Uncle's Dream

What it is

Uncle's Dream is an 1859 novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, written while he was living in Semipalatinsk after his exile. It was first published in the magazine Russkoye Slovo in 1859.

Why it matters

The story, a comic tale of a provincial mother's scheme to marry her daughter to a wealthy but senile prince, was Dostoyevsky's first published work after a long silence caused by his imprisonment and military service in Siberia. He later admitted he wrote it cautiously, fearing censorship as a former exile, calling it a piece of deliberate "dove-like mildness." It marks the start of his return to literary life before his major novels.

Look closer

• Why might Dostoyevsky have chosen a light comic story, rather than something serious, for his return to writing?
• What does his own comment about fearing censorship reveal about his situation as a former convict?
• What does the novella's financial motive tell you about his circumstances at the time?