INNER SUFFERING AND CONSTANT STRUGGLES: EXPLORING DOSTOYEVSKY’S THE ETERNAL HUSBAND THROUGH PSYCHOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The Eternal Husband, written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is about the mental anguish and suffering that every human being experiences. The author, in this case, focuses on two individuals who share this mental torment' Velchaninov and Pavel Pavlovich. Velchaninov had an affair with Pavlovich's wife, who is now deceased. Pavlovich was aware of the affair with Velchaninov and was deeply in love with his wife, who was his weakness. Pavlovich knows of his wife's affair with Velchaninov, and he feels emotionally crushed, yet he does not speak about it. Velchaninov was also mentally disturbed after encountering Pavlovich and had some guilt and remorse, crawling into his inner self. The Velchaninov's mind was disturbed because of his earlier involvement while behaving this way. The woman's adultery, in this instance, causes Velchaninov and Pavlovich an emotional breakdown, leading them to mental illness. The book also demonstrates that Velchaninov and Pavlovich are emotionally distressed and mentally suffering because of the external social pressure and fully demonstrates the psychosocial aspects of the external social system that mentally ill individuals live in. The novella captures the stillness of the human mind, and the emotional and mental weakness, stemming from social expectations. The novella also elaborates how emotional weakness from social expectations can create mental detours from living. The novella illustrates that emotional struggles are a facet of one’s humanity. The emotional wounds that people carry are often invisible, yet they impact people’s lives deeply.