The drama The Light Shines reflects the events of Tolstoys life in the broadest, most typified generalizations. Therefore, it would be a gross mistake to fully identify the content of the drama with the life of Tolstoy, his family and those around him.
So, the drama of Nikolai Ivanovich Saryntsev is, of course, the drama of Tolstoy himself. The same should be said of the other characters in the play, which are very reminiscent of either Tolstoys family or those who came into close contact with his family.
This is Tolstoys scribe, Alexander Petrovich Ivanov, a former officer who became trampless, an inhabitant of Rzhanovs house.