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A review by johnaggreyodera
The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories by Leo Tolstoy
5.0
Kreutzer is, in my opinion, Tolstoy's best short work (of the nearly twenty that I have read) - and not just because it was inspired by, and named after, one of my favourite works of music - Beethoven's Sonata 9 in A major. I do not agree with much (nearly everything) Tolstoy says in the novella, but it was amazing how much he managed to cover, and how impassioned and eloquent his positions were (even if I found them unconvincing). The story begins with a discussion of love and the "Woman question", which was particularly important in Russia at the time (Right after the serfs had been freed). There's the "independent woman" - who asserts the basic equality of men and women, there's Pozdnyshev - the story's main character, and, as in most of Tolstoy's works, a very poor veil for Tolstoy himself (whose views I will shortly elucidate), and then there's the old man who still lives in the old days of the Domostroy (a set of 16th century imperial Russian household guidelines that were largely seen as subjugating to women).
Pozdnyshev (thus Tolstoy) argues for absolute sexual abstinence in society using his (Pozdnyshev's) own life story as the illustration (he met his wife; they were in love, passionately; they lived together and had five kids; fell out of love; she cheated on him with a violinist - who seduced her with his music, precisely the Kreutzer Sonata; he killed her, wanted to kill the violinist too, but then realized he’d look ridiculous running in socks- so he didn’t; he was arrested for her murder, but then was acquitted on account of her adultery). Pozdnyshev thinks none of that would have happened if the relationship between the sexes was a fundamentally different one, which he then goes on to elucidate.
Sex, Pozdnyshev argues, transforms the relationship between the sexes, and is what is responsible for the subjugation of women. Because of sex, men view women as nothing more than objects for their (sexual) pleasure, and treat them as such, not giving them any respect and consideration as human beings i.e. sisters - fellow animals. And because they are treated this way, women too take it out on men. How many men, Tolstoy asks, die because they try to provide for the flighty needs of woman? Capitalism and its exploitative industries - garment and jewellery manufacture, perfumes, shoes - basically everything serving the domain of comme-il-faut- ness, which is the domain of women, are sustained only because women are subjugated - so they too in turn oppress, and they are subjugated simply because they are viewed as no more than sexual objects. Music too, is the domain of comme-il-faut; it seduces, and in doing so, leads to sex - and with it all that is negative about sex.
Tolstoy's recommendations is therefore that we abstain completely from sex - if the species dies out, well, so it dies out. Tolstoy wants us instead to view others as brothers and sisters (thoughts he expresses in his other works such as "The Kingdom of God is within you" and "What is Religion and what does its essence consist of?"). For married people, this vision seems best expressed in another of Tolstoy's novellas - Family Happiness, and in the first epilogue of the epic War and Peace, where again, the only couples able to live together in peace, not killing each other, are those who treat each other not as lovers - for amorous love dies soon into a relationship- but rather as brother and sister.
Whereas in Family Happiness and in the case of Natasha and Pierre in War and Peace Tolstoy is a bit more lenient on sex than he is in Kreutzer (allowing it, for example, for procreative purposes), in all three books, he is clear what the role of woman ought be. Woman's principle role ought to be mother and carer. To seek roles in public life, Tolstoy thinks, is for woman to attempt to become man, and this will never be successful. Such a woman will always be seen as a poor attempt at maleness, and thereby denied the respect she seeks- woman will not break the shackles of her subjugation by turning into her subjugator. A woman, Tolstoy further thinks, should not care about how she looks, or smells; should not give much thought to her words in a way that is supposed to reflect society's ideals of how women should act (and perhaps some modern feminists might find this part liberatory). A woman, rather, he argues, should be wholly consumed with loving and taking care of her family - as a mother and sister , and this should be her sole focus (I doubt feminists would look well upon this part).
Tolstoy speaks on lots of debates we are still having - for example, the idea of various feminisms - that feminism- and the liberation we think it brings- doesn’t look the same to all women; that it isn’t just a corporate job and power - i.e. the supposed traditional domains of masculinity; that it can mean staying home to take care of one’s kids etc. He writes in clear prose that is very enjoyable to read, and he makes one think a lot. Again, I do not agree with him on most points but I still think that this is a truly great work by a master.
Pozdnyshev (thus Tolstoy) argues for absolute sexual abstinence in society using his (Pozdnyshev's) own life story as the illustration (he met his wife; they were in love, passionately; they lived together and had five kids; fell out of love; she cheated on him with a violinist - who seduced her with his music, precisely the Kreutzer Sonata; he killed her, wanted to kill the violinist too, but then realized he’d look ridiculous running in socks- so he didn’t; he was arrested for her murder, but then was acquitted on account of her adultery). Pozdnyshev thinks none of that would have happened if the relationship between the sexes was a fundamentally different one, which he then goes on to elucidate.
Sex, Pozdnyshev argues, transforms the relationship between the sexes, and is what is responsible for the subjugation of women. Because of sex, men view women as nothing more than objects for their (sexual) pleasure, and treat them as such, not giving them any respect and consideration as human beings i.e. sisters - fellow animals. And because they are treated this way, women too take it out on men. How many men, Tolstoy asks, die because they try to provide for the flighty needs of woman? Capitalism and its exploitative industries - garment and jewellery manufacture, perfumes, shoes - basically everything serving the domain of comme-il-faut- ness, which is the domain of women, are sustained only because women are subjugated - so they too in turn oppress, and they are subjugated simply because they are viewed as no more than sexual objects. Music too, is the domain of comme-il-faut; it seduces, and in doing so, leads to sex - and with it all that is negative about sex.
Tolstoy's recommendations is therefore that we abstain completely from sex - if the species dies out, well, so it dies out. Tolstoy wants us instead to view others as brothers and sisters (thoughts he expresses in his other works such as "The Kingdom of God is within you" and "What is Religion and what does its essence consist of?"). For married people, this vision seems best expressed in another of Tolstoy's novellas - Family Happiness, and in the first epilogue of the epic War and Peace, where again, the only couples able to live together in peace, not killing each other, are those who treat each other not as lovers - for amorous love dies soon into a relationship- but rather as brother and sister.
Whereas in Family Happiness and in the case of Natasha and Pierre in War and Peace Tolstoy is a bit more lenient on sex than he is in Kreutzer (allowing it, for example, for procreative purposes), in all three books, he is clear what the role of woman ought be. Woman's principle role ought to be mother and carer. To seek roles in public life, Tolstoy thinks, is for woman to attempt to become man, and this will never be successful. Such a woman will always be seen as a poor attempt at maleness, and thereby denied the respect she seeks- woman will not break the shackles of her subjugation by turning into her subjugator. A woman, Tolstoy further thinks, should not care about how she looks, or smells; should not give much thought to her words in a way that is supposed to reflect society's ideals of how women should act (and perhaps some modern feminists might find this part liberatory). A woman, rather, he argues, should be wholly consumed with loving and taking care of her family - as a mother and sister , and this should be her sole focus (I doubt feminists would look well upon this part).
Tolstoy speaks on lots of debates we are still having - for example, the idea of various feminisms - that feminism- and the liberation we think it brings- doesn’t look the same to all women; that it isn’t just a corporate job and power - i.e. the supposed traditional domains of masculinity; that it can mean staying home to take care of one’s kids etc. He writes in clear prose that is very enjoyable to read, and he makes one think a lot. Again, I do not agree with him on most points but I still think that this is a truly great work by a master.