Cityscape
This Russian capital city serves as the oppressive urban setting of Crime and Punishment.
What is St. Petersburg?
This oppressive summer condition mirrors Raskolnikov’s mental state throughout much of the novel. Name the condition and how it shows itself within Raskolnikov.
What is heat and fever?
This is the profession (and setting) of Alyona Ivanovna's apartment, where the crime occurs.
What is a pawnbroker's shop?
The yellow color recurring in buildings and rooms is often associated with this condition.
What is sickness/decay?
Raskolnikov lives in one of these cramped, coffin-like rented rooms.
What is a garret?
The frequent presence of this element contributes to the city’s filth and imagery of moral decay.
What is dust/dirt?
This establishment, frequently visited by Marmeladov, represents escape and degradation.
What is a tavern/bar?
The city’s overwhelming noise and crowding reflect this aspect of Raskolnikov’s inner life.
What is mental turmoil?
The city’s narrow alleys and crowded tenements reflect this broader social condition affecting most characters.
What is poverty?
The stifling air and lack of ventilation in many scenes symbolize this psychological condition.
What is suffocation?
Sonya lives in this type of room.
What is a tenement?
This recurring mental element blurs reality and imagination, especially in key psychological scenes.
What is a dream?
Dostoevsky repeatedly contrasts suffocating interiors with these chaotic outdoor spaces.
What are the city streets?
Moments of relief are often accompanied by this change in weather, symbolizing cleansing or renewal.
What is rain?
This threshold space, neither fully public nor private, recurs symbolically during moments of hesitation and transition. Particularly when Razumikhin realizes that Raskolnikov is the murderer.
What is a staircase?
The city itself functions almost as this literary device, shaping characters and reinforcing themes.
What is a character?