Influences+on+Dostoyevsky

LITERARY INFLUNCES ON DOSTOEVSKY

The information that we selected focused on the major influences on Dostoevsky’s life. Although these ranged from poets to socialism itself, we narrowed it down to summarizing the influence of two important literary figures. One major influence for Dostoevsky was Alexander Pushkin, a renowned Russian poet in the early 1800’s. The major way that Pushkin influenced Dostoevsky was through, “his exquisite use of language.” This language influences Dostoevsky in the writing of his books. With his use of language he influenced not only Dostoevsky, but also other important Russian authors, such as Tolstoy and Chekov. Pushkin is most known by all by his famous poem, Eugene Onegin. Dostoevsky’s respect for Pushkin is clearly seen as he declared after Pushkin’s death, “that if he weren’t already wearing clothes, he would put them on, to mark the poet's passing." Another influence on Dostoevsky was Leo Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy was an author who lived in Russia during the same time period as Dostoevsky. His style is noted for its “pacifism, renunciation of wealth, and a belief of self improvement”. The two were thought of as rivals. Each reached for the title of “Russia’s Greatest Novelist and Russia’s Greatest Moral Philosopher”. Dostoevsky never really learned from Tolstoy’s views, but rather tried to one-up him in his works. When Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace, it inspired Dostoevsky directly. In fact, Dostoevsky’s desire to write The Brothers Karamazov is believed to have stemmed from the success of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. However, these are only two literary figures that influenced Dostoevsky. Writers are often influenced by the works that come before them, especially when these works are based around their same culture. The content on this page is beneficial because of the likelihood that any influences on Dostoevsky were shadowed or echoed in his works. Knowing not only the life, but the important lives and ideas surrounding Dostoevsky help a reader infer and make decisions about his meaning for writing a story. This page is especially helpful, because it is centered on Doestoevsky. In addition to including several prominent Russian writers, they also describe the impact that they had on Doestoevsky and his work.





By Paul Marx, Andy Wargin, and Matt Zuber