Chapter 140
During tea with Agafea Mihalovna, Levin learns Nikolay is ill again...
When Levin went upstairs, his wife was sitting near the new silver samovar behind the new tea service, and, having settled old Agafea Mihalovna at a little table with a full cup of tea, was reading a letter from Dolly, with whom they were in continual and frequent correspondence. “You see, your good lady’s settled me here, told me to sit a bit with her,” said Agafea Mihalovna, smiling affectionately at Kitty. In these words of Agafea Mihalovna, Levin read the final act of the drama which had been enacted of late between her and Kitty. He saw that, in…
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Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"out of the question,”"
Context: During tea
Plain news breaks nest peace.
In Today's Words:
Agafea reports Nikolay is very ill during tea. Domestic lyric ends in one sentence. Tolstoy uses household speech to reintroduce mortality Levin hoped to postpone. 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.
"this woman’s there whom you can’t meet."
Context: After hearing of Nikolay
Wife claims shared duty.
In Today's Words:
Kitty insists she will go too. Marriage for her includes suffering kin, not protected comfort. The line defines her moral growth from sheltered girl to partner in duty. 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.
"common wench, set him shuddering with horror and loathing."
Context: Rejecting Kitty's insistence
Protection or control unclear.
In Today's Words:
Levin tells Kitty she will be a hindrance. Fear of death and class shame dress as practicality. Literature asks whether protection excludes the very solidarity marriage promised. 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.
"I shall come with you; I shall certainly come,”"
Context: Levin's inner revulsion
Class disgust shapes refusal.
In Today's Words:
Levin feels horror of the common wench associated with Nikolay's life. Class and sexual disgust fuel his wish to keep Kitty away. Tolstoy exposes how shame can masquerade as care. 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.
Thematic Threads
Death entering marriage
In This Chapter
Nikolay's illness ends nest phase.
Development
Prepares hotel deathbed chapters.
In Your Life:
Mortality interrupts domestic happiness without schedule.
Kitty's moral growth
In This Chapter
She insists on shared duty.
Development
Contrasts sheltered girl of early volumes.
In Your Life:
Partners can demand presence when others prefer exclusion.
Class shame
In This Chapter
Levin's horror of common wench.
Development
Exposes Levin's limits alongside virtues.
In Your Life:
Disgust at poverty or sexuality can hide behind protection talk.
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
How does Agafea change the chapter's mood?
analysis • surfaceOne way to read it
Her plain illness report at tea ends carelessness before toil and reintroduces family crisis into domestic peace.
- 2
Why does Kitty insist on going to Nikolay?
analysis • mediumOne way to read it
She treats marriage as shared duty toward suffering kin, not optional comfort reserved for pleasant scenes.
- 3
What does Levin mean by saying Kitty will be a hindrance?
application • mediumOne way to read it
Practical worry mixes with desire to control exposure and hide shameful family conditions from her.
- 4
How does common wench horror complicate Levin's character?
application • deepOne way to read it
Class and sexual disgust fuel exclusion. Tolstoy shows Levin's virtues coexist with snobbery and fear.
- 5
When have you seen protection used to exclude someone from hard truth?
reflection • deepOne way to read it
The hindrance pattern invites scrutiny of whether gatekeeping serves the excluded person or the gatekeeper's shame.
Critical Thinking Exercise
Protection or Exclusion
List Levin's stated reasons Kitty should not come and his unstated fears (class, death, control). Decide which motives dominate.
Consider:
- •Include Agafea's news
- •Include Kitty's insistence
- •Include common wench horror
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time you or someone else was kept away from a hard family scene.
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 141
They will reach a provincial hotel and face Nikolay's body and the terrible truth of a living brother. Levin and Kitty reach a provincial hotel where Nikolay lies dying in squalid conditions. The body, the room, and the smell bring Levin face to face with mortality in its least romantic form.
