ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a summary of The Idiot. It focuses on the novel's morbid denouement, which Fyodor Dostoyevsky deemed as the most important part of this text. Teh chapter intends to situate the novel in the context of the corpse-image, which is exemplified by the German artist Hans Holbein's depiction of the dead Christ. The chapter examines three more such images: Holbein's Dead Christ, the guillotine and the Prince's epilepsy. The images constitute a constellation of disfigured bodies. The image of the dead Christ, the guillotine, and epilepsy all represent a definite, quick and violent death, which interrupts the narrative of the Resurrection. If there can be something which has no image, it would be the dead body of Christ. The chapter also examines the conflicts through his enthusiasm for reflecting on images such as the photographic portrait, the guillotine, the knife, Rogozhin's eyes, the spilling jug, the Chinese vase, and the corpse.
