Pozdnyshev is said to be a chemist – not a musician – by training: throughout the narrative he is referred to as a scientist, a chemist, and even a professor of chemistry.

Not satisfied with this first attempt, Tolstoy continued to work away at successive versions of the tale throughout 1888. Several factors played a part in the development and elaboration of the original material. Among the most important of these was his increasing preoccupation with questions of married life, in particular those relating to sexuality and chastity. This was a concern to which he gave expression in his correspondence with his disciple, V. G. Chertkov. Only a few years previously, Tolstoy had been urging Chertkov to marry for the sake of his health and moral welfare; the direction in which Tolstoy’s thoughts on this matter were now moving may be seen in the following letter to Chertkov, written from Yasnaya Polyana and dated 9 October 1888:

The question of sexual relations between husband and wife, and to what extent they are justified, is one of the most important questions of practical Christianity, and is of the same order as the question of property; it preoccupies me constantly. As always, this question is resolved in the Gospels and, as always, so far removed are our lives from this resolution that not only have we been unable, do we remain unable, to put it into practice – we are not even able to understand it. ‘But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.’ (Matthew xix, 11–12). What does this so frequently and inaccurately quoted passage mean but that Jesus’s reply to people’s questions about what they should do concerning their sexual feelings, what they should strive for, what the ideal of mankind should be, expressed in language that is comprehensible to us, is: ‘Make yourselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. Whoever achieves that makes the highest achievement possible, and even those who are unable to achieve it will be all right as long as they strive towards it. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it’

I think that for the good of mankind both men and women ought to strive for absolute chastity – then, and only then, will mankind become what it is supposed to be. It must set its sights beyond the goal in order to arrive at the goal. If, on the other hand, as is the case in our own society, people consciously go out of their way in order to have sexual intercourse, they inevitably end up in unlawfulness and debauchery. If people consciously go out of their way to live not for the belly, but for the spirit, their attitude towards food will be the one it ought to be; but if, on the other hand, people take great pains to prepare sumptuous feasts for themselves, they inevitably end up in unlawfulness and debauchery.

This was only the first of a whole series of letters to Chertkov, whose request for ‘a reply to my question about family life’ brought about a veritable deluge of advice from Tolstoy on an area of human life that had always been to him most crucial and problematic. In a letter of 6 November 1888, the personal is quickly disposed of, to make room for more general matters: ‘The first thing I must say in this connection is that in speaking of the manner in which a husband and wife should live together, I do not mean to imply that I have lived, or am living as I ought to; not only that, I am firm in the knowledge, derived from my own experience, of how one ought to live only because I have not lived in the way one ought to…’ Tolstoy then proceeds to a discussion of the origins and practicalities of marriage:

First there is the feeling of amorousness, a feeling that has the greatest power over human beings. It is initiated between persons of different sex who have not known one another previously, and it leads to marriage, the instantaneous result of which is the conception of a child. A pregnancy ensues, as a result of which the husband and wife experience a cooling of their carnal relations with one another – a cooling which would be most marked and would have the effect of severing carnal intercourse altogether, as is the case with animals, were it not for the fact that people consider such carnal intercourse as a legitimate source of enjoyment. This cooling between the partners, which is replaced by a concern for the growth and nursing of the child, continues until the infant is weaned, and in a good marriage (and here one may perceive the difference between human beings and cattle) the weaning of the infant coincides with a resurgence of the feeling of amorousness between the same partners. However far we may be from this, it is nevertheless beyond question that this is how it ought to be. And for these reasons

1. Sexual intercourse when the woman is not ready to conceive (i.e. when she has no menstrual periods) is without rational justification, and is merely a form of carnal pleasure – and a very ignominious and shameful pleasure, as every man of conscience will admit, being similar to the most infamous, unnatural sexual perversions.

2. Everyone knows and agrees that sexual intercourse weakens and exhausts human beings and that its weakening effect is felt in the most essential sphere of human activity, the spiritual one. Moderation, say the defenders of the present order, but there can be no question of moderation where the violation of the laws of reason is concerned. But the harm caused by excess (and intercourse when the woman is not ready to conceive is excess) may still not be too great for the man if restraint is observed (the very use of the word ‘restraint’ in such a context is repellent), if he only has carnal relations with one woman – yet what is moderation for the husband will be a terrible excess for the wife who is pregnant or nursing.

I believe that the backwardness and hysterical tendencies of women are largely caused by this. This is what the emancipation of woman should consist in: that she become one flesh with her husband, cease to be the servant of the Devil as she is at present, and become the servant of God. A remote but great ideal.