#we dint need to flatten it out to sophia-wife-victim lev-husband-abuser.

[lesbianaglaya]

revoking people’s right to talk about the tolstoy marriage until they write and turn in to me a ten page essay on complex relationships

#‘tolstoy STOLE from sophia’s diary’ almost certainly not true. #at least not in the usual vein - sophia was (and should be credited as!) at the very least his editor and collaborator #with w&p at times i want to say co author but i also dont think we should diminish the importance of editing #they worked as a team! and in the later years when thier relationship was increasingly frought they were BOTH reading each others diaries. #the problem is there is genuinely an avenue to talk about how tolstoy drew from real life in less than ethical ways #tanya bhers/natasha rostova for instance. THE KREUTZER SONATA! FOR INSTANCE! #but diminishing it down to oh he stole from her is. a disservice to both of them. #sophia confessed her love by writing a story that blatantly copied real life and lev’s personal insecurities confessed in confidence #and honestly that isnt even BAD like there is a reason they were happily married for 25 years! they’re work is similar they were a team! #we dint need to flatten it out to sophia-wife-victim lev-husband-abuser. #nor do we need to ignore the many ways sophia suffered! #it’s just theyve been reduced to a famous literary disaster marriage when they really… werent that. #gabby.txt #genuinely tanya as the inspiration for natasha is far more upsetting to me than giving his diary to sophia before the wedding. #idk. idk! its like on one hand im so fully on sophia's side and im so happy that her diaries and writing are being translated #and. not even on the other hand these ideas arent in opposition to each other. reducing her marriage to a flat picture of suffering is. bad #actually i think in many ways the problem is solved by looking at sophia as an author instead of a wife. #which like. she was very much both. but if we afford her the agency afforded to an author i think the conversation immediately gains nuance #and that also comes with the caveat of female authors being far less respected - look at nadezhda khvoshchinskaya - but still #anyway GOOOOD morning