(When I saw a lady in a ballgown....I was frankly terrified.... and I Essay

(When I saw a lady in a ballgown....I was frankly terrified.... and I wanted to call a policeman) Are woman represented as the agents or the victims of sexual - Essay Example (eNotes, 2009.) Leo Tolstoy was born at Yasnaya Polyana, in Tula Province. He was the fourth in five children. His parents died when he was a child, and he was brought up by relatives. In 1844 Tolstoy started his studies of law and oriental languages at Kazan University, but he never took a degree. Dissatisfied with the standard of education, he returned in the middle of his studies back to Yasnaya Polyana, and then spent much of his time in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 1847 Tolstoy was treated for venereal disease. After contracting heavy gambling debts, Tolstoy accompanied in 1851 his elder brother Nikolay to the Caucasus, and joined an artillery regiment. In the 1850s Tolstoy also began his literary career. The title of Count had been conferred on his ancestor in the early 18th century by Peter the Great. The Kreutzer Sonata is a tale of sexual obsession and jealousy. A provincial businessman (Posdnicheff) becomes obsessed with his wifes relationship with a violinist, with whom she plays duos. The climax of his jealousy comes during a performance by his wife and her violinist partner of Beethovens Violin Sonata no.9 in A major, known as the Kreutzer sonata, after which Posdnicheff murders his wife. The idea for The Kreutzer Sonata was given to Tolstoy by the actor V.N. Andreev-Burlak during his visit at Yasnaya Polyana in June 1887. In the spring of 1888 an amateur performance of Beethovens Kreutzer Sonata took place in Tolstoys home and it made the author return to an idea he had had in the 1860s. The novel is written in the form of a frame-story and set on a train. The conversations among the passengers develop into a discussion of the institution of marriage. Posdnicheff, the chief character, tells of his youth and his subsequent remorse and self-disgust. Posdnicheff believes that his wife is having an affair with a musician and he tries to strangle her, and then