Light That Shines in the Darkness – by Leo Tolstoy

The Light That Shines in the Darkness – the last of Tolstoy’s plays, was left unfinished. In Russia it is prohibited on account of its allusions to the refusal of military service.

Yet it is in some ways the most interesting of Tolstoy’s posthumous works. It is obviously not strictly autobiographical, for Tolstoy was not assassinated as the hero of the piece is, nor was his daughter engaged to be married to a young prince who refused military service. But like some of his other writings, the play is semi-autobiographical. In it, not only has Tolstoy utilized personal experiences, but more than that, he answers the question so often asked: Why, holding his views, did he not free himself from property before he grew old?

Released: 2004