The Grand Inquisitor/Introduction

What Will This Book Cover?

This book will cover three chapters from the book The Brothers Karamazov: Rebellion, The Grand Inquisitor, and The Devil. These three chapters center around the character Ivan, and represent some of the most powerful critiques of organized religion. Of particular interest here is Roman Catholicism.

It may be possible for this annotated text to eventually be expanded to cover additional chapters from the book. However, considering its size, it is unlikely that the entire book will ever be annotated here. Besides the three covered initially, there are several other important chapters worth annotating.

How Will This Book Be Arranged?

The three chapters presented in this annotation are not subdivided into sections. However, for the sake of clarity, this book will divide the chapters into individual component pieces, at places where there is a logical breaking point.

The first section of the book will contain some basic information about The Brothers Karamazov, including information about the author, information about the plot, and information about the characters. The second section of the book will contain the annotations, complete with the full text of the passages. The full text will appear in shaded boxes on the left of the page, and discussion and annotation will appear in plain text on the right side of the page.

Where To Go From Here?

Readers who have not yet read The Brothers Karamazov are encouraged to read it in its entirety. The full text can be found at wikisource: Wikisource:The Brothers Karamazov.