Crime and Punishment

Rodion Raskolnikov, a young man living in St. Petersburg, devises a gruesome experiment in morality. Theorizing that men of exceptional intelligence have license to kill others, he decides to test his theory with the murder of an elderly pawnbroker. Though no evidence can link him to his crime, it leaves him so deeply disturbed that he fights a constant urge to confess. Despite this, Raskolnikov goes on with his life, contending with his younger sister's plan to marry a man of dubious character and the fate of an impoverished family for whom he feels responsible.