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Genre 

Aristocratic drama; character study; tragedy

Narrator 

Anonymous narrator; loses his omniscience as the novel progresses

Point of view 

Third person, selectively omniscient

Tone 

At times removed, but usually psychologically intense

Tense 

Past

Setting (time) 

1860s

Setting (place) 

Primarily St. Petersburg and Pavlovsk; interludes in and references to Yekaterinhof, Moscow, and Switzerland

Protagonist 

Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin

Major conflict 

Myshkin is torn between his romantic love for Aglaya Yepanchin and his compassionate love for Nastassya Filippovna

Rising action 

Myshkin proposes to Nastassya Filippovna; he realizes he does not love her; she leaves him for Rogozhin; Myshkin proposes to Aglaya

Climax 

The meeting of Aglaya and Nastassya Filippovna

Falling action 

Aglaya runs away and breaks all relations with Myshkin, who almost marries Nastassya Filippovna; Rogozhin kills Nastassya Filippovna; he and the Prince keep vigil next to her dead body

Foreshadowing 

Myshkin says that if Rogozhin does marry Nastassya Filippovna, Rogozhin will likely kill her

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