An Analysis Of Tolstoy ' Tolstoy 's ' The Sigh '

An Analysis Of Tolstoy ' Tolstoy 's ' The Sigh '

Tolstoy says, "people come to understand that the meaning of eating lies in the nourishment of the body, only when they cease to consider that the object of that activity is pleasure. And it is the same with regard to art. People will come to understand the meaning of art only when they cease to consider that the aim of that activity is beauty, that is to say, pleasure." (Tolstoy, 7). The "nourishment" good art provides is capability to infect others with the emotions that the artist had when he expressed the art. This "nourishment" stems from the idea that one must have the feelings of the artist transmitted to them, and if they experience similar feelings as the artist then it is true art and the observer/viewer is nourished.



This "hunger", this fundamental human need, which good art satisfies is the need for man to be united. This lack of connection leaves humans hungry for real connection with those around them, connections that are not tainted with corruption, but art that makes all men feel united and same as one another. "Art begins when one person, with the object of joining another or others to himself in one and the same feeling, expresses that feeling by certain external indications." (Tolstoy, 9). The first bite of food to satisfy the hunger begins with expression of an idea that evokes emotion in the artist, which also evokes emotion from people around the artist. "Sometimes people who are together, if not hostile to one another, are, at least estranged in

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