Peering into the Abyss

This essay argues that Leonid Andreev’s (1871–1919) short story “The Abyss” (Bezdna) is an important and often misunderstood response to Lev Tolstoi’s (1828–1910) novella Kreutzer Sonata (Kreitserova Sonata), representing a fundamental shift in the way that pessimistic philosophy and degeneration theory would be incorporated into the cultural, intellectual and literary discourse of the Russian fin de siècle. For Andreev, intellectual currents were suggesting that civilized society was under attack by forces beyond its control. Tolstoi, however, asserted that celibacy and mortification of the flesh could conquer humanity’s primitive urges. In response, Andreev animated popular theories on sexual degeneracy to reject moral restraint as an option against sexual aggression. This rejoinder is significant for many reasons, not the least of which as an important intellectual segue between Tolstoi and subsequent decadent literary discourse on sexuality. After all, morality was no longer solely resident within religious thought in fin de siècle Russia, especially in light of mounting evidence that moral insanity was the result of hereditary taints and biological regression. Consequently, “The Abyss” should be reinterpreted as an important intellectual bridge between what would be deemed high- and lowbrow literature on human sexuality at the turn of the century

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