Freemasonry and Plato's Allegory of the Cave in Leo Tolstoy's 'War & Peace'

• In Event: In Dialogue with the Antique: Russian Reception of Classical Literature

Abstract

Although much has been written on the parallels between Plato's cave and Pierre's encounter with Platon Karataev in War & Peace, Plato's influence can, in fact, be identified much earlier in the narrative. This paper argues that the cave allegory informs the Masonic phase of Pierre's quest for meaning and the conflict between appearance and truth.

Author

• Melkon Charchoglyan, Brown U