Plays of Leo Tolstoy: The Power Of Darkness, The First Distiller, Fruits Of Culture

by Leo Tolstoy

The Plays of Leo Tolstoy is a collection of three plays written by the renowned Russian author, Leo Tolstoy. The first play, The Power of Darkness, is a tragedy that explores the themes of family, love, and betrayal. It tells the story of a young woman named Anisya who is forced into a loveless marriage with a cruel and abusive man. As the story unfolds, Anisya's life becomes increasingly difficult and tragic, leading to a devastating conclusion.The second play, The First Distiller, is a comedy that satirizes the Russian aristocracy and their obsession with alcohol. The play follows the story of a wealthy landowner who decides to build a distillery on his estate. However, things quickly spiral out of control as the landowner and his guests become increasingly drunk and disorderly, leading to a chaotic and hilarious series of events.The final play in the collection, Fruits of Culture, is a social satire that explores the hypocrisy and corruption of the Russian upper classes. The play tells the story of a wealthy merchant who invites a group of artists and intellectuals to his estate for a weekend of culture and refinement. However, as the weekend progresses, it becomes clear that the merchant's guests are more interested in their own egos and desires than in any kind of genuine cultural exchange.Overall, The Plays of Leo Tolstoy offers a fascinating insight into the mind of one of the greatest writers of the 19th century. Through these three plays, Tolstoy explores a range of themes and ideas that are still relevant today, making this collection a must-read for anyone interested in Russian literature or the human condition.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

268 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2005

About the author

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой; most appropriately used Liev Tolstoy; commonly Leo Tolstoy in Anglophone countries) was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction. Many consider Tolstoy to have been one of the world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer.

His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

See also:
French → Léon Tolstoï
Spanish → León Tolstói