Dostoevsky as Performer Essay - 4297 Words

Dostoevsky as Performer Storytelling and reading aloud played a valuable part in young Fyodors life, influencing his own later successful writing endeavors as well as his performance of literature. His nanny and wet nurse introduced the Dostoevsky children to folklore and lives of the saints through the stories they told. Nanny Alyona Frolovna told the children stories of ancient Russia, of Saint Sergey of Moscow subduing a bear by the power of his holiness, of heroes and legends and folk tales, Christianity and Russian myth intertwined; the stories were so vivid and frightening that the children had trouble sleeping (Gunn 10). During the winter their former wet nurses would make a ceremonial visit to the Dostoevsky family, staying†¦show more content†¦The Gothic novels of Ann Radcliffe were favorites of the Dostoevskys. Frank contends that Dostoevsky, influenced by Radcliffe, would later incorporate Gothic techniques of plot, character, and atmosphere and carry them to a peak of perfection that ha s never been surpassed (1976, 55). Among the literature read and discussed by the Dostoevsky fireside were the Bible, writings of Nikolai Karamzin, including History of the Russian State, Letters of a Russian Traveller, and Poor Liza; the poets Vasily Zhukovsky, Mikhail Y. Lermontov, Gavriil R. Derzhavin, and, of course, Alexander Pushkin; and the novelist Sir Walter Scott. Frank believes that the readings in the family circle were designed to stimulate and benefit the children and to turn them into Godfearing and loyal citizens of the Tsar (1976, 5960). Geir Kjetsaa reports that the Dostoevsky parents were fine readers and the two oldest boys [Mikhail and Fyodor] did not lag far behind them and is convinced that for Fyodor these reading sessions served as a literary foundation for his entire life (10). The influence of Fyodors mother, his first teacher, was no doubt strong as she conveyed her love of poetry and novels as well as music. Fyodor began to read for himself at the age of four from an antique volume containing a hundred and four Bible tales and conceived a passion for the book of JobShow MoreRelatedEssay on Understanding the Underground Dancer1303 Words   |  6 Pagesdismembered as Dionysus charges the dancers soul with his chariot that brings the gifts of intoxication. (Nietzsche 120, 121) Huddled in his corner he observes the world--his stage--and suddenly stirs, raising himself up, he acts, like the great performer that he is not, dizzy after gazing into the abyss of inertia for a lifetime, intoxicated with the will to dance, he is consumed by the dread of freedom which always seems to lurk just beyond his touch. He cannot sit, he cannot act, he just wants