The suicide as a passage to the act in “The gentle creature”, by Dostoyevsky

Abstract

This article discusses suicide as an passage to the act through the literary work, using the fantastic literature present in “The Gentle Criature” by Fyodor Dostoyvsky. We use the writing style found in the book as a methodological resource. In our research, we contextualize the author and the issues of his time, drawing parallels to our own era and the prevalent issues in literature regarding suicide, particularly from a psychoanalytic perspective. The article also explores the social aspects that put women in a more vulnerable position toward a passage to the act. We propose a discussion on how cultural studies contribute to debates within psychoanalytic circles about the social factors influencing suicidal behavior. We conclude that in certain situations, when the subject is deprived of protective bonds, the passage to the act can arise as a disappearing from the scene.