Orthodox Subtexts in Crime and Punishment: Dostoevsky’s Larger Context

Russian Orthodox religious subtexts are of a specific nature. Fyodor Dostoevsky uses both liturgical and biblical references, but a Russian speaker often perceives even a scriptural quote or allusion primarily through its liturgical context. Sometimes the same reference has two levels of allusion—as perceived in the biblical context and, separately, as it would be known to Russian speakers in Dostoevsky’s time, even if they were only nominally Orthodox or merely had Orthodox friends.