DREAMS AND THE RETURN OF THE REPRESSED UNCONSCIOUS IN RASKOLNIKOV’S PSYCHE: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Abstract

This article explores the manifestation of Freud’s concept of the return of the repressed within Raskolnikov’s psyche in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. Through a psychoanalytic reading of the protagonist’s dreams, the study examines how suppressed guilt, moral anxiety, and unconscious desires resurface symbolically in his dream life. Each dream, particularly the horse-beating dream, the encounter with the old woman, and the feverish hallucinations, serves as a projection of Raskolnikov’s repressed moral consciousness. The analysis argues that these dream sequences are not mere psychological episodes but structural devices through which Dostoevsky externalises Raskolnikov’s divided self and the haunting persistence of his suppressed conscience. By aligning Dostoevsky’s narrative with Freudian dream theory, the paper reveals how the unconscious compels confession and reintegrates the fractured self through the cyclical return of repressed guilt.