The Possessed (novel) Totally Explained

Everything about The Possessed Novel totally explained

For the theatrical adaptation by Albert Camus, see The Possessed (play). The Possessed (In Russian: Бесы, tr. Besy), also translated as The Devils or Demons, is an 1872 novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. For an explanation of the marked difference in the English-language title, please see the section "Note on the title" below.
   An extremely political book, The Possessed is a testimonial of life in Imperial Russia in the late 19th century.
   As the revolutionary democrats begin to rise in Russia, different ideologies begin to collide. Dostoevsky casts a critical eye on both the left-wing idealists, exposing their ideas and ideological foundation as demonic, and the conservative establishment's ineptitude in dealing with those ideas and their social consequences.
   This form of intellectual conservativism tied to the Slavophil movement of Dostoevsky's day, is seen to have continued on into its modern manifestation in individuals like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Dostoevsky's novels focusing on the idea that utopias and positivists ideas, in being utilitarian, were unrealistic and unobtainable.
   The book has five primary ideological characters: Verkhovensky, Shatov, Stavrogin, Stepan Trofimovich, and Kirilov. Through their philosophies, Dostoevsky describes the political chaos seen in 19th-Century Russia.

Note on the title

The title has been an ongoing source of confusion among readers unfamiliar with the work. There are at least three popular translations: The Possessed, The Devils, and Demons. This is largely a result of Constance Garnett's earlier translation which popularized the novel and gained it notoriety as The Possessed among English-speakers; however, later Dostoevsky scholars said the original translation was inaccurate. These scholars argued that The Possessed "points in the wrong direction," and interpreted the original Russian title Бесы (Besy) as referring not to those who are "possessed" but rather to those who are doing the possessing. Some might see the discrepancy as mere semantics; however, others more closely acquainted with the text insist that the difference is crucial to a full understanding of the novel:

It would be simpler if the title were indeed The Possessed, as it was first translated into English (and into French -- a tradition to which Albert Camus contributed in his dramatization of the novel). This misrendering made it possible to speak of Dostoevsky's characters as demoniacs in some unexamined sense, which lends them a certain glamor and even exonerates them to a certain extent. We do see a number of people here behaving as if they were 'possessed.' The implications of the word are almost right, but it points in the wrong direction. And in any case it isn't the title Dostoevsky gave his novel. Discovering that the Russian title Besy refers not to possessed but to possessors, we then apply this new term 'demons' to the same set of characters in the same unexamined way -- a surprising turnabout, if one thinks of it.

As a result, newer editions of the novel are rarely if ever rendered under Garnett's earliest title.

Synopsis

The novel takes place in a provincial Russian setting, primarily on the estates of Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky and Varvara Stavrogin. Stepan Trofimovich's son, Pyotr Verkhovensky, is an aspiring revolutionary conspirator who attempts to organize a knot of revolutionaries in the area. He considers Varvara Stavrogin's son, Nikolai, central to his plot because he thinks Nikolai Stavrogin has no sympathy for mankind whatsoever.
Verkhovensky gathers conspirators like the philosophizing Shigalyov, suicidal Kirillov, and the former military man Virginsky, and he schemes to solidify their loyalty to him and each other by murdering Ivan Shatov, a fellow conspirator. Verkhovensky plans to have Kirillov, who was committed to killing himself, take credit for the murder in his suicide note. Kirillov complies and Verkhovensky murders Shatov, but his scheme falls apart when Nikolai Stavrogin, tortured by his own misdeeds, kills himself. Verkhovensky escapes, but the remainder of his aspiring revolutionary crew is arrested.

Historical Origins

The Possessed is a combination of two separate novels that Dostoevsky was working on. One was a commentary on the real-life murder in 1869 by the socialist revolutionary group ("People's Vengeance") of one of its own members (Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov). The character Pyotr Verkhovensky is based upon the leader of this revolutionary group, Sergey Nechayev, who was found guilty of this murder. Sergey Nechayev was a close confidant of Mikhail Bakunin who had direct influence over both Nechayev and the "People's Vengeance". Also the character Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky is based upon Timofey Granovsky. The other novel eventually melded into Demons was originally a religious work. The most immoral character Stavrogin was to be the hero of this novel, and is now commonly viewed as the most important character in Demons.

Characters

Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin is the main character of the novel. A complex figure, he's many anti-social traits that mark him as a manipulative psychopathic personality.
Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky is the philosopher and intellectual that's partly to blame for the revolutionary ideas that fuel the destruction that occurs in the book. Who's one famous work was based on the idea of Apocatastasis. He served as a father figure to Nikolai Vsevolodovich when Stavrogin was a child. His character is based on the intellectual Timofey Granovsky.
Pyotr Stepanovich Verkhovensky is the son of Stepan and the cause of much of the destruction. He plays at being a true believer revolutionary though his only goal is to have power. His character was actually based on the revolutionary Sergey Nechayev.
Shigalyov is a self-confessed anarchistic social theorist. His character is intended to embody everything that Dostoyevsky's image of Christ does not; he is, in essence, the antithesis of Christ.
Ivan Shatov is a son of former serf, as well as a former university student and another intellectual who has turned his back on his leftist ideas. This change of heart is what attracts Pyotr Stepanovich Verkhovensky to plot Shatov's murder. Shatov is based on I. I. Ivanov, a student who was murdered by Sergey Nechayev for speaking out against Nechayev's radical propaganda, an actual event which served as the initial impetus for Dostoyevsky's novel.
Alexei Nilych Kirillov is a Russian engineer who has been driven to Nihilism and insanity by a failed philosophical quest.
Varvara Stavrogina is Nikolai's mother and is a rich lady who plays at being leftist.
Captain Lebyadkin is the drunken former officer whose sister is secretly married to Nikolai.
Fedka the Convict is a roaming criminal suspected of several thefts and murders in the novel.
Mavriky Nikolaevich Drozdov is a visiting gentleman and guest of Ms. Stavrogin.
Maria Timofeevna Lebyadkin is Captain Lebyadkin's sister, rumored to be married to Nikolai Stavrogin's past. She is crippled.
Bishop Tikhon is a bishop who, in Dostoevsky's original drafts, Stavrogin visited for guidance, and revealed some of the disturbing events of his past. Their interview has little effect on Stavrogin, but provides the reader a better understanding of his background. However, this chapter wasn't accepted by the censors and Dostoevsky excised it from the original version, in which Bishop Tikhon isn't mentioned. Most modern editions of The Possessed include this chapter, called "Stavrogin's Confession" or "At Tikhon's" in an appendix.

Ideologies

'Demons' is often noted for the range of clashing ideologies present in the novel. As in most Dostoevsky works, certain characters are descriptive of specific philosophies.

Anarchism, embodied by Pyotr Verkhovensky, is an extreme ideology that demands the destruction of the current social order. A description of Verkhovensky's philosophy of political change is posited as "the method of a hundred million heads," referring to the predicted death toll.

Shigalyovism is a philosophy specific to the book and particularly of the character Shigalyov. Very similar to barracks communism, Shigalyovism demands that ninety percent of society be reduced to a condition of inhuman slavery so the other actually useful ten percent of society is free to make progress. Dostoyevsky advances this bizarre doctrine, not with the intention of proposing a viable philosophy, but rather an inane one, that lends weight to his portayal of Shigalyov and his fellow conspirators as radical "demons", themselves more caricatures than accurate reflections of revolutionaries.

Conservatism is embodied by the provincial governor Andrei Antonovich Von Lembke, and is shown to be incapable of dealing with subversive extremism.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

1969, BBC mini-series "The Possessed" adapted by Lennox Phillips starring Keith Bell; also broadcast on PBS television in 1972.

1984, French drama "La femme publique"(The Public Woman) is a film inspired from the novel.

1988, Les Possédés adapted by Andrzej Wajda.Further Information

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