticket” to the entrance to paradise express the poet’s lyrical alter ego. Dostoevsky gives these words to Ivan Karamazov, who is not the spokesman for the ideas of the writer, for whom faith in God was the center of his world outlook.