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Konstantin Levin

Konstantin Levin. Between sensuality and morality. What’s in a name…. Many have pointed out that his family name is clearly a direct hint at Tolstoy’s first name - Lev - and identifies him as a projection of the author into the novel.

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Konstantin Levin

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  1. Konstantin Levin Between sensuality and morality

  2. What’s in a name… • Many have pointed out that his family name is clearly a direct hint at Tolstoy’s first name - Lev - and identifies him as a projection of the author into the novel. • Some say it should be pronounced Lyovin, derived from Lyova, the familiar form of Lev. NB “Levin” to a Russian ear sounds like a Jewish surname, not that of a Russian aristocrat.

  3. The two women…the two sides of Levin – and his creator • Levin’s admiration for Dolly – the morally straight-laced, family-focussed half. She is driven by her maternal instinct. Dolly’s moral judgement is unerring. She is also able to forgive her husband. • Levin’s fascination with and attraction to Anna, the “life-force woman” who is driven by her sexuality into tragedy. • Like Anna, Levin is almost tempted to commit suicide.

  4. Who is Levin? • His social status • What kind of a person? – admirable, or a nervous nellie? • His activities • His likes and dislikes • His friends • His marital prospects

  5. Connecting… • Constant emphasis in the text on understanding • Levin, especially, “does not understand” • Understanding becomes a miracle that happens between people in exceptional circumstances: • Levin’s proposal to Kitty through first letters • The understanding between Levin and the peasants in common toil • His son’s recognizing smile • How to make understanding happen?

  6. First proposal • Initial presentation of Levin: his dinner with Stiva Oblonsky • Ice-skating: he is strong, manly and skilful • The first proposal to Kitty: he is nervous, awkward, blundering • The shock of the refusal: the necessary defeat presaging eventual victory

  7. Mowing with the peasants • Physicality: sweat, effort, rain • The need for rhythm, self-oblivion • The peasants – their welcoming, their skill, their food

  8. “ Levin kept between them. In the very heat of the day the mowing did not seem such hard work to him. The perspiration with which he was drenched cooled him, while the sun, that burned his back, his head, and his arms, bare to the elbow, gave a vigour and dogged energy to his labour; and more and more often now came those moments of unconsciousness, when it was possible not to think what one was doing. The scythe cut of itself. These were happy moments. Still more delightful were the moments when they reached the stream where the rows ended, and the old man rubbed his scythe with the wet, thick grass, rinsed its blade in the fresh water of the stream, ladled out a little in a tin dipper, and offered Levin a drink. "What do you say to my home-brew, eh? Good, eh?" said he, winking. And truly Levin had never drunk any liquor so good as this warm water with green bits floating in it, and a taste of rust from the tin dipper. And immediately after this came the delicious, slow saunter, with his hand on the scythe, during which he could wipe away the streaming sweat, take deep breaths of air, and look about at the long string of mowers and at what was happening around in the forest and the country.”

  9. The young peasant couple(Three, xi, p. 274) • Levin observes the young newly married peasant couple loading hay on the hay wagon • Here is what is lacking in his life • The human sensuality of the scene, esp. the beautiful young peasant woman • Cf Natalia Savishna and Foka in Childhood • Looks forward to Soviet kitsch

  10. The successful proposal(Four, xiii, pp. 397-398) • Proposes to Kitty using just the first letters • Kitty: “I understand” (397) • “For a long time he could not understand what she had written and kept glancing in her eyes. A darkening came over him from happiness. He simply could not pick out the words she had in mind; but in her lovely eyes shining with happiness he understood everything he needed to know.” (398)

  11. Meeting Anna in Moscow • Her portrait (696-7) • His attraction to her (697, 698) • “Again she glanced at Levin. Her eyes, her smile, everything told him that she was addressing what she said to him, valuing his opinion and at the same time knowing beforehand that they understood each other. ‘I understand that perfectly,’ Levin replied.” (699)

  12. Marriage… • His son’s birth • His jealousy • Communicating with the newly born son

  13. The “stupidity of reason” and the miracle of faith • His searching for faith, close to suicide: “Happy in his family life, a healthy man, Levin was several times so close to suicide that he hid a rope lest he hang himself with it, and was afraid to go about with a rifle lest he shoot himself.” (789) • Levin’s battle with reason, represented by his half brother Sergei Ivanovich Koznyshev • Rejection of reason: 795 • Epiphany: he sees the need for faith (794)

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