Leo Tolstoy’s theory of sleep

Throughout his life, Leo Tolstoy was fascinated by the phenomena of sleep and dreams. He composed a series of observations and judgements that were brought together under “my theory of sleep”. Tolstoy was constantly preoccupied with the basic principles of “the theory”. It is hard to name a work by him where a description of sleep and/or a dream does not play a vital role in the unfolding of the plot. They testify to Tolstoy’s interest in the mechanism of sleep and in the processes of falling asleep and waking up. Tolstoy viewed sleep as a specific state of consciousness, and he subsequently linked the concept of sleep with the concept of death. For him sleep and awakening were experiences emblematic of life and death.