[Music] in the introduction of crime and punishment Raskolnikov and impoverished students plans a crime during a hot 1860s July nights in st. Petersburg Russia he visits Ileana a greedy pawnbroker and memorizes where she keeps her money soon Raskolnikov reads a letter from his mother Polk area his sister dunia has survived a scandal after refusing the advances of her employer svidrigaïlov Dounia plans to marry Lou Jean a rich lawyer to help her family pulk area and dunya will visit rest Golikov soon raskolnikov's plan is robbing and killing Ileana during the novel's rising action a flashback reveals how Raskolnikov overheard a student talking about how illyana's death would benefit others confirming Raskolnikov's feelings Raskolnikov does in fact kill the pawnbroker with an axe and robs her but then kills illyana's half sister Lizaveta who appears unexpectedly he escapes without being seen the police summon dressed called the car for unpaid debts and he arouses suspicion by fainting as the police discuss the murders deeply alienated he becomes deliriously ill for days but his friend razumihin and a doctor zou Seema of care for him they observe his fascination with the murders Raskolnikov wants to get caught but he does not want to confess dunya and pol carry a visit Raskolnikov who forbids dunya to Mary Lou Jean they meet Razumikhin who falls for dunya but Raskolnikov's guilt continues to torture him ruskov meets with Porfiry a police investigator to report that he pawned items to Ileana Porfiry mentions an article Raskolnikov wrote about how extraordinary men are allowed to transgress moral boundaries without punishment on his way home a stranger calls Raskolnikov a murderer terrifying him svidrigaïlov visits Raskolnikov he wants to give dunya money as an apology but rust on the coffin suspicious Raskolnikov and his family uncover a lie about Raskolnikov and Sonia that Lou Jean wrote in a letter to dunya dunya breaks off her engagement Raskolnikov visit Sonia discovers that she knew Lizaveta and promises to tell Sonia who killed her and her pawnbroker sister the next morning Raskolnikov visits Porfiry but another man Nicolay confesses to the murders but soon after poor fury accuses Raskolnikov directly of committing the murders in the dramatic climax Raskolnikov finally confesses his crime to Sonia she is shocked but treats him compassionately smidge rege I love tells Raskolnikov that he has overheard his confession to Sonia and his stories reveal he's a sexual predator fixated on dunya svidrigaïlov lures dunya to his apartment and locks her in using resk on the car's crime to sexually blackmail her then threatens to rape her dunya tries to shoot him but fails svidrigaïlov asks of dunya can ever love him and she says no the next morning svidrigaïlov shoots himself in the falling action Raskolnikov says goodbye to his family returns to the police and makes his confession nine months later he goes to prison in Siberia for eight years in the novel's resolution Sonia follows him visiting him regularly after a serious illness he realizes he loves Sonia and is reborn into a new life looking positively toward the future [Music] seven russians are the central characters that comprised the tangled web of morality and murder that is Dostoyevsky's legendary novel crime and punishment Raskolnikov is a poverty-stricken 23 year old former law student conflicted in almost every way he's intelligent but egotistical and obsessive and his thoughts and actions can swing suddenly between extremes startling and confusing others however while deeply alienated from the world around him he often helps others who are suffering or in distress the murders he commits push him to the breaking point and he is haunted by what he has done his response to his crime makes him a lens for seeing which is grander the need for power or the power of love Sonia is 18 and forced into prostitution to support her alcoholic father ill stepmother and three step-siblings although this forces her to live apart from her family and hurts her reputation she endures without complaint Sonia is shy on the outside but she has great inner strength a pure soul with boundless compassion for the suffering of others acting as the novel's moral compass she represents suffering faith Redemption and the power of love Ileana Ivanova is a cruel pawn broker who gouges her customers any way she can then selfishly hoards the prophets and Raskolnikov murders her she abuses her gentle younger half sister Lizaveta beating her and treating her like a slave she may wear two crosses and plan to leave her money to a monastery but she is devoid of compassion charity or any true Christian ideals dunya is raw Skolnick AUVs younger sister both siblings are morose and hot-tempered both haughty and both generous but dunya is not as alienated or self-involved as Raskolnikov she loves her brother and is willing to make great sacrifices for him but she does not excuse his every fault she has an unshakable sense of integrity and is not afraid to say what she thinks Lou Jean also known as pyotr petrovitch cares far more about social appearances and money than deeper considerations like truth or love he longs for a wife who was attractive and educated but poor so she will look up to or even worship him lugina tends to use his money and social position to control others but his actions often give him away revealing him as a manipulative liar Razumikhin is a former college friend of Raskolnikov in contrast to Raskolnikov's pessimistic view of existence razumihin looks at life hopefully and constructively even when Raskolnikov pushes him away he remains a loyal friend caring for him at his lowest moments he also steps in to watch over Raskolnikov's mother and sister when Roscommon Kafka not often the novel's voice of reason he sees Raskolnikov and the society they live in with remarkable clarity svidrigaïlov is a repugnant 50 year old former gambler and sexual predator who has spent time in prison for debts and he's driven by his appetite for women and living his handsome face is a mask that hides his depravity he has designs on Raskolnikov sister dunia he's perceptive and charming but also highly manipulative Phiri guy love is also surprisingly generous but below the surface his conscience tortures him the garret the cross the French leader Napoleon and Lazarus are the main recurring symbols in crime and punishment ruskov's garret represents his poverty alienation arrogance and claustrophobic state of mind the tiny 5th floor room is messy and cramped he cannot stand up straight in it or stride across it it has little light or air the rooms location at the top of the house also represents the heights from which he views nearly everything and everyone around him looking down on others in contempt his self-imposed isolation in the room allows him to plot obsessively the murders he commits as well as to guiltily reflect tormented the cross is a symbol of Christianity Christ's death and salvation and it represents both faith and suffering displaying the cross can be a sincere or hollow gesture Ilyana the pawnbrokers faith is hollow she wears two crosses but lacks any Christian compassion Raskolnikov uses the sign of the Cross to trick her into believing his tightly wrapped package is a more valuable object upon distracting her with greed and providing him the opportunity to kill her Nicolay the house painter trades his cross for a drink symbolically rejecting his religion before he tries to commit suicide Sonya gives Rusco macabre cross before he confesses symbolizing both the burden of their shared suffering and the redemption promised by surrendering to faith by accepting Sonja's cross Raskolnikov begins the process of acknowledging his burden of responsibility and accepting the suffering of his punishment [Music] Napoleon rose to power in the wake of the French Revolution and conquered most of Europe achieving the title of Emperor in service of personal ambition although his military campaigns killed hundreds of thousands he was regarded through most of the 19th century as a great leader raskolonikov uses him as a prime example of the extraordinary man who is so brilliant and daring he has the right to shed blood Raskolnikov's crime is an attempt to be like this kind of man but he conveniently forgets the crimes of which Napoleon was guilty and the exile in which he spent his final years in the Bible's New Testament Christ brings Lazarus back to life after he's been dead for days Sonia reads the story to Raskolnikov on his first visit to her room the two main exurbs she reads focus on Lazarus's sister's declaration of faith in Christ as the Son of God an important prerequisite to raising Lazarus from the dead Raskolnikov is fascinated by this story even declaring his literal belief in it to Porfiry despite flip-flopping on religion in general ultimately the story of Lazarus promises new life through faith [Music] alienation crime suffering and morality powerful themes that underscore crime and punishment and the novel's enduring legacy alienation takes many forms and several characters struggle with being isolated or cut off from themselves or from others Raskolnikov alienates himself from those around him physically mentally and socially as a student and after leaving school he's been cooped up in his tiny room where his isolation feeds his delusions and monomania his alienation both contributes to and results from his crimes after the murders he finds he can no longer reach his loved ones across the chasm of his secret many other characters face alienation through poverty Sonia is alienated from her family and from normal society after turning to prostitution to support her loved ones Marmeladov and his wife katerina ivanovna are social outcasts dunya is threatened with alienation through Sidra guy loves overtures a situation that Lou Jean attempts to extort crime is a theme in the name of the novel and Dostoevsky explores it in a broad sense exploring how crime brings needless suffering upon oneself and others for example hit us calm akov commits murder he has a theory that extraordinary men can commit crimes or violate moral boundaries on their way to greatness without penalty but once he puts his theory into action he finds that it's flawed his conscience tortures him and becomes his psychological crime and punishment many other characters speak to the complexities of this theme including speedy guy love with his heinous crimes and ultimate suicide and Sonja's illegal prostitution but endless kindness and faith suffering is a double-edged sword for Dostoevsky it can destroy or redeem depending on the circumstance and Springs from a number of sources crime illness and disease poverty cruelty self-hatred alienation rejection and failure the way characters respond to their own suffering or the suffering of others often defines them nearly every character and crime and punishment suffers often with physical or moral consequences suffering is often psychological in nature many characters face inner conflicts and struggle painfully with their consciences morality is a conflict between traditional Orthodox Christianity and Russia the faith and then the new rational concepts that rest Kanaka favors based in logic and reason rational concepts of morality emphasised reason and logic as the best paths for ethical and social change traditional Christian beliefs were based in faith suffering sin and redemption raskolonikov forms and executes the theory based on the new morality but his conscience is rooted in the old morality based in religion the conflict ends up mentally unbalanced analogy focused on redemption through suffering is his path to a new life you