Elizabeth Dalton
MYSHKIN'S EPILEPSY
In " Dostoevsky and Pa rri cide," Freud argues tha t Dos–
toevs ky's epilepsy was th e central express ion of hi s neuros is, and
thus fundamental to hi s life and character.
If
thi s is indeed the case,
epilepsy must also h ave crucial signifi cance for Dos toevsky's work .
T hro ughout mos t o f hi s adult life, he endured not onl y the violent and
humili a ting
grand ma l
se izures, whi ch during some peri ods occurred
several times a week, but also th e agita ted , irritabl e di sori enta ti on tha t
p receded them and the hours and days of wea kness and depress ion tha t
foll owed . T he extraordinary experi ences associa ted with the fits and
the sta te or conditi on o f being an epil epti c must certainl y have shaped
Dos toevs ky's work and the concepti on of experi ence tha t informs it in
some intima te and p rofound way.
There are several epil epti cs in the novels. In
Th e Brothers Karama–
zov.
th e epil eptic Smerdya kov is a pa rri cide, the debased alter-ego of
Ivan and indeed of a ll the brothers. In
Th e Possessed
it is sugges ted tha t
Kiril ov, th e tormented and visiona ry young nihili st who commits
sui cide, is o r mi ght have become ep il epti c. And above all there is
Myshkin , th e hero of
Th e Idiot.
Myshkin is o ne o f th e mos t extraord i–
nary creati ons in all of fi cti on . Dostoevs ky intended him to be the
representa ti on of idea l and absolute mo ral beauty- "a pos iti vely
beautiful man ," a sort of Russian Chri st who would point the way to
the moral regenerati on of Russ ia and even the worl d. And Myshkin is
indeed an irres istibl y a ttracti ve and lo vea bl e character-gentl e, com–
pass iona te, charming - a radi ant fi gure of Chri sti an cha rity. Yet hi s
charity is strangely fl awed , and almost entirely des tructi ve in its effects.
Altho ugh Mys hkin himself is chaste, and indeed appa rentl y impotent,
he is drawn comp ul sively
to
the bruta l pass ion of Nas tasya and
Rogozhin. Every life he touches deep ly is ruin ed , and a t the end of the
novel Mys hkin himself sinks into idi ocy and stu por.
At the hea rt o f th e eni gma p resented by Myshkin and the novel is
ep il epsy.
It
is a terrifying and degrading illness: the se izure is a sudden
and total loss o f contro l and even of conscio usness. But a t the same
