The thread of depression throughout the life and works of Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy, the author of two masterpieces, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, remains a writer of genius. Yet, after writing War and Peace, his existence had been torn apart by a serious depression. This depression, which was melancholic in character, almost destroyed him and, once he had finished Anna Karenina, led him to want to renounce not only sexuality but also literary creation and material possessions. Through examining Tolstoy's life and work, the author tries to uncover the underground paths of this depression, which emerged brutally in the middle of his life, and to understand why his creative genius dried up. Like Leonardo da Vinci, Tolstoy turned away from his artistic work, declaring that 'art is not only useless but even harmful', and thereafter devoted himself to philosophical, political and religious writings. These new sublimations would help him to recover his health.