On the Threshold of Representation: The Function of the Holbein Christ in The Idiot - Barbara Fister
The Idiot is a novel which is frequently characterized as a flawed masterpiece, a grand experiment that doesn't quite come off. Critics are often drawn by it, yet defeated by its perplexing central character, the "truly good man" Prince Myshkin, who is unable to bring his goodness to bear on society without disastrous results. The Christ figure is a social misfit who ends his foray into society with a retreat into idiocy, offering no hope of resurrection. His moments of transcendence seem only, to his witnesses, horrifying epileptic seizures; his attempts at redeeming the fallen only drive them into further depths. Why does Dostoevsky offer us a vision of a Christ that is not a redeemer but a failure? It seems a calculated blow to our belief in goodness. As Myshkin says of the painting of Christ in the tomb that is frequently referred to in the novel, it is an image that could make one lose one's faith. I would like to focus on the play of images in the novel, particularly on the Holbein painting, and on its iconography, in order to gain some clues to understanding the Christ figure, Myshkin, and his place in The Idiot. I plan to contrast that painting’s iconography with the traditions of the Russian icon and its approach to portraying the truly good, and finally to come to some conclusions about how Dostoevsky tries our faith and for what narrative purposes he does so.
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