Crime and Punishment opens in 1860s St. Petersburg, where Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, an impoverished former student, has come psychologically unhinged. He wanders about the city, barely eats, and hatches a vague plan he wishes to "test" one afternoon. He goes to the apartment of an old pawnbroker, who lives with her sister Lizaveta, and pawns his father's watch. Upon leaving, he repeats to himself his intentions: he will murder the old crone and rob her.
