Editing Foolishness for Christ (section)

==The ''yurodivy'' in art and literature==
There are a number of references to the ''yurodivy'' holy fools in 19th century Russian literature. The holy fool Nikolka is a character in [[Pushkin]]'s play ''[[Boris Godunov (play)|Boris Godunov]]'' and [[Boris Godunov (opera)|Mussorgsky's opera]] based on the play.<ref>{{cite book|title=Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great ...|first= Solomon |last=Volkov |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x__ntDIlYGYC&pg=PT8|isbn= 9780307427724 |date= 2007 |publisher= Knopf Doubleday Publishing }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= St Petersburg: A Cultural History|first= Solomon |last=Volkov|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JheQS-7drEC&pg=PA86|isbn= 9781451603156 |date= 2010 |publisher= Simon and Schuster }}</ref> In Pushkin's narrative poem ''[[The Bronze Horseman]]'', the character of Evgenii is based in the tradition of the holy fools in his confrontation with the animated statue of [[Peter the Great]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rosenshiels|first1=Gary|title=Pushkin and the Genres of Madness: the Masterpieces of 1833|date=2003|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|page=112|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H0z7egVzKZ8C|isbn=9780299182045}}</ref>

The yurodivy appears several times in the novels of [[Dostoevsky]]. ''[[The Idiot]]'' explores the ramifications of placing a holy fool (the compassionate and insightful epileptic [[Prince Myshkin]]) in a secular world dominated by vanity and desire.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grayling|first1=A.C.|title=The Heart of Things: Applying Philosophy to the 21st century|date=2010|publisher=Hachette UK|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PjRTDxZ-xXYC&pg=PT178 |isbn=9780297865643}}</ref> According to [[Joseph Frank (writer)|Joseph Frank]] "though the gentlemanly and well-educated prince bears no external resemblance to these eccentric figures, he does possess their traditional gift of spiritual insight, which operates instinctively, below any level of conscious awareness or doctrinal commitment."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frank|first1=Joseph|title=Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time|url=https://archive.org/details/dostoevskywriter00fran_254|url-access=limited|date=2010|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/dostoevskywriter00fran_254/page/n603 579]|isbn=9780691128191 }}</ref> In ''[[Demons (Dostoevsky novel)|Demons]]'', the madwoman Marya Lebyadkina displays many of the attributes of the holy fool,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frank|first1=Joseph|title=Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time|url=https://archive.org/details/dostoevskywriter00fran_254|url-access=limited|date=2010|page=[https://archive.org/details/dostoevskywriter00fran_254/page/n682 658]|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691128191 }}</ref> as do the characters of Sofya Marmeladova in ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'' and Lizaveta in ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jimandnancyforest.com/2008/09/the-way-of-the-holy-fools/|title=The Way of the Holy Fools|date=22 September 2008}}</ref>

Another fool-for-Christ is Grisha in [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy's]] ''Childhood. Boyhood. Youth''.<ref name="prm"/> Callis and Dewey described Grisha as follows:

:He was an awesome figure: emaciated, barefoot and in rags, with eyes that "looked right through you" and long, shaggy hair. He always wore chains around his neck...Neighborhood children would sometimes run after him, laughing and calling out his name. Older persons, as a rule, viewed Grisha with respect and a little fear, especially when he suffered one of his periodic seizures and began to shout and rant. At such times adult bystanders would crowd around and listen, for they believed that the Holy Spirit was working through him.<ref name="Birukoff, Paul 1911">Birukoff, Paul & Tolstoy, Leo. (1911) ''Leo Tolstoy: His Life and Work.'' New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.</ref>

Grisha's abnormal social conduct, seizures, and rants were common behaviors amongst holy fools. The esteem expressed by adults was also common. In his autobiography, Tolstoy expressed such esteem in reaction to overhearing Grisha praying:

:“Oh Great Christian Grisha! Your faith was so strong that you felt the nearness of God; your love was so great that words flowed of their own will from your lips, and you did not verify them by reason. And what high praise you gave to the majesty of God, when, not finding any words, you prostrated yourself on the ground.”<ref name="Birukoff, Paul 1911"/>
A further example is Kasyan in the ninth sketch from [[Alexander Turgenev|Turgenev's]] [[Sketches from a Hunter's Album]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turgenev |first=Ivan Sergeevich |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22736825 |title=Sketches from a hunter's album |date=1990 |others=Richard Freeborn |isbn=0-14-044522-6 |edition=Complete |location=London, England |oclc=22736825}}</ref> The protagonist's coachman describes him as "one of those holy men," who lives by himself in the forest, strictly differentiates between eating bread which he calls "God's gift to man" and "tame creatures" on the one hand, and birds "of the free air" and creatures "of the forest and of the field" on the other hand, the latter of which he sees as being sinful.