The Eternal Husband. A Gentle Creature (Vechniy Muzh. Krotkaya)

The novellas 'The Eternal Husband' (1870) and 'The Gentle One' (1876), defined by the author as short stories, are psychological essays, the writer's reflections on love and family life. These works stand, as it were, in the shadow of Dostoevsky's 'Great Pentateuch,' yet they continue the most important themes of his work. In both stories, the love dramas serve merely as the basis for the action, while the author focuses on the exploration of two human types—the tyrant and the victim. While 'The Eternal Husband' unfolds the conflict between a deceived husband and his lover, 'The Gentle One' imbues the relationship between husband and wife with intense drama. However, Dostoevsky leaves open the question of which character is the tyrant and which the victim. The mystery of the human heart, which always fascinated the writer and which he sought to unravel, is invariably linked to questions of personal freedom and responsibility, good and evil, and the meaning of life.