# Endnotes explained — A Confession

> Chapter companion for A Confession by Leo Tolstoy.

## What happens

This chapter provides editorial annotations and clarifications on Tolstoy's text, including corrections of his age, cultural distinctions, and references to his views on scripture, social movements, and capital punishment in Russia.

## Themes in this chapter

### Moral Corruption of Society

The note on the 'Back-to-the-People' movement highlights Tolstoy's perception that upper layers of society are parasitic and prey on the people.

## Character check-ins

### Leo Tolstoy

Referenced in editorial notes correcting his age and citing his letter to Fet about the Authorized English version of Ecclesiastes.

## Key lines

> Nothing so forms a young man as an intimacy with a woman of good breeding.

Intimacy with a well-bred woman is highly formative for a young man.

_Editorial note corrects Tolstoy's age to twenty-seven._

> The Authorized English version [of Ecclesiastes] is bad.

Tolstoy considered the Authorized English translation of Ecclesiastes to be poor.

_Cited from a letter to Fet, referenced in the editor's note._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_confession_se/chapters/endnotes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_confession_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_confession_se/chapters