Book contents
- Tolstoy in Context
- Tolstoy in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Citations, Translations, and Transliterations
- Chronology
- Part I The Man
- Chapter 1 The Life
- Chapter 2 The Death
- Chapter 3 Tolstoy’s Family
- Chapter 4 Estate Culture and Yasnaya Polyana
- Part II Russian Social and Political Contexts
- Part III Literature, the Arts, and Intellectual Life
- Part IV Science and Technology
- Part V Beyond Russia
- Part VI Tolstoy’s Afterlife
- Suggested Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 1 - The Life
from Part I - The Man
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2023
- Tolstoy in Context
- Tolstoy in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Citations, Translations, and Transliterations
- Chronology
- Part I The Man
- Chapter 1 The Life
- Chapter 2 The Death
- Chapter 3 Tolstoy’s Family
- Chapter 4 Estate Culture and Yasnaya Polyana
- Part II Russian Social and Political Contexts
- Part III Literature, the Arts, and Intellectual Life
- Part IV Science and Technology
- Part V Beyond Russia
- Part VI Tolstoy’s Afterlife
- Suggested Further Reading
- Index
Summary
Tolstoy’s biography embodied the fundamental Romantic mythology of the modern age, which synthesizes the biblical myths of the Lost Paradise and the Prodigal Son with the classical myth of the Golden Age. His was full of abrupt ruptures perceived both as an exile and as an escape. He longed to leave behind the confines of his social upbringing, his earthly pursuits and fame, his family, and finally his mortal body in an ardent desire to return home to the eternal and universal unity of “general life.” His vision of this unity underwent many changes but his urge to join it was always unwavering. He searched for it in the recollections of childhood, wild life in natural environment, romantic love, marriage and family life, literary and pedagogical pursuits, peasant lifestyle, and an escape from everything he cherished.
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- Information
- Tolstoy in Context , pp. 3 - 12Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022