Dickens and Tolstoy: Dickens in Russia

ABSTRACT Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy came from different backgrounds and lived in different parts of the world, yet Dickens’s literary influence on Russian novelists is immense and Leo Tolstoy’s love of Dickens is undeniable in his letters, memoirs, and diaries. Tolstoy viewed Dickens as a harsh social critic and a champion for the poor, the underprivileged and the oppressed. Both writers are not only known as social commentators but the recorders of many problems of their time: they both strived to attain the ideal of goodness in life and society. The novels of Dickens and Tolstoy differ in style, narratology, purpose, thematical unity, and motifs, yet these writers’ dedication to democracy and humanism is evident in their works. The goal of this article is to trace the influence Charles Dickens had on Leo Tolstoy and identify key references to Dickens in Tolstoy’s own writings that would enhance modern-day scholars’ and readers’ understanding and appreciation of these two timeless novelists.