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Full Title Crime and Punishment
Author Fyodor Dostoevsky
Type of work Novel
Genre Psychological drama
Language Russian
Time and place written 1865–1866, St. Petersburg, Russia
Date of first publication 1866; appeared serially in The Russian Messenger before being published in book form in 1867
Publisher The serial edition was published by the editor of The Russian Messenger, Mikhail Katkov; the two-volume book version was published by Bazanov.
Narrator Third-person omniscient
Climax Raskolnikov’s confession in Part VI, Chapter VIII
Protagonist Raskolnikov
Antagonists Luzhin, Porfiry Petrovich, Svidrigailov, Raskolnikov’s conscience
Settings (time) 1860s
Settings (place) St. Petersburg and a prison in Siberia
Point of view The story is told primarily from the point of view of Raskolnikov but occasionally switches to the perspective of Svidrigailov, Razumikhin, and Dunya.
Falling action The Epilogue, in which Raskolnikov, imprisoned in Siberia, discovers that he loves Sonya
Tense Past
Foreshadowing In Part I, Chapter I, when Raskolnikov rehearses the murder of the pawnbroker; throughout the rest of the novel, whenever Raskolnikov considers confessing
Tones Tragic, emotional, melodramatic, critical, despairing, fatalistic, confessional
Themes Alienation from society, the psychology of crime and punishment, religious redemption, the importance of family, nihilism, the “superman”
Motifs Poverty
Symbols The city as a symbol of Raskolnikov’s internal state; the cross as a symbol of religious redemption
