Summary
Levin finds himself in a profound spiritual crisis as he contemplates the meaninglessness of his existence. Despite having everything he thought he wanted - a loving wife, a healthy child, a successful estate - he's tormented by questions about life's purpose. He recalls conversations with peasants who seem to possess an inner peace and understanding that eludes him. The chapter reveals Levin's internal struggle between his rational, educated mind and his deep need for spiritual meaning. He realizes that all his intellectual pursuits and material achievements feel hollow when measured against the vastness of existence and the inevitability of death. This moment represents a turning point in Levin's character development, as he begins to understand that true fulfillment might come not from reason or achievement, but from faith and connection to something greater than himself. Tolstoy uses Levin's crisis to explore one of the novel's central themes: the tension between modern rationalism and traditional spiritual wisdom. The chapter shows how even those who seem to have everything can feel spiritually empty, and suggests that peasants and simple people might possess wisdom that the educated classes have lost. Levin's realization that he's been searching for meaning in all the wrong places sets up his final spiritual transformation. This internal journey mirrors Anna's own search for meaning, though Levin's path leads toward redemption rather than destruction.
Coming Up in Chapter 200
Levin's spiritual awakening begins to take shape as he recalls a simple phrase from an old peasant that suddenly illuminates everything he's been searching for. The words that once seemed meaningless now hold the key to understanding his place in the world.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
She had risen to meet him, not concealing her pleasure at seeing him; and in the quiet ease with which she held out her little vigorous hand, introduced him to Vorkuev and indicated a red-haired, pretty little girl who was sitting at work, calling her her pupil, Levin recognized and liked the manners of a woman of the great world, always self-possessed and natural. “I am delighted, delighted,” she repeated, and on her lips these simple words took for Levin’s ears a special significance. “I have known you and liked you for a long while, both from your friendship with Stiva and for your wife’s sake.... I knew her for a very short time, but she left on me the impression of an exquisite flower, simply a flower. And to think she will soon be a mother!” She spoke easily and without haste, looking now and then from Levin to her brother, and Levin felt that the impression he was making was good, and he felt immediately at home, simple and happy with her, as though he had known her from childhood. “Ivan Petrovitch and I settled in Alexey’s study,” she said in answer to Stepan Arkadyevitch’s question whether he might smoke, “just so as to be able to smoke”—and glancing at Levin, instead of asking whether he would smoke, she pulled closer a tortoise-shell cigar-case and took a cigarette. “How are you feeling today?” her brother asked her. “Oh, nothing. Nerves, as usual.” “Yes, isn’t it extraordinarily fine?” said Stepan Arkadyevitch, noticing that Levin was scrutinizing the picture. “I have never seen a better portrait.” “And extraordinarily like, isn’t it?” said Vorkuev. Levin looked from the portrait to the original. A peculiar brilliance lighted up Anna’s face when she felt his eyes on her. Levin flushed, and to cover his confusion would have asked whether she had seen Darya Alexandrovna lately; but at that moment Anna spoke. “We were just talking, Ivan Petrovitch and I, of Vashtchenkov’s last pictures. Have you seen them?” “Yes, I have seen them,” answered Levin. “But, I beg your pardon, I interrupted you ... you were saying?...” Levin asked if she had seen Dolly lately. “She was here yesterday. She was very indignant with the high school people on Grisha’s account. The Latin teacher, it seems, had been unfair to him.” “Yes, I have seen his pictures. I didn’t care for them very much,” Levin went back to the subject she had started. Levin talked now not at all with that purely businesslike attitude to the subject with which he had been talking all the morning. Every word in his conversation with her had a special significance. And talking to her was pleasant; still pleasanter it was to listen to her. Anna talked not merely naturally and cleverly, but cleverly and carelessly, attaching no value to her own ideas and giving great weight to the ideas of the person she was talking to. The conversation turned on the new movement in art, on the...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Achievement Hollow - When Success Feels Empty
External success fails to fill internal emptiness because material achievements cannot answer spiritual questions.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to recognize when achievements feel hollow because they serve others' expectations rather than your own values.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you feel empty after accomplishing something you thought you wanted—ask yourself if you were chasing the achievement or the approval it brings.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Existential crisis
A moment when someone questions the meaning and purpose of their entire life, despite having what society considers success. It's the feeling that everything you've worked for suddenly feels empty and pointless.
Modern Usage:
When someone has a good job, family, and house but still feels lost and asks 'Is this all there is?'
Spiritual void
The emptiness that comes from having material success but lacking a deeper sense of purpose or connection to something greater than yourself. It's when achievements don't fill the hole inside.
Modern Usage:
The feeling many successful people describe as 'having everything but feeling nothing' - common in midlife crises.
Peasant wisdom
The idea that simple, uneducated people often possess deeper understanding about life's meaning than intellectuals do. They find peace through faith, community, and accepting life as it comes.
Modern Usage:
When your grandmother's simple advice makes more sense than all the self-help books you've read.
Rational vs. spiritual
The conflict between trying to understand life through logic and education versus finding meaning through faith and feeling. The head versus the heart approach to life's big questions.
Modern Usage:
The struggle between what science tells us and what we feel in our hearts about meaning and purpose.
Material success paradox
The confusing reality that getting everything you thought you wanted can actually make you feel more empty and lost. Success doesn't automatically equal happiness or fulfillment.
Modern Usage:
Why lottery winners often become depressed, or why climbing the corporate ladder can leave people feeling hollow.
Spiritual awakening
The moment when someone realizes that their search for meaning has been looking in all the wrong places, and they need to find a different path to fulfillment.
Modern Usage:
When people suddenly change careers, start volunteering, or find religion after years of chasing money and status.
Characters in This Chapter
Levin
Protagonist in crisis
He's having a complete breakdown about the meaning of life despite having everything he wanted. His successful estate, loving wife Kitty, and new baby can't fill the spiritual emptiness he feels.
Modern Equivalent:
The successful executive who has a breakdown and questions everything
Kitty
Loving but distant wife
Though not directly present in his crisis, she represents the love and family life that should make Levin happy but somehow doesn't. Her contentment contrasts with his torment.
Modern Equivalent:
The spouse who can't understand why their partner is depressed when 'everything is going so well'
The peasants
Spiritual guides
They serve as examples of people who have found peace and meaning through simple faith and acceptance. Levin envies their inner calm and certainty about life's purpose.
Modern Equivalent:
The coworker who seems genuinely happy despite having less money and education
Key Quotes & Analysis
"What am I living for?"
Context: As he contemplates his life despite having achieved everything he thought he wanted
This simple question captures the essence of existential crisis. It shows how success and love aren't enough if you lack deeper purpose. Levin has everything but feels nothing.
In Today's Words:
I have everything I'm supposed to want, so why do I feel so empty?
"They live, they suffer, and they die in peace"
Context: Reflecting on the peasants who seem to have found meaning he lacks
This reveals Levin's envy of simple people who accept life without his intellectual torment. They have something he's lost through education and overthinking.
In Today's Words:
These people don't have much, but they seem to have figured out something I'm missing.
"All my knowledge has brought me nothing"
Context: Realizing his education and rational thinking haven't provided life's answers
This shows the limitation of purely intellectual approaches to life's meaning. Sometimes the head can't solve what the heart needs to understand.
In Today's Words:
All my degrees and thinking haven't made me any happier or wiser about what really matters.
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
Levin realizes educated elites may have lost wisdom that working-class peasants still possess
Development
Evolved from earlier class tensions to recognition of inverted wisdom hierarchy
In Your Life:
You might notice that your most grounded advice comes from coworkers with less education but more life experience
Identity
In This Chapter
Levin questions who he really is beneath his roles and achievements
Development
Deepened from social identity concerns to existential identity crisis
In Your Life:
You might feel lost when your job title or relationship status changes, wondering who you are without these labels
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Levin's spiritual crisis becomes the catalyst for deeper transformation
Development
Shifted from external improvements to internal spiritual seeking
In Your Life:
Your most difficult periods often precede your biggest personal breakthroughs
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Society's definition of success leaves Levin spiritually empty despite meeting all markers
Development
Evolved from conforming to expectations to questioning their validity
In Your Life:
You might achieve what others call success but still feel like something essential is missing
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
Levin seeks meaning through connection to something greater than individual relationships
Development
Expanded from personal relationships to spiritual/universal connection
In Your Life:
Even good relationships can't fill the need for purpose and meaning beyond personal connections
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What does Levin have in his life that should make him happy, and why doesn't it work?
analysis • surface - 2
Why do the peasants seem to have something Levin lacks, despite having fewer material advantages?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people today who have 'everything' but still seem unhappy or searching for more?
application • medium - 4
If you were advising someone in Levin's position, what would you suggest they do to find real fulfillment?
application • deep - 5
What does this chapter suggest about the difference between what we think will make us happy and what actually does?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Achievement Hollow
List three major goals you've achieved in the past five years. For each one, write how you felt immediately after achieving it versus how you feel about it now. Then identify what you were really hoping that achievement would give you beyond the obvious outcome.
Consider:
- •Be honest about the gap between expectation and reality
- •Notice if the real need was connection, respect, security, or meaning rather than the achievement itself
- •Consider whether you're chasing similar patterns with current goals
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you got something you really wanted but it didn't fill you up the way you expected. What were you actually seeking, and where might you find that instead?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 200
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.