• 3.1: Dostoevsky on the Problem of Freedom

    • Aleksandr Bondarenko's "Prominent Russians: Fyodor Dostoevsky" URL

      Read this article, which introduces Dostoevsky. As you read, pay particular attention to the details of Dostoevsky's imprisonment.

    • Dr. Terry Eagleton's "Freedom by Necessity" URL

      Read literary critic Terry Eagleton's essay on Dostoevsky. As you read, note the different ways in which Dr. Eagleton defines freedom as it appears in the works of Dostoevsky. Pay particular attention to the way in which Eagleton applies the lessons learned in his readings of Dostoevsky to the American way of life. Ask yourself what the human desire for absolute and total freedom means. Can we be absolutely and totally free? What gets in the way of our absolute and total freedom? 

    • Yale University: Dr. Robert-Louis Jackson's "Dostoevsky in the Twentieth Century" URL

      Read Dr. Jackson's journal article. As you read, ask yourself what the author means by calling Dostoevsky a "contemporary" writer. Note the ways in which Dr. Jackson believes Dostoevsky is relevant today.