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Notes from Underground Study Guide

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Notes from Underground study guide contains a biography of Fyodor Dostoevsky, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Part I:

The first part presents us with the psychology and the ideas of the novel's protagonist. The narrator of the novel - the Underground Man - introduces himself to us. He says that he is a sick man and a spiteful man. He was a civil servant and tortured petitioners who came to see him. Almost instantly, however, he reverses his position, claiming instead that he is not at all spiteful but merely wanted to be. He could never become spiteful or anything else because his nature did not allow him to have any character. Only men of action who are not intelligent can have any kind of character. The Underground Man tells us that he could never have character because his consciousness has become overdeveloped as a result of being too cultured…

Read the full Notes from Underground Summary

• Notes from Underground Summary
• About Notes from Underground
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis of Part I, Chapters 1-3
• Summary and Analysis of Part I, Chapters 4-6
• Summary and Analysis of Part I, Chapters 7-9
• Summary and Analysis of Part I, Chapters 10-11
• Summary and Analysis of Part II, Chapters 1-3
• Summary and Analysis of Part II, Chapters 4-6
• Summary and Analysis of Part II, Chapters 7-10
• Related Links on Notes from Underground
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• Notes from Underground: Essays
• Notes from Underground: E-Text
• Notes from Underground: Questions
• Notes from Underground: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Fyodor Dostoevsky: Biography