“Kreutzer’s Sonata” is the story of Leo Tolstoy , published in 1890 [1] and immediately censored by the tsarist authorities. The book proclaims the ideal of abstinence and describes in the first person the anger of jealousy. The title of the story was given by Sonata No. 9 for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven , dedicated to the French violinist Rodolf Kreutzer .
| Kreutzer's Sonata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Story |
| Author | Lev Tolstoy |
| Original language | Russian |
| Date of writing | 1887-1889 |
| Date of first publication | 1890 |
Summary
On the train, the main character, Vasily Pozdnyshev, intervenes in a general conversation about love, describes how he carelessly fretted in his youth, complains that women's dresses are designed to arouse men's desires. He claims that women will never receive equal rights, while men perceive them as an object of passion, while describing their power over men.
Pozdnyshev describes the events that led to the murder of his wife; since he did not marry for money and not for connections (she was poor), besides he had the intention to stay after the marriage of “monogamy,” his pride knew no bounds. However, everything immediately went awry, the honeymoon did not add up. On the third or fourth day, Pozdnyshev found his wife bored, began to ask, hugged her, she cried, unable to explain. She was sad and sad, and her face expressed unexpected coldness and hostility. Pozdnyshev did not yet realize that this hostility was a normal, not a temporary state. But then a series of quarrels occurred, and Pozdnyshev felt that marriage was not something pleasant, but, on the contrary, very difficult, but he did not want to admit it to himself or to anyone else.
His wife is fascinated by the violinist, and together they play Beethoven’s “Kreutzer Sonata”. Pozdnyshev, holding back and hiding his raging jealousy, leaves for business. Having returned, he catches them together. The musician escapes, and Pozdnyshev with a dagger kills his wife.
Censorship
Due to the unusual and scandalous nature of the work at that time, the publication of the Kreutzer Sonata in a magazine or in a separate publication was banned by censorship. Only after the wife of the writer Sofya Tolstaya received a personal audience with Alexander III , the tsar was reluctantly allowed to publish the story in the 13th volume of Tolstoy’s collected works. However, the censorship ban only increased the appeal of the story, which, long before publication, began to be distributed on lists and read in private homes.
In 1890, American mail banned the distribution of newspapers where the story was printed. Some American publishers for the advertising of the story issued excerpts from it in a separate brochure and distributed them with the help of street vendors in New York for a nominal price. There were even carts in the city, in which it was written in large letters: “It is forbidden by the Russian government and the postmaster general of the United States the best work of Tolstoy's“ Kreutzer Sonata ”” [2] . Later, US President Theodore Roosevelt described Tolstoy as “a man with perverse sexual morality” [3] .
Evaluation of Contemporaries
Even taking into account that the normal freedom of speech in Russia, as elsewhere in Europe, is greater than that accepted in America, I find the language of the “Kreutzer Sonata” overly frank ... The description of the honeymoon and their family life almost until the very moment of the final catastrophe, as well as what precedes this, is obscene.
- American translator Tolstoy Isabel Hapgood (Isabel Florence Hapgood)
Tolstoy's judgments about syphilis, orphanages, women’s aversion to copulation, etc. not only can they be disputed, but they also directly expose a man of ignorance, who did not bother to read two or three books written by experts during his long life.
- A.P. Chekhov , 1976. Letters. T. 4.P. 18
A detailed quote from Chekhov's letter quoted above:
Didn’t you like the Kreutzer Sonata? I won’t say that it was an ingenious, eternal thing - here I am not a judge, but, in my opinion, in the mass of everything that is now being written here and abroad, it is hardly possible to find anything equivalent in importance to design and beauty execution. Not to mention the artistic virtues, which are striking in places, thanks to the story for the fact that it is extremely exciting thoughts. Reading it, you can hardly hold back so as not to shout: “This is true!” Or “This is ridiculous!” True, she has very annoying flaws. In addition to all that you have listed, there is one more thing in it that the author does not want to forgive, namely, the courage with which Tolstoy interprets what he does not know and does not want to understand from obstinacy. So, his judgments about syphilis, educational homes, about the aversion of women to copulation and so on. not only can they be disputed, but they also directly expose a man of ignorance, who did not bother to read two or three books written by experts during his long life. But nevertheless, these shortcomings scatter like feathers from the wind; in view of the dignity of the story, you simply don’t notice them, and if you notice, you’ll only be annoyed that the story has not escaped the fate of all human affairs, which are all imperfect and not free from spots. [four]
Stage
- Moscow Art Theater Chekhov [ when? ]
- 2009 - Macedonia, Kroјzerova Sonata, dir. Lupzo Bresliski
- 2011 - Monodrama of the Gesher Theater
- 2013 - Globus Theater, Novosibirsk, dir. Alexey Kriklivy
- The production of the theater of one actor "Scream" called "Taboo" [5]
- Monodrama in the 1st act, “Kreutzer Sonata”, Tyumen Drama Theater [6]
- 2016 - Mogilev Regional Drama Theater, “Kreutzer Sonata” in 2 acts, dir. - Saulius Varnas
- Since 2016 - the theater-festival "Baltic House", the play "Family", dir. Anatoly Praudin
- 2017 - Ballet Moscow Theater, choreographer Robert Binet.
- Since 2017 - the MIF Theater. Starring Honored Artist of Ukraine Mikhail Fitsa , director - Peter Mironov.
Notes
- ↑ Tolstoy L.N. Complete works. Volume 27. Works of 1889-1890 / L. N. Tolstoy; edited by V. G. Chertkov; with the participation of the editorial committee composed of A. E. Gruzinsky, N. K. Gudzia, N. N. Gusev, and others. - M .: RSL, 2006. - P. VII
- ↑ Kolmakov B. I. The personality and work of L. N. Tolstoy in the publications of the Volzhsky Vestnik newspaper (90s of the XIX century) // Uchenye zapiski Kazan University. Series Humanities. - 2011 .-- T. 153 , no. 2 . - S. 110 . - ISSN 2541-7738 .
- ↑ Countess Tolstoy's 'Whose Fault' (Eng.) , The Intermediate Period (November 11, 2013). Date of treatment November 8, 2018.
- ↑ Chekhov A.P .: Chekhov - Plescheev A.N., February 15, 1890
- ↑ Taboo Theater "Scream" .
- ↑ Leo Tolstoy "Kreutzer Sonata" . tdt.kto72.ru. Date of treatment August 1, 2016.
Literature
- Gudziy N.K. Tolstoy's “Kreutzer Sonata” was written and published // Links, Issue. II. - M. - L., 1961. - S. 572-602.
- V. Zhdanov. From the creative story of the novel “The Kreutzer Sonata” // Tolstoy-artist. Collection of articles / Ed. Collegium: D. D. Blagoy, K. N. Lomunov , L. D. Opulskaya, A. A. Saburov, A. I. Shifman. - M .: Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - S. 260—288.
Links
- Text in the Maxim Moshkov Library
- Afterword to the Kreutzer Sonata
- Kreutzer Sonata Audiobook on YouTube