Psychological Diagnoses of Dostoevsky's characters?

[Dostov]

I am looking for information on the subject of Dostoevsky's major characters and their possible psychological diagnoses. Can someone give me a hand?

[black_abyss]

A good starting point would be the DSM-IV.  While it is difficult to assess a fictional creation, let alone assess such an amorphous figure well, The Brothers Karamazov gives you repeated actions by characters, which helps with a diagnosis.  

I will go out on a limb and proceed to put each character on the couch so to speak.  I believe that Fyodor definitely demonstrates narcissistic personality traits.  He has little empathy for others, which is amply demonstrated by his abandoning of his children, his wives, not to mention his lack of regard for Lizaveta.  He also thinks quite highly of himself and actually believes he was a good father, all evidence pointing to the contrary.  

In reading early on about Smerdyakov,I can't help but be reminded of the traits of schizoid personality disorder.  He has few close relations and appears to be a loner to a scary and unnatural degree.  

I'm currently re-reading TBK and have been keeping track of characters and their actions, I'm certain there's other things that can be found, but for now, those are some of my observations, however flawed, from the first 150 pages.

[Dostov]

I am particularly interested in the diagnosis of the underground man, as I identify with him quite a bit

[Worm]

"psychological diagnoses"... what an ugly lingua, that doesn't sound very humane to me..

i'm sure this question has been answered before in another topic on the board...

sometimes i wonder if D was attached to his fictional characters...

when it comes to the underground man, i think it's the usual story of people that are disappointed in people because they believe in other values (friendship, God, living, and so on) than the values of the world.  What's striking about the story of um, is that he perseveres in it, and actually forms thoughts about it... which is quite unique and rare and very ununderstandable to the world of today.... it's best to write such kinds of things in a big book, which, as we all know, is the surest way of reaching people well in the world of today.

anyway, to stay on-topic:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/brothersk/
(and like i said, there'll also be links in other topics)

[RodionRaskolnikov]

I really wouldn't be qualified to say, but I can speculate.

I think Raskolnikov might suffer from depression. And, as someone mentioned, it also seems likely he has a narcissistic personality disorder.

Smeryakov's behavior makes me wonder if he might be a sociopath. It's common for sociopaths to put on "a mask of normalcy". (For example, serial killer Albert Fish was seen as the kindly old man, Ted Bendy the good looking and charming college student, and John Wayne Gacy a businessman/political activist who entertained children as "Pogo the Clown".) Smeryakov convinced people that he was more naive and dim than he truly was (as the defense attorney in the novel pointed out), while he was actually rather intelligent and calculating, as he would have to be plan out such an elaborate crime. He also displayed narcissistic qualities as well. Then there's the torturing of cats (the picking up strays to hang and bury them, and the sticking pins in loaves of bread and feeding it to them), and as we know, animal torture is another known trait of sociopaths.

[Arkadii2004]

I highly recommend "Dostoevsky's Greatest Characters" by Bernard J. Paris (2008).  A brilliant analysis of The Underground Man, Raskolnikov, Ivan Karamozov, and Alyosha Karamazov. Based on the psychological theories of Karen Horney. Professor Paris (UofF) often plays off of Bahktin's and Frank's opinions and when disagreeing with them on character psychology is quite persuasive.

[Worm]

I think Raskolnikov might suffer from depression. And, as someone mentioned, it also seems likely he has a narcissistic personality disorder.

i'm still surprised so many people form such superficial opinions about Raskolnikow... esp. since it's the main character of the novel...

anyway, i just judge that by what is actually written on this forum, and not by what is unspoken

about those paragraphs concerning the socially deviated, i must say that i find their behavior quite childish and unimportant and irrelevant (regardless of the blablabla they use to justify it).  it is just remarkable and unique because it doesn't happen much that people fall so low.  and they also pollute everything with their problems, instead of working and doing their part for a better and cleaner and healthier environment.

green-peace v



the output of these novels is really amazing and esp. if you see how long they keep being read

[RodionRaskolnikov]

i'm still surprised so many people form such superficial opinions about Raskolnikow... esp. since it's the main character of the novel...

I think you're being a little unfair. Just because you disagree that doesn't mean others are necessarily being superficial.

The feelings that Dostoevsky describes for Raskolnikov sound very much like depression to me (whether he intended it or not... not). He mentions that he doesn't want to do much of anything other than sit alone immersed in his thoughts. He doesn't want to read, doesn't have any desire to be around others, doesn't even want to eat, doesn't want to do anything except think about his theories (and this is all before even committing the murder). He's very alienated, and that alienation tends to go hand and hand with depression.

Of course, you might say that his problem is spiritual malaise, that it's something deeper than simple depression. And Dostoevsky would probably be inclined to agree, but that doesn't mean people can't disagree with the artist. (People often have their own views of art which differ greatly from what the artist intended.) Not being a religious person, I'm inclined to disagree as well. After all, it wasn't Raskolnikov's beliefs (or lack there of) which caused him to commit murder. There were a lot of people at the time who shared similar beliefs, and none of them killed anyone. I'd personally attribute his actions to his alienation (which made it difficult for him to empathize with most people, since he had so little contact with them. If you notice, he was surprisingly empathic to those whose suffering he came to know, but the pawnbroker was just a blank slate to him, an inferior being, like he saw so many other people.) and all the other unique circumstances came about at just the right time and pushed him over the edge.

[Dostov]

i'm still surprised so many people form such superficial opinions about Raskolnikow... esp. since it's the main character of the novel...

I think you're being a little unfair. Just because you disagree that doesn't mean others are necessarily being superficial.

The feelings that Dostoevsky describes for Raskolnikov sound very much like depression to me (whether he intended it or not... not). He mentions that he doesn't want to do much of anything other than sit alone immersed in his thoughts. He doesn't want to read, doesn't have any desire to be around others, doesn't even want to eat, doesn't want to do anything except think about his theories (and this is all before even committing the murder). He's very alienated, and that alienation tends to go hand and hand with depression.

If he is alienated, doesn't like to be around others, doesn't even want to eat, spends all day thinking about his theories, etc, I doubt he has depression. Judging by what you said, schizoid personality disorder sounds more like it.

[Worm]

i'm still surprised so many people form such superficial opinions about Raskolnikow... esp. since it's the main character of the novel...

I think you're being a little unfair. Just because you disagree that doesn't mean others are necessarily being superficial.

The feelings that Dostoevsky describes for Raskolnikov sound very much like depression to me (whether he intended it or not... not). He mentions that he doesn't want to do much of anything other than sit alone immersed in his thoughts. He doesn't want to read, doesn't have any desire to be around others, doesn't even want to eat, doesn't want to do anything except think about his theories (and this is all before even committing the murder). He's very alienated, and that alienation tends to go hand and hand with depression.

Of course, you might say that his problem is spiritual malaise, that it's something deeper than simple depression. And Dostoevsky would probably be inclined to agree, but that doesn't mean people can't disagree with the artist. (People often have their own views of art which differ greatly from what the artist intended.) Not being a religious person, I'm inclined to disagree as well. After all, it wasn't Raskolnikov's beliefs (or lack there of) which caused him to commit murder. There were a lot of people at the time who shared similar beliefs, and none of them killed anyone. I'd personally attribute his actions to his alienation (which made it difficult for him to empathize with most people, since he had so little contact with them. If you notice, he was surprisingly empathic to those whose suffering he came to know, but the pawnbroker was just a blank slate to him, an inferior being, like he saw so many other people.) and all the other unique circumstances came about at just the right time and pushed him over the edge.

the disagreeing itself isn't why i stated that people opinions about Raskolnikow are superficial

i find your post long just to state that you want to disagree

when it comes to why he did his crime, i'd rather attribute it to himself - he's responsible for himself.  There were all kinds of ideas and emotions in him, but that's no excuse -  and above all, his crime was pointless - behaviour like that is a few sports down the ladder of human evolution - it's a bit of a shame people are still writing and thinking about this sort of thing, while it should have been out of the system for a long long long time

and i'm still surprised how few people form their own opinion about Raskolnikow, and just borrow ideas from some theory - just plain living and looking with your own eyes at reality, is still a rare thing in the world of today, apparently.
oh well, who cares, as long as i have my stereo

[El Capitan]

I am particularly interested in the diagnosis of the underground man, as I identify with him quite a bit

I'd say the underground man sounds a lot like schizotypal and schizoid personality disorders. He might have a few traits of narcissistic personality disorder, but I'm not so sure he fits the bill to a T. He also sounds like antisocial personality disorder.

I'd also venture that he could have traces of schizophrenia, but the defining characteristic of schizophrenia (and all psychotic disorders, in contrast with personality or mood disorders) is an extreme disconnect of the patient and reality as we know it. Although the underground man's actions are indeed very odd and disturbing, I'm not so sure that he's entirely detached from reality. Still, I don't think a diagnosis of schizophrenia would be a far-fetched idea either, so he may or may not have schizophrenia.

Edit: The poster boy for schizoid personality disorder is Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. If you liked Notes from the Underground and really emphasised with the underground man, you'd probably also like this movie (if you haven't seen it).

[Silvio]

Has anyone heard the story where Max Brod remarks
to Franz Kafka:
" I don't like Dostoyevsky's novels - all of the characters are mad!". To which Kafka replies:
" ah, but it is only incidental madness. Readers respond to those with similar madness to their own."
I have since used the term 'incidental madness' to
denote the behaviour of another which though it may be barking insane from my perspective doesn't break
any laws or impinge on others.
Silvio

[Dostov]

Edit: The poster boy for schizoid personality disorder is Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. If you liked Notes from the Underground and really emphasised with the underground man, you'd probably also like this movie (if you haven't seen it).

You got it wrong. Travis Bickle is the poster boy for schizotypal personality disorder.

[Silvio]

While my own psychological disorders have never been quite so severe, I wonder as to the certainty with which you feel able to diagnose Mr. Bickle.
Schitzophrenia is not so much a condition as an
umbrella term used to describe a large ammount of
psychopathologies. There is a list of perhaps a dozen
symptoms and if you manifest ,say, five of them then
you are a schitzophrenic. The symptoms are things like hearing voices, having delusions etc.
Really while western medicine has made some amazing strides in some fields, in others (like mental
health) we are really just incrementally more advanced than applying leeches). Incidentally do you
recall the fake name Travis gives to the secret service
man? Henry Krinkle

[El Capitan]

Edit: The poster boy for schizoid personality disorder is Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. If you liked Notes from the Underground and really empathised with the underground man, you'd probably also like this movie (if you haven't seen it).

You got it wrong. Travis Bickle is the poster boy for schizotypal personality disorder.

You're right.

While my own psychological disorders have never been quite so severe, I wonder as to the certainty with which you feel able to diagnose Mr. Bickle.
Schitzophrenia is not so much a condition as an
umbrella term used to describe a large ammount of
psychopathologies. There is a list of perhaps a dozen
symptoms and if you manifest ,say, five of them then
you are a schitzophrenic. The symptoms are things like hearing voices, having delusions etc.
Really while western medicine has made some amazing strides in some fields, in others (like mental
health) we are really just incrementally more advanced than applying leeches). Incidentally do you
recall the fake name Travis gives to the secret service
man? Henry Krinkle

Schizophrenia isn't the same as schizoid or schizotypal personality disorders. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder, which means that the person has become entirely detached from reality as we know it. Schizoid and schizotypal are personality disorders which are just disorders in which the subject has maladaptive behaviour without necessarily being entirely detached from reality. That's the difference between schizophrenia and the aforementioned personality disorders. The external symptoms might be very similar, but the subject isn't severely detached from reality with a personality disorder.

I didn't get the Harvey Krinkle reference. Who is he?

Edit: One of the reasons I even brought up Travis Bickle was that he's referenced in a lot of university textbooks on psychology for personality disorders, so I didn't diagnose him myself so much as build upon what other people have said about him.