Analysis Of The Kreutzer Sonata By Liev Tolstoy

“We must understand the real meaning of the words of the Gospel,--Matthew, V. 28,--that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery '; and these words relate to the wife, to the sister, and not only to the wife of another, but especially to one 's own wife.” (Tolstoy 195). These were the final lines of text Tolstoy wrote as a part of the resolution to his short story, The Kreutzer Sonata. According to this verse, and the themes in several others of his other works, Liev Tolstoy provides us a display of his moral view of right and wrong in relation to desire. He uses marital affairs & human desires as a tool to explore morality and the right and wrong ways of how his characters observe and react to their experiences

His writing displays more morally proactive instruction with religious references or emphasis on the pain and suffering our submission to temptation can inflict. With his progression in understanding human nature, he simultaneously makes the result of succumbing to desire or committing adultery in his novels increasingly worse over time. His works suggest that erotic desire, including the desire to have an affair, is a part of human nature and to a degree understandable. However, Tolstoy wants his audience to understand that even though it may be human nature, we should not allow this desire to dictate the ways in which we live our lives, for desire is fickle and does not lead to lasting happiness. Tolstoy shows that the consequences of affairs serving our desires outweigh the benefits. The consequences not only harm ourselves, but many people in our lives. By showing how much damage an affair can cause, Tolstoy implores us to not allow the animal in man to overcome our moral

He needed to ignore this desire if he truly wanted to continue to practice living a more meaningful and honest life. Over time Olenin gives in, and allows his desire to best his moral code and dedication to his new life by attempting to win Maryanka over for the first time (Tolstoy 140). As I have mentioned in a previous works, his decision to win over Maryanka contradicts the moral life he so desired for. Rather, his actions speak to his previous life and true nature. Just as he recognizes his failure both to his honest new life and the moral code he attempted to abide by, we begin to see Tolstoy’s view of this behavior and that our desires are inseparable from human nature (Tolstoy 149). However, even after this realization, Olenin tries to win Maryanka’s affections over for the second time only this time to make matters ethically worse, Olenin abandon’s viewing the battle between the Cossack and Chechen people to win her over (Tolstoy 175). Olenin knows that Lukashka is fighting the Chechen’s, and while he is preying on Maryanka, Luka is shot in the abdomen at point blank range by a Chechen man. Rather than having been at the battle to at least help Luka, he is attempting to take Maryanka from him. Olenin asks her for her hand once again and is again rejected by her(Tolstoy 176). He has betrayed Maryanka’s request to not be pursued twice and has taken advantage of her honest friendship