I have just seen a compelling link between two idiots: Lizaveta and Prince Myshkin (from 'The Idiot'). Both appear simpletons; both are love personified!
Lizaveta is the friend of the destitute prostitute, Sonia, while the prince is a friend of such unlikelys as Ippolit, Nastasya Filippovna, and the murderous Roghozin. On the death of Lizaveta, Sonia takes over her divine, self-sacrificing role.
When Sonia says of Lizaveta, "She will see God", I am reminded of the Beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart". And later, Sonia tells Raskolnikov, "I have another, a copper one that belonged to Lizaveta. I changed with Lizaveta: she gave me her cross and I gave her my little ikon. I will wear Lizaveta's now".
Are the characters of Lizaveta and Sonia, curtain-raisers for the fully developed character of the selfless Prince Myshkin, a couple of years later? The parallel between Raskolnikov and Roghozin is also interesting.

