Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment

Making crimes comes as a result of many various things in life. The first and the greatest one is called money as the old expression that says “Money is the root of all evil”. As many people who are in need of money makes different types of crimes just to gain that money, however it’s coming through a wrong way. Poor people make some small crimes because of money. In the play, Crime and Punishment, the role of Raskolnikov experiences this type of dilemma.

The characters in the play were true to their individual personalities. Ben Hunter who performed as Raskolnikov was absolutely nuts. Even though he suffered tremendously, I couldn’t connect with his character given that he was a murderer. Overall he did a good job as he transitioned from one scene to another to illustrate what is happening in the past and present. Paul Witten who performed as Porify played a good performance because his voice and body movement made me believe that he was strictly trying his best to unsolve the murder mystery. In addition, his character transition as Alyona was well done. At first, I had no clue that the actor who performed as Porify was the same person performing as Alyona. At that instance, I had to double check to bill pamphlet to see if there was someone that I had missed. Last but not least, Suzanne Friedline who performed as Sonia did an excellent job as well as she performed dual roles. Her character performance was believable and as she transitioned her character from Sonia to Lizaveta, she did a good job by not intervening the character’s personalities.

Suffering, sacrifice, and redemption are major themes that circulate though this play. The character's views on suffering go from horror and denial, especially in Raskolnikov's case, to acceptance of it like Sonya. Only through suffering can the characters in the play grow and transcend their poor conditions. Only through suffering can Raskolnikov gain religious redemption he desperately seeks by the end of the play. Every character in the play seems to experiences it, and goes through major sacrifices to improve their lives. For example, Sonia’s family suffers from his father’s alcoholic problems. In order to help feed her family, she sacrifices self being to sell her body. Another character that suffers is the main character himself, Raskolnikov. He is a poor, former student who is unable to continue his studies due to money problems. Despite his hard demeanor, inside he is suffering for what he has done. When he finally does confess to Sonya about the murder, she tells him that through suffering, he will find redemption for the sin.

The conflict in Crime and Punishment is the internal development of Raskolnikov's character. In Raskolnikov's mind are two contrasting personalities, each demanding control over him. One side, brought out by poverty and egoism, is the murderer who kills the pawnbroker. The other side, inspired by the love of others and his inner goodness, is his caring conscience which desires to help those around him. The conflict rages on throughout the play, and in the end Raskolnikov's good side wins over as he accepts his guilt, admits to his wrongness and turns his life over to Sonia and God.

The costumes that the actors wore fit the time that the play was set. It also showed the style of living that the characters lived. For example, when the play began and saw Raskolnikov’s clothes, I knew at that moment that he lived an unfortunate life. Raskolnikov’s clothing was tattered and his hair was uncombed. Furthermore, it seemed that he hasn’t shaved for weeks. From his clothing observation, I understood that his life was unpleasant. As to Sonia, the moment I saw her I had a gut feeling that she was a prostitute. The reason I had this reaction was how her hair and make-up was done. Her hair seemed as if someone had pulled her hair and her black eye make-up was messily smudged. Sure enough when Raskolnikov pleaded her to give up prostitution, I was right all along about my perception on Sonia. Last but not least, Porfiry seemed to be the only one whose clothing was un-tattered. Sure enough it was suitable for his character since he was an investigator

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