In response to Professor Cassidy’s comment on my entry, “Tolstoy and Art,” I would like to elaborate on Tolstoy’s portrayal of women as objects of artistic interest and his view of real art in general. Tolstoy believes that real art should express the emotion of the artist in a manner that perfectly communicates this feeling to a universal audience. Counterfeit works of art do not accomplish this goal; they may communicate the wrong feeling, a feeling that was never felt by the artist but was one that he wished to communicate nonetheless, or they may not succeed in communicating their feeling to a universal audience. Professor Cassidy questions whether good art can be compared to a chaste wife and bad art can be compared to a prostitute. I don’t think this assessment accurately captures parallels between Tolstoy’s views on women and art. Tolstoy delineates between real art and artificial art. He further delineates between good art and bad art. Real and artificial art refers to whether or not a work is successful according to his definition. Good and bad art may refer to the moral value of the work. Women fall into the category of real and artificial women without concern or reference to their morality. Analysis of individual female characters may elucidate this categorization. Masha, Nikolai’s prostitute in Anna Karenina, would be a work of art. She holds no pretenses, approaching relationships with characters such as Nikolai, Kitty, and Levin openly, without hiding her status or attempting to portray herself as someone she is not. In Tolstoy’s view, she may, however, be considered ‘bad’ art due to her morals. She is not married to Nikolai and she does not remain with him in order to procreate. Kitty begins the work as false art. She attends balls elaborately dressed and is even caught forbidding her mother to fix her hair because she likes the natural way it looks. She is not inherently natural; she tries to create an illusion. She seeks marriage with Vronsky in order to improve her status in society instead of accepting marriage with Levin, a man who she has been compatible with since childhood. After visiting the sanatorium abroad and attempting to conform to the role of self-sacrificing nurse, she finally turns her act around. She comments that she knows that she will never be like the humble nurse who she befriends during her stay and she is tired of putting up pretenses, trying to be something she is not. In this moment, Kitty becomes true to herself, and therefore, becomes true art. She evolves into ‘good’ art in Tolstoy’s eyes. For example, she practices the same openness as Masha, the prostitute, in her interactions with Nikolai, and on top of that, she marries and procreates, both actions hallmarks of a good woman in Tolstoy’s works. Anna Karenina is natural. Her hair contrasts to Kitty’s as it is always escaping her coiffure in the most becoming way. She wears pansies, objects of natural beauty, in her hair to the same ball where Kitty expends so much effort in order to attain perfection. In addition to a natural physical appearance, Anna demonstrates naturalness of character.
Tags: Anna Karenina, Art, Marijke, Tolstoy, van de Stadt, Williams College, women
