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

2. Childhood, 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”

3. Tolstoy 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

4. 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

5. Questions 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?