We have lost our way, what can we do?

The devil drags us here and there
And turns us in every direction
With these lines from Pushkin, and a passage from the Gospel of Luke about the demons that entered the pigs, Dostoevsky opens his novel, which he gives the title "Demons."

The demons are those who fight over Russia, not for it.

In 1871, Dostoevsky published the first part of this novel. That period was one of divisions and conflicting ideas, a time when socialist ideas were growing, along with ideas calling for liberation from the authority of the Church, and when the power of the state seemed weak, and Russia saw itself as inferior to Germany and the rest of Europe.

Through carefully chosen characters from Russian society—largely based on real people—Dostoevsky presents us with a picture of Russian society in those days, of the extensive debates surrounding new ideas, of the desire to see Russia among the most civilized nations, and of the lives of the Russian people. Discussions about literary issues, religion and faith, good and evil, aristocracy, democracy, freedom of thought, and the conflict between science and religion... form the background upon which Dostoevsky builds his character archetypes.