• Research Paper on:
    Holy Fool in The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    Number of Pages: 5

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    In five pages this paper discusses how the holy fool represents an apocalypse theme in the text and also discusses how it influences Prince Myshkin. Four sources are cited in the bibliography.

    Name of Research Paper File: TG15_TGidiot.rtf

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    Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
    an esteemed place. The name itself is misleading, implying a nonsensical person. In fact, this is the basic premise of Fyodor Dostoyevskys 1868 novel, in which the chief  protagonist, Prince Myshkin, is often condescendingly referred to as "the idiot." The holy fool is no more of an idiot than was Shakespeares fools and court jesters, who usually  served as his plays voices of reason. The holy fool is a literary concept deeply rooted in religion, a figure so revered, that between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries,  some thirty so-called holy fools were canonized (The Holy Fool 2001). What exactly is a holy fool? He is believed to be a prophet who does not conform  to societys rules and regulations regarding conduct. He is a prophet who attempts to help people in their times of need, who is motivated only by love and compassion,  not hatred and greed. The holy fool will do anything to get his point across, even if it means looking foolish to do so. His message is that  it is not the persons exterior which matters, but rather his qualities within which are of the greatest significance. Isaac of the Kieran Caves Monastery is believed to be  the first Russian holy fool to be canonized, in the eleventh century, and his tactics were described as, "Not wanting human glory he began to do foolish things and to  annoy, now the abbot, now the brothers" (The Holy Fool 2001). After Isaac, holy fools became a bit more brazen, often seen in public wearing little or no clothes,  disheveled in appearance, which symbolized that their good works would not be tainted by the superficialities of the material world (The Holy Fool 2001). Dostoyevsky was long fascinated by the 

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