Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Short summary

5 seconds

Raskolnikov decides to commit murder. He wants to take out the «nasty old woman» who has ruined his and his sister’s lives. After committing the crime, he can’t stand the torment of conscience and confesses.

1 minute

The student Raskolnikov contemplates the idea of killing the «nasty old woman.» He believes that afterwards his life and that of his sister Dunya will change for the better.

After the student has carefully considered the plan and conducted «reconnaissance,» he decides to commit the crime. But everything did not go as planned because the criminal panicked. For a long time he could not find money in the house of the murdered interest-earner. On top of this, Alena Ivanovna’s sister suddenly returned. Since she was a witness to the murder, the student decided to kill her too.

Unable to resist the torments of conscience, Raskolnikov speaks of murder. His speech is overheard by the landowner Svidrigailov, who then tries to blackmail Avdotya, the student’s sister. Later, the investigator on the case, Porfiry Petrovich, finds Raskolnikov’s article «On the crime» printed in the newspaper before the death of the moneylender. The investigator speaks with Raskolnikov. The criminal cannot withstand the pressure and resolves to confess.