The main plot of this novel involves a truly absurd love triangle that reveals the tyranny of marriage or monogamy in that Prince Myshkin, who is loved by 2 women, loved people in an unselfish way and didn't seem capable of the selfishness required of romantic love. However, his affection for Nastasya and Aglaia must have gone beyond agape and was tied up in his aesthetic appreciation of beauty. It was comedic how he couldn't understand the flirtation and protestations of the two women. I can see how he wouldn't have understood that they loved him because they tended to be horrible to him. The novel was at times mystical, philosophical, theatrical, funny, tragic and stands both as a strong indictment of his society as well as an honest exploration of the revolutionary ideas of the time.
I don't know if this is fair, but many of these characters in their quirkiness reminded me of Dickens, especially Lebedev, while at the same time the Epanchin family were slightly reminiscent of Austin's Bennetts, except LIzaveta is less flighty and much more sympathetic than Mrs. Bennett. I am not saying he was influenced by them because I don't know that. He was writing much later than Austen and Dickens, but this perceived reminiscence added to my enjoyment of the novel. However, I don't remember meeting a character like Myshkin before - he lives on. I am left with the following questions. Did Myshkin find a refuge from the horror he couldn't deal with in his return to idiocy or did he go some place beyond every day reality like a blissed out sufi? I know what I would like to think but sadly I know the answer.