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

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

**Role:** major

**First appearance:** 0065-the-young-tsar

## Snapshot

A newly crowned ruler whose first nights on the throne are haunted by a dream that forces him to weigh the human cost of every decree.

## Who they are

The Young Tsar inherits not just a crown but an entire machinery of expectation, ceremony, and distant suffering he has never had to see up close. In the hush after his coronation, a prophetic dream strips away the pageantry and leaves him face to face with the question of what a ruler owes to those he will never meet. His struggle between duty and conscience gives the story its moral gravity, turning a royal fable into something uncomfortably intimate.

## In the story

### [Ermák](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/erm-k)

The Russian Tsar who authorizes the Stroganóvs' initial land settlement and later their military campaign against the rebellious King Kuchum.

### [God Sees the Truth, but Waits](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/god-sees-the-truth-but-waits)

Mentioned as the ultimate authority to whom Aksyonof's wife sends a futile petition for mercy, highlighting the failure of earthly justice.

### [The Young Tsar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-young-tsar)

Torn by the duties of his office; taken on a dream journey to witness the suffering caused by his state's systems.

### [The Posthumous Papers of the Hermit, Fedor Kusmich](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-posthumous-papers-of-the-hermit-fedor-kusmich)

Referenced as the identity Fedor Kusmich claims to have abandoned; the diary is his first-person account of life as Alexander I.

### [God’s Way and Man’s](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/god-s-way-and-man-s)

Recalled by the General as having commanded firm, ruthless action against revolutionaries ('the red ones').

### [The Wisdom of Children](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-wisdom-of-children)

Referenced in a debate among children (Grishka, Jishka, Semka) about the limits of earthly justice and divine punishment.

### [Khodinka 332](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/khodinka332)

Tsar Nicholas II, whose coronation is being celebrated. The people's adoration for him is mentioned as a motive for Rina to join the celebration.

## Links

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