Tolstoy on the Couch

In his 1889 novella "The Kreutzer Sonata", Lev Tolstoy declared war on human sexuality. Having fathered 13 children by his wife and at least two by peasant women, the great Russian writer suggested that people should stop having children. Psychoanalysis of Tolstoy's diaries and other private materials in this text shows that Tolstoy's anti-sex position was grounded in a sadistic attitude towards women (including his wife Sonia) and a punishing, masochistic attitude towards himself. These feelings, in turn, were related to the trauma of maternal loss in Tolstoy's early childhood.