Literary Criticism’s Myth of Raskolnikov’s “Duality” in Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”

Conventional wisdom in literary criticism is that the protagonist of Crime and Punishment has “duality” (1). But it is obvious that Raskolnikov has more than two personality states, as do most people with multiple personality.

Discussions of duality in literary criticism usually fail to even mention multiple personality, because most literary critics don’t realize the connection.

1. Harold Bloom (Editor). Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov. Philadelphia, Chelsea House, 2004.