Summary
Levin throws himself into physical labor on his estate, working alongside his peasants in the fields under the scorching sun. He's desperately trying to escape his mental torment over Kitty's rejection and his confusion about life's meaning through exhausting manual work. As he mows hay with the peasants, Levin experiences moments of pure physical absorption where his philosophical anxieties temporarily disappear. The rhythmic, demanding work creates a meditative state where he feels connected to something larger than his individual suffering. However, these moments of peace are fleeting - as soon as he stops working, his dark thoughts return with full force. This chapter shows Levin's attempt to find meaning through honest labor and connection to the land, a theme Tolstoy deeply believed in. The contrast between Levin's tortured intellectualism and the simple, purposeful lives of the peasants becomes stark. While the workers seem content with their basic existence, Levin remains trapped in cycles of overthinking that physical exhaustion can only temporarily break. His privileged position allows him to romanticize peasant life, but he can't truly escape into it. The chapter reveals how grief and rejection can drive someone to seek healing through the most basic human activities - working with their hands, sweating in the sun, feeling their body's limits. Yet it also shows the limitations of this approach for someone whose mind won't quiet. Levin's struggle represents the eternal tension between thought and action, between the life of the mind and the life of the body, and his search for authentic meaning in a world that often feels empty.
Coming Up in Chapter 160
Levin's physical exhaustion brings an unexpected encounter that will challenge his assumptions about the peasants he's been working alongside. A conversation reveals truths about faith and contentment that cut to the heart of his spiritual crisis.
Share it with friends
An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
On the terrace were assembled all the ladies of the party. They always liked sitting there after dinner, and that day they had work to do there too. Besides the sewing and knitting of baby clothes, with which all of them were busy, that afternoon jam was being made on the terrace by a method new to Agafea Mihalovna, without the addition of water. Kitty had introduced this new method, which had been in use in her home. Agafea Mihalovna, to whom the task of jam-making had always been intrusted, considering that what had been done in the Levin household could not be amiss, had nevertheless put water with the strawberries, maintaining that the jam could not be made without it. She had been caught in the act, and was now making jam before everyone, and it was to be proved to her conclusively that jam could be very well made without water. Agafea Mihalovna, her face heated and angry, her hair untidy, and her thin arms bare to the elbows, was turning the preserving-pan over the charcoal stove, looking darkly at the raspberries and devoutly hoping they would stick and not cook properly. The princess, conscious that Agafea Mihalovna’s wrath must be chiefly directed against her, as the person responsible for the raspberry jam-making, tried to appear to be absorbed in other things and not interested in the jam, talked of other matters, but cast stealthy glances in the direction of the stove. “I always buy my maids’ dresses myself, of some cheap material,” the princess said, continuing the previous conversation. “Isn’t it time to skim it, my dear?” she added, addressing Agafea Mihalovna. “There’s not the slightest need for you to do it, and it’s hot for you,” she said, stopping Kitty. “I’ll do it,” said Dolly, and getting up, she carefully passed the spoon over the frothing sugar, and from time to time shook off the clinging jam from the spoon by knocking it on a plate that was covered with yellow-red scum and blood-colored syrup. “How they’ll enjoy this at tea-time!” she thought of her children, remembering how she herself as a child had wondered how it was the grown-up people did not eat what was best of all—the scum of the jam. “Stiva says it’s much better to give money.” Dolly took up meanwhile the weighty subject under discussion, what presents should be made to servants. “But....” “Money’s out of the question!” the princess and Kitty exclaimed with one voice. “They appreciate a present....” “Well, last year, for instance, I bought our Matrona Semyenovna, not a poplin, but something of that sort,” said the princess. “I remember she was wearing it on your nameday.” “A charming pattern—so simple and refined,—I should have liked it myself, if she hadn’t had it. Something like Varenka’s. So pretty and inexpensive.” “Well, now I think it’s done,” said Dolly, dropping the syrup from the spoon. “When it sets as it drops, it’s ready. Cook it a little longer, Agafea...
Master this chapter. Complete your experience
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Escape Trap - When Action Becomes Avoidance
Using intense activity to avoid processing painful emotions, which provides temporary relief but prevents actual healing.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to recognize when intense activity is actually avoidance in disguise rather than meaningful forward movement.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you suddenly get 'busy' after receiving difficult news or having a hard conversation—ask yourself if you're moving toward a solution or away from a feeling.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Manual Labor Therapy
The practice of using physical work to escape mental anguish or find meaning. In Tolstoy's time, aristocrats rarely did manual labor, making Levin's choice to work in the fields unusual and meaningful. Physical exhaustion can temporarily quiet an overactive, troubled mind.
Modern Usage:
We see this when people throw themselves into intense workouts, home renovation projects, or gardening to cope with depression or anxiety.
Peasant Romanticism
The tendency of educated, privileged people to idealize the simple lives of working-class people. Tolstoy himself believed peasants lived more authentic lives than the aristocracy. This often involves projecting wisdom and contentment onto people who may actually struggle with their own problems.
Modern Usage:
This shows up when wealthy people romanticize 'simple living' or when office workers envy blue-collar jobs they've never actually done.
Estate Agriculture
Large landholdings worked by peasants under a landowner's supervision. In 19th century Russia, nobles owned vast estates but rarely participated in the actual farming. The relationship between landowner and peasant worker was complex, involving both economic dependence and social hierarchy.
Modern Usage:
Similar to how corporate executives might occasionally work on the factory floor, though the power dynamics remain unchanged.
Existential Crisis
A period of intense questioning about life's meaning and purpose, often triggered by rejection, loss, or major life changes. Levin is experiencing deep confusion about what makes life worth living after Kitty's rejection. This type of crisis was becoming more common as traditional religious certainties weakened.
Modern Usage:
We call this a quarter-life crisis, mid-life crisis, or simply 'going through it' - when someone questions everything about their life choices.
Meditative Labor
Repetitive physical work that creates a trance-like state where the mind temporarily stops racing. The rhythm of mowing, chopping, or other manual tasks can produce a form of moving meditation. This was Tolstoy's belief that honest work could heal the soul.
Modern Usage:
People find this same peace in activities like running, knitting, cooking, or any repetitive task that fully engages the body.
Class Privilege Guilt
The uncomfortable awareness that one's social position provides advantages others don't have. Levin feels the gap between his educated, landowning status and the peasants' direct relationship with survival. This guilt often drives privileged people to seek 'authentic' experiences.
Modern Usage:
This appears when wealthy people feel guilty about their advantages and try to prove they're 'regular people' through manual work or simple living.
Characters in This Chapter
Levin
Protagonist in crisis
Desperately working in the fields to escape his mental torment over Kitty's rejection and his search for life's meaning. His physical exhaustion provides temporary relief from his philosophical anxiety, but he can't permanently escape his privileged position or racing thoughts.
Modern Equivalent:
The burned-out professional who quits their desk job to become a carpenter
The peasant workers
Contrast figures
They represent the simple, purposeful life that Levin envies and romanticizes. Their apparent contentment with basic existence highlights Levin's inability to find peace despite his advantages. They work naturally while he forces himself into labor as therapy.
Modern Equivalent:
The blue-collar workers that office workers think have 'simpler, happier lives'
Key Quotes & Analysis
"The longer Levin went on mowing, the oftener he experienced those moments of oblivion when his arms no longer seemed to swing the scythe, but the scythe itself his whole body, so conscious and full of life."
Context: As Levin loses himself in the rhythm of mowing hay with the peasants
This describes the meditative state where physical activity completely absorbs mental energy. Levin finds temporary peace when his body takes over and his mind stops racing. It's a form of moving meditation that provides relief from his existential crisis.
In Today's Words:
The longer he worked, the more he got into the zone where he wasn't thinking about anything - just pure flow state.
"He felt himself and did not want to be anyone else."
Context: During one of Levin's moments of pure absorption in the physical work
This captures the rare moment when Levin's self-doubt and comparison to others disappears. Physical exhaustion has temporarily quieted his mental torment and given him a brief sense of being enough as he is. It's what he's desperately seeking - acceptance of himself.
In Today's Words:
For once, he wasn't comparing himself to anyone or wishing he was different - he just was.
"But as soon as he began to think, immediately the old questions came back: where am I going, and why?"
Context: When Levin stops working and his mind starts racing again
This shows the limitation of using physical activity to escape existential questions. The moment his body stops being fully engaged, his anxious thoughts return with full force. It reveals that he hasn't actually solved his problems, just temporarily masked them.
In Today's Words:
But the second he stopped moving, all the same old worries came flooding back: What am I doing with my life?
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
Levin romanticizes peasant labor as more authentic than his privileged intellectual life
Development
Deepening exploration of how class shapes perception of meaningful work
In Your Life:
You might idealize other people's 'simpler' problems while avoiding your own complex ones
Identity
In This Chapter
Levin tries to escape his tortured intellectual self by becoming a laborer
Development
Continued struggle with who he truly is versus who he thinks he should be
In Your Life:
You might try to solve identity crises by temporarily adopting someone else's lifestyle
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Physical labor provides temporary peace but doesn't resolve underlying emotional turmoil
Development
Growing understanding that growth requires facing pain, not escaping it
In Your Life:
You might mistake staying busy for making progress on your real problems
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
Rejection from Kitty drives Levin to seek solace in connection with peasants rather than processing his feelings
Development
Exploring how romantic disappointment affects other relationships
In Your Life:
You might seek comfort in surface-level connections when deeper relationships cause pain
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Levin rebels against his expected role as landowner by working as common laborer
Development
Continuing theme of characters struggling against prescribed social roles
In Your Life:
You might dramatically reject expectations rather than thoughtfully choosing your own path
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What specific activities does Levin use to try to escape his emotional pain, and what happens when he stops working?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does physical labor provide temporary relief from Levin's mental suffering, but fail to solve his underlying problems?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people today using busyness or intense activity to avoid dealing with difficult emotions or situations?
application • medium - 4
How can someone tell the difference between healthy productive activity and using work as emotional avoidance?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's experience reveal about the relationship between physical exhaustion and mental peace, and why this strategy ultimately fails?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Track Your Escape Patterns
Think of a recent stressful period in your life. Make two lists: activities you threw yourself into during that time, and the underlying issues you were avoiding. Next to each activity, note whether it actually helped solve the problem or just postponed dealing with it. This exercise helps you recognize when motion becomes a substitute for progress.
Consider:
- •Consider both work activities and personal projects you suddenly felt urgent about
- •Notice if you felt restless or anxious when you had to stop these activities
- •Think about whether these activities moved you toward solutions or just burned energy
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you used intense activity to avoid facing something difficult. What were you really trying not to think about, and what happened when you finally had to slow down?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 160
In the next chapter, you'll discover key events and character development in this chapter, and learn thematic elements and literary techniques. These insights reveal timeless patterns that resonate in our own lives and relationships.