Chapter 125
Part Five opens with the princess insisting the wedding cannot occu...
Princess 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…
Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.
Master this chapter. Complete your experience
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Princess 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."
Context: Opening Part Five
Domestic logistics frame the return to Levin's plot.
In Today's Words:
The princess believes a wedding before Lent is impossible because most of the trousseau cannot be ready in five weeks. Tolstoy reopens Levin's story through material preparation, not philosophy. Major life events remain tied to calendars, clothes, and family negotiation even after romantic crisis elsewhere in the novel.
"You’re a pretty fellow!"
Context: Learning Levin has not confessed in nine years
Stiva treats religious obligation as comic oversight.
In Today's Words:
Stiva laughs that Levin has not taken confession in nine years yet calls others nihilists. The joke exposes Levin's inconsistency and the social requirement he must now perform. Ritual gatekeeping arrives as teasing, but the obligation is real and Levin must comply to marry. Tolstoy uses this moment to show how private feeling becomes visible through ordinary social language, and readers can apply the same lens when interpreting everyday speech around major life transitions.
"Levin found himself, like the majority of his contemporaries, in the vaguest position in regard to religion."
Context: During church services before confession
Tolstoy names modern spiritual uncertainty without caricature.
In Today's Words:
Levin cannot believe fully, yet he also lacks the firm conviction that religion is simply wrong. He stands in the vague middle many people occupy: respectful, skeptical, and uncomfortable performing rites he does not inwardly understand. Tolstoy treats that position seriously rather than as punchline alone.
"he was 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"
Context: Levin with Kitty after confession ordeal
Joy accepts social training without full inner alignment.
In Today's Words:
Levin compares his happiness to a dog that finally understands the hoop trick and celebrates doing what was required. The image is comic and revealing. He is genuinely joyful, yet part of that joy comes from successfully performing social and religious requirements he does not fully believe.
Thematic Threads
Ritual and sincerity
In This Chapter
Levin confesses without belief or cynicism.
Development
Opens Part Five's wedding arc and Levin's religious struggle.
In Your Life:
Important ceremonies often demand performances no one fully means.
Delegated happiness
In This Chapter
Levin lets others arrange everything.
Development
Continues his ecstatic passivity from engagement chapters.
In Your Life:
Joy can temporarily outsource decisions that still shape a life.
Home in the country
In This Chapter
Kitty chooses Levin's work over abroad.
Development
Sets the marriage's geographic and moral center.
In Your Life:
Partners define marriage by where life will actually be lived.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
This is not a test. Five prompts guide you through the chapter, from how it opens to how it closes, so you notice context and rhythm rather than facts to memorize. Sit with each question in your own words. When you see "One way to read it," treat it as a starting point, not the only answer.
- 1
Why does the princess divide the trousseau into two parts?
analysis • surfaceOne way to read it
She needs the wedding before Lent while knowing full preparation is impossible. The couple will live in the country after marriage, so part of the wardrobe can wait.
- 2
What is Levin's relation to religion during confession?
analysis • mediumOne way to read it
He occupies a vague middle: unable to believe, unable to dismiss belief, and ashamed to perform rites he does not understand.
- 3
Why does Kitty reject going abroad?
application • mediumOne way to read it
She wants their home where Levin's work is. Marriage for her is rooted in actual life, not Stiva's fashionable travel idea.
- 4
What does the dog-and-hoop image reveal about Levin's happiness?
application • deepOne way to read it
He is genuinely joyful yet aware his happiness includes successfully performing requirements he does not fully assent to. Compliance and delight mix.
- 5
When have you gone through a ritual because life required it though belief was unclear?
reflection • deepOne way to read it
Levin's hoop pattern names a common modern experience. Recognizing it helps distinguish relief from resolved conviction.
Critical Thinking Exercise
Track the Hoops
List each institutional requirement Levin meets in this chapter. Note who arranges it, how he feels, and whether his inner state changes.
Consider:
- •Include trousseau timing
- •Include country preparations
- •Include confession and church
Journaling Prompt
Write about a required ritual you performed while unsure what you believed.
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 126
Levin's wedding day will bring comic chaos and formal splendor in the chapters ahead. On the wedding morning Levin dines with bachelor friends who tease him about losing freedom, bear hunts, and matrimony. Katavasov jokes that half Levin's mind deceives itself while the other half justifies the deceit, yet Levin insists he is glad to lose freedom because happiness is in loving Kitty.
