The Grand Inquisitor

The Grand Inquisitor Summary | Ivan's "Literary" Preface Summary

Ivan Karamazov prepares his brother, Alyosha, to read a poem he's written. The poem takes place in 16th Century Spain, during the height of the Spanish Inquisition. Ivan tells Alyosha of the long tradition of stories and plays featuring Christ, Mary, the canon of Saints, Archangels and even God himself as characters, speaking words invented by various authors, and performing acts not mentioned in any holy texts. These extra-Biblical fictions were not generally counted heresy, Ivan points out. On the contrary, they were well received, by both religious and secular authorities. Most notably, Ivan cites the enthusiastic response to Victor Hugo's Biblically inspired piece celebrating the birth of the Dauphin during the reign of Louis XI.

Ivan spends a relatively large amount of time telling Alyosha about the Biblically-inspired tale of Mary's visit to Hell, where she witnesses such torment that she pleads with God to show mercy. God replies that He will not let those in torment off easily, pointing to his crucified Son. Mary proceeds to gather a throng of angels, saints and martyrs who kneel in prayer together, begging for universal forgiveness. God relents, allowing the inhabitants of Hell an annual respite.

Concluding his preface, Ivan tells of the skepticism, and the ultimate rebellion, loosed by Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation that came to pervade Europe. For 1500 years, the time between Christ's crucifixion and The Spanish Inquisition, people had seen few, if any, miracles and tales of miraculous healings and visions were usually met with disbelief. Categorical doubt arose in all but the most faithful.