Summary
Chapter 125
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Part Five begins with wedding preparations in full swing - but it's complicated. Princess Shtcherbatskaya thinks it's impossible to have the wedding before Lent (just five weeks away) because the trousseau won't be ready. But Levin argues that waiting until after Lent is too late - an old aunt is seriously ill and might die, which would mean mourning would delay things even further. The compromise: divide the trousseau into two parts. The smaller part gets done now for the wedding, the larger part can be made later. The Princess agrees, though she's irritated that Levin can't give her a serious answer about whether this arrangement is acceptable. Why can't he answer properly? Because Levin is walking around in what Tolstoy calls 'the same delirious condition' - he feels like he and his happiness are 'the chief and sole aim of all existence.' He doesn't need to think or plan anything; others are handling everything. His brother gets money, the Princess advises leaving Moscow after the wedding, Stepan Arkadyevitch suggests going abroad. Levin agrees to everything. His philosophy: 'Do what you choose, if it amuses you. I'm happy, and my happiness can be no greater and no less for anything you do.' When he mentions Stiva's abroad suggestion to Kitty, he's surprised she doesn't agree. She has her own definite ideas: she knows Levin has work he loves in the country, and though she doesn't really understand it, she regards it as important. She wants to go where their home will be - not abroad where they won't live. This clear purpose astonishes Levin, but since he doesn't care either way, he immediately asks Stiva to go arrange everything at the country house. Then comes the complication. Stepan Arkadyevitch returns from the country and asks casually: 'Have you a certificate of having been at confession?' Levin: 'No. But what of it?' Stiva: 'You can't be married without it.' Levin cries out 'Aïe, aïe, aïe!' - he hasn't taken the sacrament in nine years. He never thought of it. Stiva laughs: 'You're a pretty fellow! And you call me a Nihilist! But this won't do, you know. You must take the sacrament.' There are only four days left. For Levin, 'as to any unbeliever who respects the beliefs of others,' participating in church ceremonies is exceedingly disagreeable. And at this particular moment - 'in the heyday of his highest glory, his fullest flower' - being forced into what feels like hypocrisy is not merely painful, it seems 'utterly impossible.' He would have to be either a liar or a scoffer, and he feels incapable of being either. He keeps asking Stiva if there's a way to get the certificate without actually taking communion. Stiva insists it's impossible, then reassures him: 'Besides, what is it to you—two days? And he's an awfully nice clever old fellow. He'll pull the tooth out for you so gently, you won't notice it.' During the church services, Levin tries to revive his youthful religious feelings from age sixteen or seventeen - impossible. He tries to see it all as empty custom with no meaning, like paying social calls - also impossible. He's in the vague position of most of his contemporaries: he can't believe, but he also has no firm conviction it's all wrong. Result: throughout the preparation for the sacrament, he feels discomfort and shame at doing what he doesn't understand and what 'an inner voice' tells him is false and wrong. During the services he tries to attach meaning to the prayers that doesn't contradict his own views. When that fails, he tries not to listen, instead letting thoughts, observations, and memories float through his mind 'with extreme vividness during this idle time of standing in church.' The confession scene is remarkable. The church is nearly empty - just a beggar soldier, two old women, and church officials. A young deacon leads him through the exhortation. But Levin isn't listening. He's thinking about Kitty's hand - how they sat at a corner table the day before, how she opened and closed her hand and laughed, how he kissed it and examined the lines on her pink palm. 'Have mercy on us again!' he thinks mechanically while watching the deacon bow. The deacon accepts a three-rouble note, and soon beckons Levin toward the altar. The priest is 'a little old man with a scanty grizzled beard and weary, good-natured eyes.' After preliminary prayers, he says: 'Christ is present here unseen, receiving your confession. Do you believe in all the doctrines of the Holy Apostolic Church?' Levin responds with shocking honesty: 'I have doubted, I doubt everything.' His voice jars even on himself. The priest asks about his special sins. Levin: 'My chief sin is doubt. I have doubts of everything, and for the most part I am in doubt.' The priest repeats that doubt is natural to human weakness, then asks: 'What do you doubt about principally?' Levin can't help himself: 'I doubt of everything. I sometimes even have doubts of the existence of God.' He's horrified at the impropriety but can't take it back. The priest doesn't seem fazed. He asks hurriedly: 'What sort of doubt can there be of the existence of God? Who has decked the heavenly firmament with its lights? Who has clothed the earth in its beauty? How explain it without the Creator?' Levin feels it would be improper to start a metaphysical debate, so he just says: 'I don't know.' Priest, with good-humored perplexity: 'You don't know! Then how can you doubt that God created all?' Levin, blushing: 'I don't understand it at all.' He knows his words are stupid but can't help it. The priest tells him to pray, that even the holy fathers had doubts. Then he pivots: 'You're about, I hear, to marry the daughter of my parishioner and son in the spirit, Prince Shtcherbatsky? An excellent young lady.' Levin blushes again: 'What does he want to ask me about this at confession for?' But the priest has a point to make: if Levin enters holy matrimony and God blesses him with children, what kind of upbringing can he give them if he doesn't overcome the devil's temptation toward infidelity? If he loves his children, he'll want their spiritual enlightenment, not just wealth and luxury. What will he say when his innocent child asks: 'Papa! Who made all that enchants me in this world—the earth, the waters, the sun, the flowers, the grass?' Can he really say 'I don't know'? What about when the child asks what awaits them after death? Will Levin leave his children to the allurements of the world and the devil? Levin makes no answer - not because he wants to avoid discussion, but because no one has ever asked him such questions. When his children do ask, it will be time to think about answers. The priest finishes the absolution prayer, blesses him, and dismisses him. When Levin gets home, he feels 'a delightful sense of relief at the awkward position being over' without having to tell a lie. There's also a vague memory that what the 'kind, nice old fellow' said wasn't as stupid as it first seemed - 'there was something in it that must be cleared up.' Not now, but someday. Levin feels more than ever that 'there was something not clear and not clean in his soul' regarding religion, and he's in the same position he dislikes in others and blames in his friend Sviazhsky. That evening Levin is at Dolly's with Kitty, 'in very high spirits.' To explain his excitement to Stepan Arkadyevitch, he says he's happy 'like a dog being trained to jump through a hoop, who, having at last caught the idea, and done what was required of him, whines and wags its tail, and jumps up to the table and the windows in its delight.' This is one of Tolstoy's most psychologically precise chapters about the collision between social/religious ritual and personal authenticity. Levin must go through the motions of faith to access the social institution of marriage, even though he can't sincerely believe. The priest is neither foolish nor hostile - his questions about children are actually penetrating. But Levin can't resolve the tension between what he's expected to profess and what he actually thinks. For now, he's so happy about marrying Kitty that he can paper over this fundamental dishonesty with relief and excitement. But Tolstoy makes clear the questions will return. The chapter title could be: 'The Happy Dog Who Must Lie About God.'
Coming Up in Chapter 126
Levin's physical exhaustion finally catches up with him, but instead of the peace he sought, he faces an unexpected encounter that will force him to confront the very thoughts he's been trying to escape. Sometimes the universe has other plans for our attempts at avoidance.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
rincess Shtcherbatskaya considered that it was out of the question for the wedding to take place before Lent, just five weeks off, since not half the trousseau could possibly be ready by that time. But she could not but agree with Levin that to fix it for after Lent would be putting it off too late, as an old aunt of Prince Shtcherbatsky’s was seriously ill and might die, and then the mourning would delay the wedding still longer. And therefore, deciding to divide the trousseau into two parts—a larger and smaller trousseau—the princess consented to have the wedding before Lent. She determined that she would get the smaller part of the trousseau all ready now, and the larger part should be made later, and she was much vexed with Levin because he was incapable of giving her a serious answer to the question whether he agreed to this arrangement or not. The arrangement was the more suitable as, immediately after the wedding, the young people were to go to the country, where the more important part of the trousseau would not be wanted. Levin still continued in the same delirious condition in which it seemed to him that he and his happiness constituted the chief and sole aim of all existence, and that he need not now think or care about anything, that everything was being done and would be done for him by others. He had not even plans and aims for the future, he left its arrangement to others, knowing that everything would be delightful. His brother Sergey Ivanovitch, Stepan Arkadyevitch, and the princess guided him in doing what he had to do. All he did was to agree entirely with everything suggested to him. His brother raised money for him, the princess advised him to leave Moscow after the wedding. Stepan Arkadyevitch advised him to go abroad. He agreed to everything. “Do what you choose, if it amuses you. I’m happy, and my happiness can be no greater and no less for anything you do,” he thought. When he told Kitty of Stepan Arkadyevitch’s advice that they should go abroad, he was much surprised that she did not agree to this, and had some definite requirements of her own in regard to their future. She knew Levin had work he loved in the country. She did not, as he saw, understand this work, she did not even care to understand it. But that did not prevent her from regarding it as a matter of great importance. And then she knew their home would be in the country, and she wanted to go, not abroad where she was not going to live, but to the place where their home would be. This definitely expressed purpose astonished Levin. But since he did not care either way, he immediately asked Stepan Arkadyevitch, as though it were his duty, to go down to the country and to arrange everything there to the best of his ability with the taste of...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Outrunning Yourself
Using physical exhaustion or busyness to avoid processing emotional pain or difficult life transitions.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when busyness or physical activity becomes a substitute for emotional processing.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you reach for extra work or activities during emotional stress—ask yourself what you're really trying to avoid facing.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Estate labor
In 19th-century Russia, wealthy landowners managed large agricultural properties worked by peasants. The landowner typically supervised from a distance, making Levin's choice to work alongside his peasants unusual and socially awkward.
Modern Usage:
Like a CEO who suddenly starts working on the factory floor - well-meaning but often misguided and uncomfortable for everyone involved.
Peasant class
Rural agricultural workers who were bound to the land and lived in poverty. They had a deep connection to seasonal rhythms and physical work that educated nobles often romanticized as more 'authentic' than intellectual pursuits.
Modern Usage:
Similar to how office workers sometimes idealize blue-collar jobs as more 'real' or meaningful than desk work.
Physical labor as therapy
The belief that hard manual work can cure emotional or mental distress by exhausting the body and quieting the mind. This was a common 19th-century idea among the educated classes who rarely did such work themselves.
Modern Usage:
Like hitting the gym hard after a breakup or throwing yourself into home renovation projects when you're depressed.
Existential crisis
A period of intense questioning about life's meaning and purpose, often triggered by rejection, failure, or major life changes. Levin represents the modern condition of having to create meaning rather than inherit it from tradition.
Modern Usage:
The quarter-life or mid-life crisis where you question everything about your choices and wonder what the point of it all is.
Class guilt
The uncomfortable awareness of privilege and the attempt to bridge class differences through shared physical experience. Wealthy people often feel guilty about their advantages and try to connect with working people through manual labor.
Modern Usage:
Like when privileged people volunteer at soup kitchens or work manual jobs to feel more connected to 'real' people.
Romantic rejection aftermath
The period of intense emotional pain, self-doubt, and desperate attempts to distract oneself following romantic rejection. In Tolstoy's time, men were expected to suffer nobly and find productive outlets for their pain.
Modern Usage:
The post-breakup phase where you throw yourself into work, exercise, or new hobbies to avoid dealing with your feelings.
Characters in This Chapter
Levin
Tormented protagonist
He's desperately trying to escape his emotional pain through backbreaking physical labor, working alongside peasants in the fields. His attempt to lose himself in manual work reveals both his privilege and his genuine search for meaning and connection.
Modern Equivalent:
The guy who starts doing CrossFit obsessively after his girlfriend dumps him
The peasants
Unwitting teachers
They work with natural rhythm and apparent contentment that Levin envies but can't achieve. Their presence highlights the difference between inherited purpose and the modern burden of creating meaning for yourself.
Modern Equivalent:
Coworkers who seem naturally happy with jobs you find meaningless
Key Quotes & Analysis
"He felt that this work was the only thing that could save him from despair."
Context: As Levin throws himself into physical labor in the fields
This reveals how people often mistake external action for internal healing. Levin believes that if he can just work hard enough, he can escape his emotional pain, but he's really just avoiding the real work of processing his feelings.
In Today's Words:
If I just keep myself busy enough, maybe I won't have to deal with how much this hurts.
"The harder he worked, the more he felt that he was achieving nothing."
Context: Despite his physical exhaustion, Levin finds no peace
This captures the futility of trying to solve internal problems with external solutions. Physical exhaustion can't cure heartbreak or existential emptiness - it just postpones the reckoning.
In Today's Words:
No matter how hard I grind, I still feel empty inside.
"The peasants worked with a rhythm he could not master, a peace he could not find."
Context: Levin observing the natural flow of the workers around him
This shows how privileged people often romanticize working-class life as somehow more authentic or meaningful. Levin assumes the peasants have found something he's missing, not understanding that meaning comes from within, not from the type of work you do.
In Today's Words:
Everyone else seems to have it figured out while I'm just faking it.
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
Levin romanticizes the peasants' simple relationship with their work, envying what he sees as their natural purpose while missing that meaning comes from within, not from job type
Development
Builds on earlier class tensions, now showing how privilege can create existential burden—having choices can be harder than having none
In Your Life:
You might catch yourself thinking other people's jobs or lives look 'simpler' or more meaningful when you're struggling with your own path
Identity
In This Chapter
Levin tries to lose his tortured intellectual self in physical labor, attempting to become someone else rather than work with who he is
Development
Continues Levin's identity crisis from earlier rejections and philosophical struggles
In Your Life:
You might try to completely reinvent yourself during difficult times instead of integrating painful experiences into who you already are
Escape
In This Chapter
Physical labor becomes both punishment for his failures and attempted cure for his emotional pain
Development
Introduced here as Levin's coping mechanism for his lowest point
In Your Life:
You might use work, exercise, or other activities to avoid dealing with relationship problems or major life decisions
Meaning
In This Chapter
Levin searches for purpose through mimicking others' work rather than finding authentic meaning within himself
Development
Deepens the ongoing theme of characters seeking external validation for internal worth
In Your Life:
You might look for life's meaning in your job title or daily tasks instead of in your relationships and personal growth
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What specific actions does Levin take to try to escape his emotional pain, and what does he hope to achieve?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does Levin believe that working alongside the peasants will solve his problems, and what does this reveal about his assumptions?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people today using physical exhaustion or extreme busyness to avoid dealing with emotional problems?
application • medium - 4
When you recognize someone (including yourself) falling into this exhaustion pattern, what would be a more effective approach to help them process their real issues?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's failed attempt to find meaning through manual labor teach us about the difference between motion and progress in personal growth?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Track Your Own Escape Patterns
Think of a recent time when you felt emotionally overwhelmed or hurt. Write down what you did to cope - did you throw yourself into work, cleaning, exercise, or other activities? Map out the pattern: what were you avoiding, what did you do instead, and did it actually solve the underlying problem?
Consider:
- •Notice the difference between healthy coping (processing emotions while staying active) and escape coping (using activity to avoid emotions entirely)
- •Consider whether your 'productive' activities during emotional stress actually addressed the root cause or just postponed dealing with it
- •Identify what emotions or conversations you tend to avoid through busyness
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you successfully faced an emotional problem directly instead of trying to outrun it. What made the difference? How can you apply that approach to current challenges?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 126
Levin's physical exhaustion finally catches up with him, but instead of the peace he sought, he faces an unexpected encounter that will force him to confront the very thoughts he's been trying to escape. Sometimes the universe has other plans for our attempts at avoidance.
