E.N. Tolstoy’s novel «Lida»: beyond morality

The article analyzes the novel «Lida» by E. N. Tolstoy, which was published in 1898 in two issues of the journal «Bulletin of Europe». Exploring the system of heroes in the novel, the author of the article consistently draws attention to the Sinyakin family, the maid Fenya, the father and son Berezensky, the sister of Prince Ozhogina and, finally, to Baroness Mühlbach and her daughter Lida - Princess Lydia Berezenskaya. An analysis of the views and value systems of all the listed characters allows us to conclude that the author of the novel builds on its pages a holistic system for revising moral and ethical norms and rules that serve as a guarantee of moral balance and social equilibrium. When making a deal with morality, each of the heroes believes that his deal is an exclusively special case that does not pose a threat to morality as such; Lida turned out to be a heroine who lives outside of morality and is not even aware of its existence. As a result, morality, which had been corrected and relegated to the background for some time, disappears completely, and a cynic who has no idea what «morality» is and why it is needed comes to the forefront of everyday life's ups and downs - this is exactly the kind of person the main character of the novel becomes, Lida. Carrying out a revision of the views and values he inherited, A. N. Tolstoy, carrying out a revision of the views and values he inherited, will conclude that morality itself is unviable, alienation from which became the subject of artistic reflection of his sister, E. N. Tolstoy.