Favourite Quotes
“whoever stirs up the past - out with his eye! Who is not a sinner before God and to blame before the Tsar, as the saying is?” p. 332
“Indeed if Eugene Irtenev was mentally deranged when he committed this crime, then everyone is similarly insane. The most mentally deranged people are certainly those who see in others indications of insanity they do not notice in themselves” p. 351
Summary
Chapter 1
- follows the story of Eugene, whose father just recently passed and left a large inheritance & estate to Eugene his elder son Andrew
- the estate that was left for the brothers is in bad shape, but Eugene resolves to fix it up and turn it into something great, to the way it was during his grandfather’s time
Chapter 2
- Eugene is revealed to be a ‘woman-lover’. He doesn’t partake in debauchery, but for ‘health’s sake’ he does sleep with a lot of women
- he now has a dilemma, since he’s living in the country-side on his father’s estate, he doesn’t have access to the city women
- he decides that he’ll try to sleep with a peasant woman / maid of the estate, something that is looked down upon but he rationalizes by saying that the days of serfdom are over (i.e. trying to say it’d be out of her own free will)
Chapter 3
- Eugene is on his hunt to find a woman to sleep with.
- he visits the local watchman’s hut, who had been his father’s huntsman. His name is Daniel.
- Daniel tells him a story of when he arranged for a man to sleep with a woman, similar to what Eugene wants to do. Eugene decides to reveal his desires to sleep with a woman to Daniel and Daniel agrees to set it all up
- the next day rolls around and Eugene successfully sleeps with a peasant woman, whose husband is away in town. Her name is Stepanida
- Eugene receives a letter from the widow Esipova (Kaleriya Vladimirovna Esipova) letting him know if a 12k ruble debt that his father must pay to Esipova
- Eugene asks his mother, Mary Pavlovna about it and she reveals this Esipova woman was raised by his grand-father. Eugene intends on visiting her and paying the debt
- even though Eugene has been cutting costs about the estate (less food, less maintenance, etc) Mary Pavlovna was not worried at all because she intended on finding a brilliant marriage for Eugene
Chapter 4
- Eugene desires marriage, but would only pursue it out of love for someone, not for some political/economic arrangement which is what his mother has in mind for him
- Eugene continues his arrange with Stepanida, and only with her. He refuses Daniel’s offer to sleep with a different woman. The arrangements continue with Daniel as the middle-man, in fact, Eugene refuses when Stepanida asks him to do these arrangements without Daniel involved
- seems like Eugene needs to have Daniel involved as some sort of coping mechanism?
- Eugene asks her why she agrees to this arrange and she says that her husband that’s away in town probably sleeps with plenty of women there
- he also pays her so that might be a reason why she agrees; i.e. she needs the money
- Eugene saw Stepanida’s husband Michael and was shocked at his appearance for he looked like a good and stand-up fellow. Stepanida even says proudly there’s not another man like him in the village. These thoughts torment Eugene
- Michael suspects something and asks Daniel if our master is ‘living’ with his wife, Daniel says he doesn’t know
- Eugene rides into town frequently and befriended a family there, the Annieskis. He falls in love with their daughter, Liza Annenskaya and proposed to her, to his mother’s disbelief and grief.
- this ended his relations with Stepanida
Chapter 5
- why did Eugene marry Liza?
- she was not a rich heiress like his mother desired for him to marry
- she was naïve
- she was not so beautiful as to attract attention, but not bad-looking either
- the main reason: his acquaintance with her began at a time when he was ready for marriage. So it just happened and was convenient.
- Liza is revealed to be someone who falls in love easily. Ever since she was 15, she’d fall in love with whatever young man she laid her eyes on. She really fell in love with Eugene because of the attention he paid to her
- they eventually got formally engaged and both were madly in love with each other.
- “the more he got to know her the more he loved her” - p. 317
- ” she had no thoughts but of him, no desire but to be with him, to love him and to be loved by him” - p. 317
Chapter 6
- Mary Pavlovna was not happy about her son’s choice, not because she disliked Liza, rather she liked her, but Mary disliked Liza’s mother, for she was not a lady
- Mary advised Eugene that he should finish any bachelor affairs he had going on, referring to his arrange with Stepanida. Eugene reassures his mother that she has nothing to worry about and that he already finished everything with Stepanida
- he says “my future family-life is so sacred to me that I should not infringe it in any case” - p. 319
- Eugene is riding through his town and comes across a woman carrying a child… it’s Stepanida! It crosses his mind that the baby is his own baby, but he quickly dismisses such a crazy idea
- Eugene and Liza get married and Liza moves in with him. Mary intends on moving out but the new couple urged her to stay, so Mary moved into a detached wing of the house
Chapter 7
- in the first year of marriage, Liza had a miscarriage and her mother came to take care of her, to Eugene’s dislike (he never got along with his mother-in-law)
- Eugene found in his wife something he never expected: “he was not merely more cheerful and happier but that it had become easier to live.” - p. 321
- Liza is described as “all that she did, she did unnoticed; only the results of what she did were observable” - p. 322
- Liza is observing this law: Law 30 Make Your Accomplishments Seem Effortless
- Liza is a truly good wife. She takes care of Eugene and makes an effort to learn everything about him, his likes and dislikes, etc. She is also very jealous, which is the only thing that threatened their happiness.
- She got pregnant again by the end of the year
Chapter 8
- the marriage is going well. Liza and Eugene truly love each other
- they are preparing for the birth of their baby. Eugene is deciding all matters related to education and upbringing and Liza is obediently agreeing
Chapter 9
- Liza decides to hire two cleaning ladies to fully clean the house
- one of the hired ladies ends up being Stepanida and Eugene comes face-to-face with her, but they don’t talk or interact. Eugene is utterly in shock seeing her
- Stepanida’s husband is still away and she’s sleeping with a local young clerk
- when Eugene sees Liza he says to himself “My God! If she, who considers me so honourable, pure, and innocent - if she only knew!” - p. 325
Chapter 10
- Eugene joins Liza, his mother Mary, and his mother-in-law Varvara for morning coffee
- Mary and Varvara made sly remarks at each other
- Liza notices something is not right with Eugene but he says everything is fine
Chapter 11
- Eugene is still thinking about Stepanida: he says that he never felt any desire for any woman other than his wife after getting married. Now that feeling was awake within him
- he asks his steward to not ask Stepanida for any help around the house and tells him that because of his previous affair with Stepanida, it makes things awkward when she’s at the house. The steward agrees
Chapter 12
- it was Trinity Sunday and the town was celebrating and dancing. Eugene and Liza go to the celebrations too
- Stepanida is dancing wonderfully and Liza tells Eugene to look at the wonderful dancing. Eugene acknowledges but tries not to look at her
- Eugene goes home and stares at Stepanida out the window “feasting his eyes on her” - p. 330
- he tries to follow Stepanida but old Samokhin, who was digging a well for him, calls for Eugene
Chapter 13
- Eugene continues to feel very distressed about his feelings and desires
- he tries to burn his finger while thinking about Stepanida, as a way to lose his desire for her, as the hermits do
- he comes up with another idea: to send Stepanida’s family away from the village. He asks his steward to talk with Stepanida’s husband and make them leave the village
- his steward disagrees with the idea and says “what harm can she do you?
Chapter 14
- Eugene and Liza were out for a walk and Liza falls. Eugene carries her inside the house
- they fear she might have another miscarriage
- Liza’s mother Varvara is being very rude and passive-aggressive to Eugene, blaming him for what has happened
- the doctor says everything looks fine so far, no sign of miscarriage
Chapter 15
- Liza is on her bed recovering for weeks. Eugene spends a lot of time with her, but Liza tells him he needs to go out so he doesn’t also get sick
- Eugene is still grappling with the feelings of desires for Stepanida. As he goes out to run errands, he sometimes runs into her but they don’t talk
- everyday Eugene goes to the forest, their meeting spot, with the hopes that he’ll see her, but he tells himself he wouldn’t act on any desires, instead he’d run away
Chapter 16
- Liza has mostly recovered. Eugene is acting differently and Liza can tell something is bothering him. Of course, he doesn’t reveal anything to her
- Eugene goes out in the rain and happens to see Stepanida and tells her to go to the shed to meet him. He has to go back home to grab something.
- When Eugene finally goes back to the shed, no one is there, but there are footprints indicating Stepanida was there
Chapter 17
- Eugene is still struggling with his desires. He confides in his uncle, who currently lives with him. He tells him everything, the entire back-story and his current condition
- the uncle asks “but are you really so much in love (with Stepanida)?“. Eugene responds “oh it is not that at all, It is not that, it is some kind of power that has seized me and holds me. I do not know what to do. Perhaps I shall gain strength…” - p. 342
- the uncle suggests they should go to the Crimea together
Chapter 18
- Eugene, his uncle, his wife Liza all go to Crimea and they have a wonderful time there
- Liza gives birth to a healthy daughter
- after a few months they all go home along with a wet-nurse because Liza cannot feed the baby
- “Eugene returned home entirely free from the former horrors and quite a new and happy man. Having gone through all that a husband goes through when his wife bears a child, he loved her more than ever. - p. 343
- Eugene is a changed man. He no longer has any desires. When he gets home, he even asks his steward how Stepanida is doing. So even bringing her up in conversation no longer has any impact on him.
- “How wonderfully indifferent to (Stepanida) I am! How I have changed” - p. 344
Chapter 19
- Eugene is on cloud 9: he just had a baby, he was elected to the Zemstvo (governmental council), his estate is flourishing and his farms are producing wonderful crops
- he even encounters Stepanida on the street and feels nothing towards her. This doesn’t last long
- eventually he seems Stepanida more and more and the desires come back
- “again those torments! Again all that horror and fear, and there was no saving himself” - p. 345
Chapter 20
- this chapter is an inner dialogue where Eugene is trying to think through his options
- he says that there are two options:
- live with Liza as he currently, but Stepanida must not exist, she must die
- abandon Liza and begin a new life with Stepanida, but Liza must die
- he says that it’s better for Stepanida to die:
- “really it is a devil. Simply a devil. She has possessed herself of me against my own will” - p. 347
THERE ARE TWO ENDING VARIATIONS
Chapter 21: Variation 1
- he then realizes there is a third option: to kill himself
- technically this was mentioned in chapter 20, but is included in the first variation ending
- Liza comes to Eugene and begs him to tell her what he is going through, because clearly something is wrong.
- He tells her he might tell her after her walk. So she leaves
- Once she’s gone, he pulls out a revolver and shoots himself in the head
- “he put it to his temple and hesitated a little, but as soon as he remembered Stepanida - his decision not to see her, his struggle, temptation, fall, and renewed struggle - he shuddered with horror. ‘No, this is better’, and he pulled the trigger” - p. 348
- Liza’s mom Varvara claims that she foresaw this happening (she was always so negative against Eugene)
- no one could explain the suicide. Even his uncle who knew about Eugene’s secret didn’t put two and two together
- the doctors said he was mentally deranged, but Liza and Mary could not accept that because he was saner than most people they knew
- “Indeed if Eugene Irtenev was mentally deranged everyone is in the same case; the most mentally deranged people are certainly those who see in others indications of insanity they do not notice in themselves” - p. 348-349
Chapter 21: Variation 2
- (in this variation, he never considers the third option: suicide)
- he prays to God, begging for assistance and help. He doesn’t want to kill anyone, but he’s struggling in his mind
- he grabs his revolver and goes outside to think things over. He claims he can control himself
- he sees Stepanida and remembers his prayer and repeats it. He’s having inner turmoil:
- “but can I really not master myself? Have I really perished? O God! But there is no God. There is only a devil. And it is she. She has possessed me. But I won’t, I won’t! A devil, yes, a devil” - p. 350
- he draws out his revolver and shoots Stepanida thrice in the back. Other peasants were left in shock and horror
- Eugene immediately says “it was not an accident. I killed her on purpose. Send for the police” - p. 350
- Stepanida is confirmed dead. Eugene is arrested and tried in court. The jury say he is mentally deranged and only give him Church Penance as a punishment
- Eugene is in jail for 9 months and confined to a monastery for 1 month for penance. He becomes an alcoholic during this time and returns home a drunkard
- Varvara claims she foresaw this happening
- no one could explain his condition. The doctors said he was mentally deranged but Liza and Mary could not accept that because he was saner than most people they knew
- “Indeed if Eugene Irtenev was mentally deranged when he committed this crime, then everyone is similarly insane. The most mentally deranged people are certainly those who see in others indications of insanity they do not notice in themselves” - p. 351
Analysis
Notes and Quotes
Eugene’s Character
- “It is generally supposed that Conservatives are usually old people, and that those in favour of change are the young. That is not quite correct. Usually Conservatives are young people: those who want to live but who do not think about how to live, and have not time to think, and therefore take as a model for themselves a way of life that they have seen.” - p. 306
- This is a description for Eugene.
- he is described as being physically in great shape, and having a great personality: “the better people knew him the better they liked him” - p. 307. I.e. very charismatic.
- chapter 2 reveals he’s a sex-addict basically - p. 307-308
- talking about sleeping around: “not for the sake of debauchery but merely for health’s sake - as he said to himself” - p. 308
- “he was satisfied. Only at first had he felt ashamed, then it had passed off… The best thing was that he now felt at ease, tranquil and vigorous.” - p. 310
- right after sleeping with the peasant woman, this is how he felt
- “he thought such intercourse was necessary for him and that there was nothing bad about it, but in the depth of his soul there was a stricter judge who did not approve of it and hoped that this would be the last time” - p. 314
- talking about Eugene’s arrangement with Stepanida. He clearly feels guilty, but tries to rationalize it
- “it is simply necessary for my health” - p. 315
- again he rationalizes it by saying he needs it for his health
- in chapter 4 Eugene refuses when Stepanida asks him to do these arrangements without Daniel involved. It seems he has to have Daniel involved as some sort of coping mechanism. Maybe with Daniel in the loop, it doesn’t feel as wrong for Eugene?
- “my future family-life is so sacred to me that I should not infringe it in any case” - p. 319
- Eugene claims to care about family life when reassuring his mom that all his affairs and arrangements are over (namely that of Stepanida). We’ll see how this claim stands later on in the book
- “since (his marriage) he had not once experienced that feeling, either for (Stepanida) - the woman he had known - or for any other woman except his wife” - p. 327
- after Eugene saw Stepanida for the first in 1-2 years, he is in utter shock. During his marriage he never got the feeling of desiring another woman, but after seeing Stepanida the desire has awoken in him
- “he felt that he was conquered, that he was not master of his own will but that there was another power moving him, that he had been saved only by good fortune, and that if not today then tomorrow or a day later, he would perish all the same.” - p. 331
- Eugene recognizes the debacle that he’s facing. He feels like a slave to his desires for Stepanida
- “He knew that it was only shame before people, before her, and no doubt before himself also, that restrained him” - p. 337
- restrained him from having sex with Stepanida. At this time his wife is still recovering from her injury when she fell down in chapter 14
- “perhaps (Stepanida) had not wanted to come And why did I imagine that she would rush to me? She has her own husband; it is only I who am such a wretch as to have a wife, and a good one, and to run after another” - p. 340
- Eugene clearly knows what he’s doing is wrong. He just can’t help it
- the uncle asks “but are you really so much in love (with Stepanida)?“.
- Eugene responds “oh it is not that at all, It is not that, it is some kind of power that has seized me and holds me. I do not know what to do. Perhaps I shall gain strength…” - p. 342
- Tolstoy is making this point clear: it is NOT love. Eugene does NOT love Stepanida. There is something darker inside him, a very dark and deep desire, rather, a dark deep and devilish desire
- After the trip to Crimea and Liza giving birth, Eugene is a changed man:
- “How wonderfully indifferent to (Stepanida) I am! How I have changed” - p. 344
- he no longer has desires for Stepanida even when hearing about her
- This new state is short-lived:
- “again those torments! Again all that horror and fear, and there was no saving himself” - p. 345
- He then turns to blame Stepanida:
- “really it is a devil. Simply a devil. She has possessed herself of me against my own will” - p. 347
- it is at this time when there are two alternative endings. Eugene does one of two things:
- he kills himself
- he kills Stepanida
- in both endings, he is hailed as a mentally deranged man
Slave to your Desires
- all these remind me of the quote “reason is passion’s slave”
- talking about sleeping around: “not for the sake of debauchery but merely for health’s sake - as he said to himself” - p. 308
- he’s using his reasoning “for health’s sake” to justify sleeping around
- Eugene convinces himself that sleeping with a maid of his estate should be fine, even though he knows it’s not a good thing. He rationalizes it by saying the days of serfdom are over and he might experience some horrors if he goes into the nearby town - p. 308
- “he felt that he was conquered, that he was not master of his own will but that there was another power moving him, that he had been saved only by good fortune, and that if not today then tomorrow or a day later, he would perish all the same.” - p. 331
- He feels like a slave to his desires for Stepanida
Love
- Eugene found in his wife something he never expected: “he was not merely more cheerful and happier but that it had become easier to live.” - p. 321
- this is the epitome of a true love
Religion
- “whoever stirs up the past - out with his eye! Who is not a sinner before God and to blame before the Tsar, as the saying is?” - p. 332
- referring to if someone were to bring up Eugene’s past with Stepanida
The Devil
- Eugene claims the devil is Stepanida, but this is just Psychic Projection. He himself is the devil! Or at least, the desire brewing inside him is a representation of the devil.
Main Idea of the Book
- the final passage in the book sums up the main idea of the book:
- “Indeed if Eugene Irtenev was mentally deranged when he committed this crime, then everyone is similarly insane. The most mentally deranged people are certainly those who see in others indications of insanity they do not notice in themselves” - p. 351
- if Eugene is called mentally deranged for questioning his own actions and beliefs and desires, then everyone must be mentally deranged because everyone is flawed and have contradictions in their beliefs/actions, and they fail to self-reflect. Self-deception is a common fact of life.
- another way to look at this is that Eugene was claiming Stepanida was the devil, then killed her (per one ending). He attributed his OWN desires/faults to another person, which is Psychic Projection. He was labelled “mentally deranged” for that, yet MOST people do this. Most people do not want to take responsibility for their problems so they project it onto others.
- the most mentally deranged people are the hypocrites, the ones who label others as mentally deranged yet fail to notice their own faults. Tolstoy is telling us that we should be self-aware in our judgements - judge yourself first, then judge others.
- this reminds me of John 8:7 = “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”
- it’s as if the Jews forgot they are sinful. And when Jesus told them that they realized “oh damn, we aren’t sinless afterall!“. You have to first reflect on yourself and your sins/mistakes. Only then can you clearly and properly be able to assess others.
- if we go all the way back to the beginning, Eugene was rationalizing his desires by saying it’s for health purposes. If he had stopped them in the early days, the desires would not have grown into a monster.
- imagine if it was another woman instead of Stepanida. That other woman would be called the devil… therefore is it really the woman? NO! It’s Eugene himself. He let his desires get out of control.
- the major problem he made was he refused to take responsibility for his desires and actions, instead rationalizing it (“it’s for wellbeing”) and externalizing it (“Stepanida is the devil causing this”)
Reflections
Great book overall. I really like the message / moral of the story.
Personal lesson I took:
- Don’t judge others. You have plenty of problem yourself. Instead, spend time to self-reflect.