An excerpt from the original text.(complete · 1679 words)
olly was wanting to go to bed when Anna came in to see her, attired
for the night. In the course of the day Anna had several times begun to
speak of matters near her heart, and every time after a few words she
had stopped: “Afterwards, by ourselves, we’ll talk about everything.
I’ve got so much I want to tell you,” she said.
Now they were by themselves, and Anna did not know what to talk about.
She sat in the window looking at Dolly, and going over in her own mind
all the stores of intimate talk which had seemed so inexhaustible
beforehand, and she found nothing. At that moment it seemed to her that
everything had been said already.
“Well, what of Kitty?” she said with a heavy sigh, looking penitently
at Dolly. “Tell me the truth, Dolly: isn’t she angry with me?”
“Angry? Oh, no!” said Darya Alexandrovna, smiling.
“But she hates me, despises me?”
“Oh, no! But you know that sort of thing isn’t forgiven.”
“Yes, yes,” said Anna, turning away and looking out of the open window.
“But I was not to blame. And who is to blame? What’s the meaning of
being to blame? Could it have been otherwise? What do you think? Could
it possibly have happened that you didn’t become the wife of Stiva?”
“Really, I don’t know. But this is what I want you to tell me....”
“Yes, yes, but we’ve not finished about Kitty. Is she happy? He’s a
very nice man, they say.”
“He’s much more than very nice. I don’t know a better man.”
“Ah, how glad I am! I’m so glad! Much more than very nice,” she
repeated.
Dolly smiled.
“But tell me about yourself. We’ve a great deal to talk about. And I’ve
had a talk with....” Dolly did not know what to call him. She felt it
awkward to call him either the count or Alexey Kirillovitch.
“With Alexey,” said Anna, “I know what you talked about. But I wanted
to ask you directly what you think of me, of my life?”
“How am I to say like that straight off? I really don’t know.”
“No, tell me all the same.... You see my life. But you mustn’t forget
that you’re seeing us in the summer, when you have come to us and we
are not alone.... But we came here early in the spring, lived quite
alone, and shall be alone again, and I desire nothing better. But
imagine me living alone without him, alone, and that will be ... I see
by everything that it will often be repeated, that he will be half the
time away from home,” she said, getting up and sitting down close by
Dolly.
“Of course,” she interrupted Dolly, who would have answered, “of course
I won’t try to keep him by force. I don’t keep him indeed. The races
are just coming, his horses are running, he will go. I’m very glad. But
think of me, fancy my position.... But what’s the use of talking about
it?” She smiled. “Well, what did he talk about with you?”
“He spoke of what I want to speak about of myself, and it’s easy for me
to be his advocate; of whether there is not a possibility ... whether
you could not....” (Darya Alexandrovna hesitated) “correct, improve
your position.... You know how I look at it.... But all the same, if
possible, you should get married....”
“Divorce, you mean?” said Anna. “Do you know, the only woman who came
to see me in Petersburg was Betsy Tverskaya? You know her, of course?
Au fond, c’est la femme la plus depravée qui existe. She had an
intrigue with Tushkevitch, deceiving her husband in the basest way. And
she told me that she did not care to know me so long as my position was
irregular. Don’t imagine I would compare ... I know you, darling. But I
could not help remembering.... Well, so what did he say to you?” she
repeated.
“He said that he was unhappy on your account and his own. Perhaps you
will say that it’s egoism, but what a legitimate and noble egoism. He
wants first of all to legitimize his daughter, and to be your husband,
to have a legal right to you.”
“What wife, what slave can be so utterly a slave as I, in my position?”
she put in gloomily.
“The chief thing he desires ... he desires that you should not suffer.”
“That’s impossible. Well?”
“Well, and the most legitimate desire—he wishes that your children
should have a name.”
“What children?” Anna said, not looking at Dolly, and half closing her
eyes.
“Annie and those to come....”
“He need not trouble on that score; I shall have no more children.”
“How can you tell that you won’t?”
“I shall not, because I don’t wish it.” And, in spite of all her
emotion, Anna smiled, as she caught the naïve expression of curiosity,
wonder, and horror on Dolly’s face.
“The doctor told me after my illness....”
“Impossible!” said Dolly, opening her eyes wide.
For her this was one of those discoveries the consequences and
deductions from which are so immense that all that one feels for the
first instant is that it is impossible to take it all in, and that one
will have to reflect a great, great deal upon it.
This discovery, suddenly throwing light on all those families of one or
two children, which had hitherto been so incomprehensible to her,
aroused so many ideas, reflections, and contradictory emotions, that
she had nothing to say, and simply gazed with wide-open eyes of wonder
at Anna. This was the very thing she had been dreaming of, but now
learning that it was possible, she was horrified. She felt that it was
too simple a solution of too complicated a problem.
“N’est-ce pas immoral?” was all she said, after a brief pause.
“Why so? Think, I have a choice between two alternatives: either to be
with child, that is an invalid, or to be the friend and companion of my
husband—practically my husband,” Anna said in a tone intentionally
superficial and frivolous.
“Yes, yes,” said Darya Alexandrovna, hearing the very arguments she had
used to herself, and not finding the same force in them as before.
“For you, for other people,” said Anna, as though divining her
thoughts, “there may be reason to hesitate; but for me.... You must
consider, I am not his wife; he loves me as long as he loves me. And
how am I to keep his love? Not like this!”
She moved her white hands in a curve before her waist with
extraordinary rapidity, as happens during moments of excitement; ideas
and memories rushed into Darya Alexandrovna’s head. “I,” she thought,
“did not keep my attraction for Stiva; he left me for others, and the
first woman for whom he betrayed me did not keep him by being always
pretty and lively. He deserted her and took another. And can Anna
attract and keep Count Vronsky in that way? If that is what he looks
for, he will find dresses and manners still more attractive and
charming. And however white and beautiful her bare arms are, however
beautiful her full figure and her eager face under her black curls, he
will find something better still, just as my disgusting, pitiful, and
charming husband does.”
Dolly made no answer, she merely sighed. Anna noticed this sigh,
indicating dissent, and she went on. In her armory she had other
arguments so strong that no answer could be made to them.
“Do you say that it’s not right? But you must consider,” she went on;
“you forget my position. How can I desire children? I’m not speaking of
the suffering, I’m not afraid of that. Think only, what are my children
to be? Ill-fated children, who will have to bear a stranger’s name. For
the very fact of their birth they will be forced to be ashamed of their
mother, their father, their birth.”
“But that is just why a divorce is necessary.” But Anna did not hear
her. She longed to give utterance to all the arguments with which she
had so many times convinced herself.
“What is reason given me for, if I am not to use it to avoid bringing
unhappy beings into the world!” She looked at Dolly, but without
waiting for a reply she went on:
“I should always feel I had wronged these unhappy children,” she said.
“If they are not, at any rate they are not unhappy; while if they are
unhappy, I alone should be to blame for it.”
These were the very arguments Darya Alexandrovna had used in her own
reflections; but she heard them without understanding them. “How can
one wrong creatures that don’t exist?” she thought. And all at once the
idea struck her: could it possibly, under any circumstances, have been
better for her favorite Grisha if he had never existed? And this seemed
to her so wild, so strange, that she shook her head to drive away this
tangle of whirling, mad ideas.
“No, I don’t know; it’s not right,” was all she said, with an
expression of disgust on her face.
“Yes, but you mustn’t forget that you and I.... And besides that,”
added Anna, in spite of the wealth of her arguments and the poverty of
Dolly’s objections, seeming still to admit that it was not right,
“don’t forget the chief point, that I am not now in the same position
as you. For you the question is: do you desire not to have any more
children; while for me it is: do I desire to have them? And that’s a
great difference. You must see that I can’t desire it in my position.”
Darya Alexandrovna made no reply. She suddenly felt that she had got
far away from Anna; that there lay between them a barrier of questions
on which they could never agree, and about which it was better not to
speak.
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Let's Analyse the Pattern
Using legitimate, exhausting work to escape confronting life's most difficult questions and fears.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when we use legitimate work or activities to avoid facing difficult emotions or decisions.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you feel compelled to stay extra busy—ask yourself what you might be avoiding thinking about.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"The harder he worked, the more his body ached, but his mind would not be quiet."
Context: As Levin pushes himself through exhausting farm work
This shows the futility of trying to solve spiritual problems through physical means. Levin discovers that external activity can't fix internal emptiness - the mind's questions persist no matter how tired the body becomes.
In Today's Words:
No matter how hard I work myself, I still can't stop thinking about all this stuff that's eating me up inside.
"He envied them their simple acceptance of life, their ability to work without questioning everything."
Context: Levin watching his workers during a break
This reveals Levin's isolation and his romanticizing of ignorance. He sees the workers' lack of philosophical torment as a blessing, showing how overthinking can become its own prison.
In Today's Words:
I wish I could just live my life without constantly asking 'what's the point of all this?'
"The work became both his medicine and his prison."
Context: Describing Levin's relationship with physical labor
This paradox captures how coping mechanisms can become traps. The work provides temporary relief but also prevents him from actually dealing with his crisis, creating a cycle of avoidance.
In Today's Words:
This thing that's supposed to help me is also keeping me stuck.
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
Levin's workers are puzzled by his choice to do backbreaking labor when he doesn't have to, highlighting the gap between their survival-based work and his privilege-based searching
Development
Continues exploring how class affects one's relationship to work and existential questioning
In Your Life:
You might notice how financial pressure forces some people into survival mode while others have the luxury of existential crisis
Identity
In This Chapter
Levin envies the peasants' simple acceptance of life and their ability to work without questioning everything, revealing his identity crisis about his place in the world
Development
Deepens Levin's ongoing struggle with who he is and where he belongs
In Your Life:
You might recognize moments when you've envied others who seem more certain about their purpose and place
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Levin realizes that physical effort alone cannot solve his spiritual emptiness, marking a crucial recognition in his development
Development
Shows Levin beginning to understand the limitations of his coping mechanisms
In Your Life:
You might see this when your usual ways of handling stress stop working and force you to dig deeper
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
Levin sits apart from his workers during breaks, isolated by his internal torment while they laugh and connect naturally
Development
Explores how existential crisis can create barriers to human connection
In Your Life:
You might notice how your own struggles sometimes make it hard to connect with others who seem unburdened
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What is Levin trying to accomplish by working so hard in the fields, and is it working?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does physical exhaustion provide temporary relief from Levin's mental torment, but why doesn't it solve his deeper problem?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people today using work or busyness to avoid dealing with difficult emotions or life questions?
application • medium - 4
How can someone tell the difference between healthy hard work and using work to avoid problems they need to face?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's story reveal about the human tendency to seek physical solutions to spiritual or emotional problems?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Own Avoidance Patterns
Think about the last month of your life. Identify one area where you might be using busyness, work, or constant activity to avoid thinking about something difficult. Write down what you're staying busy with and what you might be avoiding underneath.
Consider:
- •Look for activities that feel virtuous or necessary but consume unusual amounts of time
- •Notice what thoughts or feelings come up when you have unexpected free time
- •Consider whether your busyness is solving problems or just postponing them
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you finally faced something you'd been avoiding through busyness. What happened when you stopped running and dealt with the issue directly?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 181
Levin's desperate attempt to work himself into peace begins to crack as an unexpected encounter forces him to confront the very questions he's been trying to exhaust away. Sometimes the answers we seek find us when we've stopped running.
