Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • Chapter 1 - The Life

  • from Part I - The Man
  • Edited by Anna A. Berman, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    Tolstoy in Context
    Published online:
    05 January 2023
    Print publication:
    22 December 2022, pp 3-12

  • 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.