APPLYING FREUDIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY TO THE LITERATURE AND LIFE OF FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

As a writer who famously aimed to capture the essence of humanity in his literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky often created incredibly intriguing, yet quite complex characters to accomplish this goal. Though psychology had not yet grown into an independent discipline during Dostoevsky\u27s tenure as a novelist, as the field began to emerge it became clearer that his literature touched upon many psychological tenets. Specifically, the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud would prove to be very similar to Dostoevsky\u27s writing, prompting many comparisons. This paper aims to apply Freudian psychological theory to Dostoevsky\u27s Crime and Punishment and The Double in an attempt to understand the intricacies of the focal characters. Additionally, it intends to look at the life of Dostoevsky through a Freudian perspective while providing insight into how his personal experiences have influenced his literature