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The Cause of It All

Description:   The Cause of It All is a play in two parts by Leo Tolstoy published in 1910, and later translated by Aylmer and Louise Maude. It heavily features anti-alcohol and teetotaling themes.   

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Date:   1910  
Reference:   The complete works of Count Tolstoy. Vol. 26  
Extent:   20 p.  
Tags:   FictionDrama  
 
 

The First Distiller

Description:   The First Distiller is a short satirical play written by Tolstoy to expose the moral and social harm of alcohol. Blending humor with allegory, it tells how the devil teaches a peasant to distill vodka, bringing greed, violence, and misery into human life. Through this simple tale, Tolstoy denounces drunkenness, exploitation, and hypocrisy, showing how vice spreads from personal weakness to social decay. The play ends with a call for repentance and moral renewal.   

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Date:   1886  
Reference:   The complete works of Count Tolstoy. Vol. 24  
Extent:   16 p.  
Tags:   FictionDrama  
 
 

The Fruits of Enlightenment

Description:   The Fruits of Enlightenment is a satirical comedy by Leo Tolstoy that ridicules the pretensions and spiritual emptiness of Russia’s upper class. The play centers on a wealthy family obsessed with spiritualism and séances, contrasting their shallow “enlightenment” with the sincerity and wisdom of their peasant servants. Through humor and irony, Tolstoy exposes the absurdities of fashionable intellectualism and class hypocrisy.  

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Date:   1889  
Reference:   The complete works of Count Tolstoy. Vol. 18  
Extent:   91 p.  
Tags:   FictionDrama  
 
 

The Light That Shines in the Darkness

Description:   The Light That Shines in the Darkness is an unfinished autobiographical play that dramatizes Tolstoy’s inner spiritual crisis and growing conflict with family, society, and the Church. The protagonist, a landowner named Nikolai Ivanovich, mirrors Tolstoy himself as he struggles to live according to Christian ideals of love, poverty, and nonviolence, while facing misunderstanding from those closest to him. The play explores themes of faith, conscience, moral duty, and the cost of truth.   

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Date:   1894-96, 1900   
Reference:   The complete works of Count Tolstoy. Vol. 26  
Extent:   103 p.  
Tags:   Fiction, Drama, Unfinished  
 
 

The Man Who Was Dead (The Living Corpse)

Description:   The Man Who Was Dead is a moral and spiritual tale about a man who experiences a profound inner resurrection after living a selfish and meaningless life. Believed to be dead by others, he awakens to a new understanding of truth, love, and moral duty. Through this symbolic narrative, Tolstoy explores the themes of spiritual rebirth, conscience, and redemption, illustrating his conviction that true life begins only when one lives for others rather than oneself.   

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Date:   1900  
Reference:   The complete works of Count Tolstoy. Vol. 26  
Extent:   86 p.  
Tags:   Fiction, Drama, Unfinished  
 
 

The Power of Darkness

Description:   The Power of Darkness is a tragic play by Leo Tolstoy that exposes the moral and social decay of Russian peasant life. It tells the story of Nikita, a weak-willed farmhand who becomes involved in adultery, deceit, and murder under the influence of those around him. Through his downfall and eventual confession, Tolstoy explores themes of guilt, sin, repentance, and spiritual redemption.  

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Date:   1886  
Reference:   The complete works of Count Tolstoy. Vol. 18  
Extent:   78 p.  
Tags:   FictionDrama