L. Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky was a literary essay (often referred to as a literary-critical essay) written by Dmitry Merezhkovsky and published between 1900 and 1901 in Mir Iskusstva magazine. The essay explored a comparison between the creativity and worldview of Leo Tolstoy and that of Fyodor Dostoevsky. The author worked on his research from 1898 to 1902 and its publication coincided with Leo Tolstoy's excommunication by Most Holy Synod and drew wide public response. L. Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky is considered the most significant work of Merezhkovsky in the genre of literary research and was subsequently recognized as the most detailed and accurate study of Leo Tolstoy's work.
The work was partly devoted to the history of Russian literature, but also reflected the author's changing perception of the world. The ideological basis for the essay was founded upon the dilemma between Christianity and Paganism. Alexander Men noted that Tolstoy was described as a pagan "a secret seer of flesh", which was contrary to the "seer of spirit" of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In his research, Merezhovsky continued to look for a synthesis between the Old Testament, which spoke of the flesh, and the New Testament, which spoke of the spirit.
D.S.Merezhovsky was not the first author to analyse the work of L.N.Tolstoy. In 1856, Nikolay Chernyshevsky wrote the article "Childhood and Adolescence. War Stories by Count Leo Tolstoy". Dmitry Pisarev wrote the articles "Lapses into Immature Thought" about the narratives "Childhood", "Adoloscence", "Youth" and "Old Nobility" regarding the novel "War and Peace". Analyses of L.Tolstoy's creativity were also carried out by contemporaries Nikolay Nekrasov, Saltykov-Schedrin, Nikolay Mikhaylovsky, Maxim Gorky, and Veresaev, however Merezhovsky was later recognized by many as providing the most detailed and thorough analysis of them all.
Background
By the beginning of the 20th century, D.S. Merezhkovsky was heavily engaged in getting to grips with issues related to Christianity and the Church Cathedral. G. Adamovich in his article “Merezhkovsky” recalled that “if a conversation was really lively and if there was tension present, then sooner or later Merezhovsky would fall back on his favourite subject - the significance and meaning of the Gospel. Up until the word 'Gospel' was uttered, a dispute remained superficial and the interlocutors had the sense they were playing hide and seek." Having determined the course of his philosophical quest for the history of Russian literature, Merezhkovsky decided to articulate it by contrasting Russian literature's two classics.
In the meantime, the " Determination of the Holy Synod No. 557 with a message to the faithful children of the Orthodox Greek-Russian Church about Count Leo Tolstoy" was published after 23 February 1901, at which point L. Tolstoy's fierce conflict with the church unfolded. As a whole, the Russian Intelligentsia sympathized with the writer. The press published satiric essays and pamphlets directed against the Synod and parodies of Pobedonostsev.
"His name was on everyone's lips, all eyes were turned on Yasnaya Polyana: the existence of Leo Tolstoy was felt in every fiber of the spiritual life of the country, every minute of the day", recalled P.P. Pertsov. "We have two Tsars: Nicolas II and Leo Tolstoy. Which of them is stronger? Nicholas II cannot harm Tolstoy in any way and can't steal away his throne, whereas Tolstoy undoubtedly shakes the foundations of Nicholas II's throne and dynasty", wrote Aleksey Suvorin.
After the deterioration of Tolstoy's health at the address of "Torquemada"-Pobedonostsev, definitive threats were uttered within the radical student community. "At the present time, students' heads are spinning with the anticipated death of Tolstoy. Under such circumstances, prudence requires me to vacate Moscow, where it is impossible to hide," wrote Pobedonostsev.
D.S. Merezhkovsky very openly expressed support for the churches' position, however, he noted in a letter to the Chairman of the Neophilological Society, Alexander Veselovsky, "My attitude towards Tolstoy, although entirely censored, is not hostile, rather sympathetic."