The Idiot is a novel written by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky and first published in 1868. The original Russian title is Idiot (the Russian language does not use definite articles). Dostoevsky considered entitling the work Prince Myshkin. Prince Lyov Nikolayevich Myshkin returns to Russia after a long absence. Myshkin suffers from epilepsy - just like Fyodor Dostoevsky himself - and is prone to blackouts and periods of apparent insanity. This has been treated with some success in Switzerland. The Myshkin family line is said to end with him and his cousin. On the train to Saint Petersburg, Myshkin meets and befriends the dark and impassioned Rogozhin. The latter tells the prince about his passion for Nastasya Filippovna, a beautiful woman with a bad reputation. Myshkin arrives at the house of General Yepantchin, who is married to the only other living member of the Myshkin line. Myshkin learns that Ganya, a young go-getter and secretary of the General, wants to marry Nastasya for her dowry. The prince feels an irresistible desire to meet her after hearing about her and even more so when he views a picture of her in the General's office.