Two Versions of the Portrait of a “Person Intensely Conscious”: Notes from the Underground by F. M. Dostoevsky as a Creative Response to Boyhood and Youth by L. N. Tolstoy

The article, contrary to the established tradition of contrasting the character of F. M. Dostoevsky’s novella Notes from Underground and the autobiographical character of L. N. Tolstoy’s stories Boyhood and Youth, proves that they belong to the same type of dreamer, first presented in Dostoevsky’s story “White Nights.” The most significant difference between them lies in the contrast of their inherent worldviews: Nikolenka Irtenyev is optimistic and believes in the attainability of the ideal of perfection, while Dostoevsky’s character is in a pessimistic mood. This does not allow him to fight for the embodiment of his potential merits in life.