Not sure how Tolstoy's wife, Sophia/Sofya was is reality, but based on her attention seeking and dramatic antics, I'd say she's borderline.
I got completely irritated by her character fairly early on. If Sophia really was as Mirren acted in the film, Mirren did really well and Sophia was one helluva crazy bus, or some writer went overboard with Sophia's nonesense.
Any thoughts?
After a long, passionate marriage and partnership, Lev stopped having sex with her because of his new philosophy. Also, she contributed a great deal of support and help when he was writing. Because of this she felt that his novels were hers as well. By signing the copyright to his books over to "the people", he was depriving their 8 surviving children of their inheritance. He replaced a photograph above his desk of the two of them with a photograph of Chertkov. Tolstoy treated his life with Sophia as if it were something to be put behind him as he began his new life with Chertkov and the Tolstoyans. I don't blame her for being distraught as her life with Tolstoy came to an end. I think he was the crazy one!
shareInteresting information.
My Love http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/Devenir83/loves.jpg
In addition, Sophia had been the one who ran the affairs of the house and the land during their marriage; trying to find ways to keep them afloat when Tolstoy's idealistic schemes didn't work out. Tolstoy's disciples overran their house, staying for weeks or months, and she had to find the means to feed and provide space for all of them, and then be criticized by them and him for being too materialistic or selfish with their resources--in addition to being criticized by them for just about everything else she did (another big sin of hers was "seducing" Tolstoy by letting him sleep with her even after he was preaching celibacy). For the first few decades of their marriage, Tolstoy and Sophia had always been completely open with each other, and would read each other's diaries almost daily. When Tolstoy began to shut her out and would no longer let her read his diaries, even though the whole process had been his idea in the first place, it was a great blow to her. In the last several years of his life, Tolstoy had been giving away money and land and they had never been very prosperous anyway; so Sophia's worries about how the family would survive if they lost the rights to Leo's works were very real. And finally as the last insult (as if trying to take away the copyrights wasn't enough), after Leo's death, the only version of the Tolstoy's marriage and life together was the one put out by Chertkov, painting Sophia as an extremely unstable jealous woman that didn't understand her husband's genius or his sainthood. It's only been fairly recently that her diaries have been made available so her side of the story is heard.
Come, we must press against the tide of naughtiness. Mind your step.
I am a fan of Helen Mirren and watching this movie I just wanted to punch her in the head. Her character annoyed me SO MUCH.
Notice that all the crazy rantings and antics are VERY public and in front of the press. So, there is no denying that they occurred.
Tolstoy did not want a big mansion. He would have been happy living in a cabin. He sleeps in a tiny room in a simple bed while the Countess is the one in the lavish bedroom.
I don't blame Tolstoy for leaving her. When a marriage becomes unbearable usually couples split up. Have you people not heard of this concept?
Sophia is co-author about as much as Yoko Ono was one of the Beatles.
If you're seriously interested in her (and their marriage), you will not want to miss it.
(And there are other articles related to it.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/books/review/Parini-t.html?_r=1&; ref=leo_tolstoy
Also, her diary is available, free of charge, on the internet.
I actually felt for her. Yes she had some bad mood swings, but I felt they were somewhat justifiable. Certkov was bad news. I'd be pissed off as well if a bunch of people, two of them close family members, a wife or husband, were sitting around discussing whether or not I should have what's rightfully mine. I didn't blame her at all. Obviously, she should have thought things through calmly before acting out, & she could have benefited with some anger management, but if you look at it from her perspective you can kind of understand the cause of her actions.
"...the young man would love it too, but he can't afford it."
Although even some film critics considered Countess Sophia, "awful", Tatler's for example, I find nothing awful or strange in her reaction. If you belong in relative well-off and stable household, it is obvious that you would feel resentment if the head of the household, starts speaking idealistic and highfalutin chatter while acting in a way ruinous for the wellfare of the family unit. What else did you expect her to do?
shareI found her to be a very sympathetic character.
It truly was a great love story.
She was the only person I felt sympathy for. I can really understand her frustrations. And really, Leo was portrayed as a gullible fool in this movie. If he was really like that I wouldn't have wanted to stay married to him.
They've been together for almost 50 years, and suddenly he decides to pack his things and leave in the middle of the night? Without even telling her? That's just fvcked up.
Also... I can kill you with my brain
Sorry but I loved Sofya! As portrayed here, she was hilarious at times. I liked the fainting scene, wondered if it was meant to seem real but was really fake. Also when she climbed out on the balcony to eavesdrop on Lev. Her dramatic entrance into the room was spoiled when she slipped and fell, then no one helped her up. I loved it when she fired the pistol at the picture. I don't blame her for being upset at Lev; he gave away what she considered her children's inheritance. She was probably worried they'd all starve once he was gone.
shareYou also need to consider the type of world they lived in. Once divorced, women did not have a lot of rights to anything. Someone her age with no husband was basically at the end of her rope. I can't believe he considered himself a man of faith and yet was not willing to support his family. That kind of goes against what he believed.
Sure, she may have been living extravagantly, but that is no excuse to consign her to the poor house. He could have given her support and supported the Tolstoyans if he had managed it right. I think this movement of his fed his ego and that was probably the biggest problem
I was conflicted about their relationship. On the one hand I can totally 100% understand that if my husband wanted to remove his greatest legacy from our 17 children's inheritance, I would be major pissed off. If I had been part of my husband's work for 50 years and been pushed aside, I would be pissed off.
On the other hand, I agree with disvestment of the material world...
So what does this say?
I think one's committment to one's family comes first, in general. And if you FAIL on your greatest contract in life, if you fail your spouse through a change in value system, then it's all on you, not the left behind wife.
On the other hands, those 17 children are grown up and have their own life, so FAILing on one's family contract has less impact. Which does not remove anything from the validity of her character's emotions...
***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**
the film was set before the concept of 'Borderline Personality Disorder' had been dreamed up by anyone.
Actually I liked her character, I liked the part where she forced her way into his meeting via the upstairs window. In that time, her husbands life was also her life, more so than today.
Are you people retarded? These outsiders were coming in to steal the inheritance of her children, the lively hood of the family and her husband himself! How could she not be pissed and crazy? I tell you what, how bout I come to your house, take everything you own and give it to PETA and see how you like it. I hated the bastards that did all they could to steal the Tolstoy inheritance, not that the communists wouldn't have done it a few years later but I digress.
shareSecretFapper has it right. I would be insanely angry if outsider came into my home and my husband sided with them against me. They had been married for over 40 years for goodness sake, anyone who has not been married that long and shared a life and children and work with that person has no idea how betrayed and hurt Sofya must have felt.
shareShe was probably also borderline but the thing that stuck out to me most was she was co-dependent, he was interdependent, but they still loved each other. But yeah, she feared abandonment, tried to control everything, obsessed over him etc. Co-dependents need the other person, so it's a different type of love, and it can be selfish, overly caring and driven by fear.
Black Swan is another movie that deals with Co-dependence also.