Description
The Living Corpse by Leo Tolstoy is a drama about Lisa, a woman abandoned by her husband Fedia, a gambler and alcoholic who prefers a life of dissipation to responsibility for his wife and newborn child. Lisa struggles with emotional and social isolation after Fedia leaves, while Viktor—her childhood friend who secretly loves her—enters her life to offer support. In desperation, Lisa writes a letter pleading for Fedia’s return and asks Viktor to deliver it. The play explores themes of moral responsibility, personal redemption, and the conflict between societal expectations and individual desire. Tolstoy portrays human weakness and the possibility of forgiveness within a framework of psychological and ethical realism.
