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Hamlet Cold Rationalism Analysis

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By carrying out Ivan’s philosophy of cold rationalism to its logical conclusion, Smerdyakov murders Fyodor and commits suicide. In his insanity, Ivan suggests that the devil had informed him beforehand of Smerdyakov’s suicide: “How did I know Smerdyakov had hanged himself? But it was he who told me” (652)… Assuming the devil as an apparition of insanity that reflects Ivan’s deepest spiritual desperation, Ivan himself subconsciously understands that cold, faithless rationalism leads to destruction. While Hamlet’s “native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o 'er with the pale cast of thought” (Hamlet 3.1.85-86), Ivan is driven insane by philosophical contemplation but rescued by irrational instinct. Alyosha is the sole Karamazov who is not directly

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