Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) “Genius of Destruction”

Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) “Genius of Destruction”

Childhood, Boyhood, YouthChildhood, Boyhood, Youth Descendent of ancient

Aristocratic Family Orphaned at Two,

raised by Aunts Dissolute youth Fought in Crimean

War, ambivalence about War

Self- consciousness engine of his art, Self Scrutiny in diary and “History of Yesterday”

Descendent of ancient Aristocratic Family

Orphaned at Two, raised by Aunts

Dissolute youth Fought in Crimean

War, ambivalence about War

Self- consciousness engine of his art, Self Scrutiny in diary and “History of Yesterday”

Tolstoy Vs. SocietyTolstoy Vs. Society War and Peace,1864-1869,

Slavophile memorial to Victory of Russian People in Great Fatherland War

Anna Karenina, 1877-1878 Master Social Psychologist,

unmasked social deception, hypocrisy and Immorality, Influence of Rousseau

Spiritual crisis 1878: Attempted Suicide, renounced art, Religious conversion

War and Peace,1864-1869, Slavophile memorial to Victory of Russian People in Great Fatherland War

Anna Karenina, 1877-1878 Master Social Psychologist,

unmasked social deception, hypocrisy and Immorality, Influence of Rousseau

Spiritual crisis 1878: Attempted Suicide, renounced art, Religious conversion

Tolstoy Vs. Tolstoy(a)Tolstoy Vs. Tolstoy(a)

Marriage to Sophia Bers 1862 (13 Children, 10 Survived)

Autobiographical Basis of writing

Contemporaries needed moral/Spiritual instruction in “taboos:” Sex and Death

Works censored since 1880, KS 1889 circulated by hand, censored by Church

Marriage to Sophia Bers 1862 (13 Children, 10 Survived)

Autobiographical Basis of writing

Contemporaries needed moral/Spiritual instruction in “taboos:” Sex and Death

Works censored since 1880, KS 1889 circulated by hand, censored by Church

Questions for DiscussionQuestions for Discussion What Are Pozdnischev’s positions on love,

marriage, and doctors? Who or what is to blame for the ills that

pozdnischev decries? Is Pozdnischev’s wife unfaithful to him, or does

pozdnischev suffer from Jealous delusions? Or is there another possibility? As Pozdnischev denies he loves his wife, what is the cause of his tormenting Jealousy?

Why would Tolstoy use the unsavory and apparently insane Pozdnischev to express his own views?

What Are Pozdnischev’s positions on love, marriage, and doctors?

Who or what is to blame for the ills that pozdnischev decries?

Is Pozdnischev’s wife unfaithful to him, or does pozdnischev suffer from Jealous delusions? Or is there another possibility? As Pozdnischev denies he loves his wife, what is the cause of his tormenting Jealousy?

Why would Tolstoy use the unsavory and apparently insane Pozdnischev to express his own views?