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Sophia Andreevna Tolstaya: a Case Study of Co-Creativity Kourtney Gillett

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Sophia Andreevna Tolstaya: a Case Study of Co-Creativity Kourtney Gillett Sophia Andreevna Tolstaya: A Case Study of Co-Creativity Kourtney Gillett Gillett 2 Sophia Tolstaya: A Blackened Memory Over a century ago, the wife of Lev Tolstoy, Sophia Andreevna Tolstaya, was branded as a shrew who “purposely calculated to wound, insult and revolt [Tolstoy] … in his most sacred feelings.”1 Vladimir Chertkov, close friend and leading disciple of Tolstoy, was at the head of this public scorning. Tolstoy’s diaries, which were read and copied by Chertkov2 on a regular basis, were used against Sophia in his publication The Last Days of Tolstoy (1911). Passages about his wife that were included from Tolstoy’s diaries were limited to those which included negative commentary. Chertkov even presents his own commentary, stating in the opening of the book: “Now that Tolstoy’s wife is dead, the chief obstacle to revealing the true causes of [Tolstoy’s] going away from Yasnaya Polyana is removed.”3 The publication was adamant in portraying Tolstoy as a martyr, and his wife as his oppressor. Despite the efforts of some to clear Tolstaya’s name, their support remained fruitless to the power of Chertkov’s campaign. 4 Later, Chertkov would head the project of publishing a ninety-volume edition of all of Tolstoy’s work, including biographical articles, many of which were written by Chertkov himself. The edition became a rich 1 Alexandra Popoff, Sophia Tolstoy: A Biography (New York: Free Press, 2010), 308. 2 Tolstoy was deeply upset upon discovering that Chertkov had been reading his diaries as a means of further proving that his wife was a “crazed woman.” In his son Sergei’s reflections, he mentions that Tolstoy kept a small personal diary, which no one else had access to. According to Sergei, this reflected his father’s “duality in [the] matter [of Chertkov’s insistence of his wife’s insanity.]” Sergei Tolstoy, Tolstoy Remembered by His Son, trans. Moura Budberg (Great Britain: The Whitefriars Press Ltd, 1961), 131. 3 Popoff, Sophia Tolstoy, 302. 4 Not even the support of renowned writer Maxim Gorky could change her repute to the public. After realizing critics were not going to speak out against Tolstaya’s portrayal in The Last Days of Tolstoy, Gorky stated: “I told myself that someone would surely be found to write to the papers that the direct and sole purpose of this concoction is to blacken the memory of the late Sophia Andreevna Tolstaya. But so far I have not come across a single review drawing attention to this honorable purpose. I now learn that yet another book is to come out, written with the same laudable intention of convincing the educated section of society that Lev Tolstoy’s wife was his evil spirit.” Popoff, Sophia Tolstoy, 309. Gillett 3 resource of information about Tolstoy’s life, heavily relied upon by scholars and intellectuals. According to Rodionov, close friend and fellow disciple who took over the publication following Chertkov’s death, “this most comprehensive edition of Tolstoy’s work was infected with bias.”5 Also infected with bias were recollections of Tolstaya from her own children. In Tolstoy’s later years, during the rift between him and his wife over the matter of his will and copyrights, his children took their own stances on the matter. Some, including one of his youngest children, Alexandra, vehemently supported his flight from Yasanaya Polyana. She engaged in what her sister Tat’iana claimed to be “a shameful and unworthy struggle with her own mother.”6 Alexandra believed that her mother’s behavior was slowly killing Tolstoy. Another child, Sergei, wrote to his father after the flight from Yasnaya Polyana, stating: “I believe that Mother is nervously affected and in many ways irresponsible, and that you should have separated from her (perhaps long ago), no matter how hard this was on you both. I even think that if anything should happen to Mama, which I do not expect, you would not have any grounds for self-reproach. There was no solution to the situation and I think you chose the only real way out of it. Forgive me for writing so frankly.”7 Not surprisingly, in the eyes of Tolstaya, nearly everyone was against her. None of her children were able to fully understand her, and the few that sympathized with her only did so out of pity – to them, she was pathetic, hysterical, and melodramatic. Her tears and emotional breakdowns were either ascribed to her impressive acting skills directed at 5 Popoff, Sophia Tolstoy, 310. 6 Popoff, Sophia Tolstoy, 294. 7 Alexandra Tolstoy, Tolstoy: A Life of my Father (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1953), 515. Gillett 4 gaining the attention of her husband, or to a medical condition. Her behavior was seen as selfish; many thought Tolstoy’s depression and agitated mental state was directly linked to her, and after being reproached for her behavior by her children, even she herself was convinced of this. The notion that her own children could blame her for their father’s urge to leave took a devastating emotional toll on her, and the guilt she felt would last the rest of her life. This – the image of a melodramatic, nerve-stricken, oppressive wife – would follow Tolstaya decades after her death. Blaming Tolstaya helped to explain many of Tolstoy’s contradictions. Having denounced private property, his estate and land still remained under the names of his wife and children. To his disciples, this meant one thing – Tolstaya held absolute control over him. With the promotion of Chertkov’s writings, Tolstaya was branded as the biggest obstacle in her husband’s life. It was widely accepted that leaving his wife was his only option to live freely, where he could openly practice and live by his beliefs without interference.8 Upon fleeing from his estate, Tolstoy died of pneumonia several days later. And after his death, upon the discovery of his secret will9, Tolstaya’s life and dedication to her husband were discounted completely. The will gave proof to Tolstoy’s misery and only solidified the accusations made against Tolstaya. Her reputation would remain tarnished for the rest of her life. 8 After the Bolshevik revolution, there was a need to portray Tolstoy in a radical light. He was seen as the precursor to the Russian revolution of 1917, as his ideas of abolishing all private property and wealth appeared akin to the Bolshevik ideals. Chertkov knew and understood this, and thus contributed to creating the image of a rebellious Tolstoy. Regardless of his personal feelings for Tolstaya, it then became necessary for Chertkov to portray her as villainous wife who stood in the way of Tolstoy’s revolutionary beliefs. 9 This will was written in Tolstoy’s personal diary, stating that Chertkov was to be given the rights to his literary work. This was done with the intention that Tolstoy’s works would be distributed freely amongst the public, denying his family from profit. Popoff, Sophia Tolstoy, 276. Gillett 5 Sophia Tolstaya has only recently begun to be acknowledged as someone who was more than a hindrance to her husband. In opposition to the campaign that sought to tarnish her image and ultimately blame her for her husband’s death, she is now being celebrated for her merits and importance to Tolstoy’s life. Recent publications about Tolstaya and her life, specifically Alexandra Popoff’s Sophia Tolstoy: A Biography, and Tolstaya’s personal memoirs from her book My Life, attest to this. In her new biography, Popoff sets out to create an embellished image of her subject. Tolstaya admittedly did act dramatically, but in her own words explains that that was the only way for Tolstoy to understand her feelings; he was otherwise oblivious. After an episode between the two, their eldest child Sergei recalls his conversation with Tolstaya about her behavior: “Mother came out into the hall to meet us, her hair disheveled, and wearing a dressing gown. I was appalled by the change in her face; suddenly it was old, shriveled, and trembling, and her eyes could not keep still. This was a new face to me. She talked incessantly, wept, and repeated that she would certainly put an end to her life and if they insisted on fishing her out of the pond, well, she would starve herself to death. I told her, rather harshly, that such behavior would have an adverse effect on Father, she had to calm her nerves and calm down, and then Father would return. She said: ‘No, no, you don’t know him, the only way to influence him is to provoke his pity.’ I knew myself that she was right and though I protested it was only faintly.”10 Tolstaya’s diaries present her own interpretations of her daily interactions with her husband. The two, primarily at the beginning of their marriage, relied on reading and responding to each other’s diaries as a means of communication and intimacy. Indeed, when both diaries are read simultaneously, their combined entries form a distinct 10 Tolstoy, Tolstoy Remembered by His Son, 135. Gillett 6 dialogue. Thus, looking to the diaries of Tolstaya and her husband can be seen as a basis for understanding their relationship. Furthermore, it becomes clear that Tolstaya is not merely the caretaker, devoted wife and mother she was made out to be, but was equally instrumental in shaping her husband’s literary works. It is well known that Tolstaya acted as Tolstoy’s personal transcriber and publisher. I argue that, in her duty as such, she helped to shape and write the works of her husband in ways not ordinarily seen; namely, through her own creativity in editing and inspiring her husband’s works.
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