Fantastic Elements in the Porcelain Doll Although "The Porcelain Doll" is in an anthology of magical realist literature, one might wonder whether the story is a true example of magical realism. Written in 1863 by the Russian Leo Tolstoy, "The Porcelain Doll" was a letter that today is treated as a short story. After analyzing Tolstoy's story, the reader can see that "The Porcelain Doll" is not a true example of magical realism but rather a possible example of the fantastic. In order for a story to be considered a magical realist text, it must contain both magical and realistic elements and elements (Flores 112). Near the beginning of the story, Tolstoy tells the reader how he had already gone to bed when his wife Sonya entered the room to undress. As he approached the bed, Tolstoy realized that his wife was “not the Sonya you and I have known, but a porcelain Sonya” (Tolstoy 34). Therefore, the transformation of a human being into a porcelain doll is obviously the magical element of this story. One of the realistic elements of this story is that of the porcelain doll itself. The way Tolstoy describes the doll signals to the reader that the doll is nothing extraordinary. In fact, the doll was just like "those porcelain dolls with bare, cold shoulders, neck and arms bent forward, but made of the same piece of porcelain as the body" (Tolstoy 34). Another realistic element in "The Porcelain Doll" could be the activities of the characters. For example, once Tolstoy's wife became a porcelain doll, Tolstoy's dog dragged her into a corner and almost broke her, which a normal dog would probably do (Tolstoy 36). As well as having a mixture of magical elements. ..... middle of the sheet ......86.Flores, Angel. "Magical Realism in Hispanic American Fiction." Magical realism. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1995. 109-116.Leal, Luis. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature." Magical realism. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1995. 119-123.Roh, Franz. "Magical Realism: Post-Expressionism." Magical realism. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1995. 15-30.Todorov, Tsvetan. The fantastic: a structural approach to a literary form. Cleveland: The Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1973. 168-174.Tolstoy, Leo. "The porcelain doll." Magical realist fiction: American anthology. Ed. David Young and Keith Holloman. NY: Longmann, 1984. 33-36.