What is a 'Dostoievskian character'?

Question

I've read two of his books but I can't really define what is it. Do all of this characters have things in common?

Answer 1

A Dostoyevskian character is often a tortured individual, one possessed and deranged by an idée fixe.

Answer 2

Despite academic insistence that Dostoevsky wrote definitive characters, it seems more probable that he did not actively write characters with the motive that they would be an iconic representation of himself, namely, the so called "Dostoevsky character type" as such. Imitators of Dostoevsky can perhaps be said to write characters reminiscent of his character studies, in which case, there would be no doubt that these supposed writers would be imitators working with mere impressions of Dostoevsky's development of characters. Though a logical consideration of the matter may indicate that Dostoevsky was quite the original and thus beyond the reach of mimesis. Every character in Dostoevsky's various novels appears to have his or her own tone of voice, his/her own tragedy, joys, conceits, purity etc. No two are alike.

Answer 3

I agree with the above but I would add that they are tortured by themselves and their own conscience. They analyse everything and have very little trust.
I would say that the most typical character is Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment.

Answer 4

Probably they are all swept up in circumstances beyond their control, and then destroyed by a fatal charactor flaw.

Answer 5

Someone who is struggling to reconcile his ethics with his experience.