"My intention is to portray a truly beautiful soul."
I'll admit this has raised some early questions and perhaps even colored my reading of this novel. I hope to further flesh out what a "truly beautiful soul" means and where it can be found in the book (guessing it's Myshkin), and also how it compares with the other characters in the book.
My first thought is that, in my own opinion, part of being "truly beautiful", in the sense I think Dostoyevsky intends, is giving (yourself, aide, etc.) to others. Myshkin doesn't fit with this. Although he claims it's not his intention to take anything from anyone, he is on the receiving end of others' charity and, at least so far, is not giving them anything meaningful in return.
I wonder what he has to give, at this point. To echo my previous comment to your first entry, perhaps the only thing he has is love and his willingness and ability to listen to people and to treat them equally and with respect (like the lackey).
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