Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Genius or Not?
Barbara Scarboro
Professor Lorraine Gass
English 202
24 September 2012
FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY: GENIUS OR NOT?
What makes a person a genius? Is it thru the lessons that are taught by teachers or is it a natural phenomenon that we are born with? Some believe that Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a genius because of his epileptic medical condition. We will explore different opinions on the matter and debate if epilepsy could have contributed to his creative mind.
Dostoyevsky was a Russian novelist who used his psychological interpretations to create dramatic and dark overtones to his stories. It is argued that the dramatic events in his life, which included his mock execution, imprisonment in a Siberian jail, and his epileptic seizures, put him in a state of mind that helped him to create his greatest characters. He began to have his epileptic episodes while in prison is Siberia. It has been argued that this experience contributed to his new way of thinking about his personal beliefs and how he viewed the world. Could the epileptic episodes have touched on part of the brain that he had never used before? Could it have produced new signals in the brain that created a deeper and more philosophical interpretation of the world he was in? People with epilepsy have an increased risk of poor self-esteem, depression, and suicide. It is not uncommon for people to develop emotional and behavioral problems related to this disease. In his era, epilepsy was not well known about and its characteristics. Many argued about what type of epilepsy that he had. His wife Anna witnessed some of these fits and wrote about it in her biographies. Dostoyevsky used his illness and suffering as a theme to his some of his stories. It influenced many aspects of his work and enabled him to understand and feel things in such depths which would not have been possible had he not suffered from the disease.
Dostoyevsky had an intense connection into the human psyche. He was more
Professor Lorraine Gass
English 202
24 September 2012
FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY: GENIUS OR NOT?
What makes a person a genius? Is it thru the lessons that are taught by teachers or is it a natural phenomenon that we are born with? Some believe that Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a genius because of his epileptic medical condition. We will explore different opinions on the matter and debate if epilepsy could have contributed to his creative mind.
Dostoyevsky was a Russian novelist who used his psychological interpretations to create dramatic and dark overtones to his stories. It is argued that the dramatic events in his life, which included his mock execution, imprisonment in a Siberian jail, and his epileptic seizures, put him in a state of mind that helped him to create his greatest characters. He began to have his epileptic episodes while in prison is Siberia. It has been argued that this experience contributed to his new way of thinking about his personal beliefs and how he viewed the world. Could the epileptic episodes have touched on part of the brain that he had never used before? Could it have produced new signals in the brain that created a deeper and more philosophical interpretation of the world he was in? People with epilepsy have an increased risk of poor self-esteem, depression, and suicide. It is not uncommon for people to develop emotional and behavioral problems related to this disease. In his era, epilepsy was not well known about and its characteristics. Many argued about what type of epilepsy that he had. His wife Anna witnessed some of these fits and wrote about it in her biographies. Dostoyevsky used his illness and suffering as a theme to his some of his stories. It influenced many aspects of his work and enabled him to understand and feel things in such depths which would not have been possible had he not suffered from the disease.
Dostoyevsky had an intense connection into the human psyche. He was more
Cited: Britannica, Encyclopedia. "Fyodor Dostoyevsky." 2012. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. 25 September 2012 . Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Norton Anthology World Literature Volume 2. Norton, 2009. Gurvich-Lishchiner, Sophia. "Chaadev-Herzen-Dostoevsky: Individual And Reason In The Creative Mind." Russian Studies In Literature 43.3 (2007): 6-54. Hooten, Jessica Lynice. "Demonic Authority Of The Autonomous Self in O 'Connor and Dostoevsky." Flannery O 'Connor Review 8 (2010): 117-129. Isupov, Konstantin G. "Dostoevsky 's Transcendental Esthetic." Russian Studies In Philosophy 50.3 (2011): 68-87. Webster, Merriam. "Epilepsy." 2012. Merriam Webster Dictionary. 20 September 2012 . —. "Genius." 2012. Merriam Webster Dictionary. 20 September 2012 .