# Liza — The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories character guide

> Liza in The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Liza Golovin, Lise

**First appearance:** 0056-the-death-of-ivan-ilyitch

## Snapshot

Ivan Ilyitch's wife, a woman whose concern for appearances and comfort shapes the household her husband dies in.

## Who they are

Liza married Ivan Ilyitch for the life he could provide, and she has spent the years since managing that life with an efficiency that leaves little room for tenderness. When her husband falls ill, her first instinct is to protect the family's routine — and her own nerves — from the disruption of his suffering. Her inability to meet his need for simple human pity becomes one of the story's quiet indictments, not of cruelty but of the ordinary selfishness that passes for love.

## In the story

### [The Death of Ivan Ilyitch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-death-of-ivan-ilyitch)

Mentioned in the context of the family's social life and her father's petty irritations over her appearance.

### [The Kreutzer Sonata](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-kreutzer-sonata)

Pózdnyshev's daughter, mentioned as one of the children who rushes to her mother during the final quarrel.

### [My Dream](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/my-dream)

Prince Michael's daughter; disillusioned with society, she seeks real life in a passionate affair, is abandoned, and lives in poverty with her child.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters/liza
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters