This article discusses the role Lev Myshkin plays in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The Idiot. It argues that he should be considered as a man, perhaps the perfect man, but not as Christ, which is what some scholars studying Dostoyevsky’s literary output have suggested. Treating the main character of The Idiot as Christ involves assuming his god-human nature, while the novel does not provide sufficient evidence for it. The interpretation of the character’s nature presented in this article makes reference to the works of the representatives of the Russian religious and philosophical Renaissance who consider Myshkin to be a false Christ.
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