An excerpt from the original text.(complete · 1644 words)
itty made the acquaintance of Madame Stahl too, and this acquaintance,
together with her friendship with Varenka, did not merely exercise a
great influence on her, it also comforted her in her mental distress.
She found this comfort through a completely new world being opened to
her by means of this acquaintance, a world having nothing in common
with her past, an exalted, noble world, from the height of which she
could contemplate her past calmly. It was revealed to her that besides
the instinctive life to which Kitty had given herself up hitherto there
was a spiritual life. This life was disclosed in religion, but a
religion having nothing in common with that one which Kitty had known
from childhood, and which found expression in litanies and all-night
services at the Widow’s Home, where one might meet one’s friends, and
in learning by heart Slavonic texts with the priest. This was a lofty,
mysterious religion connected with a whole series of noble thoughts and
feelings, which one could do more than merely believe because one was
told to, which one could love.
Kitty found all this out not from words. Madame Stahl talked to Kitty
as to a charming child that one looks on with pleasure as on the memory
of one’s youth, and only once she said in passing that in all human
sorrows nothing gives comfort but love and faith, and that in the sight
of Christ’s compassion for us no sorrow is trifling—and immediately
talked of other things. But in every gesture of Madame Stahl, in every
word, in every heavenly—as Kitty called it—look, and above all in the
whole story of her life, which she heard from Varenka, Kitty recognized
that something “that was important,” of which, till then, she had known
nothing.
Yet, elevated as Madame Stahl’s character was, touching as was her
story, and exalted and moving as was her speech, Kitty could not help
detecting in her some traits which perplexed her. She noticed that when
questioning her about her family, Madame Stahl had smiled
contemptuously, which was not in accord with Christian meekness. She
noticed, too, that when she had found a Catholic priest with her,
Madame Stahl had studiously kept her face in the shadow of the
lamp-shade and had smiled in a peculiar way. Trivial as these two
observations were, they perplexed her, and she had her doubts as to
Madame Stahl. But on the other hand Varenka, alone in the world,
without friends or relations, with a melancholy disappointment in the
past, desiring nothing, regretting nothing, was just that perfection of
which Kitty dared hardly dream. In Varenka she realized that one has
but to forget oneself and love others, and one will be calm, happy, and
noble. And that was what Kitty longed to be. Seeing now clearly what
was the most important, Kitty was not satisfied with being
enthusiastic over it; she at once gave herself up with her whole soul
to the new life that was opening to her. From Varenka’s accounts of the
doings of Madame Stahl and other people whom she mentioned, Kitty had
already constructed the plan of her own future life. She would, like
Madame Stahl’s niece, Aline, of whom Varenka had talked to her a great
deal, seek out those who were in trouble, wherever she might be living,
help them as far as she could, give them the Gospel, read the Gospel to
the sick, to criminals, to the dying. The idea of reading the Gospel to
criminals, as Aline did, particularly fascinated Kitty. But all these
were secret dreams, of which Kitty did not talk either to her mother or
to Varenka.
While awaiting the time for carrying out her plans on a large scale,
however, Kitty, even then at the springs, where there were so many
people ill and unhappy, readily found a chance for practicing her new
principles in imitation of Varenka.
At first the princess noticed nothing but that Kitty was much under the
influence of her engouement, as she called it, for Madame Stahl, and
still more for Varenka. She saw that Kitty did not merely imitate
Varenka in her conduct, but unconsciously imitated her in her manner of
walking, of talking, of blinking her eyes. But later on the princess
noticed that, apart from this adoration, some kind of serious spiritual
change was taking place in her daughter.
The princess saw that in the evenings Kitty read a French testament
that Madame Stahl had given her—a thing she had never done before; that
she avoided society acquaintances and associated with the sick people
who were under Varenka’s protection, and especially one poor family,
that of a sick painter, Petrov. Kitty was unmistakably proud of playing
the part of a sister of mercy in that family. All this was well enough,
and the princess had nothing to say against it, especially as Petrov’s
wife was a perfectly nice sort of woman, and that the German princess,
noticing Kitty’s devotion, praised her, calling her an angel of
consolation. All this would have been very well, if there had been no
exaggeration. But the princess saw that her daughter was rushing into
extremes, and so indeed she told her.
“Il ne faut jamais rien outrer,” she said to her.
Her daughter made her no reply, only in her heart she thought that one
could not talk about exaggeration where Christianity was concerned.
What exaggeration could there be in the practice of a doctrine wherein
one was bidden to turn the other cheek when one was smitten, and give
one’s cloak if one’s coat were taken? But the princess disliked this
exaggeration, and disliked even more the fact that she felt her
daughter did not care to show her all her heart. Kitty did in fact
conceal her new views and feelings from her mother. She concealed them
not because she did not respect or did not love her mother, but simply
because she was her mother. She would have revealed them to anyone
sooner than to her mother.
“How is it Anna Pavlovna’s not been to see us for so long?” the
princess said one day of Madame Petrova. “I’ve asked her, but she seems
put out about something.”
“No, I’ve not noticed it, maman,” said Kitty, flushing hotly.
“Is it long since you went to see them?”
“We’re meaning to make an expedition to the mountains tomorrow,”
answered Kitty.
“Well, you can go,” answered the princess, gazing at her daughter’s
embarrassed face and trying to guess the cause of her embarrassment.
That day Varenka came to dinner and told them that Anna Pavlovna had
changed her mind and given up the expedition for the morrow. And the
princess noticed again that Kitty reddened.
“Kitty, haven’t you had some misunderstanding with the Petrovs?” said
the princess, when they were left alone. “Why has she given up sending
the children and coming to see us?”
Kitty answered that nothing had happened between them, and that she
could not tell why Anna Pavlovna seemed displeased with her. Kitty
answered perfectly truly. She did not know the reason Anna Pavlovna had
changed to her, but she guessed it. She guessed at something which she
could not tell her mother, which she did not put into words to herself.
It was one of those things which one knows but which one can never
speak of even to oneself, so terrible and shameful would it be to be
mistaken.
Again and again she went over in her memory all her relations with the
family. She remembered the simple delight expressed on the round,
good-humored face of Anna Pavlovna at their meetings; she remembered
their secret confabulations about the invalid, their plots to draw him
away from the work which was forbidden him, and to get him
out-of-doors; the devotion of the youngest boy, who used to call her
“my Kitty,” and would not go to bed without her. How nice it all was!
Then she recalled the thin, terribly thin figure of Petrov, with his
long neck, in his brown coat, his scant, curly hair, his questioning
blue eyes that were so terrible to Kitty at first, and his painful
attempts to seem hearty and lively in her presence. She recalled the
efforts she had made at first to overcome the repugnance she felt for
him, as for all consumptive people, and the pains it had cost her to
think of things to say to him. She recalled the timid, softened look
with which he gazed at her, and the strange feeling of compassion and
awkwardness, and later of a sense of her own goodness, which she had
felt at it. How nice it all was! But all that was at first. Now, a few
days ago, everything was suddenly spoiled. Anna Pavlovna had met Kitty
with affected cordiality, and had kept continual watch on her and on
her husband.
Could that touching pleasure he showed when she came near be the cause
of Anna Pavlovna’s coolness?
“Yes,” she mused, “there was something unnatural about Anna Pavlovna,
and utterly unlike her good nature, when she said angrily the day
before yesterday: ‘There, he will keep waiting for you; he wouldn’t
drink his coffee without you, though he’s grown so dreadfully weak.’”
“Yes, perhaps, too, she didn’t like it when I gave him the rug. It was
all so simple, but he took it so awkwardly, and was so long thanking
me, that I felt awkward too. And then that portrait of me he did so
well. And most of all that look of confusion and tenderness! Yes, yes,
that’s it!” Kitty repeated to herself with horror. “No, it can’t be, it
oughtn’t to be! He’s so much to be pitied!” she said to herself
directly after.
This doubt poisoned the charm of her new life.
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Let's Analyse the Pattern
The belief that we can resolve emotional pain through physical exhaustion or extreme activity.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how desperation can make us idealize lives we don't understand, revealing our own privilege even in our lowest moments.
Practice This Today
Next time you find yourself thinking someone else has it 'easier' or 'simpler,' ask what struggles you might not see and what choices you have that they don't.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"The longer Levin mowed, the oftener he felt those moments of unconsciousness in which it seemed not his hands that swung the scythe, but the scythe mowing of itself."
Context: As Levin loses himself in the repetitive physical work
This shows how physical exhaustion can create a meditative state where pain temporarily disappears. But it's also an illusion - the problems are still there when the work stops.
In Today's Words:
The harder I worked out, the more I got into that zone where I forgot everything else
"He envied them their health and strength, their good spirits, their simplicity."
Context: Levin watching the peasants work
Levin is projecting his own desires onto the workers, seeing what he wants to see rather than their actual lives. This reveals his privilege and disconnection from reality.
In Today's Words:
He wished he could trade places with them and not have to think so much
"Work was the one thing that saved him, and he clutched at it as a drowning man clutches at a straw."
Context: Describing Levin's desperate need for distraction
This metaphor shows how desperate Levin is and how temporary his solution really is. You can't actually save yourself by clutching at straws.
In Today's Words:
Work was his only escape, and he grabbed onto it like it could actually fix everything
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
Levin can choose to work like a peasant while peasants have no choice, highlighting his privilege even in desperation
Development
Evolved from earlier social climbing themes to show how class affects even personal crisis responses
In Your Life:
Notice when you have options others don't, even in your worst moments.
Identity
In This Chapter
Levin feels completely lost and envies workers who 'know their place' in the world
Development
Continues his ongoing identity crisis, now intensified by romantic rejection
In Your Life:
When you're questioning everything about yourself, you might idealize others' seemingly simple lives.
Escapism
In This Chapter
Using physical labor as a drug to numb emotional pain from Kitty's rejection
Development
Introduced here as Levin's coping mechanism for heartbreak
In Your Life:
You might throw yourself into work, exercise, or projects to avoid dealing with difficult feelings.
Privilege
In This Chapter
Levin can romanticize peasant life because he's never actually lived it
Development
Shows how his earlier social observations were filtered through privilege
In Your Life:
Be careful about idealizing lifestyles you've never actually experienced during tough times.
Healing
In This Chapter
Physical exhaustion provides temporary relief but isn't a real solution to heartbreak
Development
Introduced here as exploration of healthy vs. unhealthy coping mechanisms
In Your Life:
Motion and busyness can feel like healing, but real processing requires stillness and facing the pain.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What does Levin hope to achieve by working in the fields with his peasants, and does his strategy work?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does Levin envy the simple lives of his workers, and what does this reveal about his emotional state?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people today trying to escape emotional pain through physical exhaustion or extreme activity?
application • medium - 4
How can someone distinguish between healthy physical activity and using work or exercise to avoid dealing with problems?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's romanticizing of peasant life teach us about how privilege affects our understanding of others' struggles?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Track Your Escape Patterns
Think about the last time you felt overwhelmed or heartbroken. Write down what you did with your body - did you clean obsessively, work extra hours, exercise until exhausted, or throw yourself into projects? Map out your personal Physical Escape Pattern and identify what you were really trying to avoid feeling.
Consider:
- •Notice the difference between healthy coping (a walk to clear your head) versus escape behavior (working until you collapse)
- •Consider how your privilege or circumstances affect what escape options are available to you
- •Think about whether your physical activities helped you process emotions or just postponed dealing with them
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you used physical activity to avoid emotional pain. What were you really running from, and what might have happened if you had sat with those feelings instead?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 68
Levin's physical exhaustion finally catches up with him, but his emotional turmoil is far from over. A conversation with his brother Nikolai threatens to shatter what little peace he's managed to find through backbreaking labor.
