The Idiot

The Idiot is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published serially in the journal The Russian Messenger in 1868–9. The novel examines the consequences of placing such a unique individual at the center of the conflicts, desires, passions and egoism of worldly society, both for the man himself and for those with whom he becomes involved. It explores themes of innocence, love, and the destructiveness of human nature.