Idiot

Inspired by an image of Christ's suffering, Dostoyevsky set out to create a protagonist with &quote;a truly beautiful soul&quote; and to trace the fate of such an individual as he comes into contact with the brutal reality of contemporary society. The novel begins when the innocent epileptic Prince Myshkin - the 'idiot' - arrives in St Petersburg and finds himself drawn into a web of violent and passionate relationships that leads to blackmail, betrayal and eventually murder.