3. Dickens’s influence on Dostoevskij
In his Diary of a Writer Dostoevskij wrote:
We understand Dickens in Russia, I am
convinced, almost as well as the English; maybe even
we love him no less than his own countrymen; and
yet how typical, distinctive, and national Dickens is.
Dostoevskij understood the powerful artistic vision
of Dickens; admiring especially Dickens's humbler
characters. As Dickens decided to be their voice in
Great Britain, so Dostoevskij decided to be their
voice in Russia.
4. common characteristics
humble characters
sophisticated plots
a great numbers of characters
the "wisdom of the heart“ , which involves
compassion for the insulted and injured
The attitude both writers express towards the social
issues of crime and punishment
Their hometowns, London and Sankt Petersburg, are
the main characters of their novels
5. Dostoevskij and Sankt Petersburg
Dostoevskij like Balzac, Baudelaire, Dickens, and
Gogol - was among the first to recognize the
symbolic possibilities of city life and imagery drawn
from the city
The crowded streets and squares, the shabby houses
and taverns, the noise and stench, all are
imaginatively transformed into a rich store of
metaphors for states of mind
6. “... in St. Petersburg, the most abstract and
intentional city on the entire globe…”
7. From Chapter 5 Crime and Punishment
In this way he walked right
across Vassilevskij
Ostrov, came out on to the
Lesser Neva, crossed the
bridge and turned towards
the islands. The greenness
and freshness were at first
restful to his weary eyes
after the dust of the town
and the huge houses that
hemmed him in and
weighed upon him. Here
there were no taverns, no
stifling closeness, no
stench.
8. Dickens’s London
London is as much a character in Charles Dickens's
novels. To Dickens, London was a living, breathing
entity for which he had an enduring fascination. He
loved its diversity yet hated its inequalities, and his
descriptions of the sights, sounds, and smells of the
city are among the most evocative passages in
English literature.
9. “inanimate London was a sooty spectre, divided
in purpose between being visible and invisible”
10. From Chapter 8 Oliver Twist
The street was very narrow
and muddy, and the air
was impregnated with
filthy odours. There were
a good many small
shops; but the only stock
in trade appeared to be
heaps of children, who,
even at that time of
night, were crawling in
and out at the doors, or
screaming from inside.
